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Hire A Veteran To Be Your Next Recruiter

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Ed Note: This was reposted from The Cynical Girl with permission from the author
By Laurie Ruettimann

There are three major problems plaguing modern-day recruiting.

  • The myth of the passive candidate. Far too many people say, “If they want to work here, we don’t want them. Keep looking.”
  • The paradox of choice.When faced with 600 resumes in an applicant tracking system and 50 resumes from internal referrals, recruiters don’t triage those resumes and dig in. They continue to look because the perfect candidate is probably. out. there. somewhere.
  • The implementation of unscientific, culture-based hiring methodologies. Instead of hiring for competency, recruiters screen candidates for likability. They make hiring recommendations based on invalid and unsubstantiated criteria.

Recruiters can fix these three problems. Recruiters can move faster, hire people, and respond to candidates who don’t meet specific criteria.

But they don’t.

The reasons are complex. Boring. You’ve heard it all before. And without competition from working managers who do their own recruiting, modern talent acquisition teams have the luxury to be slow and dull. Technology is an obvious foil, too. It’s easy to blame broken processes and systems without accepting accountability. And instead of using big data to show results, today’s human resources leaders and recruiters often use small data to cover their tracks. They are more inclined to show how hard they are allegedly working — with all kinds of first world problems and obstacles like “too many candidates” — instead of showing how their actions link with revenue and profitability.

So I have an idea. If you lead a human resources group or a talent acquisition team — or you are an executive or entrepreneur in the market for a corporate recruiter — I strongly urge you to hire someone who can get stuff done. Hire someone with solid project management skills. Hire someone with a different perspective on how people can accomplish great things even under the most difficult circumstances. Hire someone who knows the difference between truth and bullshit.

Hire a veteran to be your next recruiter.

Read the rest of the post here

Laurie Ruettimann pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in human resources. Her expertise as an HR leader in Fortune 500 organizations allows her to frame the world as it used to be known. Now, as a woman in the thick of the social world, Laurie blogs about human resources, technology and employment at The Cynical Girl. 

Devoted To Educating Our Own

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By Ben Gotkin
ben gotkin2As we close in on completing our 4th year at recruitDC, I look back with tremendous pride with what we’ve accomplished.  Myself and several others sensed a significant void in recruiter education and networking in the DC market and in the Fall of 2009, we decided to do something about it.  Fast forward to Fall of 2013, and we’ve held 7 sold out conference events averaging 200-250 attendees.  This year, we added to the opportunities to connect be producing 5 smaller Meetup events.  Our website (www.recruitdc.org) was also launched, offering a steady stream of blog posts and information of interest to the local recruiter community.

recruitDC is a not-for-profit, grassroots organization staffed by volunteers, on the Board, supporting the Board, and supporting our events.  What we do is a labor-of-love, as we all share the belief that the more the recruiters in our community get up and away from their desk, and out to learn, connect and grow, the better off the entire recruiting community will be.   Better educated recruiters mean that companies are able to make better hires and deliver a better candidate experience, both of which have a significant impact on those company’s bottom lines, which ultimately has a positive impact on the local economy.  Think I’m exaggerating?  I don’t think so.  Our local economy is primarily a knowledge and service economy, in the end, it’s all about the people, and companies need to make the right hires to optimize their success.

But we are not alone.  For the past several months, I have been engaging in a conversation with my peers from local recruiter groups in other markets around the country.  Each of these groups is independent and unique in their own ways, but ultimately we all share the same devotion to educating and connecting our communities.  Our dialogue has been focused on what we can all learn from each other to enable all of us to continue to deliver great learning and networking events and opportunities. Last week in Las Vegas at the Recruiting Trends Conference, I met in person for the first time with my peers from groups in Minneapolis, Atlanta and Denver.  It was a great experience, and started to lay the groundwork for the future.  I am always energized by being around other recruiters.  To be around others like myself who are energized and devoted to growing their local communities was pretty amazing.

