Search Results - managers

Blog Post: The New Employee Onboarding Checklist to Use Before Hiring: Added by Christine Marino at 9:51am on August 31, 2015

Topic: It Didn’t Take Going to War or Landing in Prison to Understand Why I Love Recruiting: eme enough it’s a wonder I survived it—as in, if I didn’t die in the process it could only make me stronger. The prison experience was described earlier on this Forum (in my contest entry for the best RBC Recruitment related Horror Story). It tested me on many levels and was dangerous beyond my full realization of how much in harm’s way I actually put myself in--but it was only one of four of my challenging exposures that put me in recruitment roles over the past forty-one years working in the discipline. I promise I won’t bore you with all four. I’ll touch on just two here. My first experience in formal recruiting came about in the Army. Not as a recruiter of candidates for induction into the military, but as a recruiter of civilian staff to work in positions reporting to hiring managers who happened to be military officers in the Officer Personnel Directorate (OPD) assigned across fourteen Pentagon level Army Branches, e.g., Adjutant General, Finance, Infantry, Quartermaster, Aviation, Air Defense, Military Intelligence, Signal, Military Police, Logistics, etc. The role of the OPD was to identify, select and appoint officers, of all ranks, to assignments worldwide—many of whom were in combat zones. Upon graduating from college in 1971 I enlisted in the Army. Vietnam was still hot with no end in sight. So, like my father, uncles and brothers, before me—in time of war--we all volunteered to get into the fight (Korea for my father; WWII for my five uncles; and Vietnam for me and my three brothers). BTW my mom was part of the war effort herself—working in the war factories in the ‘40s when her brothers went to war. After graduating from Army Boot Camp and Advanced Infantry Training (AIT), I was set to get orders to go directly into combat in Vietnam--as did all graduating AIT classes did from Fort Polk, La--for the previous six years. However, as fate would have it--that order never came down. Instead, I was sent directly to Washington D.C. for assignment to the Presidential Traveling Team (the advance team that arrives ahead of the President’s arrival anyplace in the world to secure his safe arrival and departure). Due to my VOLAR (volunteer) status in a time of war; my recent college degree, high test scores and strong performance evaluations the Deputy Commander for the Officer Personnel Directorate (OPD) pulled my file and requested that I be reassigned directly to the Pentagon to the OPD Administrative office to take over Civilian Staffing; the Army Suggestion Program; and Special Projects. The Colonel who assigned me, back in 1971, to my first recruiting role had a civilian GS 13 level employee retiring and felt I could handle an Action Officer’s Desk—which I did…well. Facilitating the recruitment, promotions and transfers of key civilian talent that worked in support, and in liaison roles, with military staff and leadership during the Vietnam War was an honor, a privilege and a duty for me at that time. In war time, or staying in conflict readiness, when I think of how all the roles in an Army depend on each other to bring forth successful missions I truly appreciated how important the role of a recruiter is for mission success, particularly when life, death and safety issues hang in the balance. That three year experience cemented my love for recruiting and launched me into what I do today—recruiting. Entering the Danger Zone: When the Vietnam War ended in 1973, and the military build-up was now downsizing--I was recommend for Officer Candidate School (OCS) but elected to leave the Army when my enlistment commitment was up the following year. It turned out to be bad timing because the stock market crashed and with the ongoing effects of the 1973 Oil Embargo added to the misery of a great recession. Jobs were scarce so I worked in temp jobs until my Uncle alerted me to a Grant Project that was failing in the California Department of Corrections. The Cooperative Training and Employment Project (CTEP) was a Federal & State funded project administered by a minority not-for-profit community based organization called the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF). CTEP was designed to stem the high recidivism rate for minority inmates in particular—but was open to all inmates interested in participating. Unfortunately, CTEP was set to be defunded due to the failure of two previous Directors and high staff turnover. Working in prison with a no-hostage policy clause (see my horror story) for all who enter there; and working for a not-for-profit (very low pay) did little to attract job applicants--so there it was. And there I was—at the time with my college degree, great Army/Pentagon level experience and high recommendations—pumping gas at gas station in La Jolla, CA. I was rooming with my brother in San Diego—both of us doing casual labor jobs until the recession showed signs of recovery. So on my uncle’s recommendation I applied and landed the job. Landing in prison, as it were--by choice, however was a decision that bothered my family and friends for obvious reasons—and was unsettling for me at first because my life was threatened on the very first day I was “in prison” addressing the inmate leaders (see RBC horror story) regarding the rehab program. Nevertheless, I volunteered to do the job and to this day I’ll tell anyone—I’d still be there if it wasn’t for Prop 13 which was the California Tax Revolt that defunded CTEP and other social services programs at the time in California. The short version of this experience is that—yes, it’s not for everybody. Most say prisons are for punishment and I agree. But I also feel that the majority of people in lockup today will be getting out at some point down the road. And if they are only going to be part of the revolving door process—how does that help them, their families; future victims and society at large? My decision to go there was based on the simple grasp of the situation--to be part of the solution. Bottom line, who wants to be a future victim, directly or indirectly? I felt here was a unique opportunity to attempt to make a difference and to stem predictable outcomes. Yes, my staff and I were in considerable danger—but that’s partly what won us respect on the yard—the fact that we would risk our safety for their benefit because we were there to help them help themselves through training, counseling and job placement. Yes, recruiting candidates from the general population didn’t sit well with inmates who were rejected. And some were happy to express their unhappiness with our decision. We were briefed and given assurances that help was available but “you enter this prison at your own risk” was clearly understood—and it all worked out. Our work on behalf of inmates who wanted to better themselves also won respect from correctional staff and administrators…and employers because we were job placing parolees who were doing well enough on the job that employers came back for more candidates. Without getting into too much detail the training and rehab program was a remarkable success over a three year period given the negative statistics that haunt corrections in any state with high recidivism rates (50%-70% in some places) and the high costs for incarceration. Our job placement rate was in the low 92% range with a 9% recidivism rate compared to California’s 50%-60% return rate. White/Black & Hispanic inmates participated and those who survived the prison experience and benefited from our program eventually paroled and were placed in viable jobs across the State of California w/IBM, XEROX, Hewlett Packard, JC Penney, etc. The results were getting positive press and we were ramping up to expand the program but unfortunately ran into the famous, or infamous, depending on your stance on such matters—Proposition 13 (the Tax Payers Revolt in California). Prop 13 cancelled funds for many social services programs like CTEP. Yes, I love recruiting and my military and prison experiences enhanced my ability to make a positive impact in corporate America as a recruiter and Staffing Manager. And now, as an independent Recruitment Consultant, I continue to make a difference for candidates and clients who go on to make their mark as well. …; Added by Valentino Martinez at 2:33pm on February 28, 2012

