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Quest For The Best

Quest for the Best? The very best employees. Corporate recruiter, third party recruiter or direct hiring authority, we are all about finding our companies and clients the very best employees.

Quest for the Best? Best practices. What can we do as recruiters to consult in this all important function?

Quest for the Best? The goal? Dialog that will improve us all.

4 Super Bowls - 2 Grammys - 4 Stanley Cups follow this blog post

posted by on Sept. 21, 2009

 

by Sue Danbom

How do you attract talent?  With unemployment at its current level, there's no problem attracting candidates, but how do you convince true talent to seek you out and willingly come to you?

How would you convince Joe Montana, Will Smith and Wayne Gretsky to convene in an obscure suburb of Seattle on a September Friday night? (Joe Montana has 4 Super Bowl Rings, Will Smith won 2 Grammys and Wayne Gretsky earned 4 Stanley Cups.)   

"No way!" you say?  They didn't just accept an extended invitation to Sammamish, Washington.  They came willingly and paid their own expenses.  They wouldn't have chosen to be anywhere else last Friday night.  The occasion for this surprisingly high powered summit?  A high school football game.

Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington, hosted Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, California, in an invitational high school football competition that was televised on ESPNU. Beside the teams' impressive, national rankings (Oaks Christian ranked #6 and Skyline #9), there was additional interest. Nick Montana is Oaks Christian's starting quarterback, Trevor Gretsky, the back-up quarterback and Trey Smith a starting wide receiver.  As predicted, the proud parents showed up at the game to watch their progeny hand Skyline their first loss since November 2006.)

The effects of the event extended beyond attracting the core talent - Messrs. Montana, Smith and Gretsky.  The local buzz before the event caused some exceptional results.  Everyone wanted to attend the game - not just Skyline supporters. The tickets to the game (Skyline's stadium's capacity - 4,500.) sold out Tuesday night.  The tickets, normally $5-$7, appeared on Seattle's Craig's List for $50 plus. Ticket holders began lining up Thursday night to secure their place in the stadium. (Even my normally blasé, 23 year old, daughter suggested we just "ride by" the stadium for a look-see.)

Wouldn't life be easier to have exceptional talent beat down the door to get to you?  How do you create buzz to get talent who want to come to your game?

attract candidates
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  • 1 point 57 days ago

    Thanks to both Michael and Adriana.  They bring out the point that being effective - really comes down to a personal level for both the candidate and the recruiter.  The candidate does not want to feel like just a number - and the recruiter can only distinguish himself/herself by offering consistent value and personalized interaction. Good examples on both parts.  And, yes, it does take a time investment.

  • 1 point 59 days ago

    I LOVE your stories, Sue, and who knew that the 3 public figures mentioned would all be in the same place watching a high school football game? 

    To answer your question, I feel the best way to attract top talent is by being consultative. By this I mean being resourceful and knowledgeable not only with job opportunities but other trends pertaining to a specific discipline or niche.  I heard recently that MOST employees today are thinking about making a change but remain passive due to our economic climate. 

    My goal as an Accounting and Finance recruiter is to stay current with trends in this discipline.  By joining groups on Linked In, I stay informed on topics that are relevant to this niche.  Just the other day I read a blog about the benefits and disadvantages of using QuickBooks, not so fascinating but it provided information I could use to spark up a conversation.  I share interesting information with my network because I think they'll appreciate it and more importantly, view me as a great resource.  Just today I contacted a CPA who I found on LinkedIn and she said, "Wow, you seem really knowledgeable so I'd love to stay connected" and she offered a referral.  That's how I get people to come to my game and all it costs is a little bit of my time!

  • 1 point 59 days ago

    Michael:

    Take note - that no "money" was spent or offered to bring the talent in the example above.  How can an effort to attract top talent be wrong?  As recruiters, if we don't have the best talent, we have nothing to offer.

    I agree that the tools you mentioned will locate those passive candidates - but location is only half the battle.  Since everyone is clamering for their attention - how do YOU stand out?

     

  • 1 point 59 days ago

    Sue,

    My apologies, I was more speaking in general. I have seen so many companies invest so heavily in their web presence but unless they have a highly public facing brand, talent just isnt going to materilize. Utilizing free tools and pay tools, companies should invest time in finding talent and engaging them proactively.

    I completely agree with Adriana in that, the recruiter's engagement with a candidate will have a huge affect on bringing them in. Further to that, understanding your company's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to what attracts talent will make the recruiter's case that much more effective. An example might be geography. Highly skilles IT talent is typically very attracted to highly technical regions such as Silicon Valley, but if I am a recruiter and in a less technical part of the country, I might bring out the fact that a candidate stands to be a highly prized team member with his/her unique skills in the region.

     

    Mike

    Brightmove, Inc.

  • 1 point 2 months ago

    I think focusing energy on attracting top talent to seek you out is a money poorly spent. Recruiters need to find top talent and work on their message to a very select few key highly skilled candidates.

    The most effective recruiters out there today are the ones finding the passive candidates by leveraging strong tools through social and traditional sources.

    Michael Brandt

    BrightMove.com