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Topic: More Resume tips: ece that makes them look like desperate job hunters. The objective of your resume is to land an interview, and the interview will land you the job (hopefully!). 2. Back up your qualities and strengths Instead of creating a long (and boring) list with all your qualities (e.g., disciplined, creative, problem solver) try to connect them with real life and work experiences. In other words, you need to back these qualities and strengths up, else it will appear that you are just trying to inflate things. 3. Make sure to use the right keywords Most companies (even smaller ones) are already using digital databases to search for candidates. This means that the HR department will run search queries based on specific keywords. Guess what, if your resume doesn’t have the keywords related to the job you are applying for, you will be out even before the game starts. These keywords will usually be nouns. Check the job description and related job ads for a clue on what the employer might be looking for. You can read more about resume keywords on the article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness. 4. Use effective titles Like it or not, employers will usually make a judgment about your resume in 5 seconds. Under this time frame the most important aspect will be the titles that you listed on the resume, so make sure they grab the attention. Try to be as descriptive as possible, giving the employer a good idea about the nature of your past work experiences. For example: Bad title: Accounting Good title: Management of A/R and A/P and Recordkeeping 5. Proofread it twice It would be difficult to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume. One small typo and your chances of getting hired could slip. Proofreading it once is not enough, so do it twice, three times or as many as necessary. If you don’t know how to proofread effectively, here are 8 tips that you can use. 6. Use bullet points No employer will have the time (or patience) to read long paragraphs of text. Make sure, therefore, to use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives. 7. Where are you going? Including professional goals can help you by giving employers an idea of where you are going, and how you want to arrive there. You don’t need to have a special section devoted to your professional objectives, but overall the resume must communicate it. The question of whether or not to highlight your career objectives on the resume is a polemic one among HR managers, so go with your feeling. If you decide to list them, make sure they are not generic. 8. Put the most important information first This point is valid both to the overall order of your resume, as well as to the individual sections. Most of the times your previous work experience will be the most important part of the resume, so put it at the top. When describing your experiences or skills, list the most important ones first. 9. Attention to the typography First of all make sure that your fonts are big enough. The smaller you should go is 11 points, but 12 is probably safer. Do not use capital letters all over the place, remember that your goal is to communicate a message as fast and as clearly as possible. Arial and Times are good choices. 10. Do not include “no kidding” information There are many people that like to include statements like “Available for interview” or “References available upon request.” If you are sending a resume to a company, it should be a given that you are available for an interview and that you will provide references if requested. Just avoid items that will make the employer think “no kidding!” 11. Explain the benefits of your skills Merely stating that you can do something will not catch the attention of the employer. If you manage to explain how it will benefit his company, and to connect it to tangible results, then you will greatly improve your chances. 12. Avoid negativity Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company. 13. Achievements instead of responsibilities Resumes that include a long list of “responsibilities included…” are plain boring, and not efficient in selling yourself. Instead of listing responsibilities, therefore, describe your professional achievements. 14. No pictures Sure, we know that you are good looking, but unless you are applying for a job where the physical traits are very important (e.g., modeling, acting and so on), and unless the employer specifically requested it, you should avoid attaching your picture to the resume. 15. Use numbers This tip is a complement to the 13th one. If you are going to describe your past professional achievements, it would be a good idea to make them as solid as possible. Numbers are your friends here. Don’t merely mention that you increased the annual revenues of your division, say that you increased them by $100,000, by 78%, and so on. 16. One resume for each employer One of the most common mistakes that people make is to create a standard resume and send it to all the job openings that they can find. Sure it will save you time, but it will also greatly decrease the chances of landing an interview (so in reality it could even represent a waste of time). Tailor your resume for each employer. The same point applies to your cover letters. 17. Identify the problems of the employer A good starting point to tailor your resume for a specific employer is to identify what possible problems he might have at hand. Try to understand the market of the company you are applying for a job, and identify what kind of difficulties they might be going through. After that illustrate on your resume how you and your skills would help to solve those problems. 