We have one more event this Fall, which should be another great one.  For the first time, we are hosting a conference event in Maryland, this time at the historic AFI Silver Theater.  If you haven’t registered yet, seats are still available to connect with your peers and learn from local and national experts about recruiting analytics, mobile recruiting, effective influencing and social media.  Please click the link below to learn more and register.  Hope to see you there and we look forward to even bigger and better things for recruitDC in 2014!

https://recruitdcfall2013.eventbrite.com/

Recruiters – Why Don't We Scrum More?

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By Pete Radloff

Timely. Detailed. Manager. Feedback.

When you read that, you have one of two likely reactions. They are probably either “I’m sorry, what did you say? Was that English?” or “Oh, you mean when a manager says ‘hmmm, Not a fit'”. Let’s face it, regardless of whether you are an internal or external recruiter, getting timely and detailed feedback and information is usually a challenge. Feedback and a solid heads up can very much resemble the purple squirrel we’re all always in search of. So what can we do? We’re all at the mercy of the hiring manager who makes the final call, right? Well, what if we turned the feedback model on it’s head?

Many of you who recruit for technical and/or engineering roles are familiar with the Scrum development methodology. Not familiar? NO PROBLEM. It’s not just for engineers! Scrum is a methodology that incorporates the idea of fast development cycles, frequent releases and quick stand-ups versus long, drawn out, “Death by Powerpoint” meetings. Hmm, maybe the developers are on to something here.

If we start to think and work like the client teams we’re supporting, there’s a greater chance of success of us getting what we need. For our purposes, let’s focus on the quick standup here. Consider these outcomes as part of moving toward a more Scrum mentality when working with hiring managers:

Quicker Feedback
By scheduling 10-15 minute stand-ups on the books with hiring managers, you can get detailed feedback on phone interviews, submitted candidates, and any tweaks they want to make to the profile in real time. Also, with their schedules, 10-15 minutes is easier than 30-60 minutes. Now you can get the info you need to pivot, or to keep the trains moving forward with candidates. And at the end of the day, quick feedback is an integral part of any candidate experience.

Work How They Work
Eternally, recruiters are trying to move to a model where they “have a seat at the table” so that they can be seen as business partners versus order takers. This is an ideal way to show that you get it. You understand how quick they need to move, and you want to work within those parameters.

Client Service & Personal Touch
Scrums are a much more effective way to have a personal touch point with your managers. Seeing their recruiter frequently helps build familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. Respecting their time, and still getting what you need is a win-win for both sides. And let’s be real…..no one reads emails. A harsh truth, but a truth nonetheless. And isn’t 15 minutes talking better spent than say, 4 hours a week playing email tag?

Stay On Top Of The Needs
In addition to having your Scrum meeting with your managers, try to join in on a couple of the development scrums. Sure, most of what is discussed will not apply directly to recruiting. But during those meetings, occasionally the future needs are discussed, or they talk about where they are bottlenecked and may need additional heads. This my friends, is proactive recruiting at it’s genesis. Again, it’s part of building a sense of trust among not only the managers, but the team as well.

This might be most useful in the technical arena, but it can definitely be parlayed across multiple business units with some modifications. And, since we’re all looking to show that we can help drive the business, this is a potentially helpful way to demonstrate that to you teams.

Have you incorporated this at your organization? I’d love to hear your take on this.

Here are a couple of fun takes on incorporating Scrum in your process:

Pete Radloff is a member of the recruitDC Board of Directors, and a recruitment consultant with NPR and exaqueo. You can connect with Pete on LinkedIn and on Twitter

Fall 2013 RecruitDC Tickets Now Available!

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The recruitDC fall event is coming on November 14, 2013! Join us for a morning of information sharing, networking and learning with your DC area recruiting colleagues. We’ll be descending on the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD for our venue.
Visit the Eventbrite site to grab your tickets so you don’t miss out!