Topic: The Sourcers We Are (And Aren't) Today Part II: the Sourcecon AfterDark affair jabbering over the best way to help Bill, our disappointed and alarmed Sourcecon co-attendee sitting next to us, half-listening, his attention wavering between what we're telling him and the siren glare of the LinkedIn interface. We four sourcers, we happy four, we band of brothers raged and rattled and roared at each other over past victories and bitter phone sourcing defeats for about an hour and decided a best plan of attack against the bastion that held the promise of deliverance for our disappointed young brethren who had the sense God gives few to ask for help where it can best be found. Let me ask you something, Reader. If your house is on fire are you going to text or email/InMail 911 for HELP or are you going to CALL SOMEONE ON THE PHONE and scream for HELP! knowing someone will hear you? Bill was calling 911. As a parting exchange one of the phone sourcers, a seasoned gentleman from Canada, nodded to Bill and said, “Don’t you worry - by tomorrow morning all this is going to be fixed.” Young Bill looked at him like a deer in a headlight, not knowing what to believe. How much money would recruiters pay – how much money would a CEO or a CFO of a company be willing to pay - to hear those words from a sourcer’s lips and know he could believe them? I looked at Bill and nodded. “He’s right. Don’t worry. Go have yourself some fun. Come to Room 334 at 7:15 and we’ll get this thing done.” He looked so young and vulnerable. I wanted to make him some hot chocolate. Pam and I left and went to bed. It was past our bedtimes. It was about 11. 7:15a.m. came and went and I was beginning to wonder if Bill was going to show. Did he remember? He was absent mindedly nursing a beer when we last left him sitting slouched back/slightly hunched forward on one of the bar’s couches, hoodie up with the eerie bright glow of the laptop casting a rather cherubic flush onto his young, fresh-scrubbed face. He was earnestly searching LinkedIn and CareerBuilder like all of salvation laid within their gated districts. 7:18 and a knock sounds at the door. Pam is sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the door putting on make-up and I ask her if she’s ready. “Bring him in,” she says. She’s quiet, getting her game on; pulling herself together - thinking. “Good morning,” I say, as I open the door. “I wasn’t sure I had the right room,” he stammered, slightly. “He’s nervous,” I thought. “Daylight’s burning in the Midwest,” I say to him. He looks at me like he’s just realizing the midsection of the country is two hours ahead of us here in Seattle on Pacific Time. “That’s right!” he exclaims. “It’s 9:15 there!” “9:19,” I correct, glancing at the clock. He’s clutching his laptop. I imagine him sleeping with it clutched next to his chest. I shake the image off and ask to see what he has. Sure enough he opens his laptop. To LinkedIn But then, you already knew that, didn’t you? Before he’d arrived I’d looked up the number of the airline we’d be calling. I had to dig a bit because the first number most commonly found is an 800 number. We don’t want to call 800 numbers because in general 800 numbers are a pain in the ass (too many prompts/they identify my CallBlock number/take too much time to wade past.) Time is money. I found a number that uses a regular area code exchange and called it before Bill arrived to see how it worked. This company employs near 90,000 people and it’s using a number that offers entry to an employee directory and an option to hit zero for “the receptionist” and when you do that it instructs you to “leave a message.” Figure that one out. Please. Someone do that and send me the answer – okay? Moving on: Deciding the best way to approach this is to “stab in” (call directly in to the company number-by-number reaching individual employees at their desks) I had begun that process around 5a.m. PT to find that it was a very simple one-after-another number assignment to individual employees in the company. Piece of cake I was locked and loaded when the knock came. “Let me see what you have,” I demanded. He hands me a list with four names scribbled on it. I’m pretty sure they’re all off LinkedIn. Pam is standing next to me craning to see the list. “That woman’s no longer there. I checked,” she said, pointing assuredly and shaking her head. I looked at her, sideways, “You did?” I was surprised. “Last night. When you went to bed. I’m ahead of you on this, Maureen.” I looked at Pam and laughed. “I’m glad somebody is. This isn’t going to be easy,” and felt myself relax some knowing Pam is every bit as good a phone sourcer (if not better!) as I am. There are many times I know for sure she’s better. “Then you know what to do; you know they use-” “-an answering machine?” Pam almost shouts back at me, emphasizing the absurdity of it all. “I know! Can you believe it? We’re gonna have to stab in. Here’s the- " “-internal dial system? I have it; found it this morning,” I counter back and we both looked at each knowing we each knew what the other knew and not a whole lot more needed be said between us on the subject. Bill looked from one of us to the other like, "What's goin' on?" with that "Who's on first/who's on second?" look. Pam then says, “I did find one woman on that list, though, in the company phone directory. The Sr. Manager for Loyalty Marketing that Bill thinks his Traitoress-Consultant works under. Her extension is 1156.” Let’s start with the 1100’s then, with the hope some of her team members will be assigned numbers nearby. I’ll go in there (pointing at the bathroom) and I’ll do the numbers above 1150 and you take the numbers below,” I said as I picked up my phone and headed for the bathroom. To be clear and to help you stay on track with what we’re doing to this point: We’re going to be “stabbing in” (calling in) to the company – one number at a time – one number after another and keeping track of who answers as we go – until someone answers and then we’re going to ask that person (who answers) if they can help us locate numbers/names/any information on the team members of the Consultant that Bill so desperately wants to identify in hopes of replacing the candidate that was just lost. That’s what we’re doing and that’s what we did and I hope you stay tuned to find out what happens next! This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remember'd; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. William Shakespeare, Henry V Part III…; Added by Maureen Sharib to Phone Sourcing at 10:42am on October 22, 2013

Blog Post: Shameless Rerun of "To A 'T'" by Jack Thornton, but with a tiny bit of help from me.: Added by Nicholas Meyler at 12:11am on September 20, 2014

Topic: Transcript - Talent Talk Cafe: Week of Nov 10th - William Uranga: Can HR Embrace Social Media: ollow and would appreciate any feedback to know if its something that we should continue to do. So, sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy the conversation! Don't forget to join us and participate in the live Chat each week on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 3pm ET / 12pm PT. Susan Burns So, William - take it away and lets hear whats on your mind with HR and Social Media 3:03pm William Well good afternoon to all you non-West Coast recruiting people 3:03pm Maren Hogan That's an illustrator graphic from a mac, I will shut up now 3:03pm Ben Yoskovitz Hi Susan ... and everyone else. 3:03pm William I had recently done a preso 3:03pm William on Social Media (sm) and HR 3:04pm William amazingly only 25% had read a blog 3:04pm William and only one other person in the audience of 70 wrote a blog 3:04pm William pretty stunning... 3:04pm Business Support by Mittie wow... 3:04pm William It's really encouraging to know that you folks are already distinguishing yourself from the rest 3:04pm Maren Hogan Dan Schwabel posted a stat that um, I think 70 or 80% of marketers (not HR I know) were using social media 3:05pm Susan Burns Wow - the # who had at least read a blog is lower than I would have anticipated 3:05pm Susan Burns William - what was the average age - approx, of the group? 3:05pm Business Support by Mittie that is a very good question 3:05pm William Great q: don't know would guess that they were mostly boomers 3:05pm Susan Burns HI Ben! 3:06pm Lance Haun that's not surprising 3:06pm William So I'd thought we could start off w/ collaborating on just what is Social Media - and come up with a definition. Any takers? 3:06pm William(hi, Lance) 3:06pm Maren Hogan Oh fudge, I hate definitiongs 3:06pm Maren Hogan no g 3:07pm William Let's making a working one... no wikipedia etc. 3:07pm Business Support by Mittie creating video advertisemnts for example, marketing that appeals to a younger demographic I think 3:07pm William How would you explain it to that HR audience I just had... 3:07pm Susan Burns virtual collaboration, sharing and content creation 3:07pm Lance Haun hmm, user driven 3:07pm Steve Levy SM - recruiting the way it used to be done before technology...meeting and greeting and developnig relationships 3:07pm Susan Burns Hi Steve! 