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Discussions Replies Latest Activity
1

Free Candidates

I would encourage all corporate recruiters to check out www.pronetcareerresources.org to see what kind of talent has joined our group.  It grows daily.  Check out "Resumes-Occupations" for linkedin profiles that satisfy your openings. 

started Nov. 20, 2009 by
0
22 hours ago
1

60million American men have been arrested?

I saw a tweet the other day that made that claim above - I don't know if it's true or not but in the same Tweet string I saw someone in HR say that she is often asked about how someone goes about sealing or expunging (are they the same thing?) something from their record that is impeding their job search.

I've been thinking about this and then I saw another Tweet this morning with a link to this article that partly said:

"We live in a society (especially in this economy) where the enormous prison system is vilified and misunderstood. Thanks to the drug war, more people than ever before have a record, but companies refuse to hire them. In the current atmosphere, many talented, driven former prisoners just won't get the break they need to achieve their potential. That needs to change..."

So, is this true?  Are many people stymied in their job searches because of a criminal record?  What's your experience and or advice to someone in this position?

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 17, 2009 by
6
1 day ago
1

Splits - We have a number of very hot nursing positions in varied disciplines & locations. Great opportunities http://bit.ly/136Oz5

Splits - We have a number of very hot nursing positions in varied disciplines & locations.  Great opportunities http://bit.ly/136Oz5

started Nov. 20, 2009 by
0
1 day ago
1

Talent Acquisition Specialist available February 2010

I have 14 years of recruiting experience with 5 years most recently in-house and 9 years agency prior.  Currently at Emulex Corporation, a networking storage device company in Costa Mesa, as the only recruiter and my position is being eliminated.  I was at Sun Microsystems for 2 years before.  My background can be viewed at http://www.linkedin.com/in/bradselvin if you would like to learn more.

started Nov. 20, 2009 by
0
1 day ago
1

Open Job - Corporate Recruiter (LATAM Region) - Bil. Spanish/English

Apply to: bvanschaik@rim.com

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. RIM's portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the BlackBerry smartphone product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. For more information, visit www.rim.com.

 

The Recruitment Team of Research in Motion's Organizational Development Group is responsible for crafting, developing and operationalizing the critical recruitment strategies used to find some of the most sought-after talent world-wide that contribute towards the legendary BlackBerry wireless device.

 

We currently have an exciting opportunity for a Recruiter to join the ranks of a talented team of recruitment professionals and business leaders in the endless pursuit of best employees.

 

The Recruiter establishes and fosters a consultative relationship with RIM hiring managers through close working relationships with various Business Units, and oversees the entire recruitment and selection process from coordinating candidate presentations to RIM hiring managers to presenting and negotiating employment offers. The Recruiter is responsible for sourcing candidates using a variety of tools and techniques, including, but not limited to, the RIM website, 3rd party job boards, 3rd party staffing partners, and direct recruiting efforts, such as targeted career fairs. Other responsibilities include providing instruction and assistance to all job applicants, educating RIM hiring managers on acceptable recruitment processes and policies, and working with Organizational Development (OD) Generalists to effectively plan for current and future staffing requirements. The ideal candidate will have a good understanding of relevant employment legislation, strong negotiating skills and extensive knowledge and experience of behavioural-based interview techniques.

 

ESSENTIAL SKILLS 

  • University Degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology or related discipline
  • Minimum 5 years of recruitment experience in a corporate environment, including the use of an Applicant Tracking System such as Taleo, RecruitSoft, etc.
  • 3 years experience using 3rd party job boards, Internet navigation tools and MS Office Suite
  • 3 years of vendor management and monitoring performance of partners
  • Knowledge or familiarity of Wireless Technologies and protocols and prior experience working in a "high-tech" environment.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in both English and Spanish.
  • Experience with international recruitment, specifically within Latin American countries.
  • Experience in managing relocation and immigration processes
  • Strong negotiation and closing skills, ability to deal with very complex hiring processes and follow them through to closure
  • Extremely detail oriented and thorough with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
  • Previous experience attending job fairs and targeted sourcing campaigns

OTHER ASSETS

  • Ability to communicate both written and verbally in Portuguese or Portuñol
  • Previous experience working in a high tech environment supporting a fast paced and dynamic sales and marketing organization.

