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Blog Post: The Best of Both Worlds (IRM - Integrated Recruitment Model): I just wrapped up a webcast for SHRM today on a new recruitment model that I believe will allow all organizations to have the most effective and efficient recruitment strategy available. It's…; Added by Doug Douglas at 6:16pm on November 25, 2013

Blog Post: 11 Key HR Metrics: How to Measure & Use Them Intelligently: At some point, most business leaders have looked at their Human Resources department and wondered, “It would be really great for budgeting, planning, or defining our business strategy if we could…; Added by Phil Strazzulla at 3:57am on October 21, 2022

Topic: Meet Jerry Albright, RBC Regular & Staffing Software Innovator: roup.com Jerry is one of those people you instantly like and feel a camaraderie much akin to someone who has sat on a lawn chair on your deck with a beer in hand for many a summer night. From a chat discussion to live at RecruitFest, RecruitingBlogs.com keeps bringing people from across the country and the world together, learning, singing and laughing. With Jerry we get all three. A practicing recruiter with a high grossing contracting firm who also happened to submit his talents on guitar with vocals for the RecruitingBlogs video contest and, not least, his ability to have us laughing throughout dinner in Toronto at Recruitfest on the first night at an RBC feast. Avid Outdoorsman, Familyman, Recruiter, contracting firm owner, singer, musician, and staffing software innovator, he still finds time each and every day to contribute at RecruitingBlogs be in a forum or a chatroom discussion. My friends, - we have ourselves a Renaissance man and a familiar face in Jerry Albright, a family member within a tight knit community. Meet my good friend, Jerry Albright ... Q&A with Jerry Albright, RBC Regular & Founder of Verbal Summary Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Jerry. Jerry: Nikole and I married in 1994 and have been enjoying our lives together for nearly 15 years! We have 3 children – boys Reagan (7) and Reed (5) and our little girl Hannah (3). Our home is in rural Northeast Indiana where we enjoy gardening, swimming in the pond on hot summer days and being actively involved with our kids! Nikole works at Oak Farm Montessori School where our children attend. In the summer we really love getting away in our camper. Venturing to new places and seeing how much the kids love exploring is a perfect way to get away from the desk. I’m an avid outdoorsman – so our family enjoys a varied menu depending on the season! Walleye, morel mushrooms, venison and pheasant are some of our favorite meals together. Six Degrees: How many years have you been a recruiter? Jerry: My recruiting career began in June of 1987. I remember seeing an ad in the Fort Wayne paper with the following headline: Human Resource Consultant. Are you enthusiastic? Motivated? Influential? It then listed the phone number to call. I was certainly motivated, as at that point in my life I hadn’t decided on a particular direction. Enthusiasm has also been a part of anything I do. So all I needed to learn was how to be influential which sounded great to me! I called the number and have stuck with it ever since! Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Jerry: I haven’t thought about that before…..It would most likely have to be the impact of my first few placements. The “big picture” of recruiting really sunk in. I remember feeling like I had really accomplished something. . I had been in sales roles before recruiting but something just felt completely different. I fell in love with it! Since then I have never taken any placement for granted. I can remember the names and companies of nearly everyone I have placed. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Jerry: I have been fortunate in my career to have several mentors – each of whom gave me invaluable insight into the fine art of staffing. Richard Pulse is the one who hired me and gave me my start in 1987. His training and guidance was fantastic. It’s really hard to quantify just how much impact he had on my career because if it weren’t for him I’m quite certain I would be doing something entirely different with my life. My other mentor in the recruiting world was Bruce A. Bone. He was the one who showed me the absolute necessity to personally visit each client your represent. That is one of the things that have stuck with me over the years. If you are going to invest your time and effort with someone (clients) – you simply MUST meet them and build that relationship in a way that only face to face meetings can do. Six Degrees: Tell us about your Day Job, Jerry: Jerry: I am the owner of Professional Search Group as well as Verbal Summary. Professional Search Group was founded in 1998. Since that time I have developed clients throughout the Midwest. We are a small group of independent recruiters working together to fill our client need within the I.T. and Engineering community. We have a focus in I.T. and Technology and also recruit within the Engineering world for several key clients. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Jerry: It would be foolish to not recognize the economic landscape we are all dealing with. It is refreshing for us all to be reminded of the true nature of our work and the focus and discipline success requires in the staffing world. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Jerry: Next for me is to continue developing the presence of Verbal Summary in the marketplace. Having been a successful recruiter for many years is allowing me to shift gears just a bit and follow an idea all the way through. 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? Jerry: I really can’t say enough about Verbal Summary. If you can just picture how many times each day recruiters make marketing call into every company in the marketplace. They have absolutely nothing NEW to present to the clients. Faster? I doubt it. Better? Really. Lower Fee? Please….. When all is said and done there is nothing new taking place for our clients. They are getting resumes in Word format the same way they always have. So it all gets down to providing a truly different (absolutely unique) service to them. Verbal Summary is a tool which allows you to add targeted audio right on top of the resume. So when your client reviews a candidate you have introduced they just click the play button and LISTEN to the candidate describe their particular background for that position. Clients love this. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? Jerry: About the only tool we had was the telephone. What I learned during those days was the importance of listening. It seems that with the overload of internet tools we use now – there isn’t much “listening” going on. In fact there is more silence that anything. The process has shifted from “conversation” based recruiting to a more question/answer/email format. I don’t see as much investment in getting to know your clients and candidates as much as we use to. So the tool that has stuck with me is the good old telephone. (Rumor has it the phone is making a comeback!) 