3:07pm William Mittie... those are great examples of Sm. 3:07pm Rob Humphrey sure.. social media is content distributed by technology...the web..mobile phone...etc 3:07pm Business Support by Mittie thank you 3:07pm WilliamN ice Steve! 3:07pm Steve Levy calls, birthday cards, coffee chats 3:07pm Susan Burns Hey Rob! 3:07pm Ben Gotkin interactive, multimedia, transparent 3:07pm William(hi, Rob) 3:07pm Maren Hogan it's definitely two sided 3:07pm Maren Hogan or should be 3:08pm Rob Humphrey Hey Susan..everyone 3:08pm Business Support by Mittie Myspace is also an example 3:08pm William Great point Ben. It certainly isn't passive 3:08pm Susan Burns Maren - can you try and do a copy and paste again today - this willb e great to capture and I still cant get it with Firefox 3:08pm Rob Humphrey Social Media is not to be confused with social media marketing... 3:08pm William Yes, even marketing is abusing SM, eh, Rob? 3:08pm Business Support by Mittie I think I confuse the two at times myself 3:08pm Rob Humphrey umm they are trying to 3:09pm Maren Hogan shoot I will try Susan 3:09pm William So we have interactive, authentic/transparent 3:09pm Steve Levy SM marketing is about monetization 3:09pm Ben Gotkin creating community 3:09pm Recruiting Animal Don't worry I won't say anything. I just came to harrass William U with my presence 3:09pm Steve Levy as we use it, it is about creating relationships 3:09pm Rob Humphrey SM Marketing is not just about $ 3:09pm Susan Burns Hey RA - welcome back - its great to have you on TTC! 3:09pm William c'mon, Ani contribute... I can barely hear you... 3:09pm Steve Levy when Keleman says don't worry... 3:10pm Recruiting Animal I'm playing your music 3:10pm Lance Haun heh 3:10pm Ben Yoskovitz Social media is also "freer" - in the sense that more people are now capable of distributing their content / message. 3:10pm Jennifer McClure William - you shared a good definition of social media on twitter earlier. Are you gonna repeat that? 3:10pm Steve Levy Rob - abs but to far more it is 3:10pm Rob Humphrey The weapon of social media (so to speak) is being turned around and pointed at employers... 3:10pm Ben Yoskovitz It costs less to create and distribute. 3:10pm Recruiting Animal I know, Vin. It doesn't mean anything 3:10pm Rob Humphrey so much for "controlling your brand.." 3:10pm William So Ben's "community" vs Steve's "monetization" are those opposite or can those attrib work together in SM? 3:10pm Steve Levy they have to work together 3:10pm Business Support by Mittie they work together 3:10pm Rob Humphrey they work together sometimes 3:11pm Susan Burns Community and monetization can work together if there is a bi-directional value exchange 3:11pm Rob Humphrey depends what your goals are 3:11pm Lance Haun I think they can but it is trickier 3:11pm Lance Haun is that a word? 3:11pm Ben Gotkin they can, not necessarily important for recruiting though 3:11pm Rob Humphrey Ben--why not? 3:11pm Susan Burns Ben - maybe monetization in recruiting is a hire?? 3:11pm William So in recruiting, I usually hear of people "using" SM. Is that a fair generalization. If so does it run counter to true SM? 3:12pm Ben Gotkin Susan - possibly 3:12pm Ben Gotkin I'm wearing the corporate hat though 3:12pm Rob Humphrey no i dont think so... 3:12pm Steve Levy monet. in recruiting depends upon who is doing the recruiting 3:12pm Jennifer McClure I don't think so. No more than using a phone to communicate with someone. 3:12pm William Rob can you elab? 3:12pm Rob Humphrey well--it is a phrase that we latch onto 3:12pm Rob Humphrey and we think about FB LI etc 3:12pm Lance Haun is their an intrinsic value of SM to not use it to monetize or gain something? 3:12pm Lance Haun or is it a tool like anything else? 3:13pm Rob Humphrey when we should be thinking about how to really harness SM 3:13pm Lance Haun it is the latter to me 3:13pm Susan Burns An important distinction is wether or not your looking at it as transactional or as community - wich is nurturing relationships and creating value over time 3:13pm Kari Quaas It's a tool for me to connect with all of you fine people. Without it, I / we wouldn't be here. 3:13pm Rob Humphrey I had a video game client recently--the whole recruitment plan revolved aroun a SMM plan 3:13pm Susan Burns Hey Kari - welcome! 3:13pm William Good pt Susan. Intent becomes apparent pretty quickly 3:13pm Rob Humphrey versus tactics-- 3:13pm Steve Levy if ur creating value over time ur also creating val minute by ymin 3:13pm William(hi Kari) 3:13pm Kari Quaas hi all 3:14pm Ben Gotkin Susan - Or creating a conversation, building a brand, pushing out content 3:14pm Steve Levy meaning all steps are critical 3:14pm William Steve good point, but are recruiters patient to that end? 3:14pm Rob Humphrey A linkedin group is a tactic... not a strategy..for example 3:14pm Steve Levy most... NO 3:14pm Ben Gotkin LinkedIn Groups can be used strategically now... 3:14pm Susan Burns Rob - LI is part of a strategy and the site itself and actions on the site are tactics that support the strategy 3:14pm Jennifer McClure The recruiters who "use" social media just for recruiting typically aren't able to generate the relationships/following they need to get to the people they are trying to recruit 3:15pm WilliamSo let's run with Ben's spec ex. How have you used LI Groups? 3:15pm Ben GotkinLove it 3:15pm Rob Humphrey yes 3:15pm Susan Burns Hey Jennifer! Thanks for joining us! 3:15pm William Any one have examples? 3:15pm Jason Stark because they dont take the time to develop the relationship. they use it as if it is another job board and try and recruit candidates or sell to clients without taking the time to build the relationship which in the long run is much more important!! 3:15pm Steve Levy BG -which groups have been most fruitful for your searches 3:16pm Jennifer McClure I have a LinkedIn group with over 5k members in it. I've "used" it for personal branding, a bridge to establishing relationships, and a quick way to reach people I need to reach 3:16pm Ben Gotkin Any of the Big 4 3:16pm Ben Gotkin We have an alumni group for our firm that I administer too, good stuff there 3:16pm Steve Levy their affinity groups? 3:16pm Steve Levy sorry - already answered 3:16pm Ben Gotk incorporate or alumni groups, thousands and thousands of members 3:16pm William So would you guys say that LI Groups are more network (exchange of help) or communities? 3:16pm Susan Burns Ben - how do you interact with the group? What does content shared look like? 3:17pm Rob Humphrey network 3:17pm Lance Haun I would say network 3:17pm Rob Humphrey trying to be a community 3:17pm Jennifer McClure LI groups done well are definitely communities 3:17pm Carmen Hudson How do candidates want to interact with SM (from a recruiting standpoint?) 3:17pm Steve Levy becoming networks 3:17pm Susan Burns network - LI is missing too much functionality for it to be community! 3:17pm Ben Gotkin network, but you can also post content and start discussions there 3:17pm Susan Burns Hey Carmen - welcome to TTC! 3:17pm Rob Humphrey the community aspect is limited 3:17pm Carmen Hudson do they want to develop relationships, or are they looking for transaction-based communication? 3:17pm Rob Humphrey the dialogue component is in its infancy 3:17pm Steve Levy if they're candidates, they want access to peeps who will hire them 3:17pm Ben Gotkin Rob - true, but it's a start 3:17pm William Jennifer (hi) how are you using your LI group as a community versus a network? 3:18pm Rob Humphrey if you ask 1000 linkedin users they would say network 3:18pm Carmen Hudson Hey there Susan, William and everyone! Shout outs! 3:18pm Steve Levy Carmen - neither - I think they want shortcuts 3:18pm William(hey Carmen) 3:18pm Jennifer McClure Our LI group established a Yahoo group before LI added discussions to communicate, and we also have LIVE networking events. 