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Blog Post: Glossary for Tech Recruiters (Java is not JavaScript)

I am happy to share a brief glossary for Tech Recruiters. I…

Added by Andrew Stetsenko at 2:56pm on February 4, 2016

Blog Post: Top 3 Best Free Video Interviewing Software to Leverage for Your Recruitment

Do you know as early as 2010, there were already guides on how to conduct a video interview?

Before Covid 19, video…

Added by Ngan Pham at 10:49pm on December 13, 2020

Blog Post: Best Practices For The Next Tech-Driven Graduate Student Recruitment: Where Should New-Age Recruiters Focus On First?

How is big data changing your campus recruiting strategy?

Big data changing your campus recruiting strategy?

Tech-driven big data approach is revolutionizing…

Added by Ngan Pham at 4:51am on February 18, 2021

Blog Post: The Myth of Extroversion: Managing the Marvelous!: Added by Ryan Mead at 9:58am on December 28, 2015

Blog Post: RESUME WRITING TIPS AND SAMPLES: Added by Mandy Fard - CPRW, CMRW at 8:11pm on July 7, 2022

Blog Post: CAREER REINVENTION: Career Reinvention: Making the Most of Your 50s and 60s…; Added by Mandy Fard - CPRW, CMRW at 6:44am on April 9, 2023