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? Jerry: Well – for me I had never heard of such a thing. It was all brand new for me and it felt quite natural. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? Jerry: I’m all about learning from mistakes! Luckily I haven’t made too many big ones. After deciding to “do my own thing” in 1998 I did make the mistake of hiring people based on reasons other than what I knew from my previous 10 years in the business it takes to be a success. I made the mistake of assuming the people I hired had the same desire for success that I did. It cost my some real money and lost opportunities to figure that out! 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. Jerry: It has been quite apparent to many of us “old school” recruiters that the general level of service provided my many agencies has become stagnant. Find a candidate. Send the resume. Start again. Our clients are getting resume after resume in the same boring fashion they have for years! I am personally committed to changing the way recruiters make presentations to their customers. As mentioned I have developed a tool for very easily combining audio with resumes. This tool is saving clients considerable time by being able to hear highlighted parts of their interview with the recruiter. The benefits of using it are endless. It is also used to capture your discussion with the client and add that to a written job requirement to be sent to your candidates. They love it. They get to hear the CLIENT describe the job – not just the recruiter’s interpretation. Candidates can very easily refer jobs to their associates just by forwarding the link you send. It’s amazing. Six Degrees: What are some of the frustrating aspects/obstacles to your day to day as a staffing professional and in general? Jerry: Clients now hide behind a wall of voicemail and email. It had been getting harder and harder to reach out to potential clients that had not worked with me before. Up until developing Verbal Summary I had nothing new to offer them. 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? Jerry: What inspires me are the goals and dreams we have as a family. My lovely wife Nikole inspires me! My children inspire me! Recruiting has always been a gift I feel lucky to have received. I am inspired when I drive down the highway and see names of our clients on the trucks. It makes me feel in some small way a part of the big picture. There is not a single profession I can think of which offers such a balance between life and work. Recruiting for me is simply a way of life! The flexibility is something which few careers offer. I can take my work with me – leave it at the office – let it consume me for whatever time it may – or anywhere in between. The choice is up to me! Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2009? Jerry: I will continue to get the word out on Verbal Summary while maintaining the level of placement activity I expect from myself. Should be a very busy year! Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? Jerry: Everyone should really check out Verbal Summary. If you want to offer your clients something absolutely revolutionary…..this is it! It’s one of the few tools I have ever seen which actually give you something that will open client doors for you. It really does! Six Degrees: How Are You Going To Change The Recruitment Industry? Jerry: In a small (but growing) way I already have! Find more videos like this on RecruitingBlogs.com Six Degrees: Tell us about Your Company Jerry: Verbal Summary - www.verbalsummary.com - is the first of its kind. It’s a "Presentation Tool" designed for every desk in the staffing world. It allows the recruiter to easily combine audio with a resume for effective and powerful presentations to their clients. They simply record a conversation with their candidate creating an MP3 file. This audio is then easily uploaded along with the resume to the website. This profile is then turned into a friendly link for sending to their client. All activity taking place from that point forward is tracked instantaneously on their “dashboard”. You will now know immediately when your client has reviewed your presentation. That alone is worth the price! Take a look at this example candidate profile! http://www.verbalsummary.com/ViewCandidate.aspx?p1=23cfc27e-2654-46ad-a4ef-59abcbf732a2 Six Degrees: How was Your Company Founded? Jerry: Our industry has been fixated on candidate sourcing, social networking and storing candidate profiles. There has been very little (if any) thought put into how we’re presenting these individuals to our customer base. In searching for a way to make our candidates stand out from the crowd we found nothing available. I’m an old school recruiter. My success comes from having conversations – REAL conversations - with candidates and clients. Lately many of my clients have begun to rely more and more on email for communication. This frustrates me. After developing an excellent understanding of my candidate’s background and qualifications – I then have to throw it out the window and just send a plain old email with resume attached! I had to change that. Often times during the initial part of the process the client begins with a phone call to the candidate. This is usually a few days in the making and the end result is in essence covering the very same ground your client is paying you for! So this tool simply had to be built. I now take specific parts of my interview audio with the candidate and stick it right on top of the resume. There are hundreds of products to help us keep track of our candidates, but nothing to move them forward once a match has been identified. With that in mind we built the industry’s only tool geared toward our client’s first impression of the candidate that requires NOTHING NEW from the client or candidate. We have significantly changed the way our customers expect to be served by reconstructing the entire ‘resume sending’ process. We’re now introducing the “person” to our clients, not just their resume. Six Degrees: Where did you go and find investors? Jerry: This was done in-house. This project was done with a team of outside software developers. They helped me put my idea into a workable design and then took it from there. Being the first software product I had experienced it was a fascinating and rewarding process…..expensive…but rewarding! From the initial concept to product launch took just under 1 year. Six Degrees: Your Company’s Value Proposition Jerry: With a world gone crazy with all kinds of technology to find candidates – there is simply not a single, straight-forward tool to help you “brand” your “product” once you’ve identified a solid candidate for your client. I find it amazing just how much money is spent in the recruiting world just to make sure everyone has access to all the same resumes their competitors do – but nothing is being invested (yet) to set that resume apart from the crowd for your client. Using Verbal Summary is a way for you to CLEARLY provide an incrementally better service to your client. Without a doubt clients