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

To improve recruitment metrics taking a more proactive approach will furnish more successful results. Taking on a more proactive recruitment process means engaging with folks long before a position comes open by building a pipeline of qualified talent that is ready to be put into place as soon as a position is available. For many companies the challenge is time. There are so many active openings that there isn't enough time to pipeline for future ones. Another challenge is resources. Who should be responsible for working proactively to find qualified talent? Companies that don't have a set plan and set list of guidelines in place with always run into issues and challenges with proactive recruiting practices.

Everyone within an organization should be responsible for bringing top talent to the company. While recruitment teams are put in place internally to drive the recruitment strategy and the process, it should not be the sole department being held accountable for where the talent comes from, how we find the talent or how successful that talent becomes once brought on board.

The talent drivers within the organization should first be the recruiters, if there are any, or the Human Resource department, second should be the managers themselves and following them should be the rest of the organization including executive leadership down to every day employees within the organization.

Most companies don't hold themselves accountable across the organization for recruitment metrics. Most organizations weigh that load on the Human Resources department. With that in mind, managers can tend to point the finger and not take any responsibility when the heat is on to fill a position that has been open for a long time.

The primary measurements for recruitment encompass Time to Fill and Cost per Hire. Other metrics that play into recruitment is success level of new hires and retention rates. All are indicators of a strong or weak recruitment process.

In many companies it is also mostly driven by reactive recruitment, depending on the demand of the quantity of openings across the organization. Most managers and HR departments feel they have too many other day to day responsibilities on their plates to focus on recruiting as a priority prior to the day an opening exists.  Reactive Recruitment is the process of waiting to recruit for a position until it becomes actively open. Reactive activities typically consist of posting a job on careers sites internally/externally and on other job boards. It is a typical "sit and wait" approach. Some positions can be filled successfully this way...notice the word some.  However, most job postings do nothing but attract masses unqualified applicants.

So how does a company develop a powerful proactive strategy? Proactive Recruiting = "Always Be Looking".

Follow these guidelines and success will be undeniable.  

1.  Get everyone involved: Everyone throughout the company should be involved proactively in looking for talent that could be a potential next employee. Our employees are brand ambassadors. Especially those that are in a customer facing role. Sales people engage with other people outside of the company on a daily basis. Someone at a next client meeting or networking function could be a potential prospect. Sales people should be the best at "selling" someone on the company.

Managers should also always be "casually interviewing" for potential future        openings in the same way as sales people. Using their industry knowledge and knowing the competition in the area gives keen insight into who else is out   there.

2.  Hold Managers Accountable: Managers should be held accountable to numbers and feel the sense of urgency just the same as HR and Recruiters. Performance plans should include these metrics. If they don't feel a sense of urgency how can they expect others to? Managers should also be held accountable to constantly be interviewing and engaging with prospects on a regular basis. It should become a second nature and not an odd occurrence.

3. Contact them before they someone else does: Being proactive means taking the initiative to reach out to those that maybe haven't considered a career change. Recruiting in a sense is selling. It is important to reach out to those in the market that are known well and have a solid track record. There are other companies and recruiters out there being proactive as well. If you don't find them and engage, then most likely someone else will and you could miss out on a potential top candidate.

4. Stay Engaged: Once you have made initial contact with prospects it is important to stay connected with them. Social Networks have made it easier to stay connected through sites like Linkedin and Facebook which help keep potential applicants more engaged throughout the "courting" process. Even when you don't have a position open in a specific area, staying connected with business updates and even personal changes can keep these potential prospects interested in still considering making a move in the future.

It is also possible to stay engaged outside of social networks as well. If you are not actively participating in social networks keep communication with potential     prospects through email and phone contact on a regular basis. Set up reminders in your outlook calendar to reach out to say hello. 

5. Always be honest. If there isn't an active opening available make sure that you are completely honest with the candidate. Let them know that they are only being considered for future openings and that there is no immediate opening. Give them an idea of a potential timeline. Granted a position could come open any day for unexpected and uncontrollable circumstances, but giving them some sort of expectation will leave them feeling more at ease and not put a bad taste in their mouth later on. If it could be a year before anything opens that is okay, just let them know upfront. Odds are through if they are actively looking for a change now, they may not be available once an actual opening arrives.

