My 1.5 Sense continued…
I have a question.
At OnRec there were the usual suspects from the Recruiting Technology world; ATS vendors, Social Networking vendors, niche and other job boards and some “filters” and selection and assessment vendors. What there weren’t were a lot of Recruiting Leaders. Maybe with budget cuts and the economy, people are just not making investments in their recruiting technology this year. Which makes what I’m about to point out all the more unbelievable. (prepare for shameless plug)
AllianceQ is a strategy to solve recruiting problems. It is generated by and for Corporate America and is the only strategy of its kind in the market today. Oh, and it’s FREE!
Yet at OnRec for two days I watched the gurus of recruiting, the people whose job it is to review, assess and write about what’s new for Recruiting departments, walk right past our booth and not even acknowledge our presence. Interesting but not funny.
One prominent “thought leader” walked by our booth (a double size booth, bright, white and conspicuous as Charles Barkley in a yoga class) no less than 6 times in 2 days. Not a smile, not a question, no interest at all. I shook hands and said hello to another ”pundit” who failed to ask one question about what we are doing or how things are going. The only guru who took the time to check it out was Joel Cheesman putting him, once again, at the top of the list of thought leaders in my book. The guy is actually interested in solving recruiting problems!
I guess a few of these folks got burned by touting Itzbig as revolutionary and then watching it go belly up. They may be gun-shy about really looking into anything new and different for two reasons:
- They are vested in the paradigm of Internet recruiting (keyword matching, advertising “impressions” focused, fragmented model).
- Breaking the paradigm of Internet recruiting (i.e., creating a solution instead of another way to make money from the problem) threatens their businesses.
So here is the question I need help with:
IF the “internet recruiting” industry is 13 years old (1995ish - today) AND if the thought leaders who have been around for 1/2 that time or more are truly focused on solving problems THEN why are we still doing things the same way today that we were 10 years ago?
Hope to see you at ERE this month!
Frustrated Job Seekers
Completing the concept that a fragmented internet recruiting world is ruining online recruiting, here is an article that touches on the job seeker frustration. In it, Jennifer Hamm mentions some of the frustrations:
My 1.5 Sense
File under: The Truly Ridiculous:
At OnRec in Chicago last week, there was a panel discussion on the future of “big boards” which included 3 expert panelists; a rep from Careerbuilder, a rep from Hotjobs and the VP of sales from a company who hosts online advertising sites for everything from cars to jobs. Really? This is the perspective that OnRec feels is going to provide the “leading edge” information on the future of big boards? 2 votes for big boards ruling the world and one vote for localized, fragmented niche boards. Here’s Joel Cheeseman’s video exerpt. Listen and see if you hear what I did. Crickets.
Wanted: Recruiters
I’ve just returned from OnRec in Chicago and am wondering;
Are there Recruiters out there?
It seems that advertising has taken over and today the Internet is being used to solicit candidates rather than find them. (apologies to Shally and Dave) If you want to argue with me, then tell me why are job boards so prolific and why are they all run by ex-advertising guys?
When I started in recruiting in 1992, I had a desk, a yellow pages and a phone. I know, it sounds like the old “hike up a hill in bare-feet” routine of the middle aged man but seriously, recruiting is about finding talent not waiting for it to come to you. The Internet should have helped this but the ADMEN got ahold of it and today it is a fragmented mess of confusion for recruiters and job seekers. Thanks Madison Ave!
Opening New Channels
As I read through the recruiting blogs and articles from the last couple days this morning, I saw a common theme that is running in the background of many of them;
Corporations need to open new channels to talent if they are to survive looming labor shortages
I’ve written about this before and believe that shifting the hiring paradigm from “resume/job description” matching to “competency/talent spotting” is crucial to the evolution of corporate recruiting. It is interesting that more people aren’t making this case prima facia in their articles but are touching on it. Let me explain.
Read more
The Politics of Recruiting
William Uranga NAILED IT today in his post on Fistful of Talent comparing the selection of Biden and Palin to similarities in the recruiting process. Way to go William!
For me, the net takeaway is that hiring the RESUME is the safe, conservative and least effective way to hire anyone, VP of IT or VP of the United States. (Imagine putting Sarah Palin’s resume in front of a typical hiring manager, “not enough industry experience, not enough years of expereience” blah, blah, blah)
If you want to shake up Washington DC or simply shake up the marketing department, hire the most talented, driven and potentially game changing individual you can find. Use your insticts, your advisors and an eye to the future. All it takes is courage, vision and leadership. Any hiring managers out there fit this profile?
