New Recruiting Blog – theContractRecruiter.com

My new blog theContractRecruiter.com (TCR) is up and running.  TCR is about recruiting: cutting edge tools, trends, methods, technologies, best practices and the recruiting  profession/industry.  The plan for TCR is to post a blend of original content, commentaries, and “check this out” linkage.

Please visit and comment as I add content.

New Blog Coming Soon!

Thanks for visiting RecruitingImpact!

I’ve been working on building a NEW recruiting blog.  If everything works out, the new blog should be ready to launch in a couple of weeks or so. 

I’ll either post information on the new blog as soon as it’s ready for prime-time viewing or have RecruitingImpact point directly to it.

While you’re here, take some time to visit the article feeds on the sidebars:
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CareerXRoads 7th Annual Source of Hire Study Revisited

Earlier this year, Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler of CareerXroads published their ”7th Annual Source of Hire Study: What 2007 Results Mean for Your 2008 Plans” to examine the recruiting supply chain question “Where do we find people?”  They invited a group of 200 large (5000+ employees) well-known companies to anonymously participate in the study.  A total of 59 companies responded with 49 of these making the final qualifying cut for data reporting.  The companies involved were high profile and industry leading retail, technology, transportation, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and finance firms.

It’s important to note the inherent data integrity challenges involved in corporate source of hire (SOH) measurement and reporting.  The study addresses these issues in detail and the authors maintain a healthy degree of self-criticism as they express their own perceptions of the data used in the study.  In their own words, the study “… is a detailed description of how one group of corporations fill their [US] open positions or, more accurately, what some corporate stafffing functions are able to measure and report as the sources of their hires for the openings they fill.”  “… The survey is less about benchmarks and more about SOH practices.”  Despite its unavoidable (problematic data) shortcomings, this is a fascinating report that provides useful information and provokes important thoughts and questions. 

The key findings for 2007 included:
1.  Internal transfers and promotions accounted for 30% of job fills.
2.  Referrals (employee, alumni, vendor, et al) accounted for about 28% (according to the chart provided) of external hires.  Employee referrals made up 80-90% of the “referral” hires.
3.  Job board hires represented about 26% of external hires
4.  Company website SOH data is highly suspect.  See the report for the reasons why.
5.  The most visible trend in 2007 data was the growth of direct sourcing (to 9%+) and a reduction in agency hires (to 3%)

The full report is 23 pages long and is available as a free .pdf download without a required registration.  It contains a complete pie chart summary on all reported external sources of hire and provides comparison data for 2005, 2006 and 2007.  A detailed breakdown by SOH category reveals and implies further findings, indicators, questions, challenges and trends.  The report concludes with recommendations in the areas of corporate SOH data collection methods and utilization. 

Generally speaking, aggregate SOH data is hard to come by.  This study offers a rare opportunity to review a quality snapshot.  It’s an important resource to revisit as you continue to adapt to continuous (mostly technology-driven) changes and develop your 2009 goals, plans, strategies and budgets. 

Future reports will help answer questions such as: How will the proliferation of social networking and Web 2.x impact SOH in 2008 and beyond?  What changes will we likely see in the referral, job board, direct sourcing, and agency categories?

More info:
Gerry Crispin discusses CareerXRoads 7th Annual Source of Hire Study on Total Picture Radio with Peter Clayton.  Gerry Crispins blogs:  CareerXroads, ERE

If you’re a corporate recruiting professional, I recommend that you follow Gerry Crispin’s work (if you’re not already) and take a look at getting involved in the CareerXroads Colloquium.

The Future of the Video Resume

What place will video resumes play in job seeking, recruiting, selection and hiring?

A year or two ago, it seemed that usage of video resumes would catch on quickly.

But video resumes aren’t all the rage in the employment community. 

Why?

Because the practicality, value and appropriate usage of video resumes is generally in question.

There are those that believe video resumes are Here to Stay.  Some see the potential but are quick to point out that video resumes are Not the Next Big Thing (Yet).  Others give reasons Why Video Resumes Won’t Become Mainstream.  There are even those that see the use of video resumes as downright Preposterous.  There are some strong Opinions and Rants, but so far, it isn’t easy to determine a single prevailing opinion across the recruitosphere.  The vigorous debate over the future of the video resume continues. 