How to source for Proactive Prospects and How to NOT:

Proactive sourcing is a whole different ball game from sourcing for open jobs.  Posting a position and using the "sit and wait for them to apply" approach throws up many red flags in a proactive sourcing process. Proactive Postings cause several implications. The first issue with proactive job postings is that it impedes the ability to adhere to number 4 above, "Always be Honest". Posting a job that is not actively open is misleading. Even if the ad states that the posting is for proactive purposes most of the people applying actively for jobs are those in need of an immediate job. So while interviewing candidates that apply to a proactive job requisition may seem like a good idea, in the long run it will cause more issues. The three major issues include:

1. Candidates that apply to job postings are typically actively looking for a job in the immediate future. Passive candidates are generally not out searching for jobs now.
2. Candidates with more immediate needs tend to be very persistent in follow up. Even through you may tell them up front it is for proactive purposes they are not likely to sit and wait for you to call them back when a position is open. They will call continuously and may become more of a nuisance than anything.
3. Candidates actively seeking employment will most likely be off the market by the time a position within the company finally comes open. For those that are truly very unhappy in their current job or are currently unemployed; they can't just wait for a position to come open within the company. They will continue to actively interview with other companies and if they are any good it won't take long for them to find employment.

The best way to source for proactive candidates is through good old fashioned cold calling and networking. The best proactive candidates are those that are actively employed and happy with where they are. You won't find them posting their resumes to job boards or applying to active job openings. They are too busy being top performers for their current employers to stop and take a look at what else could be available. Not even job advertisement, as big and bold as they may be, can typically lure or entice someone that hasn't even thought about a career change.

That I why managers and other costumer facing employees become a pivotal piece of this process. Even if they don't actively engage with the prospect themselves, handing of leads to the recruitment team can speed up the process of finding great talent.

Seeking out talent and staying engaged with them is truly what it takes to make a proactive process successful. I hope this has helped guide you in the right direction for building a solid proactive process.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or have additional feedback? I'd love to hear from you....

Additional articles of reference:

1. "It's All About Talent Communities" Jeffrey Wheeler, May 21^st 2009: http://www.ere.net/2009/05/21/its-all-about-talent-communities/
2. "Lean Sourcing and Recruiting; Just In Time Recruiting" Boolean Black Belt, December 2008: http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/2008/12/lean-sourcing-and-recruiting-jit-candidate-acquisition/
3. "Job Posting vs. Searching for Candidates" Boolean Black Belt October 5^th 2009: http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/2009/10/job-posting-vs-searching-for-candidates/
4.  "Proactive or Reactive Recruitment?" Blog By Frank Pacheco 2005: http://community.ere.net/groups/association-of-employment-professionals/discussions/17715/
5. "Stop Holding Us Back! Problems and Roadblocks in Recruitment", Dr. John Sullivan, March 22^nd, 2004: http://www.ere.net/2004/03/22/stop-holding-us-back-problems-and-roadblocks-in-recruitment/

Anyone in the group had experience with sourcing candidates with user experience and have a best practice they would like to share? Our research team is engaged and building a pipeline but I would like to supplement the pipeline with candidates.  Targeted markets are Philadelphia, Charlotte and San Francisco.

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We have an ATS system we recently put in place but getting some pushback from managers in our Manufactuing area to utilize the tool (80% of workforce are manufactuing labored employees) . The ATS system we have is a paperless application process so potential workers will no longer be able to fill out paper applications.  Managers are affraid that their candidate pool will drop becuase they will not have access to a computer or will tend not to complete an on-line application due to difficulty in using a computer. Can anyone please respond on simular difficulties and how they were resolved? 

Hi all,

I am collecting some information regarding record retention.  What do you keep in your req folders and how long to you keep them?

Specifically I am looking for info regarding -

applications of those not hired

background check authorization forms of those not hired

resumes of candidates phone screened but not interviewed

job posting information

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone done a total cost comparison, or know of someplace I can get one, of some of the major ATS out there? It seems like in order to find out the general cost of an ATS, I have to go through a full demo first. Cost is a major concern for our organization, so I would like to know that, before spending an hour to do a demo with each one in order to find out. Any suggestions???

