Julia Stone's Blog (24)

I Did it! I really did it!

I really enjoyed the diversity of RecruitFest this year. It was different than years past, but good in its own right. One of the light bulb moments for me was the discussion around auto-notification of candidates directly from the ATS. Well, I am terrified of it. Afraid to even check the little box that kindly offers to send an email rejecting the candidate for me. Why? I should love that this system is offering to do my dirty work, but I don't. So I tell myself I will get in touch with each… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on October 12, 2010 at 4:14pm — 1 Comment

Why do people stay at the same job?

I am always curious what makes someone stay in the same job for more than a few years. For me, it is passion, challenge, and the chance to be rewarded for being very good at what I do. That is why I run an agency, and that is why I like what I do. But I have to trade off team work (sometimes I am solo, sometimes I am not), and financial security (can you say 2009??), and I cannot easily specialize in one piece of the puzzle. That last one makes me tired some days.

But enough about me,… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on June 8, 2010 at 2:33pm — 4 Comments

Riding the Rip Tide

I have been caught in real riptides. I have encountered them swimming, diving and boating. It is terrifying the first time you experience it. But when you learn more about the forces at work, you realize that you can go more places than everyone else if you can navigate them. For us, it means you can get access to candidates and clients that might not otherwise be open to talking with us.

This is a year of extremes, we hear it in every conversation we have. People are either in a… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on June 2, 2010 at 12:04pm — 2 Comments

help, please! What would you do?

I have been recruiting a long time, and I have seen more than I care to of the eccentricities of the human nature over the past 14 years. Every once in a while, I am stumped. I contacted this developer about a position with a company in the radio industry, and this is the response I got.

How would you respond?…

Continue

Added by Julia Stone on May 21, 2010 at 12:01pm — 16 Comments

Born to Recruit?

The longer I am in the industry, the more convinced I am that there are naturals for our profession. I have tried training people who don't have "it" and I am never successful. On the other hand, people with "it" need very little direction and they seem to take off like an airplane, often using new creative ways of doing it.

So what are these natural qualities? I will list a few, please add your ideas too because I could never think… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on December 9, 2009 at 7:58pm — 16 Comments

recruiting is a lonely game, not a team sport.

Does it take a village? Or is it more of a fellowship of sorts?

I tried to get a team together for the DARPA Balloon Challenge. I posted everywhere, there were a few patient onlookers who mostly were curious how we would collaborate on googlewave to accomplish this crazy task. Find 10 red balloons hidden on street corners throughout the US in 1 day.

2 people were able to do so much. I have never been more proud to have a sourcer like Lisa Offutt working with me & for… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on December 8, 2009 at 3:22pm — 17 Comments

Can you find the red balloons?

This is not a sourcecon challenge, it is a DARPA contest. Join my team to win $$$ for finding red balloons this weekend & sending in the Lat/Long coordinates. There are 10 scattered across the US.

Why? Because I think it is about time that the rest of the world figure out that recruiters and sourcers are better than anyone else. We know how to network nationwide and share information at the speed of light. I think it would be a… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on December 3, 2009 at 5:34pm — 1 Comment

Is recruiting just a bunch of SPAM? I don't think so.

I get tired of this, and I really want an answer from the people who send out lists of candidates to anonymous recruiters, like me every day.

So tell me, what exactly do you think you accomplish by sending me your best (insert technology here) developer? Perhaps you prefer the machine gun approach and send me a list of your 50 best candidates.

The message?

You have a list, probably a big list. I am guessing you are over-compensating with your big list to hide… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on August 24, 2009 at 2:03pm — 5 Comments

Reflections on getting the most out of every conference you attend, or How I got the nickname "the girl that gets around"

I attend allot of conferences.

I think recruitfest was the most profitable one for me last year.

In this interview with Kathleen Kurke, President of the Pinnacle Society, we discuss attending conferences.

Hear some of my tips on how to get the most out of any conference you attend, and get a glimpse into my philosophy on networking at social events like recruitfest09!

Hope to see you there.…

Continue

Added by Julia Stone on August 19, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

RecruitFest! 09 How I made 50,000 from going last year.

RecruitFest! 2009

It makes me smile every time I post that.