As always, a tremendous THANK YOU to all of our sponsors: Indeed, WANTED Analytics, Cleared Jobs.net and Brazen Careerist!

7:30am to 8:30am Registration and Networking

8:30am to 8:40am Welcome Remarks

8:40am to 9:45am – Keynote Presentation – Big Data is Interesting, but Little Data is Critical! Tom Becker, VP Recruiting, Manpower

The role and function of the talent acquisition leader is in significant transformation. CEOs and senior leaders are increasingly looking for the talent acquisition function to be more data driven and to better articulate their ROI. There seems to be a new set of skills which talent acquisition leaders much have to be successful. These skills are change management, process management and most important data management. This session will address how “little data” has big significance in how companies can transform data into insights to drive performance. Next generation companies are using talent data to predict hiring demand and focus their talent acquisition functions on key positions which constrain the organization. They are also using performance management technology to build sophisticated models to optimize their teams and to deliver real-time data to their key stakeholders!

9:45am to 10:15am Break

Breakout Sessions

10:15am to 11:15am
Call me, maybe: Mobile recruiting is here… now what?
There’s a lot of hype when it comes to mobile recruiting – but at many companies, it’s still a relatively new concept. You may feel pressure to begin scrambling to put the right tools in place but where should you start? And what are the watchout’s and gotcha’s? Through this panel, local recruiting leaders from Marriott International, GEICO, Amtrak and MITRE will share their insights on developing a mobile strategy and implementation tips… because they have actually lived through it.

Key takeaways will include:
– Key trends driving the need to develop a mobile recruiting strategy
– Mobile recruiting vendor landscape and considerations
– Implementation insights and advice

Moderator: Jessica Lee – Director, Digital Talent Strategy – Marriott International – Panelists: Kerry Noone, Employer Brand Manager, Amtrak; Shannon Smedstad HR Social Media & Employment Brand Leader, GEICO; Gary Cluff, Corporate Recruiting Manager, MITRE

OR

10:15am to 11:15am
Exerting Influence: How to Build Interest, Trust and Confidence in New Candidates, Ideas and Tactics
Recruiters and recruiting leaders are constantly working to build trust–with candidates, vendors and their own leaders. This trust is necessary to make the case for joining the organization, adopting innovations in the organization or convincing a hiring manager that a unique candidate is the best fit. During this panel, four leading recruiting professionals will talk about their successes in building trust to exert influence in the organization. They’ll share both internal and external examples of how to make the right case and what data, direction and emotion is needed to get that win. We often talk about the skills recruiters need to be successful but overlook the behaviors. If you want to take your recruiting organization forward and innovate with new candidates, ideas and tactics, you don’t want to miss this session.

Moderator: Susan LaMotte, Founder & Principal Consultant, exaqueo – Panelists: Bill Blackford, Recruiting Manager, Merlin International; MIke Bruni, Talent Acquisition Manager, SAIC/Leidos, National Security Sector; Luke Daniel Mann, Technical Recruiter, Northrop Grumman Information Systems; Lars Schmidt, NPR, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition & Innovation.

11:15am to 11:30am Break

11:30am to 12:30pm
Closing Session: Fast and Furious: 60 Social Media Tips in 60 Minutes!
In this lightening round session, local social media superstars share their quick tips on making social media more effective for recruiting, building brand and connecting. This is a great way to end the morning with 60 tips to walk out the door with to make difference in how you connect with your community.

Moderator: Kathleen Smith, ClearedJobs.Net; Panelists: Adelia Curtis, Living Social; Holly Biena, Capital One; Kerry Noone, Amtrak, Francesca Hawk, AIS and a few more rock stars for spotlight tips!
And more….Would you like to participate? Submit your social media tip during registration and maybe your tip will be picked!

A Recruiting Life – What's The Path For Me?