 

©2008 Research In Motion Limited.  All rights reserved.  BlackBerry®, RIM®, Research In Motion®, SureType® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world.

started Nov. 18, 2009 by
0
2 days ago
1

President Obama's Jobs Summit- Would Like To Attend

Anyone who knows me knows that I am quite involved in the recruiting world for quite some time and I would like to lend my experience to the conclave that President Obama will be having in December.  In an attempt at shameless self promotion, I am asking people who could recommend me to do so at the White House's website -http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Thanks John

started Nov. 16, 2009 by
3
3 days ago
1

Bountyjobs Referral

I recently looked at Bountyjobs, but in order to signup,you need a referral code. Is anyone willing to give me a referral?

Denise Beauregard Alton Search Group

started Feb. 15, 2008 by
7
3 days ago
1

IBM takes a step toward thinking machines

Scientists say they've made a breakthrough in their pursuit of computers that "think" like a living thing's brain - an effort that tests the limits of technology.

Even the world's most powerful supercomputers can't replicate basic aspects of the human mind. The machines can't imagine a wall painted a different color, for instance, or picture a person's face and connect that to an emotion.

If researchers can make computers operate more like a brain thinks - by reasoning and dealing with abstractions, among other things - they could unleash tremendous insights in such diverse fields as medicine and economics.  More here.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 18, 2009 by
0
3 days ago
1

BEST Executive Interview Questions

Hello Encouragers and Mentors,

When you are interviewing executive level candidates (CIO's, CEO's, Vice Presidents, etc.) what are your best questions that pull the critical experience and information you are seeking? Any great questions that separates the chaff from the wheat??

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

~Jennifer Steckley, Steckley Consulting Group, LLC

started Nov. 17, 2009 by
1
3 days ago
1

What do you think of a commission only sales position?

I just joined a fast growing start-up (hard to imagine, I know) and we are looking for to fill a few 100% commission outside sales positions.  We have three things going for us, the commission is very lucrative with a residual component, there isn't anyone else offering the technology and it's been very well received, and the consumer app is on the top 25 for iphone. 

My questions for the group are: 1) Where would you look for them?; 2) how would you position the opportuity  without sound too Amway-ish?; 3) Any other words of wisdom. 

started Sept. 3, 2009 by
1
3 days ago
1

Goldman Sachs, Buffett to help small businesses

Goldman Sachs Group (GS) is teaming with billionaire investor Warren Buffett to invest $500 million to provide thousands of small business owners with college scholarships and boost their access to capital.

Goldman has been criticized for setting aside billions for employee paychecks after receiving billions in taxpayer bailout money.

Goldman's philanthropic effort, called "10,000 Small Businesses," includes a $200 million contribution to community colleges, universities and other institutions to give grants to small business owners to further their education.  More here.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 18, 2009 by
0
3 days ago
1

International searches? new X-ray for Linkedin

In my search to optimize my linkedin searches I came across something interesting for recruiters/researchers that search internationaly. One of the great frustrations I personally have with Linkedin is that it only allows you to search one country simultaneously while for a lot of my jobs I really don’t care where people are coming from. It now means that I have to run a search several times in order to make sure I have the maximum amount of candidates.

I can of course try and search through the search engine of Linkedin directly and see what it gives me but the results have not been optimal. If I add say (Netherlands OR Belgium) to my keyword search I get a lot of false positives simply because of people having those words in their profile. One of my favourite ways of searching Linkedin is not using linkedin at all, it’s the all-mighty X-ray. Be prepared because I’m taking you on a bit of a journey.


X-ray explained
Now, hopefully most recruiters are comfortable with x-ray but for the less boolean-gifted recruiters a quick explanation: x-ray is a Google search string that allows you to focus on one particular site. If I put site:linkedin.com in my Google search it will give me only results from………….right, LinkedIn! There are big advantages to x-ray over a LinkedIn search and that is that you really can see all of the public profiles on linked and you can actually contact them. Reason for this is that a) your search results is limited by the size of your network and b) LinkedIn allows you to see the LinkedIn profile if you come in through this back door where if you did a normal search it wouldn’t allow you if that person was outside of your network.