absolutely love the ability to LISTEN to the candidate speak directly about their experience for the job. All the client does is click the link you send. Your email is a sharply branded message sent from Verbal Summary. The customer just follows the link. No downloads, passwords or additional software is required on their end. Your client can review YOUR INTERVIEW AUDIO at any time that fits into their schedule. Six Degrees: What is the pricing structure for your services/products? Jerry: $50/month for the first account with discounts for additional users in the same company. Six Degrees: What is the future for Your Company? Jerry: The future is great! Being the first tool of its kind I have noticed it taking a bit for the idea to catch on with the recruiting public. Once a recruiter sits down and really looks at it the advantage in using it becomes absolutely clear. I know most recruiters think in terms of placements so I’ll put it this way – if you make just ONE additional placement in 30 years due to VS – then it has paid for itself! Why WOULDN’T someone use it?! Six Degrees: Do you blog? Jerry: I’m a recruiter – not a journalist or reporter - so I really haven’t felt the need to blog much. I’ve never thought the general public needed to know my every thought – but to each his own. I am a regular on RecruitingBlogs.com though. Sometimes I’ll put something together over there. I have had the pleasure of hosting Talent Talk Cafe several times and have really enjoyed it. It is a chat every Tuesday and Thursday at 3pm EST on the front page. I strongly believe every recruiter in the world should be a member there. Each day is a learning opportunity. The volume of information there is mind boggling! Six Degrees: Tell me something others may not know about you. Jerry: My home is heated by burning corn which heats water in a boiler. That water is then pumped through my homes original gas/forced air system. The fan blows across the radiator and sends the heat throughout the duct system. It’s very quiet.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 9:41pm on November 23, 2008

Blog Post: What Prospects & Candidate Say About Recruiting Calls: Originally Posted at Bearing Fruit Consulting on Wednesday June 3, 2009…; Added by Michael Homula at 8:56am on June 23, 2009

Topic: Meet Larry Gonzales, 20 Year Veteran "Blessed To Give Blessings": te Photography, Cooking, Good Wine, Reading Interests: College Football, Art (Impressionist, Old Masters, Roden's sculptures), World History Favorite Music: Everything from The Beatles to Hendrix to Opera to Lady Gaga Favorite TV Shows: CSI Miami, Csi Vegas, Leverage, Love Saving Grace!, Burn Notice, Damages, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Favorite Movies: Casablanca, All About Eve, Citizen Kane, Trading Places, Errol Flynn Movies, James Bond, The Princess Bride, Jason Bourne, Tombstone, Armageddon, Army Of Darkness Favorite Books: James Patterson, John Sanford, Of Mice And Men, Osterman Weekend, Dostyesky, Dante's Inferno, The Prince, The Art Of War Favorite Quotations: The Proverbs of Solomon: "The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all, is the person who argues with him", "Youth is wasted on the young", "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" • Office/Cell Number 408-838-0637 • Personal Email Larry Gonzales is actually a colleague I worked with when I consulted at Palm. Unfortunately, as a virtual sourcer I never had the honor of meeting Larry face-to-face, but his reputation then as it remains now was well established as a 20+ year veteran of the staffing industry. I was well informed of Larry's formidable resume - a man of all seasons: experienced in the design, implementation and administration of recruiting strategies, staffing planning, and process improvement programs. Larry has managed a recruiting departments, including budgeting, metrics reporting, and recruiting technology. He has a broad working knowledge of HR practices including compensation, performance management, diversity, branding, and employee retention. Larry is proficient in federal and state employment practice regulations, applying and interpreting employee-relations policies, Affirmative Action, Diversity Hiring, EEO-1, VISA Processing and employment law. His Specialties include the following: Mobile Device Engineers, Human Factor Design, Media Designers, Mobile TV, PC-TV, Embedded Software Engineers, Home Entertainment Solutions, RF Engineers, CDMA handset, Risk Management, Sarbanes Oxley Compliance, SAS70, Specialized areas of finance (AML, FAS109/123R, SOP97-2, and SEC Reporting), Sales/Business Development, and Product Marketing. Q&A with Larry Gonzales Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Larry: I am fortunate to be married to a beautiful and wonderful “Texas Girl”. My wife and I were born and raised in Texas and regardless of how long we live in California, we will always be Texans! Our fourteenth wedding anniversary is coming up next week and I thank God for blessing me with such a great partner in life. I have been involved in charitable fundraising since I was in Middle School. Although the charities and my levels of participation have varied over the years, I feel it is important to give back. My minister always reminds us that “We are blessed, so that we can be a blessing”. I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with cancer in January 2003 and through the efforts of prayer, positive attitude, and the fantastic physicians at Stanford Medical, I have been cancer free since May of that same year. After my full recovery from chemo and radiation, I focused on supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through TNT. I decided to train and participate through Century Bike Rides. I hope to become a mentor next season and help train (mentally and physically) new participants to the program. I am an avid reader of fiction/mystery along with many business periodicals. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Larry: I have been in the staffing industry for over 20 years dating back to index cards, real cold calls, and ruses. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Larry: Like many of us, I never expected to go in to the recruiting. I had been working for AT&T, designing and selling telecom systems for the transportation industry. I primarily handled air transportation to include airports, airlines, and airline sales offices. I was referred to a “headhunter” that was looking for someone with my background. When the opportunity did not materialize, my recruiter asked me if I would be interested working for her company. I told her that I would rather be a “pimp, than a headhunter”. Famous last words! Needless to say, the reputation garnered by headhunters in those days was less than respectable. She nurtured the relationship and had me meet with the owner of the firm, which was based out of Atlanta. I also meet with all (12) of her colleagues in the Dallas Office. I found myself drawn to the group and to the challenge the job represented. About 90 days later I ended up working for her firm. Since then my experience has included agency, professional services, corporate, and RPO environments. I have held individual contributor, director, and managing partner roles. Regardless of title and responsibilities, I have always been a hands-on contributor. I am a person that gets easily bored, so the ever changing world of technology has been my salvation. To be successful you have to stay abreast of technology trends, understand the industry and known how it applies to business. This requires research and a certain amount of trial and error. Typically, experience helps you shorten your ramp up time to production. You have to continually learn to excel. One of the keys to my longevity is that I always try to specialize. I choose the hottest or up and coming technology and become a subject matter expert. Through the years, I have supported specific software and hardware technology. I get involved in SIGs, Alliance Groups, and conferences. I do not want or expect to be everything to everybody. A “Jack of all trades is a master of none”. However, my experience allows me to talk intelligently across many disciplines. I am equally adept at discussing the hardware design of mobile devices to financial audit and SOX compliance. Right now the mobile device industry is still very strong and within the Silicon Valley area you have a large mix of industry leaders and start-ups. Even with the high unemployment, almost all of my candidates have multiple offers. Find your niche and work it. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Larry: Moving to San Jose in January of 2000 and suffering through the highs and lows of the dotcom era probably affected my life the most. I relocated from Texas and had never really gone through a downturn in business. The economy in Dallas was very diverse and not dominated by any one industry. Even the oil and gas industry represented only about 10% of the total employment population. So when one industry stalled, you had others as backup. 2002 was a rough year. You saw many recruiters leaving the industry (for the mortgage broker industry!) and we see what inevitably happened to them. You also had a large group of recruiters that held on to the belief that they were actually worth the outrageous rates they were being paid before the bust. They would not even think about going to work for less than they were previously making. I find that arrogance is a very ugly trait. I think that it is a combination of at least 3 of the 7 Deadly Sins (Greed, Vanity, and Pride). I think most of us in the recruiting business learned or reinforced our idea of the value of humility. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Larry: I often recall the story about the headhunter that got me in to this business? Her name is Dee Jabaut and she exemplifies all that is good in our industry and in life. She is a valued and loyal friend and everything that I would hope to be in life. She is a consummate professional, wonderful parent, always gracious, diligent, charitable, and patient. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position, (responsibilities, size of your staffing organization) : Larry: I have spent the last three years primarily in an individual contributor role. My responsibilities have included project management, client manager relationship, sourcing, recruiting, and new business development. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Larry: Without firsthand experience, it would be hard to designate who has the best recruiting practices. If you look at the top 25 in Fortune’s Best Companies to “work for list”, I had heard horror stories about some of their staffing organizations. Regardless of the success of the company, I think that the overall candidate experience is vital to managing employee branding. Whether or not the candidate is hired, what they tell their circle of influence is ultimately important to the future of their recruiting. I think that this is even more magnified with the advent of applications such as Twitter and Facebook. I think that it would be a healthy, although not practical exercise, to make corporate recruiters interview externally at least twice a year. This would remind them how it feels to be on the other side of the equation. I also feel that the true measurement of recruiting comes 90-180 days after the hire. Measuring employee and manager satisfaction, employee performance, and attrition are key metrics. There are definitely some companies that stand above the rest, companies where employee and customer loyalty rank high. I admire companies like Southwest Airlines, Whole Foods, Frito Lay, Qualcomm, Ernst & Young, and Boston Consulting. (B) In what aspects are they superior? Larry: Branding, internal and external. Treatment of employees, quality products, and customer satisfaction. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Larry: More tech firms innovate in Silicon Valley but sell overseas! Companies that focus on mass market (China, India, Africa, and South America) are finding greater success. “In down economic times, every company should be thinking: Do I have my balance right? Instead of spending so much money on marketing in some of these depressed markets, some of that should be diverted to parts of the world that are not as negatively impacted.” These markets have typically been ignored. Successful examples are companies like Telegent Systems, Ruckus Wireless, UTStarcom, and Legend Silicon. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Larry: Outside of local SIGs and affiliations with IEEE (The Consumer Electronics Society and The Antenna and Propagation Society), I have been regretfully reticent. I have been focused on international recruiting to include EMEA, Africa, India, APAC, and South America. I do plan on attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next year. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Larry: I am fortunate that my current client has not been greatly affected by the global economic downturn. We have been actively hiring for the last 14 months and have aggressive hiring goals throughout 2010. 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. Larry: Over the last three years I have intentionally built out my Linkedin network by industry segment, targeted companies, and international exposure. That foresight has allowed me to actively search for my current needs. It is an evolutionary process or one might say intelligent design! It is better to be in a revolutionary rather than reactionary mode. 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? Larry: Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Most people are willing to help you achieve your goal if you ask politely. Aristotle stated that “man is a political animal, meaning an animal with an innate propensity to develop complex communities”. By nature we want to help people, preferably if that help doesn’t require a great exertion of time and energy. Using Linkedin as an example, if you use the route of requesting an introduction in order to present an opportunity, most people will forward that introduction when approached professionally. Granted, the degree of assistance increases with the proximity to the person we are helping. Of course for expediency, you should simply try calling your intended candidate. People are also more willing to help if you are offering value to their cooperation. Whether that is an offer to help a friend, an offer to help them in the future, a monetary offer, or sometimes a simple thank you. Remember not to be demanding or too persistent. I prefer the term, gently persistent while trying to achieve a goal. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Larry: Ideally I would like to secure an opportunity as a staffing director/manager. The best position I have ever had was managing and mentoring a staffing organization. I like being responsible for the overall talent acquisition process. There is a great deal of satisfaction growing your own company. That is the one element missing from project based staffing. I need to find a start-up or small company willing to give me the opportunity to run their staffing organization. Either that or a regional staffing management position for a large international corporation. Recommendations For Larry “Larry is an excellent and very professional recruiter. He is very dedicated, hard working, committed, and driven to results. I’ve had the chance to work with him at Palm as a technical recruiter for my system electrical engineering design team. He was very thorough in his search for potential candidates and has successfully provided quality candidates. He is excellent in identifying good candidates and recognizing their talents and the fit in my team. He is very proactive and follows up with the candidate regarding interview schedule, information about the position, feedback, and negotiating offers. He also is very good in communicating with me regarding progress and updates. He is definitely a pleasure to work with and an asset to a company!” November 11, 2008 Bernadette Lozano, Hardware Development Manager, Palm “I worked with Larry in two different ways. First of all, he was instrumental in getting me hired to my current position at Palm. Larry was in Palm's HR/staffing department but it almost seemed like he was my own recruiter. He always kept his promises, followed up on time, and worked hard to meet or exceed my requests. Even after I accepted the offer, Larry followed up with me and wanted to know if there was anything he could do. This has definitely been my best recruiting experience so far. Secondly, Larry also helped me find candidates for an open position at Palm. I have been very pleased in his abilities to provide me with candidates that matched the job description.” August 25, 2008 Thorsten W. Hertel, Sr. Antenna Design Engineer, Palm “I am appreciative to Larry's consistent and thorough search for candidates during this critical time for our project to find qualified candidates. Larry did an excellent job following up with the candidates to arrange for interviews, giving feedback and negotiating offers. Worked closely with us and he is proactive in returning e-mails and phone calls.” July 13, 2007. Top qualities: Expert, On Time, High Integrity Sameer Haddad, Sr Staffing Consultant, Spansion “I had the opportunity of working with Larry at Spansion, a leading supplier in flash memory. Larry is a seasoned recruiting professional who brought leadership and stability to Spansion’s recruiting team. As a senior technical recruiter Larry’s focus was in the device space, which is a very difficult area to recruit for in the semiconductor industry. Larry established solid relationships with hiring managers, was a valued business partner and was able to consistently met expectations. Larry was definitely a team player and a pleasure to work with.” October 30, 2007 Wayne Widdig, HR Manager, Spansion “Larry supported our Connected home and mobile device business at Motorola. In a short period of time, Larry was instrumental in making several critical hires on a high profile project. I found Larry to be a strong E2E staffing professional. Moreover, the clients (hiring managers) found him to be a valuable asset, identifying highly qualified candidates for hire.” October 23, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, On Time Nick Mailey, Staffing Manager, Motorola “Motorola hired Larry through his company i-Hire to do some recruiting for us in the N. CA and S. CA areas. I found Larry to be very professional, have good technical knowledge and deliver great customer service in a timely manner. I would work with Larry anytime.” July 22, 2007. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity Lynda Harris “Larry is excellent to work with and is results oriented. He is very responsive and professional and knows his business.” July 13, 2007. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative Leo Barnes, Staffing/Business Development Manager. RemX IT “Larry and I worked together to staff one of my projects. I found him to be a joy to work with under demanding deadlines in a high pressure environment.” December 28, 2006. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity Scott Wright - hired Larry more than once “Larry is a professional in the true sense of the word. He has an uncanny ability to communicate and understand conceputal issues at all levels. Larry gives 110% to ensure the project you are assigned is satisfactory. It has been a pleasure working with Larry and I will be glad to do so in the future.” August 2, 2006 Manoj Goyal, Independent Consultant, Squar Milner Reehl Williamson, LLP “I relied on Larry to staff two critical roles in my company's Marketing organization. Through Larry's diligent search capabilities, his attention to my specific criteria, and his follow-up throughout the negotiation process, I recruited two "anchor" members of our current team. They significantly deepened my team's bench, and both exhibit the capability to advance to higher leadership roles.” January 9, 2006 Kristin Jordahl Hansen “I have had the pleasure of working with Larry over the past year. He is not only well polished but also has a high level of integrity. Larry has proven to be a very effective recruiter and account manager and thus is within the top 2% of producers at our company.” April 13, 2005 Chris Stewart, Account Manager, RemX IT Staffing “I was first introduced to Larry when his company brought a recruiting plan to my organization to help us source hard-to-find technical jobs and fill positions that had been vacated due to the dot-com frenzy. Larry led the effort as project manager and offered workable solutions that allowed us to surpass our hiring goals. Larry gets results because he is a professional recruiter who knows technology and offers exceptional customer service.” October 2, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value Brenda K. Brown, MS “As a manager and leader, Larry is someone who is committed to developing your skills and knowledge. He's the type of leader that likes and wants to help you out as much as he can. He's a great listener and is very empathic. I know that he has grown a lot of valuable relationships because of these characteristics. As a Sr. Level recruiter, Larry is the best I know. He's a great networker, aggressive, and is very creative in finding the right candidates.” October 1, 2007 Racquel Cariaso, CIR, Recruiter, eJobs “Larry is always focused on the task, ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done. He's an exceptional leader, as well as a committed team player.” June 22, 2007 Garry King, several, Ejobs…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 11:31pm on August 9, 2009