18. Avoid age discrimination It is illegal to discriminate people because of their age, but some employers do these considerations nonetheless. Why risk the trouble? Unless specifically requested, do not include your age on your resume. 19. You don’t need to list all your work experiences If you have job experiences that you are not proud of, or that are not relevant to the current opportunity, you should just omit them. Mentioning that you used to sell hamburgers when you were 17 is probably not going to help you land that executive position. 20. Go with what you got If you never had any real working experience, just include your summer jobs or volunteer work. If you don’t have a degree yet, mention the title and the estimated date for completion. As long as those points are relevant to the job in question, it does not matter if they are official or not. 21. Sell your fish Remember that you are trying to sell yourself. As long as you don’t go over the edge, all the marketing efforts that you can put in your resume (in its content, design, delivery method and so on) will give you an advantage over the other candidates. 22. Don’t include irrelevant information Irrelevant information such as political affiliation, religion and sexual preference will not help you. In fact it might even hurt your chances of landing an interview. Just skip it. 23. Use Mr. and Ms. if appropriate If you have a gender neutral name like Alex or Ryan make sure to include the Mr. or Ms. prefix, so that employers will not get confused about your gender. 24. No lies, please Seems like a no brainer, but you would be amused to discover the amount of people that lie in their resumes. Even small lies should be avoided. Apart from being wrong, most HR departments do background checks these days, and if you are buster it might ruin your credibility for good. 25. Keep the salary in mind The image you will create with your resume must match the salary and responsibility level that you are aiming for. 26. Analyze job ads You will find plenty of useful information on job ads. Analyze no only the ad that you will be applying for, but also those from companies on the same segment or offering related positions. You should be able to identify what profile they are looking for and how the information should be presented. 27. Get someone else to review your resume Even if you think you resume is looking kinky, it would be a good idea to get a second and third opinion about it. We usually become blind to our own mistakes or way of reasoning, so another people will be in a good position to evaluate the overall quality of your resume and make appropriate suggestions. 28. One or two pages The ideal length for a resume is a polemic subject. Most employers and recruiting specialists, however, say that it should contain one or two pages at maximum. Just keep in mind that, provided all the necessary information is there, the shorter your resume, the better. 29. Use action verbs A very common advice to job seekers is to use action verbs. But what are they? Action verbs are basically verbs that will get noticed more easily, and that will clearly communicate what your experience or achievement were. Examples include managed, coached, enforced and planned. Here you can find a complete list of action verbs divided by skill category. 30. Use a good printer If you are going to use a paper version of your resume, make sure to use a decent printer. Laser printers usually get the job done. Plain white paper is the preferred one as well. 31. No hobbies Unless you are 100% sure that some of your hobbies will support you candidacy, avoid mentioning them. I know you are proud of your swimming team, but share it with your friends and not with potential employers. 32. Update your resume regularly It is a good idea to update your resume on a regular basis. Add all the new information that you think is relevant, as well as courses, training programs and other academic qualifications that you might receive along the way. This is the best way to keep track of everything and to make sure that you will not end up sending an obsolete document to the employer. 33. Mention who you worked with If you have reported or worked with someone that is well known in your industry, it could be a good idea to mention it on the resume. The same thing applies to presidents and CEOs. If you reported to or worked directly with highly ranked executives, add it to the resume. 34. No scattered information Your resume must have a clear focus. If would cause a negative impression if you mentioned that one year you were studying drama, and the next you were working as an accountant. Make sure that all the information you will include will work towards a unified image. Employers like decided people. 35. Make the design flow with white space Do not jam your resume with text. Sure we said that you should make your resume as short and concise as possible, but that refers to the overall amount of information and not to how much text you can pack in a single sheet of paper. White space between the words, lines and paragraphs can improve the legibility of your resume. 