Whenever you do an x-ray on Google don’t forget to add inurl:pub OR inurl:in -intitle:directory in order to eliminate pages where such a groups and events. To further narrow it down add -inurl:updates. To give you an idea of the power of this string: it gives 30.200.000 hits. I would say much of the population of Linkedin

The international X-ray
For the more advanced recruiter that wants to search internationally there are some ways to limit the search to a specific country or some specific countries. Glen Cathey wrote an article about how to do this after I had contacted him about some international search he had done. To recap his research:

You can do a search on postal codes on Linkedin: picture on search postal code

If you take a large city as say Amsterdam, The Netherlands you see that in the city there are several postal codes

postal codes Amsterdam

Now if we do a search on Linkedin with the postal code 1000 in the Netherlands you will see that all of them have in their profile “Amsterdam Area, Netherlands”. And with that “area, country” we can play.

My own research completes Glen’s list and below a list of all the structures that are being used

“Area, France”
“Area, Germany”
“*, United Kingdom”
“Area, Switzerland”
Area, Belgium
Area, Netherlands
Area, Sweden
Area, Spain
*, Finland
Area, Norway
*, Russian Federation
*, Portugal
Area, Italy
*, Ireland
Area, Denmark
*, Austria

As you can see most countries in Europe follow the “area, country” setup except for the UK but what can you expect from a country where people drive on the wrong side of the road?

Now, let’s say I need a user experience expert in the Netherlands? A what? Yeah, sorry but I had this search recently so might as well take that one. A search on “user experience” in the whole of the Netherlands gives me 1239 hits. I’m not going into how I can increase it by perhaps looking at other job titles, that is not the meaning of this article.

An x-ray on google site:linkedin.com (inurl:pub OR inurl:in) -intitle:directory -inurl:updates (”Area, Netherlands”) “user experience” gives me 2.510 hits. A lot better of course, way too many results and I would need to narrow it down but I’ve just doubled the number of candidates. Now this seams to work but if I’m searching for more countries I may run into the Google limit of 32 words in the boolean search. As well I’ve found that somehow not everybody has a region mentioned in their profile which would render the “area, country” string useless. In a niche market like UX I can’t afford to lose out on a single candidate.

The Holy Grail of international x-rays
So here is what I’ve found and if I’m not mistaken nobody else has blogged about it. So here is my ticket to fame :-) LinkedIn has recently changed all the personal links on peoples profiles. Now, US-based profiles haven’t changed and still are http://www.linkedin.com/in/NAME but as I’m based in Spain my personal link has changed to http://es.linkedin.com/in/tedmeulenkamp. A check on other profiles gives that profiles in the UK now have uk.linkedin.com, in Germany de.linkedin.com and the Netherlands nl.linkedin.com. I have not (yet) compiled a list of all the country codes but they seem to be following the standard country codes used globally. So wow, Linkedin has actually placed a country code in the personal links of all their members! Have I found the holy grail for international linkedin x-rays?

So before we bring out the champagne (or cava in Spain) let’s test this.

site:linkedin.com (inurl:pub OR inurl:in) -intitle:directory -inurl:updates inurl:nl.linkedin.com user experience” gives me 2.990 hits. Not bad as it increases the amount of hits over the previous one because of the before mentioned fact that not everybody has a region in the profile but they surely have had to give their country when signing up. But we are still not there, what if, just imagine, what if the country code is only used in personal profiles and not on any other pages. That would mean we could get rid of inurl:pub OR inurl:in as thus save space.

site:linkedin.com -intitle:directory -inurl:updates inurl:nl.linkedin.com user experience” gives me exactly the same amount of hits as my previous search and that is just awesome! It really means that we can leave out inurl:pub OR inurl:in. But wait, wait, wait. What if we leave out -intitle:directory and -inurl:updates?

site:linkedin.com inurl:nl.linkedin.com user experience” again gives me the same amount of hits. AMAZING!!! We went from a pretty lengthy search string to this compact, easy to remember, easy to use search string! Just to be complete if you want to use this string for a multi country search you just put in inurl:nl.linkedin.com OR inurl:be.linkedin.com OR etc).

So folks, run the following and bookmark it for your international searches:

site:linkedin.com inurl:nl.linkedin.com KEYWORDS”. Change the country code and keywords and rock on!