3:18pm Lance Haun I agree with Steve, they want to touch base largely 3:18pm Lance Haun Do people connect to your group when they aren't looking for a job? 3:19pm Lance Haun I think thats the ultimate test 3:19pm William Ok, great example so there is more than a single online presence of your community 3:19pm Susan Burns LI is not dynamic - compare it to Twitter, Ning sites or FB and it is quite flat and transactional 3:19pm Carmen Hudson But I think LI is moving toward being dynamic, given the new app features 3:19pm Ben Gotkin LI is business focused though with 30M members. No other SM site competes with that 3:19pm Susan Burns ANd to Lance's point - would they tell a friend about your community because they think its a cool place to hang out and get/share info 3:20pm Jennifer McClure To build true relationships - you typically need to take it to an in-person interaction at some point. Otherwise, it's just an affinity 3:20pm Steve Levy Carmen - until they layoff more people 3:20pm Carmen Hudson tell ME about it! 3:20pm Business Support by Mittie I have a question excuse me if it isn't appropriate for this discussion 3:20pm Susan Burns Agree Carmen - but they have been really slow and the group manager tools are not there yet, let alone the community interface - would love to see them get it together 3:20pm Steve Levy susan - cost/benefit to add those features 3:21pm Carmen Hudson If they don't they will lose their core users -- only recruiters will be left, linking to other recruiters 3:21pm Susan Burns Jennifer - when u say in-person do you mean face time? 3:21pm Steve Levyless chance now that they having financial issues 3:21pm Rob Humphrey face to face is great 3:21pm Lance Haun yeah, exactly carmen 3:21pm Rob Humphrey but not common among recruiters...anymore :-( 3:21pm Jennifer McClure Face time or at least a phone conversation. I've developed some great friendships through social media with people I've not yet met, but when I do get a chance to meet them, the relationships become that much richer 3:21pm Rob Humphrey why not transcend LI Groups? 3:22pm Ben Gotkin recruiters are still a minority of users in LI. It continues to grow across all demographics 3:22pm Rob Humphrey use it as a feed to your community? 3:22pm Susan Burns Steve - could be a lot of benefit but I think they are running out of time and it will cost them more in the longrun to catch up 3:22pm Lance Haun Jennifer alludes to SM relationships not being as deep as ones developed over the phone or in person. That's part of the problem with relying on that strategy. 3:22pm Ben Gotkin Good article on LI demographics on AdAge.com this week: 3:22pm Ben Gotkin http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=132300 3:22pm William What about other SM outposts... what else is everyone using? 3:22pm Ben Yoskovitz @Ben Gotkin: But LI makes a fair share of their $$ from recruiters, I'd say. 3:23pm Ben Gotkin Ben Y - I'm sure 3:23pm Jennifer McClure Blog, Twitter, Ning groups 3:23pm William... and how does this help you (as a recruiter) or even HR in general? 3:23pm Rob Humphrey William--there are many... 3:23pm Rob Humphrey Dont know where to start 3:23pm Kari QuaasE mployers who use Cool Works are using Facebook more to connect with their former and potentially future employees. 3:23pm Ben Gotkin Blog 3:23pm Steve Levy there are other forms of SM that peeps don't consider SM - less Web 2.0 than Associations 101 3:23pm Jennifer McClure The various SM options are tools to connect with people to begin developing relationships where it makes sense 3:24pm Kari Quaas And I should add that it's a small % 3:24pm Ben Gotkin Jennifer - Agree. Also to use to market your organization and build your brand 3:24pm Rob Humphrey I tend to mash up twitter, FB, Ning to make it easy for a community to grow --regardless of platform 3:25pm Susan Burns IF SM is done well - current, relevant content created in an authentic voice - it adds a personality dimension to the comp brand that cannot be created through other mediums - then the viral aspects take over and it riding the wave 3:25pm Jennifer McClure@Ben absolutely. Create a presence where people WANT to connect with you. Build authority & influence 3:25pm Ben Gotkin Amen 3:25pm William Rob are you trying to reach potential candidates or referral contacts? Or who else? 3:25pm Maren Hogan But people are really wanting you to give back as well. 3:25pm Rob Humphrey candidates.. 3:25pm Rob Humphrey very specific folks 3:25pm Maren Hogan You can't use SM to take take take and never participate or reach out to candidates 3:26pm Rob Humphrey for example MTV Games--Harmonix--game developers--super hard to find ppl 3:26pm William Beyond reaching contacts (to become candidates) or active candidates, what else are you using SM for? 3:26pm Jennifer McClure For example - if I were using social media correctly, I could get @Susan Burns to follow me on Twitter :) 3:26pm Rob Humphrey We used Standout Jobs to assemble all SM in one place 3:26pm Susan Burns RE SM - look at the power of the Groundswell with this election. Regardless of your political view - people connected, shared, influenced, engaged and got involed online and offline like never before to express themselves and participate 3:26pm Ben Yoskovitz@William I think you should use SM to develop your own brand / space within whatever industry you're in. 3:26pm Susan Burns uh oh! Jennifer - consider it done! What is your Twitter profile name? 3:26pm William great point, Susan. SM was used to not just recruiter, but organize people 3:26pm Maren Hogan StandoutJobs is a phenomenal tool 3:27pm Rob Humphreyhttp://harmonixmusic.standoutjobs.com/ 3:27pm Rob Humphrey It is Ben --u owe me for the plug!! 3:27pm Kari Quaas Great example, Susan! 3:27pm Ben Yoskovitz Blogging is still the #1 mechanism to carve out your own piece of the SM pie. 3:27pm Business Support by Mittie Being that there are so many people out of work, has recruiting been easier or more difficult? 3:27pm Rob Humphrey Harder IMO 3:27pm Jennifer McClure @CincyRecruiter 3:27pm Lance Haun I think it is more difficult 3:27pm Ben Yoskovitz Thanks guys (re: Standout Jobs) :) 3:27pm William Has anyone seen HR (versus just recruiter) us SM effectively? 3:27pm Rob Humphrey Easy to find people....hard to recruit! 3:28pm Ben Yoskovitz I think the downfall of SM for many is that they don't use it strategically. I think I argued that in the last chat too :) 3:28pm Lonnie McRorey I agree Rob 3:28pm Business Support by Mittie Really? Wow.... 3:28pm Lonnie McRorey MAny don't want to relo 3:28pm Lance Haun I haven't seen HR use SM effectively 3:28pm Susan Burns Hey - that's right Jennifer but I thought I was following @cincyrecruiter - checking again now! 3:28pm Lance Haun I'd love an example of a department just using it semi-effectively 3:28pm William Lance, I'd cite Dow Chemical... 3:28pm Jennifer McClure There are some good examples of HR using social media well - @Kris_Dunn and @YourHRGuy are doing well with establishing their brand 3:28pm Susan Burns William - use of SM by HR for internal or external? 3:28pm Rob Humphrey i have 2 examples 3:28pm Maren Hogan I always hear ppl talk about Ernst and Young 3:29pm Rob Humphrey smaller firms though 3:29pm Rob Humphrey I am sooo bored of hearing about E and Y - no offense 3:29pm Rob Humphrey and Google 3:29pm Ben Yoskovitz @Lance: Our best example is http://telecomjobsireland.ie - which is Ericsson. 3:29pm Maren Hogan And I think Chris Hoyt does a ton of stuff for ATT 3:29pm Maren Hogan but he is more recruiting focused, not sure if that counts? 3:29pm Ben Yoskovitz So that's at the divisional level, to answer your question. 3:29pm Jennifer McClure @Maren - but Chris is a recruiter - not HR. Right? 3:30pm William Right, we hear about Comcastcares or Zappos' CEO using Sm to reach their customers. I'm asking about HR using SM to connect with their own ppl 3:30pm Susan Burns So William - internal examples? 3:30pm Jennifer McClure I think HR's opportunity for using social media is in creating a personal brand, communicating their employment brand, and establishing community - which leads to recruits 3:30pm Ben Yoskovitz Ah...that's a good question. Something I'm very interested in learning more about. 3:30pm Rob Humphrey Viximo uses twitter for everything 3:30pm Maren Hogan Oooh, that girl that I interviewed at ERE. Her CEO made all the emplyees use twitter. 3:30pm Rob Humphrey internal 3:30pm William Yes. For example: Dow Chem was facing a huge braindrain 3:30pm Carmen Hudson dennis smith of wireless jobs does a good job 3:30pm Maren Hogan And they won a best small biz award too 3:30pm William 40% of their ee pop was 50+ yo and 3:30pm Susan Burns Rob - do they use it internally as well - examples? 3:31pm Rob Humphrey code updates etc http://twitter.com/viximoelves 3:31pm Rob Humphrey yes 3:31pm Ben Gotkin When I was at MITRE, it worked very well, but was only partially HR driven 3:31pm William had 10 or more years experience. 3:31pm Ben Yoskovitz I'm curious about companies building their brands internally - to promote back to employees. 