CareerBuilder recognized potential in job seeker generated video resumes and incorporated an upload/view capability in order to test the viability.  According to this article by John Zappe on ERE, CareerBuilder found that usage of the video resume just wasn’t there and ended the test run. 

With a major job board dropping its video resume functionality, the future of video resumes might seem to be in trouble.  But a closer look suggests that overall usage of the video resume by job seekers, recruiters and hiring managers is likely to increase steadily, if not rapidly.  According to a recent survey by Vault.com, 69% of “employees” believe that video resumes will be a common addition to future applications and 89% of “employers” said they are open to viewing video resumes.

It’s likely to be at least a few years before many recruiters and human resources managers overcome their reluctance and embrace the widespread usage of video resumes.  There are still significant legal, HR, system bandwidth, time consumption and recruiter/hiring manager productivity issues.

Video resume producers like Savvy Paper promote the value of video resumes and attempt to address some of the issues. 

Ultimately, job seekers will drive video resume usage.   Candidate generated video resumes posted to a job board like Career Builder may not be quite ready for prime time, but the bold and confident job seekers in our media/technology savvy culture will likely find a way to one-up the static Word doc resume.  Smart candidates looking for an edge will find the most effective ways to market themselves to compete for jobs they want.  Web deployed video is arguably the strongest medium for gaining a distinctive personal branding edge and getting the attention of prospective employers.  Usage is likely to increase as the competitive advantages are more broadly realized. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean job seekers will immediately post their video resume to a job board when they begin a job search.  They’re far more likely to initially post or link their video resume to YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, a personal blog, et al.

While a video resume has the potential to help win an interview, there are some very apparent dangers to be considered by job seekers venturing to create their own. 

A good one can create an advantage:

A bad one could be a career ender:

Right, wrong, good, bad, useful, useless… there will be a lot of video resumes posted out there by job seekers.

Who’ll be clicking on them?

Chris Forman Talks at the MNTRN – Minnesota Technical Recruiters Network

The Minnesota Technical Recruiters Network (MNTRN) has consistently featured some of the recruiting/human capital industry’s top thought leaders in its events, including Kevin Wheeler, Howard Adamsky, Bryan Johanson, Allan Schweyer and Chris Forman. 

Chris Forman

Chris Forman, founder and CEO of AIRS returned as a MNTRN speaker on Friday August 8th at the Golden Valley Country Club.  His dynamic presentation “Good to Great: How to Transform Your Recruiters” was an introductory overview of the “AIRS Recruiting Competency Model”. 

According to AIRS research, a GREAT recruiter possesses specific competencies defined under three high level groupings:  1) Recruiting Skills  2) Performance Traits 3) Executive Search and Partnership Competencies. 

By exercising these skills, traits and competencies and building credibility with a consistent track record of performance, a recruiter can become not only a “business partner” but a “talent mentor” to hiring managers.  That’s greatness.

The question of the day was “Who is this man?“

Mystery Man

You don’t know who he is, do you?
Well, don’t get down on yourself, no one among more than 100 in the MNTRN audience knew either.
I can’t tell you who he is, but Chris Forman stated strongly that you need to be the [his name here] of talent in your organization.

The tip of the day was AllTh.at, a “Web 3.0″ search agent you should check out.

The quote of the day was “The next killer app in recruiting is the recruiter“.  Chris attributed the quote to Mike Foster of HCI.

The MNTRN website will likely make an outline and video excerpts of Chris Forman’s presentation available soon.  A white paper download may also be provided.

 My question of the day is Who is THIS man?

John Amodeo

Oh yeh, it says his name right there on his picture.  That’s John Amodeo:  brilliant local recruiter, thought leader and MNTRN Board member responsible for bringing in talented speakers like Chris Forman.  I plan to write more about John in the future. 

Join the Minnesota Technical Recruiters Network and become part of these great networking, collaboration and learning events!

Even though “Technical Recruiters” appears in the name (originated years ago by technical recruiters), the MNTRN is a broad local network and association of technical and non-technical recruiters, human resources and other talent acquisition industry professionals. 