36. Lists all your positions If you have worked a long time for the same company (over 10 years) it could be a good idea to list all the different positions and roles that you had during this time separately. You probably had different responsibilities and developed different skills on each role, so the employer will like to know it. 37. No jargon or slang It should be common sense, but believe me, it is not. Slang should never be present in a resume. As for technical jargon, do not assume that the employer will know what you are talking about. Even if you are sending your resume to a company in the same segment, the person who will read it for the first time might not have any technical expertise. 38. Careful with sample resume templates There are many websites that offer free resume templates. While they can help you to get an idea of what you are looking for, do not just copy and paste one of the most used ones. You certainly don’t want to look just like any other candidate, do you? 39. Create an email proof formatting It is very likely that you will end up sending your resume via email to most companies. Apart from having a Word document ready to go as an attachment, you should also have a text version of your resume that does not look disfigured in the body of the email or in online forms. Attachments might get blocked by spam filters, and many people just prefer having the resume on the body of the email itself. 40. Remove your older work experiences If you have been working for 20 years or more, there is no need to have 2 pages of your resume listing all your work experiences, starting with the job at the local coffee shop at the age of 17! Most experts agree that the last 15 years of your career are enough. 41. No fancy design details Do not use a colored background, fancy fonts or images on your resume. Sure, you might think that the little flowers will cheer up the document, but other people might just throw it away at the sight. 42. No pronouns You resume should not contain the pronouns “I” or “me.” That is how we normally structure sentences, but since your resume is a document about your person, using these pronouns is actually redundant. 43. Don’t forget the basics The first thing on your resume should be your name. It should be bold and with a larger font than the rest of the text. Make sure that your contact details are clearly listed. Secondly, both the name and contact details should be included on all the pages of the resume (if you have more than one). 44. Consider getting professional help If you are having a hard time to create your resume, or if you are receiving no response whatsoever from companies, you could consider hiring a professional resume writing service. There are both local and online options are available, and usually the investment will be worth the money.…; Added by C. B. Stalling!! at 11:21am on October 21, 2008

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Topic: Midnight Magic Chat Log Sept 6, 2008: wn NOW. ****** Attend the MagicMethod FREE one hour LIVE phone sourcing classroom chats on Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon EST on the MagicMethod network here. ****** Like what you just read? MagicMethod is brimming with information like this and will show you the inside tips and techniques of true telephone names sourcers! Subscribe today here. ****** ****** Maureen I agree, D. Well, that's it for tonight - thanks for coming D! Email your questions! Denyse Diem agree to disagree, I always say! Denyse Diem I mean anyone who doesn’t like what you have to say. It's just your opinion - they dont have to agree! Maureen Oh - yeah, I agree. Me too - sometimes I am so full a' myself! Denyse Diem people tend to have a hard time getting over themselves! including my self at times i must admit! Maureen Who's that? Chat is definitely ginky tonight... Denyse Diem I think if they can't take the direct approach, they need to grow up or get out Denyse Diem yeah - I hope to live in CA for some period in my life. Didn't think I would be traveling like this tho....have to source a new job for my hubbie! LOL! Maureen There are some who don't like what I say (or how I say it) Denyse - as you get more into this community you will find out... Maureen I love Texas! And CA! Maureen That's right there is-when I first started sourcing my two biggest states for customers were CA and TX. Consequently they ARE big states but still I think that says something... Denyse Diem do you get into trouble? LOL! I hadn't heard of any - now I want to find out! LOL! Maureen Dallas is a beautiful city. Maureen In Dallas traffic? A 45 minute commute each way? NO THANKS! Denyse Diem there is so much work right here in Dallas Denyse Diem I agree M - the thing is - I would do it to see what the haps were in the medical world to create a niche for myself in sourcing in that arena - but the cummute is 45 mins each way....no thanks Maureen I don't suffer foolishness well anymore. That's why sometimes I get into "trouble" here on the boards... Maureen I know I sound hard - I am! Maureen Don't be fooled- he coulda' been playing you. The fact that he understands what a sourcer can do for his org leads me to think he may not be so green... Denyse Diem that or stressed....didn't ask me a single question! I led the entire conversation - they sounded to desperate Denyse Diem The recruiter who called me was very green. Maureen Sounds like a grinder. Maureen IF you can phone source you don't need any of that noise... Denyse Diem I've seen this job posted for several months - looks like a grinder Denyse Diem but it sounds like they want me to build their pipeline of candidates... Maureen Be careful - there are some characters surrounding us - some sharpies