Blog Post: Employee Retention Statistics: Why Businesses Need to Pay Attention in 2022: If you’re a recruiter or a human resources manager, you need access to the latest employee retention…; Added by Phil Strazzulla at 11:44pm on November 4, 2022

Topic: Transcript - Talent Talk Cafe: Week of Nov 17th - Lance Haun on Background Checks: es. Here's an overview of his topic follwoed by the Chat transcript. "How Invasive is Your Background Check Process?" With the Obama administration opening up application for appointed positions, they have also opened up one of the most invasive application processes in history. 63 questions that delve into the contents of your online activity, financial information and even contents of personal diaries. How appropriate is this for this particular situation and how much should you be going into? You can also find Lance online Here and connect with him on Twitter as @thalance! 12:00pm Lance Haun we'll go ahead and get started 12:00pm Tina Huckabay at show or online Maren? 12:01pm Maureen Sharib Hi - good crowd Lance! 12:01pm Lance Haun So today I wanted to talk about background checks 12:01pm Lance Haun Thanks Maureen for coming!@ 12:01pm Lance Haun and how I wanted to start talking about it is something from the news 12:02pm Lance Haun basically, the incoming presidential administration has released its application for appointed positions and it is a 63 page monstrosity 12:02pm Lance Haun 63 question 12:02pm Lance Haun not pages 12:02pm Maureen Sharib Yup 12:02pm Lance Haun but it is still huge 12:02pm Maureen Sharib Read it- could any of us get away w/ that?? 12:03pm Maureen Sharib Some of those questions? 12:03pm Lance Haun well, has everyone read some of the questions? 12:03pm Maureen Sharib Yup. 12:03pm Maureen Sharib allof them with great interest 12:03pm Lance Haun Here is one that might be of particular interest: Writings: Please list and, if readily available, provide a copy of each book, article column or publication (including but not limited to any posts or comments on blogs or other websites) you have authored, individually or with others. Please list all aliases or "handles" you have used to communicate on the Internet. 12:04pm Maureen Sharib LOL 12:04pm Maureen Sharib TMTM 12:04pm Maureen Sharib (Too Many To Mention) 12:04pm Lance Haun as a blogger, I have written hundreds of pages and I am sure you have to Maureen 12:04pm Lance Haun over the course of how many years? 12:04pm Julia Stone but under how many handles lance? 12:04pm Lance Haun so far, only one Julia :)12:05pmMaureen Sharib It'slaughable and if you forghet tolist something? I 'magine all hell will break loose... 12:05pm Julia Stone so it is an easy question to answer, right? 12:05pm Lance Haun well, collecting all of my work might be a bit more difficult 12:05pm Lance Haun as well as getting it to them in some readable form 12:05pm Lance Haun that's hundreds of pages of text for a single question 12:06pm Maureen Sharib Please list any (yadda yadda) your OR YOUR SPOUSE... 12:06pm Maureen Sharib ...there's a bugaboo. 12:07pm Maureen Sharib you OR YOUR SPOUSE 12:07pm Lance Haun the question that I posed on my blog on crimcheck is who is checking all of these things? what kind of staff would you need to even vet this many applicants with this many questions? 12:07pm Maureen Sharib Is that s'posed to be for a package deal? 2for1? 12:08pm Maureen Sharib Buy 1 Get 1 free... 12:08pm Lance Haun it is if your name is Clinton, right Maureen? 12:08pm Maureen Sharib Spose. 12:08pm Lance Haun they are vetting Bill Clintons connections right now 12:08pm Maureen Sharib Thats'what Bill offered way back when 12:08pm Julia Stone it was my understanding they are doing it to make sure they are sticking to their lobbying rules. 12:08pm Maureen Sharib He knows a deal when he sees one. 12:09pm Lance Haun certainly Julia! Obviously there needs to be vetting 12:09pm Lance Haun I think we all expect that from the President 12:09pm Recruiting Animal Same old faces 12:09pm Julia Stone and not to put a damper on the conversation, but haven't like 150,000 already completed the application process? Sounds like they have their hands full already 12:09pm Julia Stone you talking to me RA or the conversation? hello 12:09pm Lance Haun Hi Animal 12:09pm Maureen Sharib Have any members of your family...been arrested... 12:10pm Recruiting Animal talkin' to you. who said i was talking to you. hi hr guy. 12:10pm Recruiting Animal is there a class or something here today? 12:10pm Lance Haun schooling people on background checks 12:10pm Lance Haun a subject you should be familiar with 12:10pm Recruiting Animal k. i'll shut up. didn't know i was late 12:10pm Recruiting Animal (no maureen, never been arrested) 12:10pm Lance Haun Julia, you bring upo a good point 12:10pm Julia Stone thought it was a conversation, didn't realize you were schooling us Lance, I will shut up too 12:11pm Lance Haun no, that was a joke 12:11pm Recruiting Animal no julia you talk you know something 12:11pm Lance Haun if they have so many applicants, than who cares what questions they ask? 12:12pm Julia Stone I think that we are talking about a procedure that only affects a small % of high ranking officials. If you have gotten to that point in your career & haven't watched your online presence, time to retire anyway 12:13pm Lance Haun My understanding is that this application covers the 7,000 appointments Obama will have to make 12:13pm Lance Haun that's high and low it seems like 12:13pm Julia Stone no 3000 of those will be covered from my understanding 12:13pm Julia Stone Those under consideration for high-ranking positions must answer a seven-page questionnaire with 63 questions about their personal and professional lives. Applicants will have to provide significant details about their jobs and those of their spouses, their financial status and personal associations. 12:14pm Shannon Myers I know it's excessive but it can also be used as a deterent for people who really should not be applying. 12:14pm Julia Stone sorry, wrong cut & paste...Political experts say about 3,000 of the jobs will be awarded by Obama and his transition team to those who helped with the campaign or are well-known for their work in specific fields appropriate to the positions. 12:14pm Lance Haun Hi Shannon 12:14pm Shannon Myers Hi Lance 12:14pm Lance Haun good point, it can deter bad people from applying 12:15pm Julia Stone it can deter everyone from applying, right lance? except for the 144,000 who applied in the first 5 days 12:15pm Lance Haun In some cases, I think it can deter the types of people you want to bring into the administration 12:16pm Lance Haun quantity is great 12:16pm Maureen Sharib Names, addresses and phone #s of cohabitants? 