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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

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: 10 Predictions for Recruitment & Staffing in 2012: Social Recruiting finally went mainstream in 2011 with corporate and agency recruiters embracing LinkedIn and internet sourcing as a required skill for the modern recruiter, shifting away…; Added by Johnny Campbell at 5:19am on January 4, 2012

Blog Post: Best Mobile Recruiting Software: Statistics, Benefits and a 5-Steps Guide to a Successful Mobile-First Strategy

Do you know that normal UK Gen Zers can spend an average of 10.6 hours online daily?

25% of Millennials spend more…

Added by Rakuna at 11:09pm on November 14, 2024

Topic: MagicMethod Midnight Moves Chat Log: icMethod is brimming with information like this and will show you the inside tips and techniques of true telephone names sourcers! Subscribe today here. ****** Maureen Yes, it is. This RBC is a very active community with alot going on! Even in the middle of the night! April SallyR where in Hawaii? Sammee 'night all! SallyR Is anyone staying online? Bill Josephson Good group Thank you! Maureen Thank you for attending the MagicMethod MidnightMoves chat tonight - I appreciate it! SallyR Yes..thanks Bill Josephson Thank you for sitting up with us.......if I can stay awake again I will April Thanks. Maureen We have SO MUCH to discuss! Sammee Thanks Maureen, these are always entertaining! Maureen Will you all come back next week? Bill Josephson It was excellent Maureen This chat is one hour -THIS hour WENT FAST! SallyR @Maureen...how long is this chat? You must be sleepy? Maureen We didn't get too far into phone banks - we'll pick this up next Saturday again. Sammee It's only midnight here Bill Josephson Sally......I always prefer to work on my own Maureen Yikes- it's 1am already! Bill Josephson I don't really use linkedin...except I accept all invitations Maureen Tell me about it Sammee! Sammee Maureen, I know...how hard is that???? Maureen ...or maybe it does. Maureen Sammee Sorry for the poor grammar, by the way. SallyR @Bill...I'm a lone wolf unless I'm working with other recruiters for their positions Maureen Sally, because they can "find them" on LinkedIn themselves - never mind the fact - and you won't believe this - some of them won't know how to "find them" beyond that if the person does not have an email or phone number listed... I ROFLMAO when I realized that - I mean - it doesn't take a brain surgeon to find a company's number and then call... Sammee The thing I run into, is I do call into companies and direct headhunting, and I find someone who's on Monster or LI. Not always, but it has happened. Bill Josephson Maureen......I work lone wolf. I rarely speak with other recruiters unless it’s my client company's Maureen I'm not crazy about that request as I generally try to limit LI results (or any Internet results) to 10% or so of my search results - it's hard to avoid them these days! And it’s a pain in the you-know-what again to cross-check them! Except that when I do, I sometimes get corrected spellings… SallyR @maureen Why is that? Maureen Usually they do have them (Internet recruiters) these days Bill. In fact, I'm encountering requests NOT to bring in anyone off LinkedIn from my customers... Sammee SallyR, LOL Bill Josephson Maureen.......that's the winning approach Maureen Once I identify that, I dial one number after another, keeping notes along the way who is where. When I have a good number, I use them on the morrow when I "stab in". SallyR @ Sammee Bill Josephson My clients, that is Bill Josephson My companies have internet recruiters...anyone I find on the Web I assume my company already has Maureen April, I find the company’s internal dialing system. Sometimes, it will be extensions beyond the main number. Sometimes the company will use different prefixes, especially if it's a large org. Sammee I'm exceptionally good at acting befuzzled. SallyR This is fun! Thanks Maureen! Bill Josephson LOL Maureen Admit your mistakes- it makes life sweeter. Sammee SallyR, now you've got my mind working! Maureen No Sammee, I say, "I know I'm in the wrong department - I was trying to reach R&D - can you direct me?" Bill Josephson What you just said about getting internal dials and then calling directly Sammee Maureen, then do you say something along the lines, of "Oops, I was looking for ______ and got misdirected"? April How do you figure out the extensions? Maureen About? Weaponry? Bill Josephson Maureen....you are exactly correct Maureen It's a very, very effective weapon. SallyR @Sammee..I have a joke about that..but it's not for here...oh well Maureen "Stabbing in" - calling in directly to the company's employees using their internal dialing system. Every company has one - every employee usually has a desk with a phone - and it's that technology I am speaking of here - calling those employees at their desks DIRECTLY, avoiding going through the Gatekeeper altogether. Sammee SallyR Sometimes...we joke that even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then! SallyR @ Sammeee You're lucky April Hi,all. Maureen..."stabbing in"? Maureen It IS an excellent approach! Bill Josephson Maureen.....that sounds like an excellent approach Sammee Actually I partner with a recruiter who's had quite a bit of success with internet sourcing. Maureen Bill, what I would do (and do do) in defense or at companies whose phone directory is not easily accessed is to find the internal dial system, and then I just start dialing for dollars. Area code, prefix, extension. One after another, in order numerically. Writing the names down as I go and then, on the morrow, call those names directly using the "stabbing in" approach - usually by the fifth stab that answers I have the information that I need! Bill Josephson Sammee.....I feel as though every company and recruiter already knows the person Sammee Bill, why does internet sourcing make you nervous? Bill Josephson Maureen, yes. They don't offer directory assistance--just names through name recognition Maureen I see - Bill. Yes, I've encountered that in defense - it's another reason defense is so hard - - that said the name recognition stuff is a pain in the you-know-what! Bill Josephson Internet sourcing would make me nervous SallyR Yes.... Some stuff on the internet are old info Maureen Sally, you just started sourcing names off the Internet and then attempting to run them down? Sammee I need to do some mining, then. Maureen Very detailed Sammee. They usually list juts about everyone in the office in their phone directories. SallyR I don't know since I just started doing that Sammee How detailed do they usually get in the phone directory? Maureen Oh, you mean "say the name"? Bill Josephson Maureen...a canned voice will say if you know the name of the person please say it now. If I mention a name they'll connect me to someone who's close Maureen Explain Bill. Maureen Sally - did you answer - what % of name soyu find on the Internet are "still there" when you call? Bill Josephson Maureen....I usually don't get that in the phone package .....I do get chances for name recognition Maureen Everyone remembers that right? From calling repeatedly into companies trying to locate people? SallyR This is fun... Sammee Not only that, they respect you more if you do that...and there is more possibility down the line... Bill Josephson Sammee...correct. You must know when to walk away and do so, or they break your heart later on Sammee Maureen - sadly, not so much! Maureen A phone bank is a company's listing of names found in their answering service...you know how when you call it will tell you, "For our employee directory, press ...9” (or 6 or 4 - it just depends) and once you do you’re invited to locate people inside the company by spelling their names? Sammee Bill, I agree...and it's a differentiator when you walk away from people you can't help. Bill Josephson What are they? Maureen Do you ever do them? Bill Josephson Tell me about phone banks Maureen Butterfly valve designer- you're finding THOSE on the Internet? SallyR @Sammee...not yet Bill Josephson I believe the skill in our job is to decipher as fast as possible whether we can provide a useful service to the person or not--do they have incentive to want our services, or not Maureen We were s’posed to talk about how to do phone banks in here tonight - everyone know what I mean? Maureen Let's move on - Sally's head looks like it might be hurting from all that wall banging... Sammee SallyR...oh dear...I've so been there!!! Don't have a butterfly valve designer in your back pocket, do you??? SallyR Or I feel like I can cry Maureen Sally - that's funny! Maureen LOL Sammee! SallyR Banging head on wall emoticon Maureen Yes? You do agree or don't agree? Sammee That too, Maureen! SallyR Yes....that's why I like it when candidates come to me Maureen Or...a game of numbers quantified by skill... Maureen So Sally, you don't agree that Internet names might be more difficult to approach because they're likely to have been approached before, repeatedly? Sammee I heard something I like better...It's a game of skill that's quantified by numbers. Bill Josephson The trick in this business is not to overcome every objection to be a killer salesman--but to get to the truth as fast as possible with each phone call determining your prospects and weeding out your suspects SallyR I do splits.. SallyR When you call companies..its still a number game too Sammee Sometimes they do...but I always say that I'm keeping that confidential, just as I would keep it confidential if they referred me to someone. Maureen ”depending if I'm help other recruiters out” - what do you mean Sally? Maureen It sure is. I tell people that ALL THE TIME. This is a numbers game. SallyR most industries..depending if I'm help other recruiters out Bill Josephson Maureen, yes.......I know my stats. It's really a numbers game as much as people want you to sometimes think otherwise. Maureen Do they ask who Sammee? Sammee Hi all. I tell people that I was referred to them by someone in the industry. Maureen Any industry in particular Sally? Maureen Very, very good Bill! You know that though, right? SallyR Yes.since they don't know me..... Maureen Sally, then what do they say? Are they surprised? Bill Josephson Sally, I'm enticing them by telling them they have a tremendous opportunity to compare another situation with their present one...that they have everything to gain as they either have a job they presently like or a new position SallyR Then I tell them that I was researching and their name came up Maureen What do you say? SallyR How did you get my name? yes. I get that question too Bill Josephson Yes, I'd say if I actually speak with 50-60 people and can receive 8 resumes, one will likely result in a hire Maureen And, Bill, out of those 6-8 resumes, you usually can make a hire? Maureen Sally, you get what ? Maureen So out of an average of 130 phone sourced names in the defense sector, you get 6-8 quality resumes. I'd say you're working wonders! Maureen Good answer Bill! Bill Josephson Yes.......I tell them it's my job to find them cause they're not looking to be found Bill Josephson 100 sourced, leads to 30 conversations, leads to 4 resumes......so around 125-135 sourced names for a hire Maureen Sally, when you phone source, and then call THOSE phone sourced names, chances are you're calling peeps WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN CALLED BEFORE about other opportunities! This is one of the best reasons to learn phone sourcing - so you're able to access those "fresh" names... In fact, it's one of the things I often hear from people when I profile - "How'd you get my name?" they ask, rather wonderingly. Or, "I'm not looking for a job!" I welcome both questions! SallyR And that why I like it when candidate call me.....at least I have something to talk to them about Bill Josephson 