who understand what value we bring to the table and will try to "lure" you w/ promises... Denyse Diem so they have certain needs for certain specialties - ..yes, that's right...sorry I'm fading Maureen Oh. And pay you a small salary w benefits and then something on the if-come. I see. Denyse Diem opps - the day the doc starts the job Maureen I don't understand... Denyse Diem on site - sorry - they want me to be at their location near dallas. Denyse Diem small salary w/benefits, comission only start the day they start the job Maureen? What do you mean on sight. Maureen How are they offering to pay? Denyse Diem I was just offered a job to source for physicians only. On sight only tho. Maureen I think there are and I also think we're just scratching an itch... Denyse Diem I bet there are many applications for your sourcing that we are just not thinking of. Maureen Yup. Maureen I DID deal with characters. That's a good way of saying it. Denyse Diem no wonder you prefer the telephone! LOL! Maureen No - Mergers and Acquisitions but I could see application for marketing and advertising Denyse Diem bet you had to deal with some real characters Maureen I charged 12% of the sales price as a commission. Denyse Diem M&A = marketing & advertising? Maureen Yes - good way of saying it. Maureen Busienss intellignece (M&A activity) Denyse Diem so you were a broker for small businesses then? is that a good way to look at it? Maureen Sales. Maureen Good question. I have always thought many people could use sourcers. Maureen All types - usually they had gross sales up to $5-10million - occasionally higher... Denyse Diem who else uses sourcers? Denyse Diem do you prefer one to the other? Denyse Diem wow - what type of small business? Maureen When I first started- recruiters - nowadays it's pretty evenly divided. Denyse Diem so I had asked before so being so ruding interrupted...what entities yield the best jobs for you - recruiters? Hr depts? Maureen So THAT'S why my head isn't in it. I could tell some real horror stories... Maureen Me neither... Maureen I sold small businesses for 22 yrs - you think it's hard to make a placement? Try selling a busines to someone nobody will hire - that's WHO buys small businesses many times! Maureen No I only do phone banks when I have a need to penetrate a company for specific names...I don't data mine any longer though when I first started sourcing I spent many nights doing just that because I did not know what I was doing - it was a terrific learning ground for me... Denyse Diem so do you just data mine even if you don't have an immediate need for a name - during the holidays I mean? Maureen I don't want to have to develop relationships with people - the warm and fuzzy thing - I just want in and out - I enjoy the sense of completion a job started and finished in a few days gives me - placing requires months and months sometimes of sitting on pins and needles - who needs that? I'm not into any of that anymore. Denyse Diem here=hear LOL! good lord! Denyse Diem do you ever here of openings since you have good relationships with recruiters? And who are your major customers - recruiters, stand along company with an HR person needing help? WHo are the best folks to target? Denyse Diem but you were at one point? Maureen My head is not there. Denyse Diem what's your personal reason for sticking to the sourcing end? Maureen Doing placements is a whole different ball of wax...my head is not there anymore. Maureen The thing they don't get is that I DON'T WANT TO DO PLACEMENTS. Maureen I have never placed anyone. I get criticized occasionally for not doing so - people tell me I could make so much more money doing placements... Denyse Diem so you never try to place people? Just the names? Can I get an idea of how lucrative this can get as opposed to placing someone with a commission - actually, that may be a topic of discussion at some point Maureen Holidays and holiday weeks = Very valuable time! Maureen I always use holiday time to my advantage - holidays are great -for instance, many people go on vacation in a week that holds a holiday - and some of these will leave VoiceMail messages with valuable information on them when they combine one day of holiday with two weekends and four more days in the week to be away for a total of NINE DAYS with using up only FOUR vacation days! See how that works? So while they're away for those nine days they leave valuable info on their VoiceMails..."I'm on vacation - in my absence call..." Denyse Diem re phone banks - do you usually use holiday time to call into companies Maureen Sharib Yes and No, this isn't the only Magic chat. There are two other chats on the MagicMethod network – Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon EST. Here. Denyse Diem no - the magic chats....this is only the one here right? at midnight I mean? do you have chats elsewhere? Maureen It's an idea...maybe those who read this may want to offer their ideas on the subject... Maureen These chats D? You feel that way about these chats? Denyse Diem I wonder if instead of posting the chats, you just post a summary Maureen No phone banks this weekend. Denyse Diem it's a little frustrating reading through chats with all the banter, etc., I must admit. You have to read through a lot of conversation to get to actual points Maureen ALOT of people feel that way abt recording themselves - and it's even worse in sound - Animal has a hard time getting people to participate ont he Animal show because most people suffer mike fright... I know this to