MNTRN events are a blast!  Designed around rich content, industry/marketplace information and lively participative discussion, each event provides a perfect setting for learning and networking.

 

Video Resume Site Launches

I recently blogged about Office-Face.com a new website dedicated to featuring a short video resume introduction and collaborative forum for job seekers and business networkers.

A post appeared on ERE yesterday by John Zappe titled Video Resume Site Launches.  In his post, John Zappe gives an overview of a brand new website featuring video resumes called FutureResume.com. 

Here’s a sample of a video resume on FutureResume.com.   James Lee, you’re hired!

Video resumes may have a chance of widespread usage in this changing, open Web 2.0 world.  Some employers have a concern with the inherent discrimination risk potential, but this worry may diminish in the near future.  Before long, it may be possible to go online to sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn and find a video, photo or some other more personally identifying information on just about anyone. 

What do you think of the use of video resumes?  Do you think it is a good idea for jobseekers?  Do you think it is a good sourcing and recruiting tool for employers?

Ryan Taylor Brings On the Video Resume Challenge with Office-Face.Com

At 28 years old, Ryan Taylor is an entrepreneur in Minneapolis, MN with the passion, vision and courage to try to bring about a revolution in video resume usage.

Office-Face.com (currently in the Beta stage of development) is the second entrepreneurial web venture of Ryan Taylor’s promising career.  He launched his first venture while he was a student at Gardner-Webb University earning his MBA in International Business.  Ryan, along with two fellow students, created Skoobin.com (now defunct), a free website for college students seeking to buy or sell used text books. 

Ryan has closely observed the proliferation of Web 2.0 applications in the career-site and business networking space and feels that there is something important missing.  Available technology is robust, dynamic and easy to use but professional presentations are still highly static.  Ryan is convinced that there is a better way for job seekers and business networkers to introduce themselves to prospective employers, recruiters and other business professionals.  He is launching Office-Face to replace text-based introductions with dynamic personal brand enhancing video resumes while providing users with a platform to connect with each other.

Ryan believes that the visual resume is the best way for a job seeker/business networker to put a face on their introduction to prospective employers and other business contacts.  In his view, a static Word or PDF resume can’t compare to the positive connecting effect of a concise, well done video presentation.  Understanding that lengthy or poorly done video presentations can hurt a user more than help, Office-Space only allows for short overviews that don’t allow enough time for a job seeker to wander into video danger zones.  By limiting a member’s video clip to a 30-40 second snapshot rather than a lengthy surreal delirium or life-story snoozer, Office-Face hopes to provide a real functional advantage to users.

By combining the video resume with a Web 2.0 style business networking interchange, he believes the unique Office-Face model gives the venture a good chance for success in a space largely up for grabs right now. 

In his own words: 

Office-Face.com is a venture into the largely uninhabited video resume frontier.  On the surface, video resumes appear to be a great idea for job seekers looking to spark employer interest.  So then, why isn’t the video resume more popular?   Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics explores some of the reasons.  Cheezhead brought some perspective to the usage of video resumes in a blog post last year.  So far, it seems that the fear of the video resume medium on the part of employers is holding down the adoption rate.

Ryan Taylor believes that video resumes will eventually gain wide acceptance and usage.  His vision for Office-Face.com is to help bring that about.  While he acknowledges that video resumes may be perceived by some to present a risk, his own passion is focused on giving users of Office-Face.com an opportunity to use the format to their advantage.  When he first conceived the idea about a year and a half ago, Ryan said that the thought of video resumes being rejected by corporate America really never crossed his mind because the practical application ultimately makes too much sense. 

What do you think?

Hiring Secrets of the NFL

I read “Hiring Secrets of the NFL” for the first time about a month ago and I’ve picked it up several times since to recapture the author’s unique perspective on top talent selection .   I recommend it as a must read for recruiters and everyone else interested in creating exceptional teams.
 

Recruiting Impact Book Review

 

Hiring Secrets of the NFL

How Your Company Can Select Talent Like a Champion

by Isaac Cheifetz
 

 

In each chapter of the book, Isaac Cheifetz uncovers a number of hiring, selection and utilization “secrets” discovered over the years in the highly competitive world of the NFL.  The “secrets” are then offered as guide posts to better decision making in the selection of key talent for business teams.  There are 40 “secrets” in all.