Can anyone tell me if they have ever promoted from within for a job that required a special area of expertise, and the person did not carry the technical experience at all, but had the right personality?

We have an open HR Manager position and we are trying to hire from within if at all possible.  If we get someone to apply with the right personality but no HR experience, do you think there is a chance they could handle it?  Or do you think it is neccessary to have the background in HR?  Keep in mind the "Manager" is over the entire HR department, not just responsible for their individual role.  Thoughts?  Ideas?  Suggestions?

Hello Everyone,

I am looking for information or resources for recruiting best practices in India.

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Greetings,

I am looking for third party recruiters that excel at recruiting Business Process Modelers and Enterprise Architects.  These are contract to hire positions in the DC metro working for a premier consulting firm that provides services to the Federal government. Please contact me at 703.248.8116 x210 or email eva.edwards@thcllc.com if you are interested in working together.

Thank you,
Eva Edwards

Hello Everyone, I'm in the market for a new ATS. I was previously using Vurve Express which was bought out by Taleo last year. Background: Company is construction consulting, 300 employees, and, due to the market downturn, I'm managing the recruiting function on my own (Recruiting Mgr).

Here's my issue: We DO NOT need anything fancy, nor do I want to personally manage an ATS that takes more time than if I were not to have one.

I'm looking for something that is easy to use, very basic, has the ability to post auto on our corporate website, automatically transfer resumes into the ATS (so I don't have to do it manually), and fairly inexpensive.

If you have ANY suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. I AM AWARE of the ATS vendors out there, so please only personally recommended systems that you have used that don't include the ones that we are ALL aware of.

Thanks again, Scott

Has anyone noticed that CareerBuilder charges WAY more than either HotJobs or Monster now?  How can they justify that?  Has anyone walked away from CareerBuilder? They are charging me the SAME as a year ago, and I don't understand it.  I am having a difficult time with my Account manager and he is never willing to negotiate.  I don't feel I have a competitive enough offer from them to justify staying, though we get good results.  Any thoughts?

I've heard that several job boards do not charge the rate card listed on their site and instead discount their prices based on a number of factors (e.g., guaranteed minimum spend, volume discounts, package deals, etc.)

Does anyone have examples of actual prices they've paid mass job boards (e.g., Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, etc.) as well as niche sites (e.g., TheLadders, Dice, 6figure jobs. JobsInTheMoney, Vault, WetFeet, LinkedIn, JobFox) for either job listings, resume database search, or other offerings (e.g., sponsorships)? If so, please list actual rates as well as any stipulations the job board required in order for you to secure the discounted rate (e.g., if you had to guarantee a minimum spend/volume in order to get the discount).

Even if you don�??t have specific numbers, any sort of trend info would be helpful (e.g., are mass job boards providing larger % discounts off rate card than niche job boards, or vice versa?)

Thanks in advance!

I am an experienced Recruiter seeking a new position in Kansas City.  I have corporate recruitment experience and am open to perm or contract positions.  I have been out of work for almost (1) year after my contract with Wachovia ended.  Please send all potential leads to yorkiemother2000@yahoo.com.  I very much appreciate any assistance.  Thanks!

Hi all,

We are taking a look at our metrics and wanted to check with others.  What metrics do you currently measure and what is the frequency?  Also, what do you benchmark against?

Thanks,

Coleen

Hi,

We are in the process of developing a policy around cell phone and home office (for remote employees) expense reimbursement.  We hope to address what standard equipment our company will provide and the standard amounts we will reimburse for cell phone, internet etc.

Does anyone have a policy or guidelines they would be willing to share?  I would greatly appreciate any help.

Thanks for your assistance!
Mary

Hi All,

Currently working as a Staffing Consultant (HR/Recruitment) for a small startup that just opened their doors 7 months ago.

The VP has asked me to implement the following:

PTO Policy ( right now everyone has vacation and there has been no true "Sick/Personal time", need to figure out how much to give and to make it one figure for everyone or grant different allowances for different levels, I:E assoc, VP etc)

Peformance evaluation policy - since we are a startup, timelines/deadlines are critical. We are currently using a quarterly ratings based system (1-5). Need to figure out should each quarterly review equate to bonus and or raise and if so how much (%)

I have spoken to friends that are HR Professionals but would love to hear what you folks think?