125-135 Maureen To get those 6-8- quality resumes how many people do you have to phone source? Bill Josephson So it's hard in my space to get candidates and interviews, but when I do one of two interviewed will receive an offer Maureen Oh I see Sally. Here's one thing you're up against - BECAUSE these people are "findable" on the internet - usually you're not the first recruiting person to call them - especially for people in highly sought industries/positions - do you understand this? It's one reason your reception may have been cool in the past - they're worn out by recruiters calling! Bill Josephson But then the company will make an offer to one out of every two candidates I send SallyR I guess it's my training..I've always called companies & I don't mind the rejections from companies Bill Josephson It's hard for me to find candidates willing to make a change. I may need 125-135 quality resumes to get an interview with the company as they're selective Maureen So you feel tongue tied Sally w/out a resume in front of you, Bill Josephson It's hard for me to find candidates willing to make a change. I may need 6-8 quality resumes to get an interview with the company as they're selective SallyR It's like I feeling like..I don't know how to speak since I don't have any info in front of me...like looking at their resumes Maureen How so? Bill Josephson In my space it's different with hiring Maureen What do you mean Sally: "hmmmm then...I'm sorry I got the wrong number feeling" SallyR Hey Bill..I get those sometimes....with other recruiters I help out Maureen Do you think it would be out of line to say you need 200 phone sourced names to effect ONE IMMEDIATE HIRE? That's about where I tag it for defense...far beyond the normal of 30-50 that's usually needed in other industries! SallyR I do most industries..depending if I'm helping other recruiters with their positions Bill Josephson Maureen...yes, we did Maureen Didn't we just talk abt this on Thursday Bill in the noon MM chat? YES you have one of the hardest spaces to source/recruit in! SallyR Yes..then I get to the person...hmmmm then...I'm sorry I got the wrong number feeling Maureen Big OH. Bill Josephson But this was a problem in Information Technology as well Maureen OH. Bill Josephson Defense Engineering Bill Josephson Maureen.....I get that all the time, correct. Maureen What space you recruit in Bill? SallyR Bill has more experience than me Maureen What percentage of the time is the person "still there"? Maureen So she usually transfers you Sally IF that person is "still there" - right? Bill Josephson If I'm recruiting and sourcing, all it takes is one of my attempts to be leaked to the person's boss and the boss then either tells HR or sends an email to all their staff to not speak with me Maureen Some Gatekeepers are Bill - you know what? When she tells you she doesn't have titles there at the front desk - she's usually lying - you get this right? SallyR I ask for the name that I found from the internet -- Bill Josephson Maureen, I agree. Far better to get the names in your planning and call them the next day Maureen It sounds Bill, you need to learn some "technique" so they don't know you've been calling! You're losing your element of surprise when you reveal yourself... SallyR I agree with Bill Bill Josephson I believe gatekeepers are told to not divulge names--they're much more savvy today than in the past, IMO Maureen Sally - what/who are you asking? Maureen That's one reason Bill, I recommend you do your sourcing first - recruiting second. Finish the sourcing so you've captured all the names and then go at them FAST and FURIOUS - in one day if possible! SallyR Some gatekeepers are protective SallyR Why would they do that if they don't know you? Bill Josephson So my cover can be quickly blown if one employee leaks I've been calling to their boss Maureen No, Sally, I'm trying to get info - including names. I am trying to build, as quickly as possible, as gracefully as possible so as not to alarm her - as much abt the org I need to penetrate as possible - I want her to tell me names, admin names, extension numbers or direct dials, "other" people in the dept, I don't care that she doesn't give me "titles" at this point - what I want are NAMES - I'll figger the rest out later Maureen Maybe they have something to be paranoid ABOUT. Maybe, just maybe, they should be looking inward at their own employee policies and not outward... Bill Josephson And often the word gets around fast to the department I'm trying to recruit from a recruiter is trying to penetrate. They email all the staff in that department so they're ready for me Then I'd recruit and the person will say they know I've been calling, and aren't authorized to speak with me SallyR So you're trying to get a referral then? Maureen In the old days she'd list them all? Bill Josephson I believe companies are quite paranoid Maureen I use that name in a cat's paw fashion to extract other info... Connie Hampton taught me this expression. Maureen Usually Sally. But that's not usually what I want to do - speak to the person - I want to use the name I have to get other names... SallyR with the talent shortage..... Bill Josephson Maureen, I'd ask the receptionist for the names of General Accountants....that I spoke with one and couldn't remember their name. She'd list them all Maureen So both of you think companies are paranoid? SallyR If you have a name....don't they let you speak to the person? Bill Josephson Companies seem more savvy than they once were Maureen How did you do it in 1980 Bill? Bill Josephson Sally...they indeed are. I'm often told by the recptionist I won't be put through anywhere without a name Maureen Late 90 's? Hmmm... that would include most of my phone sourcing career, started in 96-97. I don’t think I ever really asked for depts - but I think there are some depts you can still ask for by name and get to...AR for one... Quality - I rarely have trouble when I ask for "Quality" - don't really know why. SallyR I think that some companies are afraid that you're stealing their employees Bill Josephson Makes me glad I'm not a rookie recruiter/sourcer today Bill Josephson When I first began in 1980 it was easy to navigate a company to find who you wanted SallyR Perhap I have to pretend the candidates are clients, too. Maureen Let's see what we can do to take somea' that fear away Sally... Bill Josephson Maureen....since the late 90's......getting much tougher to penetrate companies without a name Maureen When did you notice a sea change Bill? SallyR Well...it's scary... Maureen Funny Sally! Maureen I see - the high stuff, Sally, you find on company websites - sometime, if you read the press releases you'll find a little more- not much but maybe a little - Product Marketing stuff mostly... Gopi Hi Bill SallyR Oh yeah – cold sweat emoticon Gopi Is it Shally Steckerl there? Bill Josephson Hi Gopi Gopi Hi everybody Maureen So Sally, you're okay if you're calling a candidate who has contacted you in one way or another - but callng a company and asking a Gatekeeper for names is something that sets you into a cold sweat? Bill Josephson It's very hard now to get into a company without a name, Used to be able to ask for departments Gopi Hi Maureen SallyR Depending on the positions. like director, VPs presidents Maureen That was remarked on too...that today it's problematic (to say the least!) SallyR I don't have any problem if I find resume in that's posted but cold calling..it's hard. Bill Josephson Companies in the late 90s started only having online directories, then it became harder to get them from candidates Maureen Sally, what kind of names do you find on the targeted company's website? Bill Josephson Maureen, I use to get lots of directories up till companies started only had online directories Maureen at the outset...put some "mystery" carrot into the process... SallyR I use resume search sometimes... Maureen Bill, I read something not long ago here on the networks - a guy said (talking about directories) that he told his potential placements one thing at the beginning of their relationship - that once the person was placed - he was going to ask for ONE FAVOR from that person - and when the time came he asked that person for the former company's directory - I guess the same technique could be true to ask for referrals... SallyR and the targeted companies websites SallyR googles... Maureen Any particular place on the Internet Sally? SallyR Internet search Bill Josephson Usually people I'm trying to recruit I'm then trying to network through SallyR Some of the info are old... Maureen Where do you find the names Sally? SallyR Sometime I can find the names but finding where they are currently at Maureen Who in the org do you usually try to get names from? In other words, is there someone you approach first? Bill Josephson Trying to get names from people is the hardest Maureen Bill, what's nerve racking about it? SallyR I don't really follow a script. I just see how the clients acts Bill Josephson Maureen...I do Bill Josephson Maureen, yes....there are a few ways Maureen Bill - do you phone source? Bill Josephson Sourcing is nerve racking....recruiting, you just follow a script Maureen Bill I thought maybe you’re talking about using the phone to get names and sometimes numbers- you know how to do that? SallyR I'm used to calling companies not cold call candidates...I call candidates if they send me their resumes Maureen It takes ALOT of practice - many people don't get this. I mean - alot of practice! SallyR Like I'm not good at it yet Bill Josephson Using technology to get names/numbers SallyR Internet search...then I'm kinda shy about calling candidates..I don't have any problem when companies says no to me.. Maureen Welcome to the MagicMethod Midnight Hour - we're going to be talking tonight about things you can do with the telephone in the middle of the night! Who's all here? Midnight – Chat officially starts Maureen Sally and Bill, how do you source? Maureen I think recruiting would be much harder - though, let me say this front and center...I've never done it! SallyR Maybe because I don't really do what you do...u know the unknown Bill Josephson Of my sourcing and recruiting sourcing is much harder Maureen You think so? I don't! SallyR I think you your job is hard...harder than recruiting SallyR No.. Maureen Cool - thanks! Bill Josephson Hi Maureen SallyR Honolulu Hawaii..I have read your blogs on ERE for years Maureen Sally, did you read last week's chat log? Bill Josephson I'm here Maureen Where are you? SallyR No SallyR It's about 5:54pm here Maureen Were you here last week? Maureen Jus' about - I woke up at w/ a start! SallyR wow...it's midnight? Maureen Glad you could make it tonight! SallyR I am so glad you're not part of the stuff in the digging into... SallyR I was reading the world makes a path... Maureen Hi Warm –Up – this conversation started about fifteen minutes or so before class started.…; Added by Maureen Sharib to Phone Sourcing at 8:37am on August 31, 2008

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SixDegrees Hits Sydney Australia…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 1:11pm on March 19, 2008