 

The book starts with a “KICKOFF” and then drills through nine chapters of talent selection recommendations (“secrets”) for hiring executives taken directly from (drafting, trading, selection) lessons learned by owners, executives and coaches in the NFL.  It ends, of course, with “THE END ZONE” (a full summary of all the “secrets” revealed throughout the book).  You don’t need to be a football fan to gain a lot from the book, but you’ll probably enjoy it more if you’re familiar with the game of football and some NFL history.

 

At only 115 pages, this is a richly packed, thought provoking and important book for anyone involved in recruiting, selection and hiring.  Isaac Cheifetz brings a uniquely powerful perspective to the exploration of the devastating costs of critical hiring mistakes and the destiny-changing impact of right-fit talent selection.

 

This isn’t just another book about building teams by hiring superstars with “team player” attitudes.  The author digs much deeper and challenges some of the boxed-set philosophies still held by many hiring managers struggling to break beyond mediocrity, or even failure, in building their organizations.

 

Buy the book.  Read it.  Keep it on a shelf close by.  You may find yourself going back to it frequently.

 

 

Recruiting Impact Interview with Troy Billings

As a recruiter, I’m facinated by people with exceptional talent in the recruiting profession.  Troy Billings is one of those people. 

Troy Billings impressed me years ago as one of the brightest recruiters I had encountered in the Twin Cities.  It seemed to me that his knowledge, skill, creativity, personal skills and results focus destined him for an extraordinary career in the recruiting profession.  Troy has indeed enjoyed a rapidly advancing career and broadly expanding professional expertise.  I caught up with him recently (he now lives and works in the Chicago area) and asked him to share some of his thoughts for the blog. 

Troy Billings
General Manager
Fulcrum Consulting
Chicago, IL

Global market experience:          Europe, Latin America
Years of recruiting experience:   11+
Types of recruiting done:            Executive, Retained, Contingency, Corporate, Consulting

Troy is currently the General Manager of Fulcrum Consulting in Chicago.  Fulcrum Consulting provides Management Consulting Services to large companies in business and IT strategy, operational improvement, and IT/Financial staffing services.  Troy has responsibility for growing the presence and capabilities of Fulcrum Consulting and engages with large corporations as a management consultant in the areas of business and technology strategy, sales and recruiting management and operational improvement.

Prior to joining Fulcrum Consulting, Troy’s recruiting roles included: Sr. Manager of Recruiting Technology and Processes with Sara Lee Corporation, Strategic Human Capital Consultant with General Mills, Recruiting Manager of Tech Central, Inc. and Technical Recruiter with Computer Horizons Corporation.

Troy holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Mini Masters in Software Design and Development from the University of St. Thomas.  He graduated Valedictorian of his high school class.   Troy speaks five languages: English, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese.  He has worked professional assignments in Italy, Spain and Bolivia.

Q & A with Troy Billings

1.      Troy, before we get started, please tell us what you do in your current position at Fulcrum Consulting.  I am General Manager for Fulcrum Consulting in Chicago, IL.  We are a full service national management consulting; IT professional services, financial staffing and managed services/outsourcing solutions firm.

2.      What was your first recruiting job?  How were things different than today’s market?    My first staffing position was pre-Y2K as a technical recruiter with the now defunct Computer Horizons Corp.  In those days, COBOL programmers were making hundreds of dollars an hour, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) were just taking hold, and recruiters cold-called off of paper mailing lists.  Like the industrial revolution which globally transformed socioeconomic and cultural conditions forever, I’ve enjoyed the unique opportunity of witnessing the world’s first ever e-revolution: the sequential bursting of the dichotomous mainframe (pre-Y2K) and dot-com (1998-2001) bubbles leading to a more homeostatic post-bubble e-commerce era where information, people, and nations are literally now only separated by a simple mouse click! 

3.      What do you like most about your recruiting work?  (1) The thrill of hunting for exceptional talent in a tight labor market; (2) delivering quality candidates who exceed hiring manager expectations; and (3) helping people – particularly the under or unemployed – attain rewarding work which fosters professional growth and financial prosperity.