Conclusion

There is so much more to get out of Linkedin by using an X-ray and now with this new search string you can actually very accurately search per country and profit of the larger network and accessibility of the x-ray search! And dear friends in the US, sorry but because you still have the original profile links you still need to use the full search string.

started Nov. 16, 2009 by
1
3 days ago
1

BEST Executive Interview Questions

Hello Healthcare Staffing People!

When you are interviewing and hiring executive level candidates (i.e. Hospital CIO's or Vice Presidents in a consulting firm), what are your BEST questions for this level of candidate? I like behavior based interviewing questions, but welcome any and all answers to my question.

Kind Regards, Jennifer Steckley, Steckley Consulting Group, LLC

started Nov. 17, 2009 by
0
4 days ago
1

Phone Sourcing Tip - MOVIE

Don't make the same mistakes with Gatekeepers Tom makes!  Watch the movie here.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 17, 2009 by
posted in MagicMethod
0
4 days ago
1

So You Want To Be a Phone Sourcer.

You sure?  Watch the movie here.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 16, 2009 by
posted in MagicMethod
3
4 days ago
1

Interesting story of a start-up.

Here.

Before the layoff, Xtranormal was doing intensive Research in natural language processing, designing automated cinematics (such as finding automatically the right angle and position for a camera in a user-generated video scene), voice generation, all done by a mix of researchers from academy and also engineers. A team was also in charge of "productizing" the results, and a few of the technologies were integrated in current Xtranormal product's lineup.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 17, 2009 by
0
4 days ago
1

One way to get funding

Go here.  Interesting site.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 17, 2009 by
0
4 days ago
1

PeopleSoft's functionality as a recruiting solution---applicant tracking system and selection interface

We are looking at an enterprise recruiting system implementation for an employee base of 55,000, mostly in multiple location retail sites. We are currently using Unicru for retail and PS's TAM for corporate, but because we use PeopleSoft/Oracle globally as our HRMS, we want to evaluate their recruiting solution. I would appreciate your experiences and learning regarding PeopleSoft for ATS and recruiting as well as other suggestions as to which systems successfully employed for retail store recruiting.

started Nov. 13, 2009 by
1
4 days ago
1

Networking on a Director of Surgery Centers

I am an Executive Recruiter representing Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign Urbana Illinois.  I am in the process of identifying a Director of our two Surgical Centers. We do 6,000 cases annually between the two centers and our main OR does 12,000.

I am hoping someone would know of a candidate that would be suited for this position.  Please contact me directly if you know of a candidate that would be ideal for this opportunity. 

 

Diana Monier of Chase Hunter Group

www.chase-hunter.com

(773)338-8347

 

started Nov. 16, 2009 by
0
5 days ago
1

MOVIE - Gatekeeper Lesson #2

Maureen takes you further into the psychology and understanding of telephone names sourcing.  Watch the movie here.  Watch the movie here.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 16, 2009 by
posted in MagicMethod
0
5 days ago
1

International searches? new X-ray for Linkedin

In my search to optimize my linkedin searches I came across something interesting for recruiters/researchers that search internationaly. One of the great frustrations I personally have with Linkedin is that it only allows you to search one country simultaneously while for a lot of my jobs I really don't care where people are coming from. It now means that I have to run a search several times in order to make sure I have the maximum amount of candidates. I can of course try and search through the search engine of Linkedin directly and see what it gives me but the results have not been optimal. If I add say (Netherlands OR Belgium) to my keyword search I get a lot of false positives simply because of people having those words in their profile. One of my favourite ways of searching Linkedin is not using linkedin at all, it's the all-mighty X-ray.

If you are still reading you may want to go to my blog

started Nov. 16, 2009 by
0
5 days ago
1

A Trend developing?