Topic: Talent Talk Cafe Transcript - What is Community - June 10/08: an - welcome! 3:03pm John Little First time to the Talent Talk Cafe 3:03pm Susan Burns Hi John - welcome! 3:04pm Susan Kang Nam first time for me as well~~ 3:04pm Chet Volpe community... a group with common interest. 3:04pm Susan Burns Hi Chet - thanks for the comment 3:04pm Angelia Floyd I'm hoping that this topic will give me more insight...but I would also agree with Chet. That's my general thought about it 3:05pm Susan Burns In addition to a common interest what else helps define a community 3:05pm Susan Burns And - what do you think people want/expect/desire from being part of the community? 3:05pm Angelia Floyd I think they want to feel part of the group 3:06pm John Little to gain wisdom and knowledge from like minded individuals 3:06pm Chet Volpe looking for mutual support and some benefit from belonging to the group. 3:06pm Susan Burns These are great comments - feeling a part of something, gaining knowledge, mutual support... 3:07pm Ryan Leary Hello 3:07pm Maren Hogan Well I think that "intimacy" needs to be part of community, yes at different levels and times but it is important 3:07pm Rayanne copmmunity: those with different expereinces and knowledge coming together for a common good 3:07pm Slouch I remember speaking to John sumser once and he told me that a successful community is one where the members and thpse participating somehow can say or feel that they get back more than what they put into it 3:07pm Susan Burns Hi Maren! Can you say more about intimacy 3:07pm Rayanne *community Maren Hogan mutual support is key though, you have to give as well as recieve 3:07pm Susan Burns Hi Rayanne! - So diverse ideas and thoughts? 3:07pm Susan Burns Great comments about sharing - giving/receiving - I like to think of it as a value exchange - contribute to get something back 3:08pm Rayanne yes, and touching on what Jason said, "giving back" 3:08pm Maren Hogan shoot. I am trying to but my comp is having issues, lemme run to the PC 3:09pm Susan Burns So, in the broader conversation about social networking sites and recruiting - what could make a difference then with how we've talked about community 3:09pm Rayanne "coming together is a beginning..: 3:09pm Susan Burns and what companies could do with their strategy? 3:09pm Susan Burns Rayanne - can you say more about "coming together"? 3:10pm Rayanne It was a quote by Henry Ford 3:10pm Rayanne "..Staying together is progress.. 3:10pm Maren Hogan Community has to be intentional. If you have a billion LI connects but no relationships to back those up, that is not community 3:11pm Rayanne working together success 3:11pm MN Headhunter I think recruiters forget that social networking sites are just that, social. That it is about creating and furthering relationships. 3:11pm Maren Hogan Investing in those you can and building up some while learning from others can be practiced easily in companies if they implement a mentoring program that does not suck 3:11pm MN Headhunter Do that first, then see if someone is interested in a job 3:11pm Susan Burns Rayanne - so before you can move to process/results its important to come together and "be"...talk...share? 3:12pm Jeff Ingman Newbee here... to me the value of community is a way to get help from others facing the same issues. 3:12pm Susan Burns Hi Paul! Hi Jeff 3:12pm MN Headhunter (sorry to be late)\ 3:12pm Rayanne recognizing that each of us comes from a different place with a different perspective 3:12pm Susan Kang Nam I would have to say be able to understand each other for that common goal in mind...having a developing a relationship 3:12pm Susan Burns Paul - glad your here! 3:12pm Susan Burns So respect is also part of community 3:13pm MN Headhunter absolutely 3:13pm Rayanne "being" is extremely important in order for that openess to take place 3:13pm Susan Kang Nam definitely - respect goes a long way.. 3:13pm Susan Burns I've been re-reading the Cluetrain Manifesto and there is great content about online connections - conversation - marketplace 3:14pm Rayanne I think of it like a web - together we build soemthing strong and inclusive 3:14pm Slouch Susan, what do you think is working these days with recruiting and using social networks 3:14pm Rayanne apart we just build walls 3:14pm Susan Burns Jason - I've seen very few examples of success and whats working partly becuz companies are trying to dive in and extract value immediately w/out engagin in the community 3:15pm Rayanne that is never successful - 3:15pm Rayanne you have to come together first 3:15pm Maren Hogan Well I'm not Susan but I think the first question directly impacts the second. When you enter a comm like a bull in a china shop and start posting jobs and hitting people with what are, in essence, ads, they disengage 3:15pm Susan Burns Where they are engaging they are getting results - Twitter is producing hires but via the biz leads versus recruiters 3:15pm MN Headhunter Jason, here is my example. In 1000 tweets on Twitter I have asked 1 time about help filling a job. 3:16pm Chet Volpe anyone still there? anyone have any comments or experience with starting a group on one of the socia networks around having your motives questioned. 3:16pm MN Headhunter But durung that time I have had 8 requests to lend some help. 3:16pm Susan Burns Chet - I think your motives are questioned when you take the "bull" approach Maren describes. Its a dance at first and you need to play and have fun - then results will arise 3:17pm Maren Hogan Chet, I think when you follow some of the above guidelines, that tends to happen less and less. When you can give before taking and provide real value to your community, people will eventually come to you. 3:17pm MN Headhunter Someone once used the analogy of being at a party. Guy shows up, passes out his real estate business card. Hits everyone up for leads. 3:17pm MN Headhunter You do not want to be that guy 3:17pm Maren Hogan Reason? You are there and it is obvious you care. Does that sound like a Hallmark card? 3:17pm Maren Hogan or girl 3:17pm Rayanne Just give back more than you take and no one will question.. 3:17pm Slouch i don;t even want to be at that party Rayanne my mom used to say, "keep the camping site cleaner than you found it..." that applies here as well 3:18pm Susan Burns When you enter a community and immediately want to extract value without contributing the community either doesn't respond or responds negatively. It can be detrimental to the brand 3:18pm MN Headhunter But the analogy goes for every situation. If you go to a party, recruiting event, or start a web site it cannot be about what you want but what you can offer 3:18pm Jeff Ingman So give a few examples of how to give to this community? 3:19pm MN Headhunter offer advice, offer to connect people, offer links to knowledgable people\ 3:19pm Rayanne share expereiences, 3:19pm Slouch I think that with Ning and the ability to set up a provate network, the ability to create an unbelievable recruiting tools exists 3:19pm MN Headhunter promote others events, expertise 3:19pm Slouch private 3:19pm Rayanne be light-hearted..., this is not an easy job 3:19pm Susan Burns Community is taking a perspective that we are all connected at a deeper level. By listening to the community you also learn more about what they want Slouch Hey jeff, are you referring to RecruitingBlogs.com? 3:20pm Susan Kang Nam I am fairly new to all this.. and I think listening. is very important so far.. to reach out and to see what the "needs" are.. and how to give back... This is my perspective so far.. 3:21pm Jeff Ingman Yes 3:21pm Susan Burns Also, looking at connection as being fun, an experiment, a global marketplace - often the community will begin to share what they want more of or less of - RB.com is a great example 3:21pm Rayanne listening is key 3:21pm Rayanne imperative, even 3:21pm MN Headhunter that and we all have had at some point in our careersm the same questions, issues, etc and at some point someone helped us it is our turn to help back 3:21pm Susan Kang Nam definitely.. 3:21pm Susan Burns listening and giving back - very key in the beginning but also to grow and retain community 3:22pm Maren Hogan In life, and business, there is an excellent rule to follow: have one person you are mentoring (passing along knowledge, building up) 3:22pm Maren Hogan one person that you are on the same level with, so you can bounce ideas off each other, iron sharpens iron 3:23pm MN Headhunter but doing this takes time and most do not want to invest. they want to do a withdrawal without doing a deposit 3:23pm Susan Burns This is a great discussion - wonderful comments - thanks! 3:23pm Maren Hogan and a third that is your mentor, they hold you accountable and teach you what they've learned 3:23pm Slouch i just typed a ton of ideas and it never made it Jeff. I'll wait maybe there is a delay and I;ll retype it 3:23pm MN Headhunter (happened to me too) Rayanne happened to me too 3:24pm Susan Burns Time is a key factor - so how do we do all of this for recruiting? Is small, targeted better than firehose 3:24pm Rayanne I agree with Maren 3:24pm MN Headhunter Maren, intersting that I have been doing that without knowing I was doing that 3:24pm Jeff Ingman I'm new to this site. Where is the best place to go on the site to learn and contribute to the community? 3:24pm Susan Burns and yes - had the same thing with the chat black hole 3:24pm Rayanne right on the home page is a great place to start Jeff 3:24pm Slouch Jeff, you can read, and contribute ideas and perspectives, refer people to the site you think will add value and keep the site interesting 3:24pm Susan Burns jeff - this is a great starting point. you can also visit the forum - write/contribute or blog content 3:24pm Slouch you can submit videos 3:24pm MN Headhunter Jeff, start a blog post on your page or create a discussion forum. 3:25pm Rayanne and ideas 3:25pm John Little not to go all sales 101 but listening is the MOST important part of being a successful salesperson 3:25pm Slouch take me up on offers I make for free tickets to conferences. I give away a lot of them, 3:25pm MN Headhunter John, AMEN 3:25pm Susan Burns Jeff - great as well that your interested and asking!! 3:25pm Maren Hogan it's all good, some of us NEED sales 101 3:25pm MN Headhunter I always suggest "lurking" for a period of time. Get to know the "players", get to know the culture of the group before jumping in 3:25pm Rayanne sometimes we worry so much about what we will say next that we stop listening 3:26pm Slouch this idea for talent talk was susans and now she has the floor. If you ever have ideas about how you can add something here, let me know 3:26pm Susan Burns Just read that ameriprise is giving training to their brokers on compassion - revenue went up and stress went down 3:26pm Susan Kang Nam I agree with Rayanne on that.. 3:26pm Jeff Ingman I know about lurking but it can get boring if you don't jump in... even if you aren't up to speed 3:26pm Maren Hogan that is so cool. whose brainchild was that one? 3:26pm Rayanne that is a great idea 3:26pm Susan Burns Paul - definitely - observe and then immerse! 3:26pm Maren Hogan Oh nuts, I think I did it backward. Oh well! 3:27pm Chet Volpe In my experience using linkedin for networking and recruiting, I always approach folks from the networking prespective and if they are interested in the position I am trying to fill, that is good. not sure how to get started on some of the others like 3:27pm Rayanne it all goes back to that darn "golden rule" 3:27pm MN Headhunter Jeff, it's a fine line. Some folks jump in like a cannon ball. Some try the water with the ote 3:27pm Susan Burns Maren/Rayanne are u asking about the ameriprise training? 3:27pm MN Headhunter toe 3:27pm Chet Volpe myspace or face book 3:27pm Maren Hogan I am asking about ameriprise training 3:27pm Rayanne yup 3:27pm Susan Burns chet - depends - big diff in demographics between the two and ms is shedding members 3:27pm MN Headhunter Chet, do a search on MySpace. People sign up for diffeent things like friend, dating, relationships, and networking 3:28pm Susan Burns maren/rayen - no link but was in Ode magazine. Its on my list to write about - very cool and measurable outcomes 3:28pm MN Headhunter If they say networking, that is for me an open invitation to introduce myself. But offering something they might want 3:28pm Susan Burns oops- sorry Rayanne - typing to fast and missed a few letters 3:29pm MN Headhunter like an upcoming tech event, salary information, news link 3:29pm Maren Hogan Ode? Is new to me. Will look up 3:29pm Rayanne you can call me Ray 3:29pm Susan Burns RE community - I'm at a university recruit conference and we just had a panel discusion - they are totally turned off by recruiters who dive in and reach out to recruit 3:29pm Susan Burns they see as separate space between personal and professional 3:30pm MN Headhunter nothing worse than seeing that o Facebook, very annoying. 