3:31pm William So they had a prob. They collab'd and used a 3rd pty to create their own network: MyDow 3:32pm Lance Haun I don't think the most effective internal facing campaigns are 100% HR driven 3:32pm William The purpose was to connect employees + retirees + alum 3:32pm Rob Humphrey I diagree w Lance 3:32pm Rob Humphrey depends on who in HR is driving the bus 3:32pm Jennifer McClure @Lance - What's your opinion on how HR can best utilize SM? 3:32pm Ben GotkinSelect Minds is a big vendor in the corporate social networking space 3:33pm Ben Gotkin They work with Big 4, Consulting Firms, Law Firms 3:33pm William IBM has a software prod for SM: Lotus Connections 3:33pm Lance Haun If someone in HR is effective, they are going to get thought leaders in the co. to help create and drive forward initiatives internally 3:33pm Rob Humphrey thought leaders? 3:34pm Rob Humphrey what doe sthat mean? 3:34pm Carmen Hudson HR is viewed as the gatekeeper - employees (even recruiters) are afraid to use 3:34pm Rob Humphrey like if you are not a thought leader..you are a thought follower? 3:34pm Lance Haun people that are leaders regardless of titles 3:34pm Susan Burns Lance - do you believe that it would benefit HR to also assume the role of a thought leader, innovator, connector and visionary? 3:34pm Lance Haun no Rob 3:34pm William Lance... and able to sponsor, give weight to an initiative? 3:34pm Lance Haun that's my feeling...there has to be authenticity 3:35pm Jennifer McClure @Carmen - depends on the HR person. Let's not peg them all just like we don't all want to be tagged with negative perceptions of recruters - cause we're cool 3:35pm Susan Burns HR could build their own personal equity by being more transparent and seen more as the connector / enabler or people and business 3:35pm Lance Haun Susan, I believe visionaries inspire others to create and prosper 3:35pm Rob Humphrey Lance-I sense you picked up on my sarcasm... 3:35pm Business Support by Mittie that is so tru 3:35pm Lance Haun so yes, I think HR does that currently 3:36pm Lance Haun how well is debateable 3:36pm Lance Haun but I don't think they ever do it by themselves 3:36pm Jennifer McClure Anyone here other than @Lance representing HR pro's? 3:36pm William{crickets} 3:36pm Rob Humphrey sorta 3:36pm Kari Quaas I used to be an HR person and I wish I knew then, what I know now about SM. 3:37pm Rob Humphrey i would never take an HR role though...too stifling 3:37pm Susan Burns Agree that its not an either or but an AND,,,,,And I think HR could advance their image, credibility and strategic contribution to the org by transparently embracing SM 3:37pm Jennifer McClure @Kari - how would you have used SM as an HR professional? 3:37pm Kari Quaas My manager was one of the "afraids." 3:37pm Rob Humphrey I used to run global staffing for a few firms..i am reformed now 3:37pm William So how can we help our HR brothers and sisters catch the vision of SM? Any examples? 3:37pm Lance Haun I think the problem with HR is they rarely come off as authentic so it makes it difficult to participate well in SM 3:38pm William ouch, Lance. 3:38pm Lance Haun I'm not casting blame 3:38pm Kari Quaas Seeing how my former employer has connected with hires prior to them starting work was great. 3:38pm Jennifer McClure @Lance ow ow ow 3:38pm Kari Quaas Building a community before they got on site. 3:38pm Lance Haun that's perception, fair or not 3:38pm Rob Humphrey Its not a matter of whether HR WILL particiapte or not! 3:38pm Ben Yoskovitz I think that perception exists, in part, because when HR rejects people they rarely give the complete reason. 3:38pm Rob Humphrey they already are 3:38pm Maren Hogan I have to agree with Lance, they have so many people to please-- it's hard to build relationship 3:38pm Ben Yoskovitz I know I struggle when rejecting people that I'm looking to hire with how to phrase the reason, explain it, etc. 3:39pm Kari Quaas I also would have broadened our recruiting scope using SM. 3:39pm Lance Haun That's part of it Ben 3:39pm William True, but in the same way - Don't wait for Legal to define your corp SM policy. 3:39pm Lance HaunDon't let legal define any policy 3:39pm Ben GotkinTrue, we defined it at our firm for Legal and Marketing 3:39pm Lance Haunthat's my policy :) 3:39pm Susan Burns question - how manu of you trust the hr generalists that you've worked with? DO u believe things always stay confidential and that you received an authentic answer when needed? 3:39pm William Nice, Lance. Ben... how did that go? 3:40pm Ben Gotkin I had a senior director in Marketing in full support of our initiatives 3:40pm Jennifer McClure I spent most of my career in HR (shout out to the HR peeps) and I regularly tell peopel I would be a MUCH better HR person now with what I've learned through being active in SM. I think HR can LEARN here. Not just use. 3:40pm Ben Gotkin he 'gets' SM 3:40pm Maren Hogan Yeah marketing! 3:40pm Ben Gotkin Legal had no concerns with the policy we wrote 3:40pm William So a collaboration... nice... did they also help with other things beyond the policy to foster SM at your org? 3:40pm Kari Quaas Ditto what Jennifer said. 3:41pm Ben Gotkin We've carried most of the load, marketing has helped with some of the branding elements of our blog, alumni site, etc. 3:41pm Carmen Hudson @Jennifer - very true. However, I recently surveyed a group of local recruiters about their SM use. Many are afraid because of "HR or legal implications". The *perception* is that HR doesn't like SM. 3:41pm Susan Burns Ben - can u share the policy? 3:41pm Jim - medXcentral Sorry I'm late.. long call. What did I miss? 3:41pm Jennifer McClure @Susan - HR people are people. So you get with the HR folks what you get with the broader population. Some are trustworthy & authentic. Some are not. It's not about the profession 3:41pm William (hi Jim) 3:42pm Jim - medXcentral kidding.. looks like it's been busy. (hi william) 3:42pm Ben Gotkin Possibly, I actually pulled most of it from searches I found on the web 3:42pm Lance HaunCarmen, I think that's a fair assessment 3:42pm Ben GotkinGoogle 'blog policy' and you will find existing policies from organizations including IBM 3:42pm William @Carmen 2nd'd 3:42pm Kari Quaas I would have to agree that HR doesn't like SM most of the time. I hope that they'll get over this soon. 3:42pm Jennifer McClure @Carmen - True. HR doesn't like SM - because they haven't taken the time to understand it for the most part. We need to get some champions involved who can show others how to use it well. 3:42pm Maren Hogan @Susan, no way I can keep up with this 3:42pm Susan Burns Jennifer - but do you think it reflects negatively on the profession since theres a difft. expectation there? Maybe they should be bonded for truth, transparency and authenticity ;-) 3:43pm Maren Hogan I am sorry. Next time I will login to explorer to capture from the beginning 3:43pm William One of the things I'm doing is being a source of market info to the company and HR... I'm using sm to tell them what they should already know (and giving sm credit) 3:43pm Susan Burns @maren - you should be able to capture the whole thing at the end since u were on from beginning. 3:43pm Ben Gotkin What HR needs to understand is that our candidates demand authenticity, and that we as recruiters are not going to do anything in the SM space to hurt the organizatoin 3:43pm Susan Burns Ben had a trick last time - maybe he can get it.....Ben? 3:43pm Jennifer McClure @Susan - no more than the CEO should. :) 3:43pm Susan Burns I'll format it if someone can capture it 3:43pm Ben Gotkin Susan - I can give it a try 3:44pm Susan Burns cool - thanks Ben! 3:44pm Lance Haun I think HR has less of a problem with recruiters using than say another employee 3:44pm Jennifer McClure @William has a good point. As a recruiter - he's partnering with HR in his organization to help them understand SM. Maybe that's OUR role! 3:44pm Susan Burns @jennifer - exactly! HR can be the conscious of the org and be a strategic player and guide to enable people and biz 3:45pm Ben Gotkin Lance - That's why a specific policy is important, make the guidelines clear 3:45pm Lance Haun Ben - I think expectations need to be set for sure 3:46pm William @Lance, @Ben and I'd add resources.. 3:46pm William such as a central clearing place for information (some folks have a SM Mgr) 3:46pm Ben Gotkin What type of resources? 3:47pm Jim - medXcentral Are we talking about SM resources and the policy for using them as corp recruiters? 3:47pm Susan Burns @william - resource for managing community? If so, absolutely!!! Needs to be a community manager 3:47pm Jennifer McClure @Lance & @Ben - I like Zappos "guidelines" for SM that Tony quoted on his blog about the layoffs. Something about be real and honest. That's it. If you create a "policy" you feed into the perceptions about HR - rule makers/gate keepers 3:47pm Rob Humphrey gotta run thank u all this is great.. @rob_humphrey (twitter) 3:47pm William brand, marketing rich media... 3:47pm William stuff that will content wise better represent your org 3:47pm Susan Burns Thanks for joining TTC Rob! 3:47pm Lance Haun Jennifer - I don't think a policy is always needed 3:47pm Rob Humphrey Thanks Susan! 