I am seeing more and more profiles on LinkedIn being posted as "Private" with no actual contact name listed.  Got me thinking:
 
  • Has LinkedIn become so prevalent (See OVER EXPOSED, OVER USED, ANNOYINGLY USED) a tool for recruiters that people are no longer displaying their names to avoid an ever increasing number of recruiters from calling them?
  • The downside of all the LinkedIn hype and viral marketing of the tool
  • It really, effectively just turns it into a online Rolodex in which only the user can see the profiles
  • It severely diminishes the value of the pay model ($xxxx per year is a big number) to see "everything" if the users can simply block inquiring minds from seeing the valuable information.
  • How important is it to find a Senior Tax Manager at KPMG in Tuscaloosa, Alabama if you still have no idea who to ask for?
  • How does this change the whole value prop of LinkedIn
  • Keep an eye out for the "next" big LinkedIn look alike cuz if the trend continues, it will be just around the corner.
Just thinking out loud.
started Oct. 20, 2009 by
1
5 days ago
1

How to Market Your Business With Facebook

 growing number of businesses are making Facebook an indispensible part of hanging out their shingles. Small businesses are using it to find new customers, build online communities of fans and dig into gold mines of demographic information.

"You need to be where your customers are and your prospective customers are," said Clara Shih, author of "The Facebook Era" (Pearson Education, 2009). "And with 300 million people on Facebook, and still growing, that's increasingly where your audience is for a lot of products and services."

Read more here.

******

Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

started Nov. 15, 2009 by
0
6 days ago
1

Austin Recruiters Network November Happy Hour - Last one of 09!

Host:Phil Rodriguez   

Location: Malverde
400 B West 2nd Street
Austin, TX 78701 US
When:Thursday, November 19, 6:00PM    

It's that time again!

Please join us for the Austin Recruiter's Network November Happy Hour at Malverde from 6-8pm - located above La Condesa on 2nd Street at Guadalupe.  Please note, this will be the last ARN Happy Hour for 2009 (next one will be towards the end of January), so you won't want to miss it!!

As always, the Austin Recruiters Network provides local recruiters a monthly, laid-back, yet professional setting in which to network and share ideas.

There will be happy hour specials on drinks and plenty of great contacts to be made!

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities for future events and/or if you'd like to be added to our distribution list, please contact me at phil.rodriguez@icims.com

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing everyone next week - please RSVP and put this on your calendar now!!

More info and the eVite can be found at:

http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/ICDQWUXMSAMSVDDIYOCG/facebook/1258143410016

Regards,
Phil

started Nov. 13, 2009 by
0
8 days ago
1

Contingency Sourcing Project: Classification (Level 1 or Level 2), Estimated Cost

Hi Folks,

I have a contingency search, and I want to find out what type of sourcing it might require (Internet or Telephone, Level 1 or Level 2, as per: Glen's fine article below which I previously posted) and what you think it might cost for 10-15 hours of work.

 

With your permission, I'd like to let the group know what I find out from you without releasing names.
Thank You,
Keith H
keithsrj@sbcglobal.net
+1.415.586.8265

Head Hunting Spec

Position/Title

Sr. Account Manager

 

Location & local area codes if any

Greater Los Angeles, CA Area Codes

      213 - Downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by 323 (October, 1947)

      310 - Santa MonicaMalibuPacific PalisadesComptonTorranceBeverly HillsCatalina Island; the southwestern portion of Los Angeles County. (Split from 213 on November 2, 1991; overlaid by 424 on August 26, 2006)

      323 - a ring around downtown Los Angeles, including the Hollywood and Eagle Rock districts of Los Angeles, FlorenceMontebello and East Los Angeles. (Split from 213 on June 13, 1998)

      424 - Overlay to 310 (see above) (August 26, 2006)

      562 - Long BeachWhittier;NorwalkLakewoodBellflowerCerritos, southeast Los Angeles County and a small portion of coastal Orange County. (Split from 310 on January 25, 1997)

      626 - PasadenaEl MonteWest Covina; the San Gabriel Valley and eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. (Split from 818 on June 14, 1997)

      657 - AnaheimHuntington BeachSanta AnaOrangeGarden Grove; northern and western Orange County(overlay with 714) (September 23, 2008)

      714 - AnaheimHuntington BeachSanta AnaOrangeGarden Grove; northern and western Orange County(Overlay with Area code 657) (Split from 213 on January 1, 1951)

      747 - Will overlay 818, effective May 18, 2009.

