Now that we have our target companies, it’s time to start building our database. The #1 advantage that recruiting agencies have over corporate recruiting departments is that they have a database of prospects/candidates to call on. Since our goal is to reduce spending on outside agencies and build an internal talent engine, we need to create our own database. This is an extension of our previous market research activities, but now we’re getting more targeted and looking at individuals instead of companies. Over the next several weeks, I’ll detail the sources we will use to build our database. Here’s the first:

1. LinkedIn: It’s free and it’s specifically for professional networking. In the old days recruiters would spend hours doing the work that is now accomplished with a 30 second search on LinkedIn. It is name generation made simple, but it’s not exhaustive. Still, it’s the best place to start. Plug in your target company names, along with job function (and possibly location), and let it rip. If you like spending money, you can upgrade your personal account, and for an ungodly sum, you can get a corporate “LinkedIn Recruiter’ account. But if you like things for free (who doesn't?), you can do some fancy Google searching and get access to the same info.

(Check out SourceCon and the work of people like Jim Stroud and Irina Shamaeva for more details on how to get info for free)

Next Time: Leveraging Professional Associations