3:47pm Lance Haun depends on your goals 3:48pm Lance Haun I think what a lot of Corp HR people need to realize is that people are already talking about your company 3:48pm Lance Haun policy or no policy doesn't change that 3:48pm Susan Burns @william - do u think that HR / Recruiting can effectively manage sm and incorporate into existing roles or does there need to be a dedicated community manager? 3:48pm Jennifer McClure @Lance - I like the word "guideline" (that's HR-speak for policy) :) 3:48pm William comcastcares (a guy on twitter) coaches other sm'ers in his corporation 3:48pm William so HR or the person's mgr doesn't have to play thought police 3:49pm Kari Quaas @Lance - yep - they are talking about you 3:49pm Lance Haun I think it is more about setting expectations and not playing thought police past that 3:49pm Jim - medXcentral Depends on the size of the co. ... agreed? 3:49pm Kari Quaas I always believe that it is best to control your message. 3:49pm William Kari, right but in Comcast's example... most orgs will go top down and try to control 3:49pm Kari Quaas For some of our clients, their HR depts are just too small to do it. 3:49pm Jennifer McClure @Kari - you can never control the message. The point of using SM is to participate in the conversations that are already happening 3:50pm Susan Burns If there are clear guidelines the community can self organize and determine direction - that is a tough thing for a public or private company to allow to happen - but, they must support the communiites desires 3:50pm William...if you offer to help peer coach it's better received and minimizes concerns 3:50pm Kari Quaas Right, but at least your side is out there. 3:50pm Recruiting Animal William, that presentation you mentioned at the beginning. Who was in the audience? 3:50pm Lance Haun if you don't allow your good employees to use SM, only the bad ones will be posting about you 3:50pm William @Kari, Jennifer... great point with SM you cannot control the conversation, only help influence it 3:50pm Ben Yoskovitz @Kari: I agree. You can put out a message and participate, which is a form of control...at least you're there. 3:51pm William @RA HR folks (some recruiting too): http://www.slideshare.net/foghornboy/hr-and-social-media-influencing-the-conversation-presentation/ 3:51pm Recruiting Animal 70 losers, then. Thanks 3:51pm Susan Burns the word control is a bit scarry - nothing can be controlled with social media....it can only be influenced. 3:51pm Kari Quaas Yep. We see it all the time on our social network. The employees talk (A LOT). For good or bad, they talk. 3:51pm William @RA I love that you are so wishy washy about your opinions 3:51pm Ben Yoskovitz You want to promote your brand in a particular way, and that's reasonable. And SM is a great way to do it. 3:51pm Jim - medXcentral That's what scares the big co's. 3:52pm William @Susan, @Jim great points 3:52pm Susan Burns RE control - as soon as the community feels control or manipulated the value of what your trying to build becomes diluted. 3:52pm William @Susan because it ceases to be authentic 3:52pm Jim - medXcentral @Susan... 100% agreement. 3:52pm Ben Yoskovitz @Susan Fair, but playing a bit devil's advocate - influencing is a form of manipulation :) 3:52pm Susan Burns The whole idea of sm is to build a voice, play and influence - if it works the positive overshadows the negative. 3:53pm Ben Yoskovitz Some might argue that he (or she) who yells loudest wins. 3:53pm Susan Burns Ben - yes, influence could be perceived as manipulation - all depends on the intention = authentic voice and actions 3:53pm Ben Yoskovitz Whether through traditional means or SM. 3:53pm Lance Haun Ben - That's right. And actively encouraging your best employees to be actively involved in SM is big time manipulation 3:53pm Jennifer McClure @Ben - then @Animal is the clear winner right? 3:53pm Susan Burns @ben - yes, but the community should quiet the outliers - did I spell that correctly?? 3:54pm Susan Burns Thanks for the laugh @jennifer! 3:54pm Business Support by Mittie I have learned a lot today 3:54pm Kari Quaas Anyone see this article - http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1842104,00.html? 3:54pm Kari Quaas It's about your online reputation. 3:55pm Ben Yoskovitz @Lance I don't have a problem with encouraging employees to participate in SM 3:55pm Jim - medXcentral @Lance how is that manipulation if it is what everyone wanted? 3:55pm Slouch William, thanks for doing this today 3:55pm Susan Burns @Lance - actively encouraging is not necessarily manipulation - if you force them yes - but if you invtite them, encourage them, help them see the value and even recognize them i don't see it as manipulation 3:55pm Lance Haun Ben - I said good employees? 3:55pm Ben Yoskovitz We rag on a few of our guys who don't blog :) Although at least one of them constantly argues that he microblogs... 3:55pm Lance Haun no ? 3:55pm Ben Yoskovitz What's wrong with encouraging them to use SM? 3:55pm Lance Haun it is one thing to encourage everyone 3:55pm Susan Burns Hey JD!! Awesome chat today - great topic by @williamu 3:55pm Ben Yoskovitz Isn't it the same as encouraging them to refer their friends? 3:55pm Lance Haun it is another thing to encourage people who you know will speak well 3:56pm Lance Haun how isn't that manipulation? 3:56pm Susan Burns @lance - do you take ALL employees to recruiting events or the good ones? I only took the best 3:56pm Ben Yoskovitz Once you've given them free reign to speak, they'll say what they want to say. 3:56pm Recruiting Animal Did someone say I'm the big winner. Hey I got a prize yesterday and there was no money invovled. What kind of winning is that? 3:56pm Ben Yoskovitz And I didn't say it wasn't manipulation. But we all want positive stuff said about us... 3:56pm Susan Burns RA - you won a luke warm cup of Toronto coffee ;-) 3:56pm Ben Yoskovitz We don't post testimonials on our corporate site that are bad. 3:56pm Lance Haun Susan - you take good ones but isnt that the manipulated perception of HR we all hate and that lacks authenticity? 3:57pm Jennifer McClure @Animal - you win our undying admiration and affection 3:57pm Recruiting Animal Lenin said that when the state withers away the people on the street will take care of the bad apples themselves. 3:57pm Jim - medXcentral nice 3:57pm Susan Burns I always thought of it as recongition for those that were top performers. There are many things that concern me about HR but that isn't one of them 3:58pm Susan Burns @Lance - I think that depending on how HR communicates it and speaks to those that want to be included, then yes, there could be issues - so I see more of what your saying with that 3:58pm Recruiting Animal @Jenny Money don't get everything that true. But What it don't get I cant uste 3:58pm Recruiting Animal use 3:58pm Ben Yoskovitz I think the challenge is that it's darn near impossible for corporations to be 100% authentic. Then again, I'm not sure ANYONE is 100% authentic all the time. 3:59pm Jim - medXcentral @Ben... agreed. 3:59pm Maren Hogan my 2 yr old is! 3:59pm Kari Quaas @ben true 3:59pm Ben Yoskovitz @Maren Are you sure? :) 3:59pm Jim - medXcentral @Maren ... from the mouths of babes 3:59pm Maren Hogan yep, Rocky is the real deal 3:59pm Ben Yoskovitz @Maren I swear my 4 year old is a master manipulator...although maybe that's his authentic self anyway. 3:59pm Lance Haun Ben - 100% authenticity isn't going to happen 3:59pm Susan Burns This has been a fabulous chat! 3:59pm Jennifer McClure @Ben - but if you're authentically unauthentic that's authentic - right? 3:59pm William From social media to socialism (Lenin). Alright - wow. Thx Susan for setting this up. Thx to everyone being so "shy". Great stuff. 3:59pm Recruiting Animal They're talking about the kids. Time to go 3:59pm Susan Burns William - do you have any final thoughts before we wrap? 4:00pm Maren Hogan the word authentic makes me think of pottery barn which is not authentic 4:00pm Lance Haun Maren - that's good branding 4:00pm Ben Yoskovitz @Lance: Right. So companies have a responsibility to put out their message - and the community provides a check against absolute stupidity from corporations. 4:00pm Kari Quaas Good stuff, thanks! 4:00pm Susan Burns William - you were fabulous! Great topic and guided us though a really fun, active and dynamic chat! 4:00pm William Social media is about being authentic, dialogue that's published... we need to help HR catch the vision of SM. 4:00pm Maren Hogan Just so Im clear, all I have to do to get Animal to leave is talk about my kids! Eureka! 4:00pm Business Support by Mittie I am really glad I found this site.... 4:00pm Lance Haun Ben - I agree. :) 4:01pm Jennifer McClure Have a great day everyone - and hug and HR pro while you're at it! :) 4:01pm Jim - medXcentral Keep it rolling. Does not have to stop now. 4:01pm Recruiting Animal I'll also leave if people start talking about their operations 4:01pm Susan Burns Thanks everyone! Don't foget Suzy Tonini this THursday on Talent Talk CAfe - her topic is Competitive Intelligence!…; Added by Susan Burns at 1:02am on November 14, 2008