Topic: Meet Susan Burns, Industry Thought Leader at Talent Synchronicity: to her presentations, or heard of fellow colleagues speak glowingly of her capabilities – needless to say I have been impressed consistently with her public figure. I can also say with pleasure that we all share our admiration for Susan’s consistent weekly live chat contributions to RecruitingBlogs.com, the Recruiting Roadshow and her upcoming session at RecruitFest in Toronto. It must be said, that having walked the streets of Amsterdam past midnight or dined, commiserated, and having corresponded with Susan Burns, “the person,” that my admiration is far more substantial in the compelling impact she makes as both a colleague and a dear friend. Her multi-faceted personality, conviction, and brilliance as a candid, thought-provoking, socially conscious friend and colleague are ever present. She is passionate in all things in life, and it is omnipresent when she evangelizes architecture aspects of Strategic Talent Planning, employment branding, and metrics that we as an industry excel through her contributions and it is in her valued friendship, that her gifts never cease to bring value. I applaud all her contributions in our industry – she lives and breathes “pay it forward” and it is a pleasure to know that the RecruitingBlogs Community have an opportunity to share the many value propositions Susan offers so selflessly and with such passion that Jason Davis and I so often witness on a personal level. Susan Burns is the “real deal” – and the community is richer for all she contributes. Susan, today as a friend, an advisor to SixDegreesfromDave.com, a personal mentor, and a thought leader we salute you, and it is ever so well deserved. Q&A with Susan Burns Six Degrees: Tell us of your Home World Susan Susan: I find a nice balance between taking on challenging physical activities and challenging career endeavors. Yoga, hiking and travel are among my deepest passions outside of work and when I can bring them all together its ideal. Two of my favorite hikes included a 100-mile trek through Torres Del Paine National Park in Southern Chile and a trip to Peru that included hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’ve traveled to Mexico, Costa Rica and British Columbia for yoga retreats and find the week long immersions an incredible rebalancing to the stresses of life – even though the retreats often include 5 to 6 hours of physical yoga each day. Yoga is also part of my everyday life and an area of growing interest and commitment. In fact, I’m about to undertake a 200-hour, 3 week teacher training in the Berkshires this July. There are also many areas in which yoga philosophy and practice can carry over into enhancing business practices. The very act of being “present”, focusing on the mind-body connection, and building a sense of community are just a few areas that could add value to the business world. I’m planning on exploring these further through my yoga studies and practice. Six Degrees: How did you get started in talent management? Susan: When I began my career I was in general management. I managed specialty stores and then made the transition into department stores. I loved the hum and buzz of the business and, over time, as I took on assignments of increasing volume and scope the challenges of creating community within a store environment were quite enticing. In my last store manager assignment I was responsible for over $40 million in annual revenue, an employee population of over 350 and a management team of about 16. But, one thing was missing – the company invested little in development efforts and I was intellectually bored. So, I decided to take a bit of a sabbatical and go to graduate school. I actually thought I would leave retail but found I liked the interconnectedness of strategy, product and tangible results. There is something very unique about this within a retail environment and when you’re playing in high volume you can see these three come together quite quickly. After graduate school I joined Federated Department Stores (now Macy’s Inc.). At the time Federated owned Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s and generated about $15 billion in annual sales. Initially, my role was to lead the development of a centralized college recruitment and relations strategy. Federated hired about 550 college graduates each year and another 300 as summer interns. The year was 1998 and there was a lot of change occurring because of the Internet. One of the first things I had the opportunity to do was secure support to develop a website. I think there were about 6 people on the original development team and together we mapped out the strategy for what was to become Retailology.com. The timing was right and I was fortunate to have a really talented group to work with. We saw the impact and growing value of the site in a relatively short period of time, and could demonstrate to the organization the value of being online. One of the coolest things about Retailology is that it not only benefited Federated but it also became a tool to teach students about the retail industry. A couple of years later as Internet recruiting was growing quickly in popularity and the task of sourcing/hiring via the job boards was overwhelming, I had the opportunity to present Retailology as a strategic solution for hiring across Federated – which included hourly, management positions across every function, and college recruiting. We won the support of the divisions and quickly undertook the challenge of building 12 recruitment sites on the Retailology platform. The company had an autonomous culture and the structure and branding strategy at the time required individual branded sites. As a whole, the company hired about 110,000 people annually so this was a very cool opportunity. The change implications for this were huge – we would be moving from 100% paper-based processes to taking everything online. There were several key events that created tipping points along this journey and by the time I left Federated in January, 2006, the Retailology corporate strategy had generated over 38% of the company’s total hires and touched just about every functional area and position up to director/VP. Taking on a broader role also advanced my position with the company and allowed me to take on a greater scope of work that included employment initiatives, employment branding, recruitment technology – both selection and development, change management initiatives, recruiter education and development. The role became that of an internal consultant and over the 7+ years I was with Federated I had the opportunity to work with a number of very talented and committed colleagues. While it was a difficult decision to leave Federated I was at a point in my career where I wanted to take on a broader challenge. I had a hunger to experience another industry, immerse myself in a global business and take on a more holistic role in talent management. I was recruited to head up global staffing for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE). WE is the second largest independent PR agency. They are the PR agency of record for Microsoft and also have growing practice areas in public affairs, healthcare, and consumer. Once again, I was fortunate to work with a very talented team of recruiters. While I only stayed with WE for about 18 months, great headway was made with advising the Board on workforce/talent planning initiatives, sourcing strategies, recruiting structure and processes, and introducing CRM technology. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Susan: There wasn’t a single event or mentor but a string of events and experiences that have influenced how I think about talent management. First, my role in store management. In retail you are uniquely dependent on talent. Whether it be the product design, assortment selection by the buyer, distribution by the planner, merchandising in-store, leading a department/selling team, or the last “12 inches” between the sales associate and the customer – its talent that makes the ultimate difference. Retail is also a business environment where you can see people’s careers move quickly. Seeing a sales associate promoted to sales manager or an assistant buyer promoted to divisional merchandise manager and eventually on to roles of increasing scope and responsibility is very rewarding! Second, coming out of graduate school I heard the same thing time and time again from my classmates – getting through to anyone in recruiting/hr was incredibly frustrating - whether callbacks, email responses, or just answering their phones. Many of my classmates were looking to make a career transition and getting a recruiter to look at their past experience and future potential was insanely challenging. The same thing would happen on informational interviews – hiring managers only wanted people who had done the job. Well, there’s evidence that indicates taking people with the potential and placing them in new environments leads to more creative thinking, innovation, personal growth and……better business results. And, while I couldn’t impact thinking across every aspect of an organization I could make a difference in how job seekers felt about their experience. I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors during my career. Mostly in the earlier days but that’s when I also think its most important. As I was “growing up” in retail it was at a time when mentor relationships developed more naturally. They not only helped me to understand the business at a more strategic level but to think broadly and creatively about building partnerships and getting results. Both of them were also terrific leaders and had their own unique way of building teams and camaraderie. Two of these mentors are still my closest friends today and are still the first people I turn to for guidance. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP RECOMMENDATIONS “Susan is smart, analytical and a great client. She knew what she wanted and was able to communicate that in an effective way. She brings original thinking and a wide network of information to any project she is part of. I have worked with Susan for several years including when she was at Macy's, Waggner and now at Talent Synchronicity. We have worked together on projects that involved selling concepts to senior management that were forward looking and not necessarily easy to get approved. Her combination of influencing skill, persistence and intelligence have led each project to a successful conclusion. She gets things done efficiently and effectively and is a good partner.” March 26, 2008 Kevin Wheeler, President/Founder, Global Learning Resources, Inc. “Susan puts recruitment process vision to work with quantifiable results. She tackled workforce planning, recruitment process and brand issues at Federated Department Stores by developing and implementing one of the first uniquely branded recruitment websites for the retail industry which resulted in tens of thousands of hires. Susan is top notch and I would use her to handle any workforce opportunity." February 22, 2008 Hank Stringer, Principal, QTalent Partners “Susan is a professional with a deep understanding of all three legs of the corporate HR platform: business strategy, HR process and leading-edge technology. Her depth of insight into ways to make HR a strategic business asset are both unique and extraordinary. It has been a real pleasure working with (and learning from) her.” January 7, 2005 Jeff Hunter, Senior Director, EA University at Electronic Arts “I've worked with Susan Burns for a little over a year now and I can say that she has the most strategic, forward-thinking and fresh approach to talent acquisition out of any leader that I've worked with in the industry. I've always said that I wanted to work with someone who I could learn from, who wasn't just pushing old ideas and who would challenge me in new ways. Susan has always managed to challenge me. She has a unique way of getting you to think about things differently. Susan is also amazingly connected in the industry and the relationships she has helped me form with thought leaders has been invaluable. She is an avid reader and spots trends and innovations before most people have adopted the known innovations. The talent acquisition community has mostly agreed that finding people with passion for their field is a key performance indicator. I've met few people with as much passion for our industry as Susan. She thinks way outside the box, outside the organization and outside the industry to come up with advances in our field that are truly innovating the way organizations acquire talent. Most notable is her work with retailology.com prior to joining Waggener Edstrom and the workforce planning work she is currently designing at our organization. If you work in our industry I hope you have an opportunity to meet Susan, collaborate with her, brainstorm, have her tell you to put on your kid glasses or just have a quick brainstorm with her. I think you will find that you walk away feeling like you have learned something new.” May 16, 2007 Steve Fogarty, Talent Manager, Adidas "Susan is a talented staffing and recruiting professional who brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the acquisition of talent and workforce planning. In her role with Waggener Edstrom, she was responsible for the global acquisition of talent and her work had a significant impact. Her passion and commitment were clearly evident and the results she guided were notable. A reduction in time-to-fill, a broad portfolio of sourcing vehicles, and several new creative staffing strategies and initiatives were all part of what Susan contributed to. Additionally, her leadership in guiding the Agency's Advisory Board through a workforce planning strategy advanced our staffing capability to positively impact the business. As a staffing industry leader she is broadly recognized for leading edge thinking and the perspective she offers to organizations and clients. Susan is smart, strategic and results-oriented. I see her as flourishing in an environment that has the management of talent as a critical business priority and where Susan can freely demonstrate her entrepreneurial and results-oriented talent." Daniele Joudene, SVP, People Services, Waggener Edstrom “Susan Burns is one of the most talented leaders in the talent management industry today -- smart, innovative, passionate, dedicated, and able to see and create solutions where most people can only identify challenges. Quite simply, she helped to make us better and more innovative as a company/partner, every step of the way. Our partnership in developing WetFeet Recruiter's Enterprise Interview Scheduling system, which delivered industry-first innovations in many areas, is just one example of one of her strongest personal assets: Susan gets results. The passion, energy, focus and commitment she brings to her work is simply extraordinary. What a joy to recommend her!” October 11, 2007 Gary Alpert, CEO, WetFeet Inc.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:05am on September 8, 2008

