By Kathleen Smith
Thanks to several programs and general awareness a focus in recruiting now is the candidate experience. While this is all good, we have to remember that not all candidates are created equal. 
Attracting Younger Professionals into the Intelligence Community
By Kathleen Smith
There has been a lot written about the challenges of recruiting, hiring and retaining Millennials. At a recent Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA ) event Millennials, the Community and Social Media panelists discussed how this generation is impacted and can have an impact in the intelligence community.
Recruiting: It's Not All In The Name
By Derek Zeller
It’s true. In fact there is an interesting perception that because you’re big, you are better. Everyone wants to work for you. Who wouldn’t want to work at Google, Amazon, and Apple? Apparently there are a few. How can I back up this statement? Well, in my best Jim Carey voice “LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING!!”
The reason I know this is that ALL these companies have recruiters, ALL of them. Now why would that be? They have a great brand, everyone knows who they are. Why do you need recruiters? You need them to get the people.
Although they know of you, they are:
1) Afraid of the machine
2) Wary of the process
3) Been burnt before
4) They just aren’t that in to you
We are the agents of the company we work for. We are RECRUITERS. The very definition of recruit is “someone who supplies members or employees”. Having a big name may be part of the picture but relying on it is silly. We need to, yes I am going there, SELL our company to the candidate. I know there will be multiple postings on recruiting is not sales etc. but get over it. It just is. I know that a stellar candidate is going to be chased after by Google and Microsoft. Both great companies so who wins? IMO the company with the better recruiter does. I know, I know, there are many variables but at the end of the day the recruiter is the final voice the candidate hears and trusts. If you were doing it right, you were closing them from the very beginning.
I don’t recruit for a large company. I recruit for a medium sized Government contractor in DC. I recruit for some of the most difficult to find, capture, and retain talent in the world. These folks are Cyber and IT and all have clearances. There are a lot of “Big Boys” here Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, etc. They all have a brand. They are all well known. I compete against their recruiters with 10 times the budget that we have and guess what? I beat out the big companies almost every time when it comes down to winning the talent. Why? I SELL my company with all that I have to get these folks. My method is simple. I know what they do. I listen to what they want. I make the match. I pre-sell the opportunity and am listening to them all the way through the process. I don’t rely on a “Big Boy” reputation with the arrogance that they MUST want to work for my company because blah blah blah. 
This rant is really for my brothers and sisters in the corporate world and was not written to chastise you or your company. In fact a few folks, Amy Ala, Cathy Anderson, and Will Thompson are some of the most passionate and talented recruiters I know. They work for large very well-known companies and they use that to their advantage. They never take it for granted and neither should you. No matter who you recruit for do it with passion. Do it with honesty and credibility. The candidate will know it. #truestory
Derek Zeller is a Senior IT Recruiter with ARTI, Inc. You can connect with Derek on LinkedIn or Twitter
Job Postings Are Not Dead – Part 2
By Ben Gotkin
Somewhere along the line, recruiting technology became ‘self-aware’, allowing organizations to mindlessly post all of their jobs to job boards globally, big and small. It was in the late 90’s and it was pegged as the solution to our sourcing challenges. For the first time ever, candidates could ‘easily’ and quickly apply online for just about any job. In fact, they could apply to multiple jobs with a click of a button. It was supposed to make life easier for all of us, instead it caused massive congestion in the system and a poor experience for all. [Read more…]
How To Think Like A Marketer
By Lexi Gordon
It all comes down to marketing. When a political candidate is lobbying for votes, he’s campaigning. I would argue he’s marketing. When a lawyer makes it to partner, she’s no longer practicing law, she’s marketing the firm’s services to bring in new business. When a recruiter is seeking out candidates, he’s recruiting. I call that marketing. [Read more…]
The Gap: Increasing Employee Retention Through Increasing Its Minimum Wage
By Lexi Gordon
As part of my morning routine, I was sifting through emails on my iPhone today when I came across an email from Gap Inc. with the subject line, “Gap is doing more…” I normally delete these sorts of promotional emails, but this subject line was catchy enough to get me to click through. I assumed it was some sort of corporate social responsibility effort, like reusing waste products from the supply chain or partnering with a non-profit. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had to do with increasing the minimum hourly rate of their employees to $9 in 2014 and to $10 in 2015. As a customer and former employee of the Gap, I applaud the company, and it’s not necessarily because I feel strongly one way or the other about the minimum wage debate.
Did You Give A Valentine?