12:16pm Julia Stone agreed. but if I got a call from Obama or Emmanuel explaining that this was a pain in the arse but I needed to complete it to be their secretary of superheros (or whatever) I would do it. These are high ranking positions. 12:16pm Lance Haun but if you need the best middle east analyst, do you know that they are willing to go through this process 12:17pm Maureen Sharib IMAGINE if members of our community asked some of these questions... 12:17pm Lance Haun Well, I don't know what HR positions they have available but if they called me and said we have this Deputy position available, maybe I am more willing to go through it than for a lower ranking position 12:18pm Julia Stone maureen, with all due respect, we are not running the country 12:18pm Lance Haun I worry about applying the same standards to secretary of state as we do to a policy advier 12:18pm Lance Haun adviser 12:18pm Lance Haun and it seems like policy wonks are covered under this application as well 12:19pm Lance Haun is that just a me concern? 12:20pm Paul DeBettignies We could all volunteer for a week to help do the background checks and not make a dent in them 12:21pm Lance Haun Hi Paul 12:21pm Paul DeBettignies (word) 12:21pm Lance Haun I guess that's my second question, what are the logistics to checking all of this information for 3000 people? 12:21pm Lance Haun well, 3000 positions 12:21pm Lance Haun probably will be doing more checks then that 12:22pm Paul DeBettignies that is the one that has me curious 12:22pm Julia Stone If it were me, I would want the info on file, not to check it but to have it on record 12:22pm Maureen Sharib Julia - do we have two standards here? 12:22pm Lance Haun me too Paul 12:22pm Lance Haun so is it just so they can reference it later Julia? 12:22pm Julia Stone you mean one for applying for a position to run the country and one to volunteer to run a group on RBC? yes 12:23pm Julia Stone Either to reference it later or to have a good NLP to sort through for potential conflicts of interest (lobbying types) 12:24pm Chalapathi hi everybody 12:24pm Lance Haun hi! 12:24pm Lance Haun okay Julia, I can see that 12:24pm Chalapathi i need sugestions in regards with DAYAK 12:25pm Lance Haun do you believe in the deterent value or do you think it isn't effective since 150k people managed to do it just fine? 12:25pm Chalapathi i have just signed in this portal and not yet started using this as my phone lines are out of order so i have not used this 12:26pm Chalapathi OHHHHHHHHHHHH 12:27pm Maureen Sharib No I mean for one applying for a job in govt and one applying for a job in industry. 12:27pm Chalapathi my email id is vtslchalapathi@yahoo.com 12:27pm Maureen Sharib Not sure where the applying to run a group here on RBC comes into this... 12:28pm Shannon Myers It still doesn't mean they are qualified, that they filled them out completely, just applied. 12:28pm Lance Haun Maureen, I think there are going to be double standards though 12:28pm Maureen Sharib Oh? 12:28pm Maureen Sharib I see. 12:29pm Lance Haun I mentioned this elsewhere but I worked for a company that did credit checks on janitors 12:29pm Maureen Sharib What's good for the gander in this country is not good for the geese. 12:29pm Lance Haun that didn't make much sense to me 12:29pm Maureen Sharib the janitor check or the goose remark? 12:30pm Lance Haun the janitor check 12:30pm Lance Haun I love goose though 12:30pm Lance Haun with a niceorange glaze that is 12:30pm Maureen Sharib Do you or any members of your family own a gun? COME ON! 12:31pm Lance Haun How about this one? Please furnish copies of all resumes and biographical statements issued by you or any other entity at your discretion or with your consent within the past 10 years. 12:31pm Maureen Sharib Please describe your overall health and any medical treatments you are receiving. 12:31pm Lance Haun wouldn't it be interesting to see how people have revamped their resume over the course of time? 12:32pm Julia Stone I am never happy when I walk out of an interview knowing the dosage of anti depressants they are on 12:32pm Maureen Sharib Pl include info abt any members of your family that might later be uh,,,errr....embarrassing to the President-Elect.n 12:32pm Lance Haun haha 12:33pm Lance Haun I don't want to know anybody's medical history :)12:33pmLance Haun not even my own 12:33pm Julia Stone me either, but a good recruiter often finds out more than they mean to 12:33pm Maureen Sharib I mean, come on, how many of these questions would be ILLEGAL to ask in an interview??? 12:33pm Julia Stone guess the supreme court will decide, lol 12:34pm Lance Haun well, it is interesting because the executive branch would be the one to enforce those rules...on itself 12:34pm Lance Haun I am guessing they let it go 12:34pm Maureen Sharib There is an intrinsic problem here - and nobody's really talking about it! 12:34pm Julia Stone In madison, they issued a local law which says that you cannot check peoples backgrounds further back than 3 years, unless it is superceeded by state or feds 12:35pm Lance Haun yeah, that's not uncommon these days either. Many states have limitations now and municipalities are cutting down as well. 12:35pm Julia Stone Last year I had my 1 and only case of something coming up on a background check in 12 years, it turned out to be nothing either 12:35pm Paul DeBettignies Seems to me anyone who could fill this out and be accepted would not be someone I want in there 12:36pm Lance Haun I think why this has become newsworthy is because of the level of disparity between what can be researched and done in the private sector and what can be done with White House positions. 12:36pm Julia Stone you are making an assumption that they have specific answers in mind to the questions though, Paul 12:37pm Maureen Sharib Insolvent in the past? Bankrupt? 12:37pm Lance Haun I don't have an issue with people getting extra scrutiny but I think the level this takes it to is really incredibly 12:37pm Lance Haun I am trying to think of the right adjective 12:37pm Lance Haun maybe just incredible 12:37pm Julia Stone I think that it is smart. if they don't want to be bogged down by news stories which take away from running the country. 12:37pm Lance Haun because there is a lot more information than there was 8 years ago 12:38pm Lance Haun now entire collections have been moved from offline to online 12:39pm Lance Haun and researching and accessibility is incredible 12:39pm Julia Stone maureen, have you finished your application yet? which position did you say you were applying to? 12:39pm Paul DeBettignies Let me try this again, anyone who can supply all this information, who can "pass" these steps, has had a career in D.C. Not sure how much "change" that is 12:39pm Lance Haun Paul, do you think that's the point though? 12:39pm Paul DeBettignies I don't know 12:39pm Lance Haun They want people who are used to being this exposed in the administration 12:40pm Lance Haun because that's what life is like there? 12:40pm Maureen Sharib Julia LOL 12:40pm Maureen Sharib No I'm workin' thru it - I'm struggling though... 