Topic: Meet Robert Gray, Executive Search: Youth & High school Football Coach at www.o-d.com Personal Causes: Breast Cancer fundraising/awareness Office/Cell Number: 978-474-8055 Personal Email: rob@hireimage.net Q&A with Robert Gray Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Rob: I married my college girlfriend (university of New Hampshire at Durham) after a 8 year courtship, not sure why she “hung in” there, but I’m glad she did. We have two beautiful kids, Jackson age 13 and Michaela age 10. We do have a family pet, Henry, a lively 6 year old jack Russell terrier. I would highly suggested doing research before buying one, they require a ton of attention, long walks at night and plenty of love…wait, that’s me…Henry is low maintenance, really. He runs the house with an iron paw. People who want to capitalize on Relationship Capital as a popular measure of networking success are the people I want to connect with. Consequently, web 2.0/networking is a passion. I run my Prep School (Bridgton Academy) Alumni networking group and love social networking for business and new connections. I am very active in my community as a youth sports leader and mentor. My real passion is coaching Life, I mean Football. Well, you get it. It’s one in the same. Having played Division 1 college football and now being able to pass along my “hard earned knowledge” to young men is a self-fulfilling prophecy “you get what you give”. My young players are all going to be great teammates, students, citizens, husbands, fathers and above all leaders. I am honored every single day I get to be around such motivated and inspiring young athletes. Having some part in their personal development makes it all so rewarding. 100 % of the kids we coach will play sports for a living! That’s right, 100%.... can someone challenge me that life, in and of itself is not a sport? That in America we reward the focused, driven and committed individuals. What adult that makes a living in this country, doesn’t have to compete in some way or another for either their livelihood, or to keep their job? What youth football coach in America (that’s worth his salt- thanks Vince), isn’t preparing your young men for their future & building a solid foundation for success in any endeavor that life has to offer. Football is a metaphor for life. Anyone that has played this game to the high school level knows this to be true. The top sales rep at the office, the focused & committed surgeon that operates on you, the person that tunes your car engine up and checks your brakes, the person that builds your home, they are all striving to earn your business. This is America, we welcome competition for EVERYTHING! It’s the fabric of our society. What makes you successful is your desire, commitment and dedication to be the best at what you do. Hmmmm, where have I heard that before? Harvard business school’s first rule of business is: If you don’t have a competitive edge, don’t compete! Maybe that’s just something we should wait to tell our kids when they are in….say…. college. Yeah, sounds about right. They’ll be much more mature at that point and better prepared to handle it. Hello! “Yes, Mrs. Jones, we are running sprints at the end of practice and painful as they might be for you to watch, your son will make it”. Football more than any other sport relates to how “working hard tends to make good things happen” and how being part of a team leads to a deep sense of pride and self-respect. Football coaches have a responsibility to help create a foundation in their players that teaches: Hard work will be rewarded! Preparation is key to success and Team comes first.....we were taught these things by our coaches at the exact same age as our players are now. We have an obligation to give back what we got. No? I have no complaints at all, I am coaching my son and his friends and we get so much out of the total experience that I am glowing with pride both as a father and a coach! I am helping in some small way; positively shape the lives of these kids. And, what I get back from this experience makes the 25 plus hours per week I volunteer pale by comparison. My advice to business leaders and former athletes is to “get involved” you can’t put a price on what you get back. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Rob: 2009 marks my 12th year in the Executive search industry. Hire Image is the third company I have built and branded. My firm has satisfied clients all over the world and has built outstanding best of breed sales forces for some of the best Hi-tech firms in the world. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Rob: I spent my first 9 years out of college with E & J Gallo Winery. The best sales training program in the US. Consumer goods is a great place to start your career, box seats to all the games, dinner out three nights a week, but that gets real old at 30. I got out to chase the money in hi-tech, period. Living in Boston in the late 90’s and not being in Hi-tech recruiting was a sin. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Great question. I started my Career at a F500 agency, sat next to several million dollar a year billers and was floored by the money they made. I knew I was in the right Industry, same deer different forest thing, just a learning curve to get past. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Rob: Absolutely, one of my oldest friends and former business partner mentored me for my first few years in the industry. “Stay on the phone, good things will happen” is what he told me a dozen times a day. Its so true, you want to reward yourself then pick up the phone and make another call. No victory laps here kid. Six Degrees: Tell us about "Hire Image" Rob: I have run my own firm since 2000. My world is “kill what you eat” period. I have never not run both sides of a desk. I have a partner in Amsterdam that runs EMEA and I run North America. I can and have managed up to 20 clients at once, but that’s about the maximum. I run a strict recruiting life cycle process and never manage the pipeline, just steer it. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Rob: I’ve always admired the retained search groups for the attention to detail and candidate control they have. After the white-hot dot com era, I developed the Hire Image software sales candidate evaluation best practice. Here is the quick version: Enterprise Sales Ability Strong Revenue achievement selling Enterprise applications... We look at the last 5 year W-2 history. Acceptable low end average is $200,000, (We prefer to see $250,000 average) with an average quota of ~$2,000,000. We also would like to see that the candidate has closed 6 or more deals over ~$500,000 and 2 or more deal over $1,000,000 in the last 5 years. If the above criterion is met, then the hard assumptions we must make are: A) This candidate can get in the door (fortune 500- CXO level) for first meeting and set the tone. Additionally, this candidate is a businessperson that can relate to the needs of CXO’s from a strategic view. They understand the business drivers as well as integration issues. Measurable components: W-2 Stream over last 5 years; Large deal history over last 5 years; Ability to articulate solutions sales skills; Demonstrate a consultative sales style; and Demonstrated stability – has stayed with previous employers long enough to generate customer loyalty B) This candidate has proven experience selling enterprise applications where they have taken a business solution and built strategic thrust with value. Then, have the ability to navigate the strategic initiative through a complex sales cycle to closure. Bottom line: This Candidate knows how to explore and develop business issues and objectives, create a mutually shared vision of the solution, match those visions with the capabilities and technology, and keep control of the buy cycle. (Solution Selling 101) Typical enterprise solution sales cycle includes: Identify CXO (sales, marketing and CIO) critical business issues (pain) and who in the organization is impacted. Provide capabilities that map to the CXO resolving these issues. Document sales process and plan the sales cycle for the CXO to agree upon. This lets us know if the CXO is serious about continuing this business relationship and it identifies the next steps in closing the sale. Provide a compelling accurate business case (value proposition, cost justification and confirmed agreed return on investment Vertical Expertise Measurable components: Number of deals sold into desired vertical Previously worked directly in the vertical (hands-on at potential customer target account) This candidate has sold multiple $500,000+ licensed software deals into Major clients within your targeted verticals. (Major defined as +$3B total revenue) Or, the candidate has worked for 5+ years in a hands-on capacity within the target industry. If the above criterion is met, then the hard assumptions we must make are: A) This candidate understands the buying criteria, business drivers, and influencers within this particular Industry. This candidate also comes to the table with a Rolodex of CXO’s that should facilitate first meetings based upon candidate’s business relationships (reputation). B) This candidate has sat on the other side of the table and understands the business issues that the buyer is facing – can relate to those issues from personal experience. Domain Expertise Measurable components: Experience selling for direct competitor or competitive product Experience selling complimentary or other desired application/technology Advanced technical aptitude (previous experience as an S/E or similar experience) This candidate has sold multiple $500,000+ license software deals in your specific domain. If the above criterion is met, then the hard assumptions we must make are: A) This candidate has the ability to sell a business solution (vision). This candidate can quantify a value proposition and translate that into real time return on investment. This candidate has very strong upfront communication of Economic Impact. Pluses: Start up experience- We like candidates that can “evangelize”, that have “missionary mode experience” and have scaled out net new business with few pre-existing customers. Six Degrees: How do you get to the C-level and what do you do once you get there? Rob: Most candidates are good at getting to "ground swell" - functional people. These people will give you the answer to "where is the pain" and plenty of soft assumptions... but they are not the C-level decision makers. (B) Six Degrees: In what aspects are they superior? Rob: This best of breed evaluation practice offers all interviewers a guideline to evaluate candidates against. It serves to keep your hiring manages focused on what’s important. Once you can get a client to agree on evaluation criteria, you have a much better shot at getting your candidates through the “gauntlet” Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Rob: Web 2.0 is has changed the game to a large degree, however our services as executive search recruiters will never be replaced. Sourcing elite candidates and selling them on your client’s value as an employer will always require the skilled hand of a seasoned recruiter. “A players” always have employment choices, selling them on making a move requires a consultative relationship that is built over years. Additionally, I see more RPO (recruiting process outsourcing) firms in the market. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Rob: I am a regular at Mass Hi-tech, ERE and Boston area networking functions. I attend Fordyce annually and participate with LION, Jobmachine.net, Recruitingblogs.com, SourceCon, Cybersleuths, Networked Recruiter and of course the number one recruiting blog “six degree’s from dave” Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Rob: Enterprise software sales recruiting is slow, period. In the late fall 2008, I thought this was another “Top Grading” market. However, the pain runs deeper and longer. The good news is that top candidates are still being placed and recruiters are still being paid. My suggestion is to find your niche and work it. Sales engineers that have strong technical backgrounds are always in demand. Top enterprise sales athletes are still coveted, no one is open for business without an elite sales force. Find those industries that have organic growth. Greentech, Solar (PV), and Carbon emission management systems are right on the horizon. This world still runs on software, that’s not changing, stick to the basics. Software and platform as a service in Healthcare IT is a good place to start. Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Rob: I currently sit on Advisory boards for some of the fastest growing technology companies in Cambridge/Metro Boston, Ma area. The 128-technology belt is my “backyard” and home to hundreds of Software/Venture Capital firms and Business Incubators. I am truly blessed to be recruiting/living in such a fertile technology rich area. In fact, many of my neighbors are Software executives. My advice is to “get smart” on Healthcare IT, specifically voice recognition software. Target the competitive landscape and subscribe to a sales intelligence service. I use Zoominfo ( HYPERLINK "http://www.zoominfo.com" www.zoominfo.com) I think it’s the best product on the market Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? Be specific Rob: Networking is a function of making connects, period. The more connects you make on a daily basis the better your OBP (on base percentage). However, don’t be fooled in thinking you don’t need to pick up the phone. Nothing will replace talking to your clients/candidates. Don’t try to be the expert on all verticals and domains. Pick several that you have an affinity for and become a subject matter expert. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Rob: My next career goal is to transition my business into a pure retained search model. This is easier said than done, work in progress. Stay tuned world.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:37am on May 18, 2009