By Kathleen Smith
For a lot of people Valentine’s Day just sucks. The advertisements, the sentiment and “ohs and ahs” on Facebook about what someone else got. What did you get? Nothing. Zip. Nada. This may remind you of being at the high school dance and no one asked you to dance, or when they picked teams for dodge ball, and you were the last one standing on the sidelines. The one no one wanted.
[Read more…]
One Small Step…..
By Kathleen Smith
It’s the New Year, and lots of resolutions have been already broken. It’s the second full work week of the New Year, and you want to do more with less, update your recruiting style, or just be a bit more effective. There are lots of silver bullets being touted and buzzword bingo clouding up the recruiting blogsphere to the point that it is easier to fall back into old habits. 
To me old school is best: Golden rule. No matter the technology you use, how you treat the candidate is going to reflect in your effectiveness. My advice? Reexamine your resolutions, and just add one small thing that you can do to change your candidate relationship.
Big changes come from small steps; one small thing to do every day. Big changes tend to lead to monumental disappointments, so start small. What is the one thing you can do each day to treat those “people” in your pipeline just a bit better? You’re not trying to launch a missile, just one new step like flossing your teeth. (My dentist dad would be proud).
Last year at one of the recruitDC networking events, Social Media in the Defense Contracting Space, Mike Bruni, Jay Perreault and Derek Zeller shared some key tips on social media in my community which were really about treating candidate conversations with respect and integrity.
Some tips were:
- Out of Office messages: I loved Jay’s tip to have an out of office every time he was out of the office, like at the end of the business day or the weekends, with a link to hot jobs, or helpful job seeker articles.
- Derek and Mike pounded the audience with “answer &*(*)(^ your emails! “ which happens to be a #1 complaint of job seekers. Yes we all get emails, in fact we all like complaining on how many thousands we get. Get organized, set up file folders for your emails. You know all those LinkedIn messages you get, set up an Outlook folder, create a rule and get them out of your inbox.
- Don’t hide behind your email and voicemail: this is a people business, talk to “people”!
- Don’t be lazy – sorry, but this is true – too many of us hide behind social media rather than get out in front of it and do true social media – actually talking to someone.
What more?
Create your brand which clearly outlines how candidates get in touch with you, and what you are recruiting for. If you have a candidate who doesn’t meet your needs, give feedback, or a referral. And if you are one of those recruiters who would like to hire more veterans, especially now that the tax credit has expired, definitely give feedback to your military candidates as to why they didn’t get the job or the interview. Giving feedback to veterans is one small step that will have a big impact for our country and your pipeline. Why? In the military community, if someone doesn’t reach a goal, they are supported and trained again until they do.
But why in the world go to all of this trouble? Well it pays off in leveraging your talent pipeline.
The statistics on treating candidates better show you how you can leverage that small step to have an impact on your overall recruiting. In an upcoming whitepaper from CareerXroads which will be found on the Candes website, shares responses from 46,000+ candidates about their experience when applying to one of 90 firms.
Of those candidates with a positive experience…
62.0% would be ‘extremely likely’ to re-apply in the future
61.5% would ‘actively encourage’ others to apply
82.3% would share their positive experience with their ‘inner circle”.
50.4% would share their positive experience publicly [online, blogs, etc.]
Of those candidates with a negative experience…
24.7% would ‘definitely not’ re-apply in the future.
27.0% would ‘actively discourage someone else from applying’.
65.0% would share their negative experience with their ‘inner circle’.
32.0% would share their negative experience publicly.
Or you can wait until Matt Charney’s petition to the Department of Labor to create and enforce candidate experience compliance guidelines.
Kathleen Smith is the Chief Marketing officer for ClearedJobs.net. You can connect with her on Twitter at @YesItsKathleen. Follow ClearedJobs.net at @ClearedJobsNet
Super Girl Power – Looking Back At recruitDC
By Kerry Noone
I have an image similar to this on my bulletin board above my desk and much to my surprise every time I look at it I am able to take a deep breath and remember I am human. It’s a simple reminder that I am only one person and I can only do so much even when it feels like I have a “to do” list that will run me into retirement.
Like you, I have limited resources. By resources I don’t just mean time and money, I also mean content, creativity, patience, and motivation. To me, social media is like laundry. There will always be another pair of socks to wash, dry and fold. Managing a brand – whether a corporate brand or your personal brand – is never ending. There is no finish line. There is always something more to mange especially when you’re using social media to connect with candidates.
When I was asked to participate in #recruitDC I said, “YES” even before I knew how I might be able to participate. In all honesty, recruitDC is the one conference I have been to multiple years in a row and have left a better person each and ever time. Too dramatic? I think not. I like social media… a lot. But, I love my family more. And as a team of one, I love (love, love love) learning about new tools or tips that will help me manage the day-to-day activities so I can enjoy my family. I learn something new every time I attend a recruitDC event. A tip here, a tip there… it adds up!