3:30pm MN Headhunter If one offers information and becomes trusted, people will reach out to you 3:30pm Susan Burns looking at fan sites - check out victoria's secret piink (esp u Paul) as an alternative to direct outreach 3:30pm MN Headhunter uhh, I might look elsewhere on the site 3:31pm Susan Burns Paul - YES TRUST is really important - how do you build it online? 3:31pm Slouch are they hiring? 3:31pm Rayanne There is a line between pro / personal but that is where I have found my greatest successes 3:31pm Rayanne when I connect with candidates and clients personally 3:31pm Rayanne are you looking slouch? 3:31pm Slouch lol 3:31pm MN Headhunter we both are 3:31pm Slouch not today 3:31pm Susan Burns Rayanne - how are you crossing over from professional to personal? 3:31pm MN Headhunter there I mean 3:31pm Rayanne in my very forst conversation 3:32pm Rayanne first 3:32pm Rayanne be it a common interst, location...etc. 3:32pm Susan Burns Jason and Paul are distracted now ;-) 3:32pm Slouch im back. im sorry 3:32pm Maren Hogan I know how do we always talk about beer and women?? 3:32pm Susan Kang Nam lol 3:32pm MN Headhunter I go back to the Twitter idea. 1000 tweets, 1 job mentioned. Just be yourself, be a little forward, see what other people are talking about, make a connection 3:32pm Susan Burns so Rayanne - your nurturing the relationship and moving the line to overlap btwn prof and personal 3:33pm Rayanne taking it past a cold call 3:33pm MN Headhunter It's about relationshsips. Maybe that is why for some this does not work. they want the results now. 3:33pm Rayanne I never think of it as a cold call 3:33pm Susan Kang Nam I think also it's about timing...as well.. 3:33pm Rayanne timing is everything-- which is why I keep calling 3:34pm Rayanne the next one might be the right time 3:34pm Slouch that is exactly right 3:34pm Susan Burns susan - that also implies understanding, patience and investing in someone - yyes? 3:34pm Slouch how many time you call someone and they are no longer at the company and you look at your notes and they said, very happy right now, call me back in 6 months 3:35pm Susan Kang Nam YES! 3:35pm Dennis Smith I agree with Paul about the rel'ships...I don't find many that are disagreeable, even if we've not yet developed a "meaningful" rel'ship 3:35pm Slouch that is a real big lesson the first time it happens 3:35pm Rayanne often, Jason 3:35pm MN Headhunter As a side note, I have never looked at Twitter as a recruiting tool but a relationship tool. People know what I do and to tie in to Rayanne that when they are ready they will tell me 3:35pm Rayanne yep 3:35pm Dennis Smith Which is the same way I've viewed FBook 3:35pm Jeff Ingman techinical observation... the print in this chat is small for us with weak peepers. Who to ask to make it bigger 3:35pm MN Headhunter I use my ATS for that, Jason. I always ask to call back in 90 or 180 days. And then I do. 3:36pm Jeff Ingman i have expanded with IE but this distorts stuff a bit 3:36pm Rayanne That's good Paul 3:36pm Susan Burns paul - great comment re Twitter - & the beauty of it is that by building connecttions and sharing it evolves to return value 3:36pm Rayanne follow up and follow through leads to a strong reputation 3:36pm Slouch Jeff, I don;t think I can fix it now. I will check on it after. Thanks 3:37pm Susan Kang Nam I haven't explored Twitter yet.. but now I will.. thanks for that 3:37pm Rayanne ho dennis... 3:37pm Susan Burns I learn something on twitter every day and feel compelled to give back - which is also why i'm more patient w/ their technical issues and not jumping to plurk 3:37pm MN Headhunter And in the mean time I suggest they look at my blog, or add to my newsletter email list, or see if they or someone they know are interested in helping a local non profit who needs tech volunteers 3:37pm Rayanne hi, i mean.. geez 3:37pm Jeff Ingman did not expect immediate fix 3:37pm Slouch thanks 3:37pm Dennis Smith question for Paul...are you connected to hundreds of people on twitter or just those that you think would be important with regard to long-term value 3:37pm Susan Burns paul - that adding value as well - you put a lot into your blog that gives a lot to people 3:37pm Susan Burns hey Dennis - welcome! 3:37pm Dennis Smith thanks Susan! 3:37pm Dennis Smith late - sorry 3:38pm MN Headhunter I was shocked whenI went to local tech event, wearing a blue shirt, similar to tone on my Twitter profile, and people walk up and say "hey" 3:38pm NMarie I like the email list idea...although it is not "One-on-One" it keeps in contact... 3:38pm Rayanne better late then never 3:38pm Slouch Dennis. great video you made and I love the song 3:38pm Rayanne me too! 3:38pm Maren Hogan I think twitter has made me way recognizable to people. Had four people at Kennedy intro themselves 3:38pm Dennis Smith well, knew you would bro....got the rush kinship thing going 3:38pm Susan Burns Paul - that also brings up the importance of another dimension - moving between the online and offline worlds 3:38pm Rayanne aww, yes, kinship..... 3:38pm MN Headhunter Dennis, Twitter, it changes. who I follow and seem to follow me is split 3:39pm Dennis Smith gotcha 3:39pm MN Headhunter 1/3 local tech folks,. 1/3 recruiter folks, 1/3 bloggers 3:39pm Maren Hogan I think it's important to reach out whenever possible, F2F, phone, card etc. 3:39pm Susan Burns Is blending online/offline an effective approach to recruitment as well? 3:39pm MN Headhunter It has to be 3:39pm Rayanne pphone 3:39pm MN Headhunter I spend about 1/3 of my time doing the social stuff the rest is old school phone and enmail 3:40pm Maren Hogan if you use only online tools, your phone muscles goe dead. . . 3:40pm Susan Burns has anyone else seen examples of doing this really well - social - community? 3:40pm Maren Hogan um that's the british spelling of "go" 3:40pm Rayanne true, Maren 3:40pm Rayanne ummm..., REALLY connecting a group? 3:40pm Maren Hogan Heck yeah! RBC and my twitterpeeps 3:40pm Rayanne RBC 3:40pm Maren Hogan Or are you asking for corp stuff? 3:41pm Rayanne definitely 3:41pm NMarie It also depends on industry you work in... Healthcare requires more emailing and phone! 3:41pm Rayanne healthcare requires patience 3:41pm Susan Burns absolutely - RBC!! 3:41pm Rayanne and tenacity 3:41pm Susan Burns yes - what about for corporate recruitment or even third party 3:41pm Susan Burns Hi NMarie - can you share more about that 3:42pm MN Headhunter I am sitting on the company name for the moment, but a Minnesota $5B is redoing their corporate web site to add career pages specifically for sales, tech, and marketing folks. Set up a Twitter account for jobs, and added RSS feeds too 3:42pm Rayanne when I worked in-house- we had a rule: no stopping and talking in the halls. 3:42pm Maren Hogan it's fascinating actually, because I have been invited to eerily similar groups and occassionally joined but it's the intentional leadership here that engages people and makes each member feel valued rather than as a connection commodity 3:42pm Slouch If I were still recruiting now, I would take the top 300 candidates I can name and build out a provate ning group for them and then start singing and dancing 3:42pm Slouch the placements will absolutely follow 3:42pm MN Headhunter Best Buy also does some of this with more rollig out this year 3:42pm NMarie Yes, because of the Nurses I am recruiting, my experience is they enjoy seeing things in writing... 3:42pm Dennis Smith They (BB) is getting "it" ....just like the other company you mentioned. 3:43pm MN Headhunter Jason, doing that here too for the tech community. My late summe project 3:43pm Susan Kang Nam I had similar experience with recruiting for researchers at a University...setting. 3:43pm Susan Kang Nam the like to see more writing... 3:43pm MN Headhunter But they are the onkly 2 3:43pm Dennis Smith This is very standard communication protocol for many in the X Gen,...... 3:43pm MN Headhunter 220 recruiters at our last event, 7 using RSS feeds 3:43pm Dennis Smith that would be "are" not "is: 3:44pm Dennis Smith Paul - what's that number compare to from one year ago? 3:44pm Susan Burns NMarie - do they participate in communities and networks? 3:44pm MN Headhunter I am not trying to be snob but if relying on job boards to find people, shut the hell up about a War For Talent 3:44pm Rayanne True MN Headhunter 3 if I remember right 3:44pm Dennis Smith Amen, brother P 3:45pm MN Headhunter 3 if I remember right 3:45pm Susan Burns Paul - i would say the same about university recruitment 3:45pm Maren Hogan Sometimes when I mentioned customized jobsites or rss feeds people don't even know what I am talking about 3:45pm NMarie Memberships to RN Associations depending on state and pub magazine...some websites are trying 3:45pm Dennis Smith Wow....the times are a changin 3:45pm Maren Hogan they say" but we have a jobs page". sigh 3:45pm Rayanne good recrutiers don't wait for candidates to come to them 3:45pm Rayanne they go get 'em 3:45pm NMarie to capture more social networking... still in the learning phase! Susan Burns seems like healthcare could create a very cool community around learning, sharing, helping, ..... 3:46pm Susan Kang Nam learning phase as well... 3:46pm Maren Hogan the thing that strikes me about socnets community etc, is the power of the individual can sometimes eclipse the power of the corp presence and in effect be a "beard" for a lame duck employer 3:46pm Maren Hogan not that there's anything wrong with that. . . 3:46pm MN Headhunter To use another analogy, if you hunt all day (job boards) and never farm (develop relationships) if the hunted move away, get smaller, or are less of them you are screwed. 3:46pm Rayanne Having spent five years in H/C recruitment, I firnly believe an online community would eb extremely beneficial 3:47pm Susan Burns maren - absolutely - the community owns the brand! if companies don't play they lose complete control. 3:47pm Susan Burns Rayanne - isn't beeker targeting healthcare? NMarie Yes, Susan there is a window of opportunity... for all healthcare recruiters..thus - I'm IN! 3:48pm Slouch Beaker is targeting life sciences 3:48pm Rayanne I think so. 3:48pm Susan Burns NMarie - I hope you'll continue to share your progres with us 3:48pm Rayanne Life Sciences is to broad 3:48pm Rayanne that's like targeting Human Resources to catch the recrutiers 3:48pm NMarie Thanks to venues like this...we each listen and learn... Gotz to go! Take care Y'ALL! 3:49pm Susan Burns Thanks for the FABULOUS discussion everyone. I need to logoff and go back to the conference. presenting in a few 3:49pm Slouch says the online community for the life sciences industry 3:49pm Rayanne Thanks Susan and everyone else... 3:49pm Susan Burns Jason - thanks for creating an archive of today's chat - can't wait to read through it agai! 3:49pm Susan Kang Nam Thanks Susan and everyone. 3:49pm Chet Volpe thanks all... 3:49pm Susan Burns Everyone - please let me know if there's a topci idea for the future? 3:50pm Slouch Thanks susan. I have a copy of the text. ill post it soon 3:50pm Susan Burns oops that was topic - adios!! 3:50pm…; Added by Slouch at 4:04pm on June 10, 2008

