A skeleton in my sourcing closet...

Here I sit in the wee hours of Tuesday in a hotel room in Philadelphia. I'm training today, taking recruiters and HR generalists through SearchLab and XtremeLab. I don't get to train often, but when I do, it's a huge thrill for me, I love seeing the moment when our class "gets" the sourcing side.

And I like it because it takes me back to square one. So often these days I get caught up in the new cool technology or strategy, but a day like today grounds me. Because I'm going to spend 8 hours talking how to develop a sourcing strategy, how to leverage the search engines to get the talent these companies need, and of course how to create search strings that rock. There will be some tips on saving time. And I'm very conscious of saving time, that is a huge commodity for all of us today.

I'm also reflecting on a tweet I received regarding what I would include in a list of best in class skills for a sourcer. Sure they should know Boolean. And how to find resources. And how to take one candidate and turn it into 10 more. And if I were the hiring manager, they would need this too. They also will need to know the nuances of Google, Bing, Yahoo and more. Flexibility is key.

But strategy is paramount. A good skeleton, a go to basic plan, will start off any recruiting professional on the right track. It involves doing some research, knowing the players in your industry, the competitive line up and then launching a full scale plan. And by full scale I mean the whole enchilada....mining your ats....postings (internal and external)....leveraging your network....searches....and more.

If you're struggling, if you're not locating the candidates you need, and pounding out one boolean string after another with no rhyme or reason, then, it's time to revisit your strategy. Pull the skeleton out of the closet, dust it off and see if there's room for improvement, tweaks to be made, information missing, techniques that are outdated.

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Permalink Reply by JeanAnn Puente on June 9, 2009 at 10:59pm

Hi Kelly, I was inspired just reading your story. I feel like I am loosing the battle. In my current recruiting position I need to learn new sourcing skills and really need to boost my boolean capabilities and figure out a new game plan that will have BIG results and be a HUGE time saver but I just can't figure it out on my own.
My employers recruiting expectations are multiple presented candidates for each requisition each day so this leaves very little time for lengthy sourcing efforts. Can you recommend some help, ha!
Thank you, JeanAnn Puente

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Dingee on June 10, 2009 at 6:18am

Hi Jean.... I would love to help you further. Let's talk about what you're doing....email me directly at kellydingee@gmail.com or kelly.dingee@airs.rightthinginc.com and we'll pick apart what you're doing now and what you can start to implement.

Best,
Kelly

JeanAnn Puente said:

Hi Kelly, I was inspired just reading your story. I feel like I am loosing the battle. In my current recruiting position I need to learn new sourcing skills and really need to boost my boolean capabilities and figure out a new game plan that will have BIG results and be a HUGE time saver but I just can't figure it out on my own.
My employers recruiting expectations are multiple presented candidates for each requisition each day so this leaves very little time for lengthy sourcing efforts. Can you recommend some help, ha!
Thank you, JeanAnn Puente

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Permalink Reply by Katelyn Schneider on June 10, 2009 at 9:25am

I was in the Philadelphia SearchLab class yesterday and I must say it was great! Learned a ton and have valuable tools and resources to use. Thanks Kelly!!

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Dingee on June 10, 2009 at 12:24pm

Thanks Katelyn! It was great meeting you yesterday...and we're having another great class in Philly today. Attendees are really excited about the Summer Series and new CSSR class.

Keep in touch....
Kelly

Katelyn Schneider said:

I was in the Philadelphia SearchLab class yesterday and I must say it was great! Learned a ton and have valuable tools and resources to use. Thanks Kelly!!