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Topic: Meet Beth Havens, A Corporate Recruiter with a Physics Degree & Love Ancient Architecture: ue. Personal Causes: Saving Edith Wharton’s Home in the Hamptons, it’s a very unique bit of history Office/Cell Number: 805-212-0612 Personal Email: msbhavens1@yahoo.com *** Beth is Available for New Opportunities Beth Havens has been a Full Cycle Contract Technical Recruiter with more than 12 years exempt recruitment experience in high-volume, high profile technical and scientific fields. Beth takes pride in her expertise in areas such as risk reduction, ability to work independently or in teams, vendor negotiation, collecting and defining business requirements, executing strategic searches, workforce planning, strong flexibility to adjust to demanding environments with attention to details and deadlines. Q&A with Beth Havens Six Degrees: Tell us about your home world Beth Beth I am an empty nester with a busy year ahead of me! My youngest Daughter Graduates from the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, on the 9th of May. (Yes that is the week after the Kentucky Derby, for you horse racing fans out there) My Oldest Daughter is getting Married in August, and finishes her Masters at USC in December (her BA is from UCLA, she has a fine sense of humor) otherwise it is just me and the critters at home these days! Have Dog will travel! Hobbies! Oh my! Aside from the obvious hobbies of gardening and hiking, I am known to write poetry, I have a book on lulu dot com that I put together for the friends and family who complained, “Toads Pond”. I’m known to hang out with the Society for Creative Anachronism on occasion. I enjoy medieval engineering, heraldry, textile hobbies and other interesting tidbits to be found within that group. I love ancient architecture. I’m far more likely to be found in the museum or the garden than on the beach. I’m terribly unsocial in my private life for a recruiter. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Beth I started recruiting in 1995. My BS is in Physics and Computer Science and finding a job in that market was a bit tough, when I stumbled across a recruiter who thought I’d make a good recruiter. I think a good many recruiters stumbled into the industry via odd roads. I had the pleasure of working for an IT staffing company called XXCAL for a good many years before I went into contract recruiting. Since then I have been doing contract and freelance recruiting. Generally I get called for one of two things, either hard to find Scientific, Engineering, IT or Technical people, OR oddly enough, hard to work with hiring managers. I have worked with both very large companies like Citibank, and Sony electronics, and small companies(less than 100 employees), like Xencor. I find either can be great opportunities as long as there are interesting requirements to work on. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Beth Full Cycle Contract Technical Recruiter with more than 12 years exempt recruitment experience in high-volume, high profile technical and scientific fields. I am dedicated and work to give a high level of professionalism. My abilities include strong written and verbal communication, risk reduction, ability to work independently or in teams, vendor negotiation, collecting and defining business requirements, executing strategic searches, workforce planning, strong flexibility to adjust to demanding environments with attention to details and deadlines. Most recently, Beth serviced at Sony Electronics, Inc. through Integrity Placements, performing full cycle recruiting, mainly for ISSA, Legal, Marketing and Controller groups. Recruiting mainly SAP manufacturing and finance project lead and management for ISSA. Participating in research and development for a strong print ad campaign, as well as searching for and developing stronger presence in recruiting online in niche arena’s for specific job functions, mainly seeking Project experience for large ERP projects. Helped to re-create the in house staffing function at Sony. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Beth Transitioning from Agency Staffing to Contract Recruiting - it allowed me to really do the parts of recruiting I like best! Working directly with hiring managers to fill needs, and working on finding the candidates to fill those needs, while not having to do the part I dislike which is hunting for prospective opportunities. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Beth I have to say the person I learned the most about recruiting and business in general from, was Marv Hoffman. Marv not only provided a great deal of recruiting training, but encouraged his recruiting teams to participate in groups that they could learn more from. For instance while working with XXCAL I belonged to several users groups that were great souring pools. (NT users group and a VB Testing group for example) We attended recruiting conferences and Marv had his own training sessions as well. It would have been hard to spend any length of time in that group and NOT learn a great deal. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position, (responsibilities, size of your staffing organization) : Beth Currently I am doing freelance work, taking on requirements from staffing firms who need a bit of help, and doing splits while seeking that next contracting opportunity! Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Beth I am hoping the Trend in new Energy Development and Deployment will have a great boost in my future opportunities, as I’ve been keenly interested in alternate energy sources since I was a teen. Be it thermal heating systems, Wind turbines, solar (recently read a great white paper from MIT on some solar energy changes that would radically alter the amount of energy you are ABLE to use from solar cells) or even passive energy creation or conservation. (for instance if you don’t lose as much heat from a home, you don’t need to create as much, etc.) But then I’m always interested in engineering and architecture, so this shouldn’t’ be too big a shock for those who’ve been reading along. I am a geek by nature, and no! That is not a negative statement! Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: (Do you attend conferences? Which ones? List/detail speaking events, awards, publications, where you have you represented your company) Beth I have attended conferences in the past, SHRM, ERE and many conferences that were directly related to my recruiting needs, Like the Optical Electronic Industry conferences, or Computer conferences which were related to industries I was recruiting for. My personal favorite is the OPIE. I have to admit, I have a couple Schott glasses from the Schott glass company. That has to be one of the best give aways ever. 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) Beth My last contract ended at the end of January in 2008. I was very surprised that I didn’t have several opportunities in the wings when it ended, but still, I didn’t think I’d be working freelance as long as I have. I had remarked to some friends in 2007 that some banking transactions I’d had reason to observe worried me as to the state of several banks stability. I really hate to be right some days. It seems to me that the media began paying attention to the recession in Late 2008, but that the recession itself began early 2007. I began seeing a great deal more recruiters looking for work peaking in the winter months of 2008 and finally starting to subside in about March of this year. Of course in times like this, Good Sales Staff are worth their weight in gold, but they aren’t automatically created from thin air, so both staffing agencies and corporate business have found themselves going through sales staff and training at a rather intense rate (good training is far too under rated and under utilized in my opinion) while other business find themselves holding their collective breath, so to speak waiting to see what is happening on the world stage, or even failing in the interim. We will recover, economies do, sometimes more slowly than others, but we will recover. Now, where we will all be at the other end of that recovery, that is the question! I admit to having some Thoughts about the viability of changing direction, but to what purpose? Important questions these! I think one of the best indications that the bleeding of the economy is slowing down is that there are more advertisements for recruiters and a big slowdown in the number of NEWLY unemployed recruiters. If there are Jobs, there will be a need for recruiters, so it is, I think, the number one job listing to look for in a recovering economy. Interestingly there seem to be a great deal more ads for the east coast than west coast coming up on my searches. That too may be an indication of what we need to watch in the coming year. Are other economies recovering faster than the California economy? And which industries are recovering fastest. Which seem to be failing completely? I enjoy searching through this information on a regular basis lately. Also I would expect some staffing agencies to do really well when the economy begins to heal because when applicants are abundant, what manager wants to wade through hundreds of resumes to find a few gems? So the pick up in Agency hiring is to me another indication that the recession is beginning to ease just a bit. I am looking forward to a happier year! 