12:40pm Paul DeBettignies See, I get the need to be transparent when applying and their need to do the background stuff. 12:41pm Paul DeBettignies But it seems the only ones able to jump the hurdle will be the ones alreay there 12:41pm Maureen Sharib When it's all over I'm gonna file a lawsuit...;) Unfair something-or-other. It'll make me rich beyond belief. ;)12:41pmPaul DeBettignies class action 12:41pm Paul DeBettignies we will all be rich 12:41pm Lance Haun well you better start applying Paul 12:41pm Paul DeBettignies or in this case lipstick on a ... 12:41pm Julia Stone sourcing czar? czar is a popular term this year, car czar, healthcare czar, etc 12:42pm Paul DeBettignies I doubt I could find all the stuff they want 12:42pm Maureen Sharib After all, this is easier'n working for a living...;)12:42pmMaureen Sharib I thought of it first. ;)12:42pmLance Haun I do think we need to change all of our secretaries to czars 12:42pm Lance Haun I think that is a more attractive position 12:43pm Lance Haun and secretary is so out moded 12:43pm Julia Stone madam czar, you have the stage? 12:43pm Lance Haun and I don't think assistant of state would work 12:44pm Maureen Sharib Admin Asst of State 12:44pm Maureen Sharib is the new title these days. 12:44pm Paul DeBettignies I have always been annoyed with the Under Secretary title. 12:44pm Maureen Sharib And for goodness sakes don't abbreviate it. 12:44pm Paul DeBettignies Who TF thought it was a good idea 12:45pm Lance Haun so I haven't seen any statement from the transition team about their application process but do you think they could have improved the process at all? 12:45pm Lance Haun or do you think it isn't a problem? 12:45pm Lance Haun or that it was done perhaps on purpose to limit the types of people applying? 12:45pm Maureen Sharib OFCCP suggests that it is best practice to only ask a question to ascertain Veteran's Preference status. Further, the OFCCP explained that it is "best practice" not to ask about type of discharge in the interview process as it can lead to equal opportunity type issues. 12:46pm Julia Stone I think it is much like many HR policies. They are designed with one purpose and end up with unintended side effects. In this case, they want to stick to their guns about lobbyist rules, but the side effect is turning people like all of us off 12:47pm Lance Haun Great point Julia 12:47pm Maureen Sharib http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/faqs/emprfaqs.htm#Q34 12:47pm Maureen Sharib But Julia, WHAT DO THEY CARE? 12:47pm Lance Haun so maybe, in the end, they don't change a thing but they understand that to an outsider like us, it doesn't make sense 12:48pm Lance Haun so turning to your own background check process 12:48pm Lance Haun I think we need to be thoughtful too as to what questions we are asking or hoops we make people jump through 12:49pm Lance Haun and even if we do leave them in place, we need to understand we may lose people or possibly dissatisfy others with the experience 12:49pm Maureen Sharib Exactly. Because Big Brother does it doesn't make it okay for us to do it. 12:49pm Julia Stone 2 issues with background checks. I don't make the rules since I am an agency recruiter. 1 is setting expectations, the other is limiting the hoops. 12:50pm Lance Haun True Maureen, that's the case for many many things though :)12:50pmLance Haun so set the expectations that "this is what you will be going through" 12:50pm Julia Stone for example, my husband took a contract w/ an insurance agency. Before the process was done they had run 2 background checks and made him take 3 drug tests (all negative, just beauracracy) 12:51pm Lance Haun ouch 12:51pm Lance Haun that's a rocky start to a relationship too 12:51pm Julia Stone I think 1/2 of all probelms can be solved by setting expectations 12:52pm Lance Haun right, but you still might not be happy even if you know you have to do three drug tests 12:52pm Lance Haun but at least you'll be informed 12:52pm Maureen Sharib "...that's the case for many many things..." THAT is the problem Lance. 12:52pm Julia Stone don't you think? 12:53pm Lance Haun I do agree, it can certainly smooth over even a rough pre-screening 12:53pm Julia Stone now that I know I won't even get pretzels on most flights, I pack food. I am no longer the crazed woman on the 3rd aisle 12:54pm Lance Haun good point...but when you do get food on an airplane, it is a pleasant surprise 12:54pm Lance Haun so couldn't the private sector use this to their advantage? 12:54pm Julia Stone most of the time people just want someone to tell them, "yes this is a ridicolous process. thank god the rest of the company isn't run by HR!" 12:55pm Lance Haun nothing is as bad as the government's background check! 12:55pm Maureen Sharib So when the govt DOES THE RIGHT THING it's a pleasant surprise? 12:55pm Lance Haun would you disagree Maureen? 12:55pm Lance Haun I mean, unfrotunatley I think that's what many have come to expect 12:55pm Maureen Sharib There's way too much at stake, IMO, for surprises. 12:56pm Maureen Sharib How could the private sector use this to advantage? Interesting question Lance. 12:56pm Rayanne wow, sorry I missed this one. Great chat here guys, from what I have read thus far 12:56pm Julia Stone lively discussion for sure, hi Rayanne! 12:56pm Lance Haun Hi Rayanne 12:56pm Rayanne Hi there... 12:56pm Maureen Sharib I wouldbe remiss not to say Hi Rayanne! 12:56pm Maureen Sharib ') 12:57pm Rayanne Hi EVERYONE! 12:57pm Lance Haun Maureen, I think the private sector could say "Hey, we don't put you through fire to work for us. Don't let insane processes get you down" 12:57pm Lance Haun haha 12:57pm Lance Haun anyway, we are running out of time and I can't believe it 12:58pm Maureen Sharib Interesting. So the 63 Questions works as an example -see how BAD we could be? 12:58pm Lance Haun anybody have anything else to add? 12:58pm Julia Stone like a 64th question, lol 12:58pm Maureen Sharib LOL 12:59pm Julia Stone does your dog own a gun? 12:59pm Maureen Sharib "If you know what's good for you work for Industry and be thankful they'll have you!" 12:59pm Maureen Sharib What abt your girlfriend -does she? 12:59pm Maureen Sharib And her child - what abt him? 12:59pm Julia Stone um, not that I have anything against that, but I don't have a girlfriend 12:59pm Lance Haun oh 12:59pm Lance Haun but what about your dog? 12:59pm Maureen Sharib His girlfriend? 1:00pm Maureen Sharib And her offspring? 1:00pm Julia Stone I once had a gay dog, but that was a long time ago & no guns Do I get the job? 1:00pm Lance Haun sure 1:00pm Maureen Sharib You qualify for sure! 1:00pm Lance Haun alright everyone thanks for the chat 1:00pm Lance Haun Maureen and Julia keeping it lively 1:00pm Julia Stone thanks Lance, nice job 1:01pm Lance Haun Paul even said a few things 1:01pm Lance Haun and Shannon 1:01pm Lance Haun can't forget her too 1:01pm Julia Stone paul had a long weekend, slower than usual 1:01pm Lance Haun I heard he signed up a boatload of recruiters for his event 1:02pm Rayanne I will definitely catch it next time!!!…; Added by Susan Burns at 10:45am on November 21, 2008

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