I am a Product Manager at Plaxo doing research into which online tools and resources in-house recruiters use and/or pay for in the search for talented candidates.

If anyone is interested in participating, please respond to this discussion or email me: dassi (at) plaxo.com

Thanks!
Dassi Shusterman
Sr. Product Manager
Plaxo

All,

I'll try to keep this short and simple. We recently landed some big projects, but staffing won't begin for a few months. Word got out to 3rd party recruiters and, of course, my phone started ringing. One external recruiter in-particular sent me a resume of a great candidate, but we have no contract in place and his assistance was not solicited. I'm always open to good candidates so I told him I would accept this specific candidate, but to not do anymore work on it and not to send anymore candidates until I had a chance to rake through the local market.

My dilemma: I spoke with his candidate and asked the typical "who do you know?" question. His candidate mentioned 2 people. Within 5 minutes of getting off the phone w/ the candidate, the external recruiter emailed saying "I've already spoken to the 2 referrals my candidate spoke of and they are aware of your company/need... let me know if you would like me to fwd their info".

So... do I bite the bullet and accept this (don't want to)? I'd like to tell him, if we end up hiring the first candidate you forwarded, I will pay your fee, but the others are fair game since I told you to back-off in the first place. I want to be fair, but I have a job to do at the same time.

I'm interested to know everyones thoughts!! Thanks.

HI!

I am interested in speaking with those of you who support multi-unit locations and use "dummy" job req's to capture candidates.  I am talking about job openings used to attract candidates when there is no opening.  If you would be willing to share your practice with me, please send me an email.

 Kind Regards,
Gary Kaufman
Sr. Recruiting Manager, N.A. Retail
Office Depot Global Headquarters

gary.kaufman@officedepot.com
 
Delivering Winning Solutions That Inspire Worklife^TM

The latest and greatest <at least in our own minds :) > from http://CivilEngineeringCentral.com:

Greetings everyone, I hope this email finds you all well.  I just wanted to drop you a few pieces of information in regards to some of the recent goings on at CivilEngineeringCentral.com.  Among other things, we are really hitting the social networking/web 2.0 world hardcore and we are excited for you to join us.  Check out all we have to offer and take a look at, click on or join whatever floats your boat:

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Check out our June 2009 e-newsletter.  Inspired by his recent attendance at a Chi Epsilon induction ceremony at Virginia Tech, Philip Shucet, past Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation made a concerted effort to reinvigorate the value of "being an engineer" in Virginia DOT. He penned "BE AN ENGINEER" for CivilEngineeringCentral.com's June Newsletter...a worthwhile read!  To view the entire article click follow this link: http://www.civilengineeringcentral.com/newsletterpage.php?nid=27&title=June%202009

Thanks for taking the time to view this message, we look forward to hearing from you and having you join us.

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building teams . engineering careers

We are looking at utilizing SmartPost for our external job posting needs.  Are any of you familiar with SmartPost or have you used it?  If so, please provide your opinion and comments.  Thanks.

Currently we offer candidates 7 days to think about our offers until the offer expires.  Our CFO thinks this is too long.  I wanted to see what others are doing.

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I posted, but I still read the digests.

I have a HUGE favor to ask. I had a guest cancel out on me this morning. I have a radio show that starts at 9AM EST called Views From the Top. I am having a panel of corporate recruiters on to discuss best practices for candidates to get noticed and recruited by corporate recruiters. A guest has come down with the flu so I need a replacement ASAP. Please contact me directly if you are interested. I need to hear from you no later than 8:30AM EST. Send a short one paragraph bio and a number I can reach you. The dial in number for the show is 347-215-9362 and the link to the show is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/viewsfromthetop. My email is a.d.graham@comcast.net. I prefer corporate recruiters to respond to keep the balance of the panel. You must be able to be on the call at least 45 minutes. This is an opportunity for you to plug your openings and company on the air.

Thank you!!

Adrienne Graham

I am looking for Best Practices information regarding number of professional hires per month for Corporate Recruiters. I have researched ERE archives and CLC. Please reply with either your average number of professional hires per month or suggestions on where I can go to find this metric, thanks!