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? Beth You know that is a great question! I have joined a few interesting groups in an effort to get more visibility. I joined the “Ruthie List” and “Carecruit” (California recruiting) groups. I also started receiving other industry communications that I thought might be useful for finding companies that might need my services. I found a few browsers that have been uniquely helpful. Indeed.com is a site that lets you see jobs on several boards and even private company sites at once. Which also just brings to light several possible companies that might be useful. 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 Beth I should advise against sharing too much personal information, there really is (and I believe, should be!) a difference between your personal and public life. Other than that, be interested in others as much as you are interested in promoting your own needs, because if you don’t listen to others, you will miss opportunities for yourself! (or maybe even an opportunity for a friend) Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Beth There are a couple things I’d like to do. One objective is to work with a small company helping build a solid team from the ground up. Possibly working that effort into an operations Lead position later on. Another thing that I’d be interested in doing is leading a recruiting team for a large company. Either objective is highly dependent upon opportunity. I have my eyes open for just such an occurrence! “HOW DOES BETH IT?” Six Degrees: How many applicants at your present employer do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals? Beth When corporate recruiting, it has been my experience that the overwhelming vast majority of the hiring was the result of sourcing efforts on my part, which included, corporate advertising, searching internal and external databases and networking. I found that a good candidate was just as likely to be found by anyone of these methods as the other, which is why I employ all these methods. . 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? Beth Without doubt the lowest cost per hire I have found has been with previously known candidates, or internal transfers. An internal transfer does not always mean another opening. One of the things smart companies do, is to review the personnel they have to let go from One team, for the likelihood they can fill openings in another group. The cost savings can be tremendous there. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Beth I generally focus on hard to find IT, Engineering or Scientific candidates, though I’ve been asked to fill legal openings as well. While at Sony my main focus was in hiring High level SAP management and design level candidates and Law candidates. While at Amgen it was chemists and other high level R&D scientists, at Citibank embedded Unix developers, and Oracle programmers. If it is a complex opportunity, I may be the recruiter you need. 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? Beth I have probably used just about every ATS system out there, at one time or another, having an ATS is invaluable, which one you have is certainly up to you or your company, my favorite is Bond. The one I’ve used most is Taleo. Secondly I think one should have access to posting on Some job boards, one doesn’t necessarily need every board out there, but one universal board, and a few niche boards that fit your company needs really do make networking easier. Not to mention advertise your company and give you more opportunities to network. And contact with niche groups that support whatever activity you most need in your hiring, be it MBA groups or some users group that services a particular type of prospective candidate, these can be invaluable. My brain, is also known to be a fairly useful tool, though I don’t claim to share all its contents. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? Beth I came into recruiting when databases and search engines were already in use. And being a geek I really don’t think I would have gotten into it otherwise. If I file it, it isn’t likely to be seen again for years. I file things that Might be useful sometime, not things I use on a regular basis. That is why databases are so useful, its filing for things you plan on using regularly. I also think I drove my first bosses crazy because I hired more candidates on email than I ever called, and that drove the metrics crazy. But then a lot of the candidates I deal with don’t like(and occasionally don’t answer) the phone. 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? Beth I didn’t have any idea of what to expect when I first started recruiting, since it wasn’t anything I ever imagined I’d be doing! So no expectations to live up to or crush. I think the biggest assumption people have about recruiting is that it in any way is an HR function. Recruiting is a management function, and is diabolically opposed to HR. the sole function of HR is to protect a companies assets. This means if you have someone in HR doing your recruiting, they often will not show resumes to hiring managers that they think are a pain to HR. a recruiter puts the position and the hiring managers needs before HR preferences. Recruiting assumes the responsibilities of a hiring manager to detail, advertise and find suitable candidates for an opening. Some of the odd HR jobs recruiters take on in order to fulfill that duty, are for our own convenience, to get the job done. They aren’t a recruiting function per se’. The most foolish thing any business can do in my opinion, is to put recruiting under the auspices of HR. If they aren’t under their own separate heading altogether, then they should be under operations. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? Beth I will have to hold a contest to see. Though possibly the one I thought the silliest was parking in boss’ favorite (though unmarked) parking place when I went for an interview. 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. Beth I think that the best way to make any industry better is to do your best at what you do. Lead by example and change will occur naturally. Well it’s a theory anyway. Six Degrees: “Best practice” you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career? Beth The best recruiting practice is to stick to process. Six Degrees: What are some of the frustrating aspects/obstacles to your day to day as a staffing professional and in general? Beth I think the biggest obstacle to recruiting, are hiring managers whose personal hiring goals clash with their companies hiring goals. They most often take up the most time. This time waster is followed closely by un-necessary meetings. 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? Beth I’m happiest when working on an interesting opportunity. Finding that one odd placement no one else can find. Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2009? (OR) Six Degrees: What one thing do you find most ideal given the opportunity to develop/ implementing/ invent professionally that has yet to be done. Beth Actually I’d like to see an MRP (manufacturing resource planner) that is similar to a job board for investors and communities to use to help manufacturing stay strong. The idea being that resources, inventors and investors really need a place to network to make opportunity happen. The thought comes out of my recruiting experience. Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? Beth Only the hole in the economic dyke…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:54am on May 18, 2009