      818 - BurbankGlendale, the North HollywoodVan NuysPanorama CitySherman Oaks and Northridgedistricts of Los Angeles; the San Fernando Valley. (Split from 213 on January 7, 1984)

      909 - San BernardinoOntarioPomona, and Chino; eastern Los Angeles County and southwestern San Bernardino County. (Split from 714 on November 14, 1992)

      949 - IrvineLaguna BeachNewport BeachSan Juan Capistrano; southern and eastern Orange County. (Split from 714 on April 18, 1998)

      951 - RiversideCoronaMoreno ValleyPerrisTemeculaMurrieta; western Riverside County. (Split from 909 on July 17, 2004)

 

Company URL

 

Priority (high -low)

Medium-high

 

Position Description

Sr AM (Los Angeles, CA)
Client: a multibillion dollar global managed health care company
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Engagement details: $20m/year engagement involving standard IT services and also non-traditional models like SaaS and subscription business models. Team size = 200+. Candidate must have healthcare domain expertise and strong communication and relationship management skills to interface at C-level for this $10b - $15b company.

 

Essential Qualifications

Experience selling IT/Consulting services to the Healthcare Vertical

 

Desirable Qualifications

“A book of business”

 

 Companies/industries of particular interest

“Big 5”, “Next Tier” or large Indian Consulting Companies

 

Companies/Industries of no interest

 

 

Target Companies

IBM Global Business Services

ArmonkNY

190,000

 

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

New YorkNY

155,000

 

KPMG

New YorkNY

136,500

 

Electronic Data Systems

PlanoTX

 

 

Ernst & Young

New YorkNY

135,000

 

HP Technology Solutions

Palo AltoCA

105,000

 

Computer Sciences Corporation

Falls ChurchVA

91,000

 

Affiliated Computer Services

DallasTX

62,000

 

Cognizant Technology Solutions

TeaneckNJ

60,000+

 

Science Applications International Corporation

La JollaCA

44,000

 

Unisys

Blue BellPA

31,000

 

CGI Group

MontrealCanada

26,500

 

Perot Systems

PlanoTX

21,000

 

Booz Allen Hamilton

McLeanVA

19,000

 

BearingPoint

McLeanVA

17,500

 

Keane Inc

BostonMA

14,500

 

Titan Corporation

San Diego, CA

12,000

TCS

Wipro

HCL

Axon Consulting

and other Business Solutions Consulting Co’s

 

Additional information if any

Here are some questions:

* Do you have an exclusive?  Rarely depends on the client sometimes as few as 3 vendors

* How motivated is the client? Depends on requirement;  You would be working those where we intend to get action and placements and movement and feedback

* What is the hiring process?  Generally a phone screen then a technical phone screen then..Depends

* Are there any additional specific qualifications required? Do you have a fuller description of their responsibilities? 

Not for these two positions

* Education background? 4 year degree minimum
* Years of experience?    5+ years for all positions…about 10+ for sales positions

* What would disqualify an otherwise suitable candidate?  Already presented or applied himself to Company

* You mentioned a base of $120-$170k. What's the OTC?
* Does it allow for relocation candidates? Some jobs do..these sales jobs do not;  they want someone in the area who already is calling on clients etc

* Will the individuals need to come in to the office each day when they are not visiting clients, or can they work remotely? Most of the others require either traveling or in the office most days unless at a client site

* How many individuals do you want presented?   2 good candidates per requirement. (I’d like 5, please. –kh_)

 The Two Levels of Candidate Sourcing

 

 Posted at October 20, 2009

 Many individuals and organizations treat the sourcing role and

 function of recruiting – searching for and identifying potential

 candidates – as an entry level position, and/or a simple and basic

 task that does not require much skill or experience.

 

 I agree.

 

 I believe that it does not take much skill or experience to simply

 transcribe job titles and required skill keywords into LinkedIn,

 Monster, or an ATS and click “search.”

 

 However, that oversimplified view of sourcing talent only describes

 the most basic level of talent identification, of which, I believe

 there are at least two.

 

 Level 1 Sourcing

 

 Level 1 Sourcing involves little more than taking titles and words

 from job descriptions and entering them into Internet search 

 engines,

 social networks, job board resume databases, and applicant tracking

 systems to search for candidates.

 

 This is the proverbial “buzzword bingo,” and does not necessarily

 involve any real understanding (beyond surface level) of the roles,

 skills, responsibilities, or technologies involved in the hiring

 profiles or the candidates. These basic search terms produce search

 results that are then cursorily reviewed for keyword matching.