Topic: Meet Australia's Greg Savage, Aquent's International CEO – Europe and Asia Pacific: eries please click here. "The movement of marketing and advertising to digital and interactive platforms will drive the demand for staff in this sector ... Job boards will become less effective and social media will increasingly play a role, although that is to be fully worked out yet. We believe specialization and depth of knowledge will be a key differentiator in the recruitment market and we are building our business accordingly." • RecruitingBlogs Profile • Linkedin • Twitter • Company Website • Personal Blog • Personal Causes: The LBW Trust – fostering education for underprivileged young people in Zimbabwe and South Africa. • Office: +612 413838823 • Personal Email As Aquent's International CEO – Europe and Asia Pacific, Greg Savage contributes total strategic, marketing, financial and operational responsibility for all Aquent Business outside North America. Currently comprises 23 offices in 13 Countries in Europe and Asia Pacific. Greg has been involved with the premier recruitment Industry body in Australia — the RCSA. Greg has spoken at industry conferences all over the world including at least 20 RCSA conferences in addition to NAPS in the US and ACCESS in Canada Q&A with Greg Savage Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa and immigrated to Australia 30 years ago. I live on the North Shore of Sydney with my wife Bronwyn and three children Hannah (19), Nic (12) and Chris (9). I have traveled all over the world with my job, but that does not dampen my enthusiasm for recreational travel with my family. We like to take the road less traveled and often backpack or use local transport to get a real feel for a place. That does not stop us staying at the odd five-star resort when we can afford it, but highlights in recent years include traveling by train through eastern Europe, overland through Vietnam, by mini-van through Borneo to meet the Oran Utangs,, Japan via bullet train, across Jordan and Israel with just my 12 year old Nic, and only recently by truck through Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. I find it a total release from work stress, it brings our family close together and certainly my kids have a perspective on the world not found amongst many of their friends – in a good way We are a sporty family with my wife playing competition level tennis and my boys playing rugby, cricket and tennis. A highlight recently was the selection of my youngest son Chris in the Representative Under 10 cricket team for our district. Great celebrations. I can envisage him playing for Australia already… Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Greg: I am a recruiting tragic. I got my very first job out of University with a Search and Selection firm, starting in January 1980, so I guess I am closing in on 30 years. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Greg: Digital/Interactive designers and technicians, Marketing specialists, especially online, and Print creatives Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Greg: I fell into recruitment after finishing a degree in Psychology. In those days people talked about a career in “personnel management” (HR was not yet born as a title) and I went to a recruitment business to see if they could find me a job. The manager there said no client would hire someone with zero experience, but he was happy to give me a go! I worked in Executive Selection for Sales, Marketing, Finance and General Management jobs for three years. We sold search and retainers and what they called in those days “Advertised Selection” where we advertised in the press at clients’ expense. It was a great grounding and I learned how to sell value and process over price, an invaluable skill. I also learned to bluff because I was 22 when I started and most of my clients were in their 40’s. So were all my colleagues by the way. But at 25 I decided to travel in a Kombi van across Europe for six months with a friend. It was real odyssey and we visited 30 countries and travelled 25,000 miles. When the money ran out, I got a job placing accountants in Central London — Oxford Circus to be exact. It was a rough and tumble, highly competitive world, where speed was king and only the very strongest survived. I learned so much about urgency and fast matching and resilience and fast negotiation. I was then made manager of a permanent team of eight recruiters running the London West End business, which was my first supervisory role. Staying with the same company (now called Hays) I came back to Australia to run the Sydney office and was made a director of the company at age 27. IN 1987, when Hays bought our company, I left and with two others started my own business, Recruitment Solutions. We built this finance and accounting recruitment business to sales of $60 Million and offices all over Australia, finally listing the business via an IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1997. I am still very proud of that business and its standards and efficiency and a testament to its quality was that dozens of our staff from those days now own and run their own successful businesses. That’s got to be a good thing right? In 2001, I joined Aquent, the world’s largest marketing and design staffing company as Asia Pacific CEO. In 2005, I was promoted to International CEO, which includes all Aquent businesses outside North America. This covers 20 plus offices in 14 countries. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Greg: When Hays, the UK conglomerate bought my employer, Accountancy Placements, in the mid 80’s it sparked off a chain of events that changed everything for me. The senior management team could not see ourselves as part of the new regime and we left and started our own company in 1987. This business eventually grew to one of the biggest in the country. As an owner everything changed including responsibility, risk, and financial security. Being a Director of a public company after we listed Recruitment Solutions in 1997 was not so cool. Answering to shareholders, beholden to share price and non-executive directors, meant I only stayed the minimum time in the business after the IPO. This freed me up to join Aquent two years alter which took my career in a fresh, new and International direction Six Degrees: Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Greg: Sadly no, not one person. Certainly I have learned from many along the way and continue to do so. I often call on industry colleagues for advice and aspire to the strengths of people I know, but I have no one mentor to turn to, nor can I identify one or more people to whom I “owe it all”. I miss that fact actually. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position at Aquent: Greg: Aquent is the only global marketing and design staffing company. We are privately held so releasing numbers is not appropriate but we were recently nominated as the 85th biggest staffing company in the world and the largest Creative recruiter in the US. (Staffing Industry Analysts). My role is to manage the operations outside the US. This is a challenge because we are in 14 countries in Europe and APAC crossing many times zones, languages and cultural nuances. I currently manage through my team, 25 offices including 5 in Australia, 5 in Japan, 4 in greater China and 5 in Europe. Our big focus is in creative and digital contractors as well as marketing staffing. We have a strong perm business to complement the staffing operations. Staff numbers in my region peaked at 450 last year, although it’ss less than that now. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Greg: The movement of marketing and advertising to digital and interactive platforms will drive the demand for staff in this sector. Aquent is perfectly positioned to take the lion’s share of this market, as we have “owned” creative print staffing for more than 20 years. I also see a significant opportunity in contract staffing in the marketing arena as more companies get to understand the benefits of using a flexible model in this sector. Other changes that will impact our industry is a far more fragmented talent acquisition landscape. Job boards will become less effective and social media will increasingly play a role, although that is to be fully worked out yet. We believe specialization and depth of knowledge will be a key differentiator in the recruitment market and we are building our business accordingly. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Greg: I have a long history of involvement with the peak recruitment Industry body in Australia — the RCSA. In fact I was Vice president of the RCSA for many years and sat on both the Ethics and membership committee. I was made a Life Member of the RCSA several years ago in recognition of services to the industry. I have spoken at countless industry conferences all over the world including at least 20 RCSA conferences but also NAPS in the US and ACCESS in Canada in addition to My current RCSA speaking tour. I have also spoken at several NPA conferences (some of my speaking engagements can be seen here) Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Greg: The recession has had an impact on business in every country I am responsible for. Being in marketing, we may have been particularly hard hit. Permanent demand fell off markedly and temp has been affected too, but less so. We have taken the usual steps to reduce our cost base, but more importantly we are using this time to refine our processes, redesign our website, improve the customer experience and re define our strategic imperatives. As painful as the downturn has been, I am convinced we will emerge stronger than ever in the recovery. Recessions are a wonderful cleansing opportunity and the challenge is to be courageous and be prepared to innovate and refresh. Aquent cows can be lined up and slaughtered. Aquent is doing that now and its very cool. Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects? Greg: Speaking at conferences has raised my profile significantly. As a result I am often asked for input from the recruitment press in Australia and elsewhere. My blog gregsavage.com.au has a high hit rate and this allows me a platform for opinions. I am recent to Twitter with only 400 followers, but I find it very powerful for driving people to my blog and my company website and also for announcing vacancies in my own business. As at least 80% of my followers are in marketing or recruitment, it’s a powerful audience. LinkedIn works for me too, but I have not been strong on actively seeking connections. People find me however and the network I have is very nicely defined within my area of interest. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t -- and how did that convert itself into a valuable learning experience? Greg: Oh dear. Many and varied. Probably the one that stands out most was when, in the hurly-burly world of placing accountants in the 80’s, when speed was more important than quality, I sent the resume of a young accountant TO HER OWN EMPLOYER. It was embarrassing and damaging and it shook me very much indeed. I have paid attention to detail on stuff I sent out ever since. I also once asked a client on what I thought was our first meeting whether he knew much about (my company). He replied that I had placed him in a job several years before. Embarrassment plus! In management, I have tried many things that have not worked but I firmly believe in still trying lots of stuff. Innovation and change is critical. Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? Greg: I am not a networking expert, but online I would advise people not mix their personal with their business networking. I have a face book account but I have no clients or colleagues as friends. I actually have friends and family as friends! This allows me to share personal stuff with the right people and not bore them with business matters. Linked in and twitter however is for networking and I think it important to keep them very targeted. Don’t chase connections or followers for numbers sake. Make sure you connect with people you want to do business with (or who are key influencers) or who can help you access people you want to business with. Don’t be frivolous in the social media conversations, don’t spam. Remember manners and politeness. Give as much as you take. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? Greg: I want to lead Aquent to preeminence in marketing and design staffing across every market in the world where talent and clients need our service, and where we can sustain a highly profitable business. I want to lead a company that is innovative and dexterous, and where people are changed for the better by working here. I have no desire to take on more responsibility because what I have on is enough to stretch the most capable of individuals and certainly enough to stretch me, every day.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 11:49pm on November 1, 2009