#ICYMI: A recap of the 60 Fast & Furious Tips for using Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Quora, and Linkedin as presented at recruitDC last month. It was honor being a part of this rock star (all female) panel!
1. Be gradually active. Select one social media channel at a time and check in at least once daily #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
2. One size does not fit all. Know which Social Media sites are right for your business #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
3. Cultivate your own voice. Human touch will drive engagement and help your followers actually get to know you #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
4. Say it with pictures. People love pictures #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
5. Utilize tools to schedule posts. Leverage tools to promote your brand, schedule posts, manage accounts #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
6. Pre-schedule but be mindful. Don’t be afraid to schedule tweets. Delete scheduled tweets during a crisis #recruitDC via @KerryNoone (hey, that’s me!) Click to tweet!
7. Have a cohesive look. Avoid the 3 faces of Eve. Look the same across all social spaces #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
8. Collect and cultivate content. Subscribe to industry Newsletters to capture content of interest to your audience #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
9. Embrace hashtags. Consider the keywords your audience may use in their job search #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
10. Make Tweets and Posts Shareable. Leave enough characters to encourage retweets #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
11. Include call to actions when sharing content in order to gauge engagement #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
12. Make it easy for candidates to find you. Claim your user name in advance try namechk.com to check availability #recruitDC via @kerrynoone Click to tweet!
13. Be prepared for people to recognize and approach you when you are offline #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
14. Create google alerts to have content fed directly to your inbox. Create Inbox Folders for those Alerts #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
15. Encourage brand ambassadors. Provide easy to follow guidelines & empower & encourage employees #recruitDC via @KerryNoone Click to tweet!
16. Try #Dribbble for Designers a platform for candidates to showcase their talents #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
17. Pay it forward and remember to have a “What Can I Do For You” attitude #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
18. Keep your Linkedin contact organized for easy communication Tag your connections for easy communications #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
19. Search hashtags using statigr.am Credit others posting team/culture photos using the app #InstaRepost #recruitDC via @kerrynoone Click to tweet!
20. Try followerwonk.com to connect with your followers by location and keywords #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
21. Use #Instajob app to increase engagement on instagram and jazz up your jobs posts #recruitDC via @kerrynoone Click to tweet!
22. Be sure to promote links to your social media profiles so your target audience can find and connect with you #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
23. Personalize your Pinterest Boards (ie. “words of careers wisdom,” interview fashion, recruiter profiles) #recruitDC via @kerrynoone Click to tweet!
24. Create Your Own twitter lists to manage sources and follow others #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
25. Use #Quora for learning more about topics you’re interested in and find the leaders in those areas #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
26. Social Media is a Two Way Street. Allow visitors to share opinions on your social media sites #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
27. Use Hoover’s mobile app to source candidates #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
28. Make a bigger impact on Facebook- current algorithm prefers posts with photos or video over links or text #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
29. Take advantage of peak sharing times on social media #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
30. Use Facebook Graph + Like feature to find prospects who could be a cultural fit for your organization #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
31. Leverage #GitHub to learn more about how best to connect with candidates #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
32. Repackage content on Slideshare to help explain simple or complicated topics #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
33. Social media is not just prospecting, you need to build a relationship first Casting a wide net #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
34. Create music videos with #Animoto. It’s fun to share quick ideas #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
35. Target followers with lists to avoid overwhelming candidates with #TMI on various platforms via @francescapalmer via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
36. Interact with Your Audience in order to build trust. Ask and questions, retweet/share, follow those who follow you #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
37. Identify relevant industry conferences; then network with the Speakers/Presenters/Keynotes #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
38. Embed YouTube videos in Slideshare and provide an easy share format #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
39. Think globally. If you’re doing a campaign that’s global, you may need to run two campaigns #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
40. Create videos for Instagram try #Zoomforth to create short videos of people at work #recruitDC via @kerrynoone Click to tweet!
41. Develop your ROIs. Make sure you track your sucesses! Even the little ones make a huge impact #recruitDC via @celindaappleby Click to tweet!
42. Doing incentive promotions to liven up campaigns. Remember channels have rules for how to do promotions #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
43. Investigate New Social Media & How To Integrate It i.e. try Flixel for video ads #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
44. The pinch and squeeze is not fun. Is your social accessible via mobile? #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
45. Use the rule of thirds in social media: 1/3 sharing own content, 1/3 RTs & 1/3 should admin tasks #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
46. Always think mobile first in doing social media #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
48. You will have mistakes. It’s OK to walk away from a post or a campaign that you thought would be amazing #recruitDC via @celindaappleby Click to tweet!