Topic: Talent Talk Cafe - Chat Transcript for Community Take 2!: e together for a common good > giving back > where members get back more than they put in > creating and furthering relationships > respect > being - (this referred to presence and actively participating with awareness) > a web of inclusiveness > trust, and, > they must be intentional On Tuesday, June 17th we took the conversation forward to: Framing the community discussion around building a social networking strategy that begins by first establishing a deliberate community focus. So, given the guiding thoughts listed above on community, what steps would you take to design a talent community for recruitment in your business/industry? What are the most important actions a company needs to take to establish community? And, what should the expectations be relative to time to see a return on investing in building talent communities? Here's the transcript from our conversation and I hope you'll join us each Tuesday at 3pm ET/12pm PT for Talent Talk Cafe! Talent Talk Café – Susan Burns – Community #2 Susan Burns Hi everyone! Its time for Talent Talk Cafe!! 3:00pm Slouch Hey Susan 3:00pm Jerry Albright I'm in! 3:00pm MN Headhunter Word 3:01pm Slouch Hey Jerry and Paul 3:01pm Susan Burns Hi Jason, Jerry and Paul! 3:01pm MN Headhunter Susan, I cannot stick around for long and have something to share. Can I jump in? 3:01pm Susan Burns Our topic today is to continue the conversation around community but now move it towards establishing and growing a talent community 3:01pm Susan Burns Hi Paul - sure - go ahead 3:02pm MN Headhunter It tags on wthe topic.... 3:02pm MN Headhunter last week at a social media breakfast... 3:02pm MN Headhunter speaker talking bout ROI on social media.. 3:02pm MN Headhunter building communities... 3:02pm MN Headhunter I asked about how I should respond to ROI takes time and most will not wait long enough... 3:03pm MN Headhunter She said Reputation Management is instant. 3:03pm MN Headhunter If you can manage that right away other things will come in time 3:03pm MN Headhunter what do you think? 3:03pm Missed a little: Susan Burns Authenticity is something that evolves. How do you know instantly that its real? You can get a good feeling but ultimately what is important wi/building a talent community is emotional engagement and connection 3:08pm Jody Simon Hi there, I'm here too 3:08pm Susan Burns Hi PJ 3:08pm MN Headhunter so 8,000 is OK? 3:08pm Susan Burns Hi Jody 3:08pm Andrew Demske Hello from the Bay Area in Cali!! 3:09pm Slouch I think that if the talent network you build is real focused and the en result is hires, it does not need to be big 3:09pm Slouch 8000 is good 3:09pm Susan Burns What's so cool about what Jason has done on RB.com - and the essence of community - is that he's invested a lot to grow this and now the community helps him continue to nurture it 3:09pm Susan Burns Hi Andrew 3:09pm MN Headhunter Can a Forune 500 company build their own version of this 3:10pm Susan Burns Size doesn't always matter - no jokes ;-0 3:10pm Slouch i know that recruiters who place recruiters view this network as a focused talent community. some recruiters are having great success networking here 3:10pm MN Headhunter No this, but a site for CPA's as an exmaple? 3:10pm Susan Burns More important than size is engagement and what the community organizes around and shares out to their network 3:10pm Slouch absolutely 3:10pm MN Headhunter Could a Deloitte do their version of this for accounting people? 3:11pm MN Headhunter How long until it happens? 3:11pm Susan Burns Sort of like the difference between pay-per-click and organic search - ultimately more value is placed and received from organic search 3:11pm MN Headhunter (I want it now) 3:11pm Slouch you can;t have it now 3:11pm Slouch lol 3:11pm Susan Burns Paul - Re Deloitte or other companies - yes - they absolutely can - think how much there is to contribute in the CPA space 3:11pm Jody Simon the ultimate issue here as I see it is that in the corporate world they want to see real results, real fast and this is a process that takes time to build 3:11pm Susan Burns Jody - yes that is the ultimate tension point. Are there ways to show value as you grow community? 3:12pm Susan Burns Is there value contributed by the community that informs the brand and is that seen as value? 3:12pm Jody Simon it's something that I struggle with everyday 3:13pm Susan Burns Jody - what type of company/industry? 3:13pm Jody Simon I need to put aside time to build a network and to concentrate on branding and alternative recruiting methods while still filling open slots tha good old fashioned way 3:14pm Susan Burns So, its also about personal bandwidth? 3:14pm Jody Simon Raytheon Solipsys - mostly hard-to-find engineers 3:14pm Jody Simon definetely about bandwidth 3:15pm MN Headhunter I get that question all the time. I started slow. 5% of my time. It got to about 40% then I saw what I think was diminshed returns 3:15pm Susan Burns This is sort of the ultimate recruiting challenge - reallocating resources so that in time the investment returns more and you produce greater results and also have the time to further build the community 3:15pm MN Headhunter Now about 30% dedicated to social media stuff, recruiting, blog, here 3:15pm Susan Burns It can certainly become a time suck - is that what your implying Paul? 3:16pm Slouch i don;t know any recruiters who make more placements through blogs than they do good old fashion recruiting phone calls. 3:16pm MN Headhunter I think it needs to be balanced. In the beginning the return is lower. Takes time for search engine love 3:16pm Jody Simon most of my blogging, social media stuff, etc is done on my own time out of the office. it's the only way I can get it done 3:17pm Slouch But over time, the branding bit of it becomes something I think that phone calls can;t accomplish 3:17pm Susan Kang Nam Hello Susan.. hello everyone.. sorry I'm little late to join the discussion... 3:17pm Susan Burns Hi Susan - glad you could join us! 3:17pm Slouch and from that referrals come and that is the basis of any successful recruiter 3:17pm MN Headhunter Jason, I agree but I would say about 40% of my business comes from the blog by way of candidates or clients 3:17pm Andrew Demske good old fashion recruiting works best for now. i do think this will change though. i have made a few placements from Blogs and LinkedIn 3:17pm Susan Burns Jody - is there an "open to listen" from the company so they would see an investment period of at least 6 months? 3:17pm MN Headhunter but I have a very focused location and only in IT 3:18pm Jody Simon actually Susan, corporate recruiting is a time suck period! I quote you on that? 3:18pm MN Headhunter or as anonymous? 3:18pm Susan Burns Jody - what about it is the biggest time suck? 3:19pm Jody Simon they are open to most of what I suggest....so long as my #'s are in good shape 3:19pm Jody Simon and yes, you can quote me on that! Jody Simon the paperwork, the charts, plans, reports, etc, etc, etc....I fell like I never get to recruit anymore! 3:20pm Jody Simon gosh, I miss my agency life.....sorry to get you off track... 3:21pm Jerry Albright Talking about % of business doesn't quite put ROI into the correct perspective though, does it? If your overal #s don't increase? 3:21pm Susan Kang Nam having some technical problems.. but thanks Susan.. just reading through the discussion so far... 3:21pm Susan Burns Jody - a lot ofadministrative things that don't add value to where you really contribute? 3:22pm Susan Burns Jerry - can you say more about that? 3:22pm Jody Simon absolutely! Jerry Albright Or if your total production goes down? If you now hit 50% of your numbers from Social Networking, but are down in overall production? 3:22pm Susan Burns Jerry - sure - there needs to an overall benefit and improvement in results. How that is measured depends on the company - yes? 3:23pm Jerry Albright Anyone could achieve a percentage growth in any category. The real goes should be to increase your total #s, right? 3:23pm Susan Burns Has anyone seen or tested the idea of a "community manager" or strategic sourcer that is responsible for the online brand image 3:24pm Susan Kang Nam I am currently exploring both corporate vs. agency using web 2.0.. however curious to hear more about what works and what doesn't... 3:24pm MN Headhunter I ahve not seen a community manager in the career space 3:24pm Susan Burns What if you could reallocate $$ away from job boards and hire someone part-time just to support community efforts - how could that change the game? 3:25pm Susan Kang Nam We are currently testing that at the moment... with our online brand image... still in dsicussion..and exploration MN Headhunter Jerry, I agree. But there hard to measure benefits like speaking before a CIO group, quoted in the business section, and speaking to user groups that I did not do prior to this trek of mine 3:26pm MN Headhunter before I was a really good recruiter. now I am a really good recruiter with a brand, name, reputatin 3:26pm Susan Burns I introduced it at my last company and we saw an improvement that returend big $$ in savings through reduced time to hire 3:26pm Susan Burns So Paul - there's a shift in measuring value? 3:27pm MN Headhunter To some extent. I cannot measure right away the value of speaking before the CIO group. May not be able to know the true value ever 3:27pm Jerry Albright Right on Paul. We all track activity "forward" but very few track it "backward" to it's initial ingredients...... MN Headhunter Went to a tech event with 440+ attendees. local event... 3:29pm Rayanne that's a good ratio 3:29pm MN Headhunter Wore a blur short to the event...had people introducing themselves to me and that they read mys tufff 3:29pm MN Headhunter someone pointed out in my Twitter pic I am wearing a blue shirt 3:29pm MN Headhunter so everyone on Twitter in the local tech community recognized me 3:30pm Rayanne you have branded yourself 3:30pm MN Headhunter That was at least 25 people 3:30pm Susan Burns Hi Rayanne! 3:30pm Slouch if you look at WirelessJobs.com it's easy to see how that could become an incredible engine for making placements. 3:30pm Rayanne does that mean you can only wear blue now? 3:30pm Slouch built on Ning. target talent community with a recruiter running it 3:30pm Rayanne Hi Susan.. 3:30pm MN Headhunter I have branded myself by accident, the original intent of the blog was therapy, to work things out of my head and create free space 3:30pm Slouch Hey Rayanne 3:30pm Rayanne I udnerstand that kind of therapy 3:31pm Rayanne hey Jason' 3:31pm MN Headhunter I am going to white shirts now 3:31pm Susan Burns But also building an online brand can help move things along ore quickly because people have already identified with you 3:31pm MN Headhunter trying to grow the brand 3:31pm Andrew Demske lol 3:31pm Slouch that's the idea 3:31pm Jerry Albright Slouch - need a "pause" button on thing...... 3:31pm Rayanne more professsional? that IBM look? 3:31pm MN Headhunter but no tie. I am allergic 3:31pm Susan Burns Pauls taking on a MAJOR rebranding campaign! 3:31pm Rayanne wow... 3:32pm Claudia Faust Hi all 3:32pm MN Headhunter Susan, to your previous point, yes, doing the online stuff has moved me forward at a much quicker pace than pre blog in 2005 3:32pm MN Headhunter ties, not literally 3:32pm Susan Burns Hi Claudia 3:32pm Rayanne rebranding can be good - expanding your base even more 3:33pm MN Headhunter the thing is anyone can do it. That is my beliefe anyway. It just takes some time 3:33pm Rayanne Hi Claudia!!! 3:33pm Claudia Faust Hey there Rayanne! Susan Burns Paul - how long did it take before you started to see a measurable ROI? 3:33pm MN Headhunter 6 months from the blog 3:34pm Susan Kang Nam Hello Rayanne... hello Claudia.. 3:34pm MN Headhunter 10 days from Twitter 3:34pm MN Headhunter 2 months on MySpace 3:34pm Rayanne hey Susan KN... 3:34pm Susan Burns Paul - that's GREAT! 3:34pm Claudia Faust Paul, how do you measure the ROI? (hi there, Susan!) 3:34pm MN Headhunter 25 minutes on LinkedIn 3:34pm Susan Kang Nam I just joined Twitter today.. kind of curious.. how that works.. really.. 3:34pm Rayanne that is a quick ROI 3:34pm Slouch Paul, are you talking about making placements? 3:35pm MN Headhunter Jason, yes 3:35pm Susan Kang Nam that is quick.. 3:35pm Susan Burns Hi Claudia! Jerry Albright Isn't that a bit "old school" Slouch? 