I was very tentative about going last year. It would make my 4th conference in as many months and that seemed a bit hard to justify just from a time off perspective, let alone the costs involved. Working for myself means that I have to really think hard about where and when to spend money. So for me, a trip to Toronto was in place of a vacation to Europe or Jamaica.…

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Added by Julia Stone on August 7, 2009 at 12:53pm — 3 Comments

RecruitFest! 09 reflections of the past

How exciting is that? But technically you don't actually "speak"speak at RF. It is a dialog, a conversation, the "UN-conference". I went to it last year, not really knowing another person who was attending, at least nobody I had met in person. Jason Davis went out of his way to make me feel comfortable (thanks, Jason). I have to say that it exceeded all of my expectations by far.

Want some advice?

1. Be prepared to discuss… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on July 31, 2009 at 2:59pm — 1 Comment

Uma Thurman had it right

I am overwhelmed with to-do lists. We have become so dependent on them, that we even put things on them that we have already done JUST so we can cross them off! Admit it, you know you have done it or thought of it.

Well, I just realized that simple is much better here and I am sharing my newly found wisdom. Keeping focus on what is important is so hard to do when things are hard, when you have difficult calls to make. If Uma can do it, so can you.. If you want someone to help hold… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on June 22, 2009 at 11:43am — 1 Comment

which way is up?!?

I really love the crew at rbc.

I used to love hanging out at the site.

Then chat failed, then the format changed, then chat changed again, then the talent talks got canceled, and now I can't find my way around.

Please remember that too much change is not always a good thing. Some of us need a little stability. And I need SEARCH BOX ON THE MAIN PAGE!

There is so much good information here, but I fear that too… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on June 1, 2009 at 2:06pm — 16 Comments

Would you rather...

Work in an office with

a) all women

b) all men

No facts, just opinions please.

Added by Julia Stone on March 19, 2009 at 5:46pm — 1 Comment

and the winner is....

memoirs of a guest host on TTC

I can't thank Susan Burns enough for allowing me to host TTC last week. Donato was very kind to jump in, always adding great insight into any discussion on search.

I hope that you may have learned a little, or we were able to get you to expand your definition of what search includes. Thinking outside the box and being quick to adapting your strategies is often the key to success in this environment.

So as promised, Donato Diorio of… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on February 24, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Shark Attacks down, economy seems to be the cause

http://tinyurl.com/sharkattacks

Shark attacks are down. Seriously they are. Why? Less people are going on vacations where they can get eaten by the big fishes.

I try to see the silver lining in things when possible, I guess this counts! Anybody else have anything to report on the economy that is positive? Please throw it in here.

I also heard condom sales are up significantly, but that is a story for a different day (or format)......

Added by Julia Stone on February 23, 2009 at 5:40pm — 10 Comments

6 ways they have changed how your FICO score is being calculated this week.

FICO is tweaking their methods of calculating the ever important credit rating. You may want to be aware of the changes and how they might affect you.

A new system for determining your credit-worthiness, FICO '08, rolls out this Thursday, and there's nothing you can to do stop it. By these 6 changes, ye shall be judged:

1. Spouses and children can improve their credit score by being an authorized user on a credit card… Continue

Added by Julia Stone on February 6, 2009 at 11:26am — No Comments

What makes me a Smart Recruiter

I have been a recruiter for a dozen years so far so I have survived burnout, a recession, and the booms. I am a smart recruiter because I know my limitations and never let them get in the way of succeeding. I don't think that recruiting is any harder than any other job, but it does require hard work, discipline and a little luck.

Added by Julia Stone on January 7, 2009 at 3:17pm — No Comments

won't you tweet my neighbor

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_find_the_top_twitterers_in_your_city.php

Looking for friends, aka, tweets a little closer to home? This gives you some suggestions on how to do it.

Added by Julia Stone on December 18, 2008 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

Can you use twitter for business?

Well, the answer takes more than 140 characters to explain, so I will leave it up to Chris Brogan, social media guru.

Besides finding candidates, does anyone have a suggestion on how to use Twitter for business?

http://cli.gs/50business-ideas-for-twitter

Added by Julia Stone on December 12, 2008 at 11:34am — 2 Comments