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By Conor Nicholson
Ask a recruiter where they’ll be in five or ten years and see what they say. I’m willing to bet the vast majority would respond with “I have no idea” or something to that effect. That exact scenario played out last month when recruitDC founder Ben Gotkin asked the crowd if they had a career path for the next five years. There were more than 100 people in the room and at most, one or two recruiters raised their hands. The fact of the matter is, we are in a constantly evolving field with no clear path. In many cases, we make up the rules as we go along.

My own career mirrors that of many recruiters out there. After graduating from the University of Maryland, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Somehow, I landed at Sapphire Technologies as an agency recruiter. This is where the majority of recruiters learn the fundamentals of recruiting; networking, sourcing, screening, negotiating and closing. I worked with an incredible team and to this day, remain close friends with my old co-workers, including recruitDC board member Pete Radloff.

As every agency recruiter can attest to, you will eventually burn out. The agency world is akin to a roller coaster as there are unbelievable highs and excruciating lows, sometimes in the same day. I spent 3 ½ years at Sapphire and was able to land a corporate recruiting job at TASC. It was only then that I saw firsthand the impact a quality recruiter can have on an organization.

In 2010, after more than ten years as an individual contributor, I started to yearn for a new challenge. Some folks naturally progress to Recruiting Manager but that that never appealed to me. During that time and by sheer coincidence, an old co-worker asked if I could help him find a contract recruiter. We found a guy and for the first time in my professional life, I found something I was truly passionate about. Three months later, I dedicated all of my time and efforts to growing Nicholson Staffing Solutions.

Every step taken was my own decision and there were never clear directions and no one gave me a roadmap. My career progression amounts to taking a number of calculated risks. Certain fields have a defined path like Law, Accounting or Medicine. After a certain number of years of hard work, you can make partner or become the head surgeon. Recruiting is a stark contrast as the field didn’t exist until the second half of the twentieth century and to my knowledge, no university in this country offers a Talent Acquisition degree. Hopefully that changes in the future but it won’t help those of us already in the profession.

As recruiters, we constantly interact with people both inside and outside of our organization. The savvy recruiter is constantly networking and extending his/her sphere of influence. They are always on the lookout for a new challenge and on occasion, an opportunity presents itself. Odds are, there is no guarantee for success. You have to be willing to take a chance and fail. If it doesn’t work out, it’s not the end of the world and you are better prepared for the next opportunity to advance.

My advice to any recruiter wondering what their next step should be is to ask yourself the following question: “What am I truly passionate about?” Your answer provides insight as to where you can potentially carve your niche. When fellow career development panelist Celinda Appleby asked herself that question, she realized she wanted to become a social media expert. Now she is the a Digital & Social Media Program Manager at HP. I doubt this position existed before she accepted it.

Some aspire to lead a recruiting organization so they work diligently and get promoted to Recruiting Manager and eventually, Recruiting Director. In many cases, the current Recruiting Director isn’t looking to leave so they have to look outside of the organization for advancement. As more and more companies realize that Talent Acquisition is directly connected to the bottom line, more and more Recruiting Director positions are sprouting up. This gives recruiters the chance to test their own theories in terms of what works and what doesn’t. While they might not want to admit it, a lot of what they do is experiment as there is rarely, if ever, a clear cut answer to the problems that they face. This is where metrics and return on investment come into play.

For others, training and organizational development suit their skills and personality so they seek out roles at large organizations, which typically have a much larger training budget. Some are able to take a consultative approach and bill themselves out to all sorts of companies, large and small.
There are an infinite number of potential career paths in the world of recruiting. Are you a superstar sourcer? Do you like tracking metrics? Do you enjoy public speaking? Maybe you can secure a spot in the conference circuit and make presentations at places like ERE and SHRM. Some prefer to write and are able to make a living by freelancing.

The unifying theme is that the responsibility for career development rests squarely upon the shoulders of the recruiter. No one is going to sit you down and tell you what you need to do. It really is up to you. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some incredible mentors in my career and advise every recruiter to seek out those willing to share their wisdom. Overall, we are a helpful breed and most are willing to guide folks with less experience.