Back to Cruel?
September 2 and many of us adults woke early, fearing the return to school. Old habits die hard. Kids are either excited or terrified but they are all on the bus this morning.
Summer is officially over and as many people push through the melancholy of hanging up their flip flops, some will be looking for new career opportunities. After the vacations are over, the beach house is empty and the neighborhood pool is closed for the season, life will become routine again and discontent will settle in.
People will look around and see that friends and rivals have been released in layoffs and wonder “will I be next?” and go in search of something new and different. They will determine what they want in a new role, new company, and new boss etc. and go in search of the promised land of a new job. They will polish their resumes (loading them with key words and a thousand “I was responsible for…” sentences) and begin the arduous task of applying for a job online.
How will you treat these new applicants this fall? Read more
De-Fragment for Increased Efficiency
If this was posted on CNET or TECHCRUNCH, you might think it was about your computer. But this is a recruiting blog and this comment is about the world of online recruiting. In the years since the dot-com crash, the online recruiting world has become so fragmented it is now working against recruiting departments and job seekers.
Let me explain. Read more
Dating and Recruiting
I just read a great article on the ERE by Amy Kimmes.
The only addition I have is that when you break up, do it gracefully.
Recruiting Application:
Take the time to treat the candidate who has interviewed with your company with the dignity and respect they showed you.
give them feedback
give them hope
give them a link to AllianceQ!
Talent Spotting
I just read a great article by Steve Lowisz, President and CEO of Qualigence, Inc. about Recruiting Metrics and how the rules have changed for recruiters in today’s business environment (shifting demographics, workforce dynamics etc.)
I couldn’t agree more with Steve and believe the “new” metrics he suggests are fundamental to the success of any recruiting department. Shifting business environments necessitate change in the business units that support the business. Change is hard but imperative for corporate recruiting professionals.
I believe there is an even larger change that Corporate Recruiters and Hiring Managers need to make if business is to survive and thrive in the “new” labor landscape. This shift is around the ability to spot talent. Now many people are saying, “Hey, I’m a Recruiter, I get paid a lot of money to spot talent” but I’ll challenge that thinking.
For over a decade, Recruiting has increasingly relied on technology to do the “talent spotting” for them. Through key word matching, screening questions built into ATS systems and cumbersome interview processes, we (I count myself as one of the Recruiters in the room) narrow prospects to candidates and candidates to applicants and present and hire what we assume is the best person based on their talent. But are we actually evaluating talent or are we hiring the resume + best interview?
Talent is defined as:
-
a special natural ability or aptitude:
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a capacity for achievement or success; ability:
When was the last time you spoke about a candidate in these terms? I find that most hiring managers are relatively poor judges of talent (as defined above) and rarely evaluate candidates based on their “special” natural ability or capacity for achievement /success. I’m not blaming them; they don’t get any training on how to do this. Recruiters and Hiring Managers have been conditioned to use the paradigm of job description/resume matching as first pass at spotting talent and then use interviews to narrow the field – an inexact science at best!
Let me give you an example of the “magic” that can happen when this paradigm is broken:
A Global Company I know lives and dies by its sales force as all companies do. This company’s hiring philosophy is based on the definition of TALENT referenced above and here’s the result; in 2006 their #1 sales person made $350K and won a new Maseratti! In 2004 this same person was a CHEF! By being skilled “talent spotters” (i.e., using the ability to identify talent and not just match key words on a resume) this organization has opened new channels to passive talent.
This is the future of recruiting in Corporate America – becoming highly skilled in finding and recognizing people with talent – remember: the brightest talent may not be the best resume writer or interviewer.
About the Author
I'm Phil Haynes, director of AllianceQ, seasoned recruiting professional and passionate advocate for change in recruitment.
More about me
About this blog
The purpose of this blog is to stimulate a dialogue that challenges long-held beliefs in Corporate Recruiting.
I, along with guests, will be discussing change and evolution in recruiting; two imperatives if the function is going to survive the coming "race to talent." Through inspection, dissection and robust dialog, it is our intent to explore and debate the evolution of recruitment in Corporate America.