 

 Level 1 Sourcing involves a level of matching potential candidates 

 to

 hiring profiles that is often superficial and generic – very little,

 if any, interpretive analysis is performed. This level of sourcing 

 can

 in fact quite easily be performed by “junior” personnel/ 

 researchers –

 almost anyone can match keywords.

 

 Not only can Level 1 Sourcing be performed by junior associates, it

 can (and often is) outsourced for $5 – $7 an hour.

 

 However, don’t be fooled into thinking you are getting something

 fantastic for that $5 – $7 an hour – you’re getting exactly what

 you’ve paid for. Which is Level 1 Sourcing.

 

 In my opinion, there is no need to outsource Level 1 Sourcing, 

 because

 it does not require any deep understanding of the roles being 

 sourced

 for, nor does it involve any true analysis or creativity. As such,

 Level 1 Sourcing is well suited for total automation. Why pay people

 to match keywords when matching applications can do it for you for

 considerably less than $5 per hour?

 

 Many people are blissfully unaware of the fact that Level 1 Sourcers

 from any company will essentially find the same potential candidates

 as any other Level 1 Sourcer. It’s a simple equation: same 

 keywords =

 same results. This is one of the reasons why Level 1 Sourcing 

 provides

 no competitive advantage.

 

 Additionally, while Level 1 Sourcers can and will find SOME

 candidates, they will not and can not find ALL potentially qualified

 candidates available to them in the sources they are searching - 

 that

 would be impossible, for many reasons that I’ve written about

 previously that are beyond the scope of this post.

 

 And finally, Level 1 Sourcers are typically unaware of the people 

 that

 are in the ATS, job board resume database, or social network that 

 they

 are searching that their queries did not return. In fact, to them,

 anyone that they don’t find simply doesn’t exist.

 

 Level 2 Sourcing

 

 This is the good stuff. Level 2 Sourcing moves well beyond simple

 keyword matching and most certainly beyond a basic mastery of 

 Boolean

 logic.

 

 Boolean logic is easy to learn – after all, there’s only 3 main

 operators! However, the “magic” of leveraging databases and

 information systems for talent identification does not lie in the

 Boolean search operators themselves, but in the following process:

 

 Analyzing, understanding, and interpreting job opening/position

 requirements - including elements which may or may not be explicitly

 mentioned in the position description or BQ’s

 Taking that understanding and intelligently and creatively selecting

 titles, skills, technologies, companies, responsibilities, terms,

 etc., to include (or to purposefully exclude!) in a query employing

 appropriate Boolean operators and query modifiers

 Analyzing the results of the initial search to assess relevance as

 well as scanning the results for additional and alternate relevant

 search terms, phrases, and companies

 Based upon the observed relevance of and intel gained from the 

 search

 results, modifying the search string appropriately and running it 

 again

 Repeating steps 3 and 4 until an acceptably large volume of highly

 relevant results is achieved

 The “real” work of creating effective Boolean search strings lies in

 the interpretive analysis of the need, in determining what terms to

 include and exclude from searches and in what specific 

 combination, in

 the analysis of the relevance of the initial search results, and in

 the adaptive process of learning from the results to creatively 

 refine

 the Boolean search strings to find well qualified candidates – 

 people

 who are highly likely to be (or know!) the right match for any

 particular hiring need.

 

 Unlike Level 1 Sourcing, Level 2 Sourcing involves and in fact

 requires a deeper understanding of the roles, skills,

 responsibilities, and technologies involved in the hiring profiles

 being sourced for. In this regard, Level 2 Sourcing goes well beyond

 explicit keyword matching and deep into implied experience and

 capability matching.

 

 In addition to finding all of the candidates that Level 1 Sourcers 

 can

 find, Level 2 Sourcers can also find the candidates that Level 1

 Sourcers have access to, but can not and do not find. Interestingly,

 all Level 2 Sourcers will not find all of the same candidates,

 specifically due to their varying experience and creative and

 analytical ability.

 

 And unlike Level 1 Sourcers, Level 2 Sourcers are acutely aware of 

 the

 candidates they have not found, because they understand that every

 Boolean string and search strategy will find some candidates, and

 exclude others.