be true because one of my best sourcers comes out of the radio business and she says it's a common fear in broadcasting school... Denyse Diem so let's get to some meat then, shall we? did you call a bunch of phone banks over the weekend or were you too busy with the FL trip? Denyse Diem can't wait! Thanks for always trying to make it better! Maureen It will be much smoother - much easier to read I think. Denyse Diem okay - i'll pose my question/favor in a email to you then if you don't mind. Maureen I am in the process of revamping the delivery of Magic - you will be very pleased with the new format I think. Denyse Diem I hate having my words recorded! It's just a personal thing! lol! Maureen The longer lessons were sent to you in word so you can open, print (or copy) and read away from the 'puter. Maureen Yes. Denyse Diem by the way - is this going to be posted as well? Denyse Diem a lot of folks who can't attend b/c of work might be reading these tho...hard to choose Denyse Diem so don't get mad but last two weeks were a total blur and I still haven't been able to get to opening the first module. I didn’t notice that there was a note that the material could not be copied. I have a question or a favor to ask.... Maureen Many people like to read these chat logs - I am thinking about changing these chats to allow only PEOPLE WHO ATTEND them to be able to experience the chat - in other words - NOT make the logs available to EVERYONE – maybe only to those who attend regularly and registered MagicMethod students. It’s just a thought at this point. I think it would really improve attendance and participation. Maureen The ning chat does that but it does not allow to create a legend - this one will tell you how many are online but I guess Jason forgot to turn that function on when he switched from the ning chat tonight...ning chat tells you WHO is online as well - but it has no legend function... Denyse Diem Last time we were here there was some sort of counter that said how many folks were online and who many admins. Maureen I know what you mean - chat seems "sticky' tonight - is it for you? Maureen Who knows D there may well be...no way of telling... Denyse Diem I wasn't sure I'd have the energy to make it tonight - long day Denyse Diem oh- i misunderstood - I thought you said there were 16 of us here Maureen That's okay. Have you done phone banks since you started attending these classes? Maureen D I can't see who or how many is online so it may be just the two of us... Maureen It's more like a sales approach and for most people - sales is the LAST THING they want to be doing! I think old school recruiting may have attracted more sales types than administrivia types which what recruiting seems to suffer with today in many respects... Denyse Diem yes M -I see your point Denyse Diem Anyone else here want to chime in? you mentioned things we can do on phone banks or at night that would be good to get information in the chat description...anyone here call phone banks at night? Maureen It's a FAR DIFFERENT approach - far scarier for most people to approach someone who the likelihood is (80% or so) that they're NOT LOOKING for a job! In fact many times that's what the truly passive candidate says many times - first thing out of their mouths! Denyse Diem then the questions begin...how did you get my name, etc... Maureen Yes - Lou. Denyse Diem I've heard that name come up a lot - is that lou adler? Maureen Very FAR CRY from "This is so-and-so, we have an open position and we identified you hoping you might have an interest in our open position..." Maureen "This is so-and-so, I have your resume before me..." Maureen yes you have to call the candidate D BUT THINK what that call is like... Maureen BUT the trend makers have taken notice - I see guys like Adler giving it alot of attention and because he gets a pretty high profile (at least on ERE) things are changing... Denyse Diem Maureen the Sourcing Evangelist Maureen It's still very true today. I set out to change that. It's changing but very very slowly. Denyse Diem but if you rely on the boards don't you eventually have to call the candidate??? Maureen It's what got me active - Abt 4 yrs ago I read an article on ERE by Dr. John Sullivan - he said many recruiters and most hiring managers don't know what sourcing is. I was stunned. Denyse Diem who can share - sorry long day= typos Maureen I think old school knows what it is but the last generation (last ten yrs or so) have come up relying on the boards and the Internet and because it's less "pressure" to do things on a keyboard that doesn't push back at you many have never learned the ability to work the phone like it was once necessary - make sense? Anyone else have any ideas? Denyse Diem are there any recruiters here who share? Denyse Diem I think that many dont want to share the commision or don't see how they can increase their revenue with a sourcer Denyse Diem 95% of the recruiters I network with to learn more about the industry are stumped by what I want to do as a sourcer! Maureen Good question D. I DON'T KNOW. Beats the hell out of me. I have my suspicions though... Maureen I suspect. Maybe he can clarify that - he probably has and I wasn't paying attention... Denyse Diem why do you think that most recruiters don't know what sourcing is or rather that sourcing is its own industry Maureen GREAT recruiters can phone source. But, as in all things, few are great. It's one thing that contributes to greatness though, I strongly believe...Bill Vick says - ALL Big Billers