3:35pm MN Headhunter The blog was easy to measure because in the beginning I still had a business site 3:35pm Rayanne Isn 3:35pm Susan Burns Paul -that's also consistent w/ the time frame I experienced in-house for corp restructuring and restrategizing 3:36pm Rayanne Isn't what "old School"? 3:36pm Slouch Claudia, I still have the coupon you sent me 3:36pm Claudia Faust ROFL 3:36pm Claudia Faust frame it 3:36pm MN Headhunter everything now goes back to the blog so there is a base from which to work Susan Kang Nam interesting... 3:37pm MN Headhunter not interested in the job I am pitching? Want career information? go to the blog 3:37pm Claudia Faust Paul, I'm really curious to know how you measure ROI though. Is it number of contacts? revenues generated from those contacts? 3:37pm Slouch Jerry, is what old school 3:37pm MN Headhunter want information on the next local tech event? go to the blog 3:37pm MN Headhunter RSS feed if you like 3:37pm MN Headhunter sign up for the newsletter 3:37pm Claudia Faust ahh, got it. usan Burns in addition to placements do you also measure future placements - for instance those that are interested, qualified but just not the right time yet? 3:38pm MN Headhunter the thing is giving options, making accessible, rsponding promptly 3:38pm Claudia Faust and the end result to you is broader brand awareness? 3:38pm Jerry Albright Placements as a way of looking at ROI 3:38pm Jerry Albright Sometimes I'm a bit of a smart-ass..... 3:38pm Slouch I don;t know? 3:39pm Susan Burns Jerry - what would you want to measure? 3:39pm Slouch yes I know Claudia Faust this is an interesting topic -- Ami and I have been talking a lot about the ROI from social networking in a similar context 3:39pm MN Headhunter Jerry, I do agree with you. But prior to the blog I was a really small fish in the pond with no reputation 3:39pm MN Headhunter now people call me to do a search, looking for a job 3:40pm Jerry Albright Paul - I respect what you've done and your willingness to share! 3:40pm MN Headhunter I look at this way, I am spedning less time explaining who I am, wat I do, how I do it. Less time educating and more time building relationships 3:40pm Claudia Faust so the ROI does indeed lead back to your bottom line. 3:41pm Susan Burns Paul - what you've been doing is building personal equity and that is the ultimate goal in buidling a community 3:41pm Jerry Albright What I meant by the "old school" comment. Most social networking talk is about reaching out, building pipeline, etc. 3:41pm Slouch I think a core belief for any recruiter has to be wefind people for Jobs, we don"t help people find jobs 3:41pm MN Headhunter agreed 3:42pm Jerry Albright You rarely see mention of actually sending an invoice to anyone though that is our bottom line goal. 3:42pm Slouch don;t shoot me for that 3:42pm Maren Hogan Sorry SO late! I;d like to know how you deal with jason when people come to you for jobs?? 3:42pm Rayanne true 3:42pm Maren Hogan deal with THAT 3:42pm Rayanne true 3:42pm Susan Burns Hi Maren! 3:42pm Sateesh Yalamanchili I am new to this blog 3:42pm Susan Kang Nam hello... 3:43pm Maren Hogan Hi! Sorry so late! ACK! 3:43pm Susan Kang Nam hi Maren 3:43pm Jerry Albright Send them to the Employment Agency down the road..... 3:43pm Rayanne Hi Sateesh 3:43pm Susan Burns Maren - do u mean when a Seeker contact you about finding a job? 3:43pm Slouch they don;t come any more. I have not recruited for years but when they did, I would just say I don;t have any positions for what you are doing which was almost always the case 3:43pm Maren Hogan Okay so is that part of building community then? 3:43pm usan Burns Maren - do u mean when a Seeker contacts you looking for a job? 3:43pm Rayanne I think every contact has future potetntial even if they come to me... 3:43pm Rayanne You never know what position they will be holding or where they will end up next month. 3:44pm MN Headhunter I agree but I always try and give one idea, one referral out of courtesy. Part karma, part I do not know who they know that might one day come back to me 3:44pm Slouch Nope Maren Hogan yes 3:45pm Rayanne Maren has a point... that is not part of building a community 3:45pm Susan Burns chat tool is getting sluggish 3:45pm MN Headhunter sluggish = good 3:46pm Rayanne It boils down to respect and giving back 3:46pm Slouch its not how you build community but it's how you hit the numbers and make the placements most managers want to see 3:46pm Slouch just a recruiting observation. 3:46pm Susan Burns agree w/ rayanne - if u think about community how could this person also help you so its more a matter of deciding how much time to invest communicating with the person 3:46pm MN Headhunter and that is why I have been on my own this whole time 3:47pm Maren Hogan yep, you are all sayign what I am trying to say Rayanne I knew what you meant by your question, Maren. 3:47pm Susan Burns these same principles can work inhouse for corp recruiters. its a matter of building a compelling case and finding key partners/champions 3:47pm Maren Hogan In a small town like Omaha you can't just be all "sorry yo, can't help ya". It;s akin to saying you don;t know any of the big dogs plus it outs people off 3:47pm Rayanne definitely works for in-house 3:48pm Maren Hogan so I think part of building comm for me would be to build a relationship with an agency that would actually help these people 3:48pm MN Headhunter same here in Mpls. A big really big small town 3:48pm Maren Hogan thx rayanne! 3:48pm Susan Burns maren - you also don't know how connected that person might be - say they live in NYC and write a blog - all becomes part of reputation management and recognizing we are all one 3:48pm MN Headhunter I finally started doing agreements with non IT firms 3:48pm Rayanne I always think about who that person might know or where they might be 3:49pm Susan Burns Jodi - are you still here? 3:49pm MN Headhunter Susan, look at that. tied it all together after me going on a tangent for 48 minutes 3:49pm Jody Simon yes i am 3:49pm Maren Hogan that's true 3:49pm Rayanne tangents are good 3:49pm Susan Burns Paul - you're the Lewis Black of the recruiting world ;-) 3:49pm Rayanne rants are good.. \ Rayanne it starts conversations and points being made 3:50pm Susan Burns Jody - wondering what would help make the case for you internally? Where does the company see value? 3:50pm Maren Hogan HAHA--susan spot on! 3:50pm Susan Kang Nam great question.. 3:50pm Slouch Jody, what kind of engineers are you recruiting 3:50pm Jody Simon in its engineers only....we are run by our engineers 3:50pm MN Headhunter (sound of Paul going into convulsions) 3:51pm Slouch circuit design engineers? 3:51pm Jody Simon heavy duty systems engineers with DOD and C2 experience 3:51pm Susan Burns what do engineers value? is there a cost to not having enough engineers on the job andif so how much - can it be monetized 3:51pm Slouch how much do you py to agencies every year? 3:51pm Slouch pay 3:51pm Jody Simon if i can get engineering on my side then i win the argument hands down 3:52pm Rayanne SB, when I worked in-house I kept every résumé I received and made placements months later when new reqs came up... Jody Simon I don't use any agencies at all... 3:52pm Slouch what about the company you work for 3:52pm MN Headhunter Rayanne is my hero of the day 3:52pm Slouch if you dont mind me asking 3:52pm Susan Burns Rayanne - same here - we would mine our own database before paying to post a job - novel concept huh! and made hires that had applied a year ago or more 3:52pm Rayanne yep 3:53pm Jody Simon I am very close to having the engineers on my side. they want to use agancies and I want the recruiting function to grow internally 3:53pm Susan Kang Nam that's great Rayanne... 3:53pm Jody Simon my company doesn't use any agencies 3:53pm Susan Burns Rayanne - it was also about how we managed communication w/ them initially - big push on pesonal communication 3:53pm Rayanne true.. 3:53pm MN Headhunter Jody, how many of you are there? job to fill? Susan Burns Jody - maybe thats the open door - take the $$ they would invest in agency and see if they'll give u 6 months to show an ROI from community/social 3:54pm Maren Hogan Do you think that extra hire (resume hoarding whatev) is MORE useful in our current economy? 3:54pm Rayanne I spoke to every person that sent a résumé and made sure they knew me and the company they had applied to 3:54pm MN Headhunter Susan beat me to the punchline 3:54pm Jody Simon communication is the key with my company as well....the problem is that recruiting reports to HR and my boss puts up a fight 3:54pm Susan Burns Maren - extra hire and resume hoarding sound difft to me. extra hires always make sense if its the right extra hire ;-) 3:55pm Susan Burns So its HR that is the obstacle? Jody Simon I'm working on getting a champion for my cause and getting very close 3:55pm Jody Simon yes, HR is the obstacle 3:55pm Rayanne sometimes... and sometimes it's the hiring manager that wants to make that hire NOW 3:55pm Susan Burns Jody - that could take us another hour at least ;-) but to all of u who know how I feel about that obstacle - i rest my case for now! Maren Hogan aorry trying to come up with punchy title on the fly then had to get my hotdog--I meant whatever the name for Ray and Paul's and your database. . . 3:57pm MN Headhunter that if they have a relationship built, when the job order opens, they can hire rightaway 3:57pm Jody Simon Thanks Susan....always up for ideas...and helping others with my own ideas as well 3:58pm Susan Burns hey everyone - any thoughts or requests for next weeks topics? Maren Hogan critical foundational tools for the recruiting function 3:59pm MN Headhunter Susan = my new therapist 3:59pm MN Headhunter Maren, huh? 3:59pm Slouch im always open to a discussion about making this site better for everyone 3:59pm Maren Hogan so much theory thrown around and then to put into practice in the real world 3:59pm Susan Burns Ok Paul but I don't take insurance ;-) 3:59pm Maren Hogan what do we really need? 3:59pm Susan Kang Nam lol 3:59pm Maren Hogan Paul, I know I'm wordy, you'll learn to cope 3:59pm MN Headhunter will do some online wine shopping then 3:59pm Slouch with an accent 3:59pm Maren Hogan ha! 4:00pm Rayanne hmmm Rayanne I LOVE the live-ness 4:01pm Susan Burns a community? 4:01pm Slouch yah 4:01pm Maren Hogan I hate it. I usually have something in my teeth 4:02pm Rayanne that is a great idea 4:02pm Susan Kang Nam hmmm... 4:02pm MN Headhunter (sound of wheels turning) 4:02pm Rayanne no screeching 4:02pm Susan Burns that would be cool. could also then put togehter a few key steps to marketing it? managing it? 4:02pm Rayanne I like it... 4:02pm MN Headhunter by chance do you have an extra domain name? 4:02pm Susan Burns isn't that a great sound paul - it goes really good with wine ;-)! 4:02pm Slouch I can check. 4:02pm MN Headhunter or 100? 4:02pm Susan Burns i just established talenttalkcafe.com today - thanks to ami's reco 4:03pm Susan Burns u can use that if you'd like 4:03pm Maren Hogan so exciting! Really, i love IDEAS! 4:03pm Slouch I think we could easily build a site. the building is easy. its the maintaining but that is something else completely 4:04pm Rayanne this is great. 4:04pm Rayanne I am sure... 4:04pm Slouch same bat time, same bat channel 4:04pm Slouch susan, if you want, we can talk details in Portland 4:04pm Jody Simon thanks for sharing! 4:04pm…; Added by Susan Burns to Talent Synchronicity at 2:25pm on June 18, 2008