Topic: Russ Moon, The Sourcing Samurai: "Wisdom of The Trade": eers do are not equivalent to what illusions a magician pulls from a hat, but rather - the product of wisdom they have gained from years of dedicated inquiry, research and deliverables. Who better to start the series than my continuing conversation with Russ Moon, aka, "the Sourcing Samurai". • Russ Moon • Sourcing Consultant, Talent Find LLC • Richmond VA • RecruitingBlogs Profile • Linkedin • Facebook • Twitter • Website • Blog • Office: 804-643-8604 • Mobile: 804-402-2364 • Email Q&A with Russ Moon Six Degrees: What is the source of your "LOWEST COST OF HIRES" - (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality) at your present employer? Russ: In general employee referrals rank right up there for corporations. The internet with proper candidate development is even less, but frequently is not maximized in terms of the cost reduction potential. This is due to improper structure, inadequate training, process…..it only takes one fundamental block to be out of place to drastically dilute your results. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Russ: The computer does not know if you are looking for executive chefs, gas turbine start-up engineers or SAP FICO folks…that’s what I love is the variety of searches available. If you know the syntax, tools and techniques you can find what is needed. I love the hunt. Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of? Russ: I have approached my training from a holistic standpoint in that I try to expose myself to a variety of training given that each has its own merits. My goal with each session is to learn at least 3 new things I can try to help me find talent more efficiently and rapidly. My education started in 2000 when I started with the original AIRS I,II and III (CIR) courses. Then I was fortunate to be on the AIRS University program during my tenure at MeadWestvaco while serving on their centralized recruiting team. I took full advantage and took like 9 courses in 7 months and that saturation training really leapfrogged my ability. About the same time I recruited Shally to help me go to the next level and started his apprenticeship program. We worked together several times a week, he would at times coach me on particular searches or even come online with me to search and show me new approaches. That one year, in retrospect evolved me more than 5 years of self study. My income based on what I could do experienced a nice surge during that timeframe…so something was working …at least for me. During my time at Wachovia I became involved with Broadlook Technologies and had some high caliber 1-1 training sessions with Kary Valley. Kary is simply scary smart and his impact on how I viewed what is possible in terms of data mining blew apart my mindset at the time. Delved very deeply into their Eclipse product, ultimately being named their first non-employee Black Belt. What still blows my mind is there is still a healthy amount of untapped capability that I have not harnessed with that product. I returned full circle near the end of 2008 and start of 2009 returning to AIRS to renew my CIR and earn the ACIR (Advanced Certified Internet Recruiter) and recently the CSSR (Certified Social Sourcing Recruiter ) certifications. Really enjoyed the experience and was pleased to see AIRS still bringing fresh content to the training space. Every conference I attend I have made a point to sit in on Glenn/Shally’s presentations to stay on top of new syntax and their approach to sourcing. Preparing to further study under Shally as his time allows to “take it up another notch”. That will happen this week in his home and I have asked him to put together a regime for me that is somewhere in intensity between US Army Ranger Training and an unsedated medical procedure. I want it to expose every chink I may have, put it out in the open and then we will jointly develop a written development plan to take me from point A to point B. I have also already heavily invested in some of Broadlook new training which is quite good. Improvement doesn’t just occur, you have to mentally be willing to pay the price just like an Olympic athlete who endures the workouts to condition themselves to perform at their peak. There is a great deal of informal sharing and training that goes on, specific people I seek on particular topics. It is just a matter of saying “I’d like to learn more about this” and it helps to bring something to the table to share with them. I love our community. Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit? Russ: It really depends on the assignment. I no longer have a stock response of “I use XXX” because my toolkit has developed to the point of being somewhat unique and to tools to some degree can impact the direction the search takes based on the capabilities you have available to you. Of course, it comes back to skill and being comfortable with a certain procedure or tool or syntax which comes through practice. Lately, I find myself rethinking how to generate more speed in terms of my ability to find the same people I would have located anyway faster. The goal being to develop a more optimized toolkit and how I use it to allow me to deliver more talent in the same amount of time. Enjoying the process and several people have shared tips that have already shown me this is going to be a very good initiative. Some tools recently have been deleted, while in the last week I have added two new ones. Always evaluating and optimizing what works best in my assignments and if something doesn’t cut the mustard…it doesn’t last long. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? Russ: Three tools when I first started (2000) that stood out as having either a “wow factor” or extreme utility were ACT!, AIRS Search Station (beta-tested) and EGrabber address grabber. • ACT! – has a lot of interesting features and I thought was pretty versatile • AIRS Search Station – my first foray into beta-testing and seeing a glimmer of how powerful search technology could be • EGrabber address – it worked, easy to use, worked with ACT didn’t have to worry about it doing anything except pretty much working. Six Degrees: How did your expectations of being a recruiter compare to the actual, first time you got on the phone or in the cubicle? In your opinion, how do people's assumptions about our vocation differ from reality? Russ: I had no idea what was involved when I started. I remember buying Paul Fordyce’s manual on recruiting and studying others to try to develop my own authentic style. Sourcing – was so new that few in our industry understood it, much less knew enough to set their expectations. I realized later, as I spent more time in the trenches that part of my role was to educate, facilitate, share and catalyze understanding. During that process I experienced some of my greatest moments of illumination. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t, and how that moment culminated into a true learning experience? Russ: Early in my career I would start sourcing, with an ‘eager to please’ attitude, without fully arming myself with all the information needed to really surgically source. This resulted in some near miss type candidates which were in the ballpark but not “Yes!” caliber. Intake Mistake …don’t make it and I will blog on this very soon. What I learned was ‘slow is really fast.’ Slow in terms of taking the time to really indentify exactly what we are seeking, mapping out where this talent typically would congregate and thinking through your toolkit to make a decision on which tool/technique/source etc is going to have the highest probability of revealing that talent pool on my screen so that the core pipeline can be built. The tool piece is a bit sophisticated because there are more variables to factor in, with practice you start dialing some techniques in and it is very pleasant when you see your results onscreen change from goobley-goop into pure usable talent….that’s an interesting moment every time. Six Degrees: How do you personally expect to facilitate change within our industry, and/or at your place of work? If you started that process, outline the problem, your solutions, and the vision. Russ: I am being very authentic (which can be scary) and let my actions do the talking. If people are paying attention, they will get the message. Certainly, I’m very passionate about helping others learn more about sourcing because it is part of the giving back process. There is no doubt in my mind that I have some very bright folks who graciously mentor me and I want to extend their influence by passing that on to others. It never fails to help me evolve so that philosophy has resulted in one win-win after another. The forthcoming radio show, Sourcing Samurai, will be part of that effort where I’ll talk to very seasoned, knowledgeable experts who have spent the time in the trenches to really know what works about the people, experiences, training, technologies etc. that forged their sourcing mindset; changing how they approached their craft forever. Hopefully this very candid sharing will stimulate some thought in the audience over how they might learn from what the guests share with me. Research is as much about knowing how to find the answer as it is knowing it. I know the guests who are slated to share are people that anyone who wants to learn more would do themselves a service by making a decision to spend that 15 minutes or so with us. Understand I touched upon the Sourcing Samurai previously, but it bears repeating, something free you will not want to miss. Six Degrees: “Best practice” you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career? Russ: I developed a sourcing model and was able to navigate actually gaining senior leadership approval without any revision to the original presentation. Again my network served as a private sounding board which contributed invaluable insight. My experience at Wachovia/Wells Fargo truly ingrained the concept and value of open collaboration. It is a form of intellectual diversity which results in an end product which is far superior to simply locking yourself in your office and doing the work in a vacuum. Six Degrees: What are some of the frustrating aspects/obstacles to your day to day as a staffing professional and in general? Russ: Striving for brevity for the sake of time while balancing that with ensuring the communication is effective and professional. Six Degrees: What are the most common themes of strategic and/or tactical mishaps involving past or present HR/Staffing org? Russ: My opinion, which I don’t confuse as fact Project Management - We need better skills there in general. We need to ask the right questions, i.e., “What’s the real scope ?” “What outside of the scope?” “Letting Perfect be the Enemy of Good” – at a certain point, get going, watch what happens and adjust accordingly. Jason Goldberg has a phrase “Ship it”, which I have adopted. “Ship it”, Just do it and adjust vs. waiting until everything is perfect and the window of opportunity it closed. Six Degrees: Considering all of the frustrations you have experienced in your career as a recruiter, -- what inspires you as you continue in your career? Russ: I love what I do. Learning new things, analyzing, meeting the people, the relationships that have developed and are developing, technology - and I get paid to do things I really enjoy. I love it so much I just want to keep on going, evolving, growing, and seeing where the journey leads. We are in an era of exponentially accelerating possibility and that drives me. Six Degrees: What one thing do you find most ideal given the opportunity to develop/ implementing/ invent professionally that has yet to be done. Russ: I think for me personally I want to immerse myself in desktop technology and expand upon ways to increase the speed with which I source based on layouts, add-ons, toolbars and how I use them. It’s low cost, experience has shown me there is a lot of utility if you are disciplined in how you experiment and it sharpens your sourcing in general. Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? Russ: My online Radio Show – "The Sourcing Samurai" - stay tuned lining up our first recording session now. My Arbita BlogBlog – http://aces.arbita.net/blog/Russ My Arbita Homepage Six Degrees: How Are You Going To Change The Recruitment Industry? Russ: I would like to help propel some of the thinking surrounding our industry. I would like to seed some healthy discussion, unearth some utilitarian tools, share with others and maybe inspire someone to really go for it. I have several experiences with “reverse mentoring” where I had a mentor who helped me with a topic and during that process I helped them gain a deeper understanding of what sourcing is all about. My new career provides opportunity for pursuing that passion and I truly enjoy the interaction with the super talented bright minds I tend to gravitate towards. Help bring Sourcing/Research a little more out of the shadows. Keep and expand my seat at the table as a trusted adviser to the Senior Talent Acquisition Leaders who engage me to the point they want to bring me back. Help inspire someone with the aptitude to pursue this career path and show where it can lead. …; Added by Dave Mendoza at 12:00am on February 1, 2010