 

 Level 2 Sourcing is Not a Junior Role and Cannot Be Automated

 

 It is precisely because of the aforementioned reasons that Level 2

 Sourcing cannot be performed by junior level associates – it is not

 an entry level role, nor can it be outsourced for $5 – $7 an hour.

 Okay, it CAN be outsourced at those rates, but you won’t get Level 2

 results. Remember, you get what you pay for.

 

 Level 2 sourcing cannot be automated, regardless of what the vendor

 representatives of “artificial intelligence” resume parse/match

 applications may claim. This is because Level 2 sourcing requires “a

 posteriori” knowledge – which comes from experience, which comprises

 knowledge and skill gained through involvement and exposure.

 

 Applications do not accumulate experience or gain knowledge or 

 skill,

 in the true sense of the terms.

 

 AI matching applications essentially perform a form of pattern

 recognition to classify data through parsing resumes and employing a

 keyword/phrase taxonomy, which is built based on “a priori” 

 knowledge/

 information extracted from the patterns and programmed into the

 matching logic.

 

 I recently spoke at the PDS Technology Conference and had the 

 honor of

 seeing Dr. Michio Kaku present on the world of 2020 and beyond. Dr.

 Kaku believes that “Progress in artificial intelligence may come 

 to a

 gradual halt around 2020. The two problems facing AI are pattern

 recognition and common sense.”

 

 I was happy to hear that Dr. Michio Kaku believes that the 

 employment

 market of the future will be “dominated by jobs involving common 

 sense

 (e.g. leadership, judgment, entertainment, art, analysis, 

 creativity)

 and pattern recognition (e.g. vision and non-repetitive jobs). Jobs

 like brokers, tellers, agents, low level accountants and jobs

 involving inventory and repetition will be eliminated.”

 

 That’s great news for anyone performing Level 2 Sourcing, primarily

 because it requires creativity, interpretive analysis, judgment, and

 common sense (a natural understanding based upon experience) - four

 things that machines and applications are intrinsically incapable 

 of.

 

 Unlike AI matching applications, Level 2 Sourcers intrinsically

 understand that resumes and social media profiles are imperfect and

 incomplete representations of the people who created them, and that

 they often do not explicitly mention all of their skills and

 experience. As such, Level 2 Sourcers are not only able to find

 qualified candidates based on the words they use - many can also

 specifically search for and find people who have experience that 

 they

 do not mention. In other words, some Level 2 Sourcers can find 

 people

 based on what they don’t say. This is a skill that can only be

 developed over time from observation and experience.

 

 Final Thoughts

 

 Level 1 Sourcing can be performed by entry level associates or be

 completely automated, as the level of matching produced is 

 superficial

 and based primarily on explicit keyword and phrase matching. This 

 can

 be quite sufficient for static and repetitive hiring needs for 

 simple

 hiring profiles, where title searches will often suffice.

 

 The value and the results provided by Level 1 and Level 2 Sourcing 

 is

 vastly different - this is why some organizations see the sourcing

 function as a low level or junior role, simply outsource it for $5 –

 $7 and hour, or completely automate it. Interestingly, there are

 sourcers who make $50 to over $100 an hour, and they are worth every

 penny for the competitive advantage and value they provide to the

 organizations they support.

 

 Dr. Michio Kaku would classify Level 1 Sourcing as ”commodity based

 capital,” in that it is a product that is the same no matter who

 produces it - man, woman, or machine.

 

 People who perform Level 2 Sourcing are true knowledge workers, 

 whose

 value is intellectual capital – based in creativity, judgment,

 analysis, ”common sense” and “a posteriori” knowledge developed over

 time based upon experience – similar to senior Financial Analysts,

 Business Analysts, Data Analysts and Business Intelligence Analysts.

 Level 2 Sourcers produce a product that is quite different based on

 who produces it, and it cannot be reliably replicated by machines.

 

 To be sure, one could easily break Level 2 Sourcing out to at 

 least 3

 different levels, because to lump everything more advanced and

 sophisticated than Level 1 Sourcing into one broad category is

 horribly limiting, but for the purposes of this article, it shall

 suffice.

 

 Human Capital Data data is the sword of the 21st century – those who

 wield it well are the Sourcing Samurai.

 

started Nov. 13, 2009 by
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