49. Understand your reach and scale – i.e. Facebook content typically only reaches 16% of the intended audience. Scary! #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
50. Response times matters. Operate on a 24 hour response time w/ social comments – even the negative ones #recruitDC via @celindaappleby Click to tweet!
51. Be transparent in your #socialmedia conversations. Don’t be tempted to delete or hide comments you don’t like #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
52. Use a tool like #QueSocial to give your content further reach and empower your recruiters #recruitDC via @celindaappleby Click to tweet!
53. Test content with metrics to the responses, views, likes, engagement learn what matters #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
54. Understand the mobile experience – test to see what candidates will see – you may be surprised #recruitDC via @Jessica_Lee Click to tweet!
55. One post can get “lost” but 2, 3, 4 or 5 will be grouped together and peak interest #recruitDC via @kerrynoone Click to tweet!
56. Your Audiences Grow Up – pay attention to what #socialmedia tools your audience is using #recruitDC via @yesitskathleen Click to tweet!
57. Promote Others… Give Shout Outs to encourage engagement #recruitDC via @hbienia Click to tweet!
58. Don’t get sloppy. Punctuation matters – you’ll be more likely to have people share your content #recruitDC via @ACD20 Click to tweet!
59. The power of a phone call or handwritten note is still very powerful! #recruitDC via @EngilityCorp Click to tweet!
60. Always thank your audience! #recruitDC via @francescapalmer Click to tweet!
And, I have one last tip to add to this list of 60 above. Use Click to Tweet to add links to encourage easy content sharing.
Kerry Noone is Employer Brand Program Manager at Amtrak. You can follow her progress on Twitter @AmtrakCareers as she develops this new talent community for job seekers in the railroad industry or @KerryNoone as she continues to build her personal brand.
It's all about local – recruitDC
By Derek Zeller
So what is the value of a LOCAL recruiting conference? Why go? What could I possibly gain from this? I mean there are lots of conferences to go to. ERE, SHRM, Sourcecon, Talent42, etc. They are national stages and days long seminars and meetings. They offer the biggest speakers for 30 minutes snippets of knowledge. What would a LOCAL conference, RecruitDC, have to offer a senior recruiter like me? I decided that it would be fun and since my good friend asked if I would speak at a break out session I decided why not, sounds like fun. What happened surprised me by what I did get out of it.
- I got to engage with my professional peers that do what I do in the local area. I.E. they know the daily pains and struggles of finding and reporting in the way we do.
- I was able to listen to some engaging speakers that told me there best practices. What makes them successful and how I can walk on a paved road, not a dirt one.
- It was great to catch up with old friends in the industry and shake the hands of those I have not met.
- In a world of social media it was great to put a name to a face on people. There are some I had chatted with for months who I have never met in person.
- I was able to hear a great sourcer share some insights that I did not have on websites that he used to find hard to find candidates.
- A truly moving and motivating speech by a Marine that served his country and reminded me that there are always struggles it’s how you handle them.
- Personally I got the chance to speak at the conference about something I am passionate about to a room full of my peers with a REALLY BIG SCREEN.
You see for me it is not JUST the actual conference that mattered. It is what you take away from it that does. Not SWAG or a free lunch but the education part of it. It was the people I got to meet that I could meet up with AGAIN and really get a chance to learn and talk with them. We were local. We could plan to spend time with each other and it was just the right size that after the conference you could even get some one on one time with your favorite speaker!
Then there was the follow up. So here was my two weeks following the conference.
- Five meetings with vendors offering products that I not only use but could get at a better price and they were local
- Four meetings with fellow recruiters learning how we could start best practices with each other’s companies in hiring and share knowledge
- Three meetings with younger starting out recruiters that wanted advice from an old salty tech recruiter like myself.
- One BIG meeting with my a vendor to find out that we have a way of doing business with each other and help each other win work in the area!
Conferences for the most part for me and much of the general public are just large parties disguised as a working learning session and not an “I always wanted to go to that city” type of thing. This was a true social meet up. Looking back I am really glad that Kathleen asked a guy to buck up and come to RecruitDC this year. Smartest thing I have done in a while and it was worth the $70 for sure. I hope to see you all at the next one and when you are there come up and say hello!
Derek Zeller is a senior corporate technical recruiter within both the Federal and commercial spaces. He has been both a contractor and permanent employee and has worked both the agency and corporate side of the house. Find him on Twitter @derdiver and blogging on http://www.recruitingblogs.com