Topic: Meet Mark Berger, Sourcing Guru, Adjunct Faculty at JobMachine: Invite Mark! An $800 fee in 1979 bought a lifetime of confidence to share with others .... Meet our friend and fellow RecruitingBlogs.com enthusiast, Mark E. Berger. Since 1979 he has been a driving force within the staffing community and his accomplishments have been widely recognized. "Mark has been one of my longest standing heroes and influencers in the business of sourcing. His quiet and humble demeanor exudes an unmatched confidence, while at the same time makes him extremely approachable. From when we first virtually “met” before the turn of the millennium, I have remained a loyal and devoted fan of his work. I can offer no stronger endorsement than the fact that I trust him completely and strive to find more ways in which we can do business together regularly.” December 31, 2007" Shally Steckerl, Chief CyberSleuth & Founder, JobMachine, Inc, (JobMachine.net) I should preface my featured article by letting our audience know that Mark and I are fellow travelers within the sourcing community and that we share mutual admiration of our colleagues Shally Steckerl and Glenn Gutmacher. That said, Mark established himself long ago and independently with his SwatRecriting Techniques - so good that it caught the eye of JobMachine and has since joined us as an Adjunct Faculty member since September 2008. In his role as Adjunct Faculty, Mark conducts online workshops for Swat Recruiting and JobMachine customers, covering many of the topics in the JobMachine curriculum. His specialties inclued demonstrating how to maximize searches on Google, Windows Live and LinkedIn, advanced techniques for finding resumes online, and specialized search engine syntax such as the site: command, intitle: and inurl:. Mark has been in recruiting and staffing since 1979. He is currently the proprietor of Swat Recruiting (www.swatrecruiting.com), a firm supporting the technology needs of the recruiting and staffing industry. He has been heavily involved in Internet recruiting ever since there was such a thing and has become an expert on recruiting and sourcing products and services available to the recruiting industry. Mark started utilizing the Internet for candidate sourcing back in the early 1990s by first running classified ads on the text versions or AOL and Compuserve. Then he was an early user of some of the very first online resume databases including Career Mosaic, Headhunter.net, and Online Career Center. In the latter part of the 90s Mark learned advanced techniques to source passive candidates from the Internet using the search engines, primarily utilizing Alta Vista and Northern Lights in the beginning and is now an advanced user of today's popular search engines including Google, Live, and Yahoo. Mark also has a high level of expertise in recruiter databases (ATS’s), including how these products add to the bottom line. Mark has authored the Internet Recruiting column appearing monthly in The Fordyce Letter since 1998 and is a frequent contributor to other recruiting industry publications. He is also an often requested speaker at many local, regional, and national recruiting industry events. Mark is also on the board of directors for the Mid-America Association of Personnel Services Q&A with Mark Berger Six Degrees: Tell us about your home world Mark. Mark: To date, my personal life has been fairly private. I am a simple man with simple needs and tastes that leads a fairly uncomplicated yet enjoyable life. I am lucky to have a great job that I love, get to travel fairly regularly, a wonderful family including three great school-aged kids that I am very close with. In whatever free time I do have I enjoy going to yard sales and estate sales, usually on the weekends. You just never know what treasure you will stumble on next. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Mark: I started in the early days of IT recruiting, 9/17/79. Back then it was nothing more than recruiting COBOL and Assembler programmers on IBM, Honeywell, Univac, and Burroughs “mainframes”. There was a little Fortran on DEC/PDP’s as well. How things have changed… I was at it pretty much full time for many years, close to 28 or so, until I went into recruiter technology training full time back in 2006. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Mark: I wish my story could be more dramatic but back in the late 1970s nobody even knew what a “recruiter” was. Most of the time people thought I worked for the military. I remember being doing some shopping one day and bumped into a friend I had worked with in a prior job. He just happened to mention I should come and interview with his boss, who was looking to hire a couple of people. I agreed and although I had no idea what I was walking into nor the impact it would have on the rest of my life, I was offered and accepted the job. After my initial 60 minute training session my boss had me make out a bunch of index cards (pre-computer/pre-database) with all the company names I could find, then started to call those companies to solicit job orders. I made my first placement in my third week…and the rest is history. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Mark: Probably that first placement, back in 1979. In this new job of mine, not knowing what I was doing, I did wonder if I was cut out for the task. That first placement, I think for an $800 fee, gave me the confidence I needed to go forward and turn this job into the career that it has been for me. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Mark: In my early days, I never had a mentor. I was always jealous of those recruiters who worked for the very few other recruiting companies at the time that actually had big billers on staff to learn from. The company I worked for didn’t really have anyone like that. I always used to tell people back then that the reason I knew what to do at any given time was because I had done it wrong in the past and was able to learn from my mistakes. Later in my career, I’d have to say Paul Hawkinson, long-time editor and publisher of the venerable Fordyce Letter, nurtured my early role as his Internet Recruiting columnist, starting in 1998. His early vision that an Internet column in his newsletter is only one indication of his broadminded outlook on this industry. These days, if I had to pick a mentor it would be Shally, whom I have known for many, many years. Before his name because a household word in our industry. I saw his JobMachine grow from a small, part-time endeavor to become a national influence in the recruitment/sourcing industry. Every time I listen to him speak, I learn something new. Six Degrees: Tell us about your staffing industry contributions, Mark: Mark: Currently, I am owner of Swat Recruiting (www.swatrecruiting.com). I actually started Swat many years ago but never really had the time to do what I wanted to do with it. In late 2005 I made the decision to change the focus of my career from placements to training, and have never been happier. Although I do miss the placements from time to time, I feel very fulfilled and actually love my job now. Swat is involved in all types of recruiter technology. Anything computer, Internet, software related. We try and assist recruiting organizations integrate technology into their work environment. There are so many choices out there it is overwhelming for some. Swat Recruiting offers many training sessions, mainly on sourcing passive candidates on the Internet, and most have been very well received by the recruiting community. We also work on marketing plans from time to time with recruiting industry vendors, and have a small ATS consulting practice. Six Degrees: What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Mark: Well…I don’t know about companies, but I do have a few “heroes” I suppose. A couple I already mentioned. Paul Hawkinson, who just received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the most recent NAPS conference, has always been someone I have looked up to, and I am very privileged to have been able to get to know him in my ten-year association with him prior to his retirement. Shally Steckerl is another already mentioned. This man is a true visionary in our chosen field and one that is well-respected throughout. It is my honor and pleasure to be as closely associated with him as I am. Donato Diorio is another. This man is a tireless supporter of our industry, and now only develops some of the finest recruitment software via his Broadlook company, he is also very knowledgeable about the inner workings of our industry. I have had the pleasure of knowing him since the early days of Broadlook. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Mark: Lucky for me…the prevailing industry trend is locating passive candidate resources on the Internet, my specialty. As far as this aspect of the recruiting industry has come, I feel like in many ways we are still in its infancy. I think over the next few years networking for candidates will become more and more an accepted way to get those elusive A+ candidates as the pricey resume databases will become less influential. Six Degrees: I know you have been active on the speaking circuit over the years, Mark can you elaborate on where our colleagues can have an opportunity to see you in action? Mark: One thing I really enjoy about my career as an industry trainer is that I do get to travel from time to time for public speaking engagements. I have been to Fordyce Forum, the National Association of Personnel Services national conference, MRI, Top Echelon, and IPA regionals. I have also had the pleasure of working with these groups and others including Kennedy Information, NPA, ASA, and many state and local recruiter associations to get the word out about this technology. For many years I have been a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) and a Certified Internet Recruiter (CIR). I am also very proud to say I am not an Adjunct Faculty member at JobMachine.net and will be participating on a regular basis in the Webinar Series and be a regular blog contributor. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Mark: My career goals are simple. Not only to learn as much as I can about recruiter technology…to stay abreast of everything new and exciting, but to be able to teach what I learn to others, so they can make effective use of these new trends to make more hires or placements. PART II: “HOW DOES MARK DO IT?” Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit? Mark: In my role as the Internet Recruiting columnist for the Fordyce Letter and industry technology trainer I maintain relations with surely the vast majority of the recruiting industry vendors, ATS, Data/Resume Capture, Contact Databases, etc. People often ask me for my recommendations or favorites, and although I do have them I always encourage people to make their selection based on their own needs, not what I happen to like. Six Degrees: What tools did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? Mark: When I first started in the business back in 1979, we used index cards to sort our companies/clients and hard copy resumes for our candidates. This was way before computers, much less the Internet. This was even before fax machines as we had to make copies of resumes and actually mail them (yes, USPS…with a stamp) to our clients. We had file drawers with folders and tabs for different programming languages and/or job titles and/or hardware. Our job was made much more difficult by the fact that if a person had more than one skill, you either had to make a duplicate copy of his resume and file it in a second folder, or, more often forget that he or she was there. We had to rely a lot more on our memories that we do today. Those were the reasons I was a very early proponent of automation/computerization in the recruiting office in the 1980s, as soon as the PC came onto the market. Then in the early nineties, we tried running classified ads for programmers on the text versions of America Online and Compuserve. Snagged a few here and there. The middle nineties brought the early iterations of resume databases including Headhunter.net, Career Mosaic, Online Career Center, etc. All those have since been gobbled up by today’s big services. Then, in the latter part of the nineties, the term “passive candidate” was first coined, and we learned how to use Internet search engines, back then mainly AltaVista and NorthernLights, to search for resumes. Since then it has been a learning process and then a teaching process the last few years. 