use sourcers on the front end! Not sure how it's broken across phone/Internet but I SUSPECT a good number use phone sourcers. Denyse Diem but that was many moons ago Denyse Diem in the past I did Executive Dev. at a large financial institution in NYC and the previous to that some recruiting with Manpower Maureen Then you ARE a phone sourcer! Denyse Diem yes, for my self at this point. Maureen For your own recruiting efforts? Denyse Diem getting back into recruiting that is... Maureen You probably do your own sourcing right? Denyse Diem Denyse Diem interested in getting back into it Denyse Diem I'm taking some liberties I suppose - I will be a telephone sourcer Maureen You also do recruiting? Maureen Denyse - how long have you been a phone sourcer? Denyse Diem you are a motivating teacher! Maureen I'm going to write an article about cultural sourcing -I'm collecting information from anyone who wants to submit any - one subject will be how important it is to understand what time it is where you're calling - Hong Kong is what? 13 hrs ahead of us? Denyse Diem Hello folks, my name is Denyse Diem and I'm a Telephone names sourcer/ Researcher - some recruiting here in good ole Dallas, TX Maureen Denyse - you are really an avid student - you enjoy these chats? Yup, it's 12 Denyse Diem okay - so it's midnight at your part of the world! Maureen Thank you for attending the Saturday night MidnightMagic chat -would you all like to introduce yourselves?…; Added by Maureen Sharib to Phone Sourcing at 1:37am on September 7, 2008

Topic: Meet Mark Rinovato, Broadcom's Corporate Staffing Pioneer of Sourcing, SEO, and Employee Branding - Goes Solo: 8-0133 • Mobile: (949) 395-9593 • Email Ever live "down the street from someone" and only years later, thousands of miles away reintroduced yourself and communicated and learned what an exceptional innovator you missed a coffee or a lunch with when you had the opportunity? Of course you have; these are digital times, but alas, the virtual handshake allows us to recover bona fides. In this instance, a staffing manager who was an early disruptor within corporate walls was only a few miles away when I lived in Irvine before I escaped to the Rocky Mountains. Today, I give thanks to RecruitingBlogs Monday Member Showcase series for the opportunity to share a discovery of a true industry innovator, Mark Rinovato. This week, I am honored to feature his extraordinary legacy of achievements during his tenure at Broadcom; mainstreaming sourcing efforts, in addition to introducing SEO and employee branding as a vital strategic staffing component. Mark served as Manager, Strategic Sourcing at Broadcom, he oversaw a budget of $1.5M where he initiated the creation of the strategic sourcing function and managed a team of eight Sourcing Specialists dedicated to passive candidate identification and pipeline generation through sourcing channels. He created the company’s first Employment Brand that is now used in all career-related advertising and communications in order to convey the true company culture. Mark implemented Search Engine Optimization technology for the career site that resulted in Broadcom’s open requisitions landing on the first page of Google search results. His efforts translated into the Successful development of identifying over 5000 qualified engineers to the database within six months. As Manager of Global Staffing at Broadcom, he managed a budget of $3.5M and directed a global team of 28 including recruiters, sourcing specialists and coordinators in support of the Broadcom’s recruiting strategy and execution worldwide. He created Broadcom’s Employee Referral Program that produced a third of all company hires. His staffing organization grew Broadcom from 2,500 employees in 2004 to over 7,000 employees in 2008. In all, Mark’s efforts averaged over 1400 hires per year for four years, - exclusive of acquisitions. Recently, Mark has initiated his own contingency search firm, “EMR Search Partners” which provides talent acquisition solutions to the high technology industry. EMR provides search services on a retained, contingency and contract basis. He has diversified his clientele with start-up venture funded firms as well as large established companies. Q&A with Mark Rinovato Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Mark My wife, Edie, and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Februrary on the island of Bora Bora, Tahiti. It was spectacular. We met in Los Angeles, where I was starting out my recruiting career with an employment agency on Wilshire Blvd. She was working for a restaurant located in the same building. We know we made a great team. My wife is Hungarian born and actually escaped from communist Hungary in the 70’s with her mother and eventually made their way to Los Angeles. That’s an entire novel in itself! As it turned out, we started our own restaurant in Los Angeles, a Hungarian/Continental restaurant, and it was quite successful. I found myself recruiting by day and helping with the restaurant at night. I would not recommend this. We sold it 4yrs later, but the marriage is still going strong. Six Degrees: What's a day in the life for you Mark? Mark My main hobbies are golf, music and movies. I don’t have enough time to play a lot of golf, but I get out when I can. I’ve been to many PGA Tour golf tournaments, including the US Open at Torrey Pines in 08. It was a spectacular event. Having been in the restaurant business, my wife and I also share a love of gourmet cooking and wine, and we love to entertain friends. We also love to watch classic movies. As far as music, my tastes are pretty eclectic, and include folk, rock, jazz (especially latin jazz) and classical. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Mark: I’ve been in the staffing industry for over 30 years, so I’ve seen a lot of changes, especially with the technology. When I started in the industry the most innovative technology was the phone system. Come to think of it, we may be coming full circle with smartphones and the mobile internet. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Mark I was asked by a friend in Los Angeles, who had just been hired by an employment agency there, to talk with this agency about getting into the business. This was a small firm just starting up, and I was about the 6th employee. I ended up being with that agency for 7 years going from a Recruiter to Management, and we grew from one small agency to 5 agencies with 20 employees each. The success I experienced there was very exciting, especially for a young man in his early 20’s, and really set the tone for my career in this business. I was hooked. I still am. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Mark That’s a tough question. There have been so many important events. But I would have to say that starting my own agency was the most important. There is something about going out on your own, with no support other then your belief in your own abilities, that really defines who you are. It requires you to be creative and do more with less, but it also gives you the freedom to do all of the things that you could not do working for others. As an example, the first firm that I worked for was slow to adopt the PC, networking and recruiting software that was then coming available, pushing it off into the future because of the expense. When I started my own business I immediately bought a software package designed for search firms and automated my business. It happened to be on the Mac as that was the only GUI available and I couldn’t deal with DOS. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Mark Actually, there were two individuals that I would say I modeled my career after. The first was the owner of the first agency that I joined and was with for 7yrs. I saw how he ran his business and how successful he was, and that inspired me to learn recruiting and start my own business. The second was a corporate staffing manager with a Fortune 100 corporation who helped me transition into corporate recruiting. He gave me an opportunity and opened up that side of the business for me. Six Degrees: Tell us about your last position, (responsibilities, size of your staffing organization) : Mark I spent the last 8yrs at Broadcom Corporation, a $4.5 billion communications semiconductor company. I started out as a contract recruiter, and eventually progressed to Manager of Global Staffing and then Manager, Strategic Sourcing. The teams that I hired and managed were instrumental in growing the company from 2400 employees to just over 7500 employees in 4yrs. Most of these hires were highly skilled engineers, hardware and software. The staffing department had 25 recruiters and sourcers at one time, and we were an excellent team, but recent budget cuts have eliminated most of them. It’s the worst time I have ever seen in our industry. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Mark The talent groups that we focused on at Broadcom were primarily design engineers with either IC design, systems design or embedded software design expertise. Within these groups is quite a bit of specialization, as the company has over 22 different product lines. But those are the basic talent hubs, and they were all supported by my teams. We also recruited for other support functions, such as finance, IT, HR, etc. Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of? Mark We had access to a lot of good training. The three primary training courses for staffing were: The Adler Group – full cycle recruiting, including interview and assessment. JobMachine – Sourcing AIRS Xtreme - Sourcing All of these vendors did an excellent job of coming on site and conducting professional training sessions that had a great deal of benefit to my teams. 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? Mark The main tool was the ATS system, from VirtualEdge, and that system was implemented worldwide. We used all the typical job boards. Job boards were a tool worldwide as well, but only Monster worked reasonably well overseas. Most countries and regions have there own local boards that do better then Monster, CareerBuilder, Hotjobs and Dice. Of course, everyone had a LinkedIn Recruiter account, which is quite effective everywhere. Other sourcing tools included ZoomInfo, Broadlook Diver and Profiler, InfoGist, TalentHook, and others. We also used Search Engine Optimization and built an SEO site with TalentHubs. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Mark Microsoft is a name that keeps popping up on everyone’s top ten list. Also, I hear a lot of good things about Ernst and Young. We had a Broadcom employee leave to go to work in E&Y’s college program as a recruiter and described the experience in glowing terms. A lot of industry leaders in sourcing seem to have come from Microsoft. Six Degrees: (B) In what aspects are they superior? Mark Most companies with superior recruiting functions have the support and commitment of top executives who understand the importance of recruiting to the company’s success. This translates into budgets that allow staffing leadership to hire the best recruiters and sourcers, and implement the best tools and methodologies. The best recruiting departments have a strong strategic approach to staffing, along with a superior process. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? Mark Most of the big mistakes I have made were the result of lack of communication. Nothing leads to disaster like making decisions in a vacuum. Probably the best example of this happened when I became enamored with Web 2.0 job boards and thought that I needed to add one to my company’s toolbox. I did my due diligence, checked out all the top contenders and made my selection. I even had a small team of 2 recruiters who also participated in the demo’s, and they were also positive, so I was comfortable with my final decision. I was so sure that this was a great product that I failed to involve the larger team of recruiters and sourcers who would be using the product on a day to day basis. It turned out that, even after extensive training, they were not getting the results from this new product, and simply stopped using it. I had wasted tens of thousands of dollars of the company’s money and valuable training and recruiter time. The result was no results, and no ROI. No matter how cool a technology seems, you need to make sure that it can produce the desired results and that you have buy in from the majority of users before going with it. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Mark Obviously, the financial meltdown and deep recession has had a strong impact on the recruiting industry. No matter what part of the business you work in, you have probably negatively impacted by this downturn. Corporate recruiting budgets have been sharply curtailed. Many friends of mine on the agency side, both retained and contingency, have painted a very bleak picture of the current market. While this too shall pass, I think the severity of it will make companies hesitant about committing to hiring fulltime employees and push them towards more outsourcing and contract labor. The cost of healthcare is also a factor that will encourage this trend as well. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Mark The most interesting groups that I have been involved with recently are CSLE (Corporate Sourcing Leadership Exchange) and OCTane, which is a local business group here in Orange County, CA. CSLE is focused on sharing information and stimulating ideas about Sourcing as a center of excellence in corporate environments. It is always enlightening to hear what other top corporate staffing teams are doing internally, especially with regards to sourcing. OCTane is a group dedicated to the branding of Orange County, CA as a destination for high technology and medical technology firms and talent. Sahali Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Has it effected your job or that of your fellow team members within the organization - If so, to what extent? (If you have been laid off, tell us about the experience, when it happened) Mark Well, it has affected me quite dramatically. The entire strategic sourcing function was eliminated, along with my position as manager of that team. Many recruiters were also let go, as were other departments in HR. So the recession has had a very negative impact on me, and many of my colleagues. I’ve been through a number of these recessions, and they are always bad news for the recruiting industry, but we always bounce back. 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? Mark We have some local groups here in Orange County that have been a big help so far. There is a group called HR Connections, which is sponsored by LHH, that brings together local HR talent at monthly meetings. We share job leads and job hunting advice. Also, InContact HR puts together great networking events for HR professionals nationwide. I’ve also joined a few promising groups on LinkedIn such as Corporate Recruiters, Personal Branding Network and Cybersleuths. I’m looking forward to getting more involved in networking and branding through these and other groups. 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? Mark My advice would be to pick and choose carefully the networks you decide to become a part of, and then really participate as much as possible. You have to give something in order to get results. Not contributing to the networks is a mistake that I have made in the past, mainly because I’ve been too busy, but also because I was did not incorporate it into my daily routine. I plan to change that. LinkedIn has been my main professional network so far. I have used Facebook primarily for personal contacts. And of course Twitter looks to be a great tool that I’m just getting started with. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Mark I did a lot of soul searching over the past couple of months as to which direction to go in. I initially thought about going for another Manager or Director of Staffing role in a corporate environment. But I have decided to start my own search and consulting business instead, and I’m in the middle of launching this new enterprise. It may seem an odd time to be launching a business of any kind, let alone a recruiting business, but recessions are often the best times to start a new business. We’ve hit bottom, and nothing but growth lies ahead. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Happy Holidays, from SixDegreesfromDave.com…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 4:25pm on November 29, 2009