The Old’s Shinin’ Through…

There was an interesting question asked in Irina’s Linkedin Boolean Strings group last week:

“Jan” wanted to know:

How to approach passive candidates?

Sourcing doesn’t stop at the perfect Boolean string. It’s just the beginning.

Finding candidate profiles is one thing. Getting them in front of the hiring manager for a job interview is another.

We share a lot of tips and tricks on how to source candidates. Approaching them in the right manner and getting them interested in the job is just as important, but less discussed.

I’m eager to learn your experience and best practices…–So you’ve found his/her telephone number; how do you start the conversation?

There were many responses but one caught my eye as I’ve been recently giving this subject a lot of thought (watch for my Fordyce Letter piece coming soon!)

Here was one of the responses:

Jeff Agustin answered:

True story… I was having lunch with a systems architect in Palo Alto back in July. He looks at his phone and says “oh man, another LinkedIn recruiter message, no I’m not looking for the 1000th time and no I don’t have anyone to refer over to you for the position that I’m not interested in…” Now as a recruiter that’s used that approach a few times in my career, the first thought that came to mind was that I used that approach on him back in 2010 when the market was slow and it worked just fine AND he gave me a referral! In retrospect, I don’t think it was my smooth delivery and ability to develop immediate rapport that sealed that deal (although I probably convinced myself that was the case at the time). It was more market conditions and the greater supply of viable candidates…

Now, if that doesn’t send a shiver up your spine I’m not so sure you’re long for this (sourcing/recruiting) world.

I’ve been getting the feeling Jeff outlines above for well nigh a year now from “candidates” that are on LinkedIn. (Yes, some of my phone-sourced names are on LinkedIn. All told, an average of about 10%.)

I’ve written a great deal on sourcing and some on how to approach telephone sourced names. You see, if my customers don’t “get” how to approach a truly passive candidate (one that’s NOT on LinkedIn – one that’s NOT on the Internet, at least in a capacity with enough info that draws you to them as a possible candidate) they’re not going to experience a whole lot of success with my phone sourced names.

So I have to teach them.

Well, not really all of them but enough of them that I have a document I send to them that is titled, “What Do I Say Now?” that was first published online as far back as 2007 but most recently earlier this year. Here it is.

I’m very interested in hearing from you what your experience is lately dealing with LinkedIn “candidates.” Is it like Jeff’s or are the two of us imagining things?

The LinkedIn Song:

“Whatcha’ gonna do when the new wears off and the old shines thru? Then what?”

~ Clay Walker