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. Mark: The problem, if there is one, depends on the audience. If you talk about HR, this is a group of people not typically trained in sales. You can teach them all about sourcing techniques but once they have sourced a few candidates, they may be unsure as to how to make the connection, how to lure that resource into the fold. The solution here is to give that audience a simple, yet reliable way to make contact and get their foot in the door. Most big companies have this problem licked by dedicating teams of people, however, many smaller and medium sized organizations do not have the financial resources or manpower to do this. They have to be more creative. If you look at the third-party group, the problem differs a bit. This is a group that is typically highly skilled in sales, however, lack the patience and/or inclination to follow a thorough sourcing process. This needs to be taken into account when presenting to this group. They need some very easy ways to perform this task. Six Degrees: “Best practice” you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career? Mark: Probably preaching a process-oriented approach to sourcing. Technique is one thing. You can get techniques from the Google help pages, but it is only when those techniques are integrated with a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach can one expect to say they have done a thorough job of sourcing their next applicant. So many I talk to run one string in one search engine, grab a few resources and call it a day. Little do they know how much they are leaving on the table for those more thorough competitors. 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? Mark: One thing that helps is to try hard not to become frustrated. What goes up goes down but conversely, what goes down goes up. There are always good times and bad times in any business. Ride the wave either way it goes and be in it for the long haul. Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2009? Mark: Next year, one of my professional goals is for my training to become more appealing to an international audience. I have had a couple classes to Australians, Asians, and the English. I want to do more of that. I also want to expand my training to include more of the network available to recruiters. There are so many now it is hard for one to know the good from the great. Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? Mark: Check the JobMachine.net calendar regularly for my webinars. Better yet, sign up to be on the mailing list so you won’t miss the announcements. Six Degrees: How Are You Going To Change The Recruitment Industry? Mark: Simple…learn more…teach more. Listen to Mark in action this Thursday: Free Webinar, Register HERE for "Turbocharged Passive Candidate Sourcing: Best of Telephone, Google & Online Database Research Techniques" with Co-Presenter, Sheila Greco RECOMMENDATIONS “I highly recommend anyone to work with Mark. I've trained with him a couple times. He had a wonderful rapport with trainees at all levels. He is always very responsive to questions, feedback, or simple explanations to my issues. His ability to connect with superiors, clients, vendors, and subordinates is what sets Mark apart from other trainers; he had the balance of truly listening and then approaching issues with candid yet insightful knowledge. Mark has excellent written and verbal communication skills, is extremely organized, reliable and a whiz with any sourcing technology. I have emailed him questions and despite her busy schedule he gets back to me immediately and always with a very positive attitude. I recommend Mark without reservation."” May 27, 2008 Teresa Bustamante PHR, CPC, Research Analyst, Avery Dennison “Mark's down-to-earth writing and seminar teaching style is easy to follow and his strategies are simple to execute. Mark really cares about helping his colleagues and client/students become more efficient and more effective recruiters.” November 25, 2008 Top qualities: Expert, Good Value, High Integrity Ronald Siegel “I had the good fortune of attending Mark's Linked-In webinar. Up until this point, I hadn't done much with Linked-In. However, Mark taught many options one could investigate to help in sourcing passive candidates. While I'm just starting out using Linked-In, I'm hopeful that it will be a big help in my building a solid network & provide another alternative to traditional sourcing.” November 3, 2008 Michael Klass, Search Consultant, Joan Leslie Search Group was with another company when working with Mark E. at Swat Recruiting “I have taken 2 courses from Mark and look forward to taking more. He knows his stuff and is a great teacher.” October 30, 2008 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value Bill Zajac PE hired Mark E. as a Business Consultant in 2008, and hired Mark E. more than once “Mark is truly an expert in the area of recruiting technology analysis. He breaks down the process to even the most minute detail, and is quick to understand the impact technology has on the recruiting process. While I may not always agree with what Mark has to say, I certainly respect his viewpoint, and it makes for great conversation. Thanks for your commitment to our industry, Mark.” August 19, 2008 Mike Tischer, Channel Manager and Sr. Sales Representative, Broadlook Technologies was with another company when working with Mark E. at Swat Recruiting “I have worked with Mark on a number of Kennedy Information sponsored seminars. He is a joy to work with because he is a true professional who updates his content on a regular basis and has a great ability to reach his audience. Post report analysis prove that he is popular talent. I look forward to working with Mark in the future.” August 15, 2008 Hillary Kyle Holian, Associate Producer, Kennedy Information, Career Management Alliance, IOMA “I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Mark Berger for several years. Mr. Berger is a top notch recruiter and an expert in the application of technology to the recruitment process. He provides a much needed resource to the staffing and recruiting industries through his training programs and leadership. Mark is also a tireless supporter and board member of the Mid America Association of Personnel and Staffing Services. His input and insights have had a tremendous impact on both that organization but also on the many members of that organization.” June 18, 2008 Roger Aistrup, General Manager, Allan James Associates LLC “I've taken 2 classes from Mark and find his work to be very meaningful and thorough on the subject. He not only has a pleasant manner, you can tell he enjoys what he does. He is extremely knowledgeable and detailed in his presentations and materials. I highly recommend his classes!” March 21, 2008.. Top qualities: Expert, Good Value, Creative Marney Reed “WAPS invited Mark Berger to speak to our local membership on February 20th 2008. Mark came prepared to engage our membership on finding passive candidates on the internet. WAPS emphatically endorses Mark Berger for any seminars or webinars in your area. Mark knows his subject very well and the content of his presentations enabled our members to take several ideas and suggestions back to our desk. Mark is very patient and was willing to answer any question our membership had. Also, Mark is very much open to continue answering questions if our members are struggling with one of his techniques. WAPS is happy to endorse Mark Berger for your passive candidate recruiting needs on the internet. February 21, 2008, Terry Rohde, CPC, Engineering Recruiter, DES LLC “From Day 1, Mark has demonstrated his tremendous knowledge of the universe in which he works --- the recruiting and sourcing world. His experience and keen assessment capabilities make him one of the best sources for guidance, especially when it comes to the myriad of tools and methods available on the market today. He is a true professional, and a pleasure to work with!” February 11, 2008 Anne Scofield, Vice President, Business Development, SGA “Mark E. Berger has a very influential and charismatic personality and his online seminars have been a great help for me to do things better that I do every day. I am very impressed with his abilities and grasp of the subject within his domain and I would strongly recommend Mark E. Berger to everyone.” January 11, 2008 Asif Akhtar Nizami, Technical Recruiter, FSD Solutions “Mark has written several articles on my blog (jimstroud.com) and worked with me on multiple projects. I respect his expertise in online recruiting and appreciate the value he brings to the industry.” January 11, 2008 Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Good Value Jim Stroud is a Social Media Development Manager “I have had the pleasure of working with Mark on numerous occasions. He has a comprehensive understanding of the keys to successful recruiting. Mark's clients clearly benefit from his experience and knowledge of the recruiting industry. I enjoy working with the clients he refers because they are focused, informed, and have a clear understanding of why technology is critical to their success.” November 13, 2007 Tammy Wirths, Account Executive, Sendouts was with another company when working with Mark E. at Swat Recruiting “I was introduced to Mark through a management seminar that our owner went to. He showed us all ways to gain access to information that is otherwise not for public eyes-- invaluable in our business! I think it is wonderful that he shares his technical knowledge with those of us who are less savvy in those areas.” November 13, 2007 Denise Gabbard, Search Consultant, GRN Brookpark was with another company when working with Mark E. at Swat Recruiting “In the volatile recruiting software industry, many customers are confused by all the choices & need help to assess their requirements and understand vendor options in a crowded market. I refer people who need assistance to Mark with confidence that he can provide unbiased, professional, and valuable guidance throughout the software evaluation process.” September 21, 2007 Sylvia Dahlby, Chief Executive Instigator, SmartSearch Online “Mark is a consumate professional who is a very knowledgable recruiter, honest and forthright. Then as an owner of Berger-Nowlin, you were fair to all that worked for you, supported and tried to assist the team in anyway you could. It is a natural progression that Mark is in recruiter training. All new and struggling recruiters would only benefit and improve their success by working with Mark.” June 11, 2008 Kevin Fox, Site/Project Manager, Unisys / Berger Nowlin, Inc. “Mark is a kind, capable and caring business owner and manager. I worked directly for Mark and have always respected him and his many abilities. Mark's AIRS knowledge and certification gave him some skills very few recruiters or business owners have. He has always been willing to mentor/train others to be more productive and to lead by example. I would gladly work for Mark again in the future.” March 5, 2008 Jane Bullington, recruiter, berger nowlin “I have known Mark for pretty close to thirty years . Mark has truly made the leap from running a desk to running a company and finally to becoming the "go to guy" for the latest web techniques. The many years Mark has spent on the desk has given him a keen insight as to what recruiters are looking for in tools to make their job mre efficient. I look forward to reading Mark's comments and opinions in the Fordyce Letter as I know they are always right on and I highly recommend attending one of Marks webinars or in person sessions .” November 2, 2008 Ron Sunshine, Owner, ron sunshine associates…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 1:10am on December 8, 2008