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. Recruiting is like life; you get out of it what you put into it.

Conor Nicholson of Nicholson Staffing.
Conor Nicholson is the founder, President and CEO of Nicholson Staffing Solutions, a DC based firm that specializes in placing recruiters. He learns something new every day and loves helping fellow recruiters meet their potential. Follow him on Twitter at @nicholsonstaff

It's all about local – recruitDC

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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.

DerekZeller Spring 13 (1)

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!

DerekZeller Spring 13 (2)

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

Reflections From RecruitDC

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By Celinda Appleby

me1After my participation in the RecruitDC Career Development Panel, I took the time to reflect on both my presentations and all of the others.  What I love about attending the RecruitDC conference and mini- networking events is that I am guaranteed to walk away reenergized to approach my career in a different way and with new friends.  The social aspect of RecruitDC may be my favorite part; the ability to connect with like-minded individuals is really important not just for sanity but for personal growth. Often times, my peers (me included) feel like we as Recruiters and Sourcers are stuck in a life of recruiting; chasing the candidates and closing the deals. But I want to take the time to refocus on the fact that you can take destiny into your own hands. You can walk away from a RecruitDC event and look at recruiting in a whole different way.

That happened to me, 2.5 years ago at a Spring RecruitDC event at the Gartner Building. It was my very first RecruitDC conference. The closing keynote was about Social Recruiting and I recall being one of three people in the room that was not using it for talent attraction (at least being honest and not raising their hands).  I took over 10 pages of notes and left that conference full of curiosity and excitement for this new sourcing avenue. The impact of that one keynote turned my entire career around.  I would never have imagined the career I have now, before that RecruitDC conference.  It wasn’t an easy path, but without the information, the knowledge sharing and the network I depended on it wouldn’t have even been possible.

I want to empower everyone with taking the time to reflect on the lessons learned and the connections made at RecruitDC last week. Dedicate an hour to strategizing your career. Incorporate the key takeaways that can influence the way you run your desk. Reach out to the people that really resonated with you and invite them to your networks.  There may not be a clear career path for us Recruiters, but find a way to make yourself invaluable and directly impact your customers. This can apply for both agency and corporate enterprises, as we are all in the same industry.

Celinda Appleby is the Employer Branding, Digital & Social Media Program Manager, HR Global Operations, Americas Staffing Organization for HP.  Follow Celinda at @CelindaAppleby. 

 

recruitDC: What Does The C-Suite Want To Know About Talent Acquisition?

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We’re looking forward to another packed house at the Spring 2013 recruitDC event. There will be numerous session that provide valuable best practices and tools for recruiting practitioners at all levels throughout the day. We’ll be opening this year’s spring recruitDC event with a panel moderated by Sarah Halzack, Business Reporter at The Washington Post, featuring local HR and Talent leaders.

Learn more about the panel and speakers below.

The headline for this year’s “Post 200″ a Washington Post review of the top 200 companies in the Washington, DC area read like this:  ”In the Washington region, the biggest businesses got a little smaller in 2012.” Combine that with the impact of the Sequester on the local economy, and it would seem talent acquisition wouldn’t be a priority for executives. But the local job market is still one of the most challenging and robust in the entire country. Now more than ever, those organizations that have the hire and retain the best talent are those that win. So what do C-Level executives want to know about the challenges with developing and executing a successful talent acquisition strategy in the local market? Join a panel of top local HR leaders who are being asked these very questions by their top executives and who will share with you their insights into how they are believe that they can win in the local War for Talent.

Bridgette A. Weitzel,
 VP, OD & Chief Talent Officer – BAE Systems

RecruitDC_Bridgette Weitzel

Bridgette A. Weitzel is the Vice President of Organization Development and Chief Talent Officer for BAE Systems. In this role she is responsible for the culture, organization development, talent management, diversity and inclusion, and leadership development efforts globally. [Read more…]

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