4.      What do you think is the greatest challenge facing recruiters today?   The greatest challenge is a recruiter’s greatest opportunity: an ever tightening labor market wherein the demand for labor far exceeds and will continue to exceed supply.

5.      In your view, what skills and attributes make for a great recruiter?  First and foremost, impeccable integrity, values-driven ethics, and a desire to make the world a better place.  Next, in no particular order but with equal importance:  humble patience; nose-to-the-grindstone tenacity; gracious humility balanced with God-centered self-confidence; overflowing optimism offset by periodic splashes-in-the-face reality checks;  detail orientation; attentive listening; proactive cold calling; referral based sourcing; technology savvy; relationship building; mutual trust and respect; data mining; real-time contact management; win-win business approach; and results orientation.   

6.      What key skills could any recruiter hone to become better?  Master the art of referral based sourcing and creative Internet sourcing strategies such as: spidering, x-raying, flip search, harvesting, peelback, peer search, Boolean logic, keywords, and field search commands.  Refine the crafts of exploratory questioning and attentive listening.  Tap into target market virtual discussion forums, professional networks, and online communities.  Excel in contact data management and long term relationship building. Harness the power of productivity enhancing electronic applicant tracking.  Embrace the value of Key Performance Indicators to track measurable benchmarks through quantifiable reporting. 

7.      What books, blogs, educational and training resources do you recommend to recruiters?
Books:   Conceptual Selling (original book by Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman - latest version cited here);   SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham; Getting Things Done by David Allen and The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins  Blogs:   www.recruitingimpact.com (Yeh, right but thanks for that!)  Education/Training:  AIRS

8.      How has the proliferation of Web 2.O (social networking/media) affected your job and/or recruiting efforts?   In a nutshell, it provides a greater name generation source for leads and referrals.

9.      Any predictions for how Social Networking sites such as (FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, others) will factor in the long haul. They will compete and grow.  Some will become prominent and dominate their space while others will fade.

10.     What impact will Social Networking have on the future of recruiting?  Social Networking will always enhance lead-generation, but what you do with and how you manage those leads ultimately determines ROI.

11.     Do you have any insights or predictions regarding the future for recruiters and what we need to do to prepare?  I expect the field of recruiting to grow; but only the fittest will survive in the face of stiff competition.  A persevering work ethic, wellspring of enthusiasm, and the synergic nexus of relationship building and productivity enhancing technology will be the single most critical success factors.

That’s a wrap Troy.  Thank you.  I wish you the very best of continued success and I look forward to future conversations regarding the recruiting and staffing industry.

Paul Debettignies Hosts the Minnesota Recruiters Spring 2008 (un)Conference

The Minnesota Recruiters Spring 2008 (un)Conference was held on Friday, May 9th in the theatre at the Best Buy corporate headquarters in Richfield, MN.  The free event was “sold out” with 220 pre-registered attendees and a waiting list.  Actual attendance will appear on the Minnesota Recruiters Network blog in a day or two. 

 

Plenty of post-event information will appear on the network blog over the next couple of days, so I won’t cover details of the event itself in this post other than to say it was well worth attending.  Instead, I’d like to bring some attention to the remarkable efforts of a rising star in the Twin Cities recruiting community and a group of people dedicated to supporting his efforts from the very beginning.

 

Paul Debettignies

Paul Debettignies (pronounced “de-bettingz”/aka MN Headhunter) is a recruiter, blogger, social media aficionado and social networking star.  With more than 10 years of experience as a technical (IT) recruiter, Paul is currently a one-man-band recruiter with Nerd Search, a firm he incorporated in 2006.  But that’s just his day job. 

 

In May of 2005 Paul started his blog MN Headhunter.  In December of 2007 MN Headhunter was nominated by Recruitingblogs.com for “Best Third Party Recruiting Blog of 2007” (for the third straight year).  Last summer, as his blog continued to grow in popularity within the local and national recruiting community, Paul and a couple of other local bloggers, Steven Rothberg and Josh Kahn first discussed the (un)Conference idea.  Their meeting took place over some enormous burritos at a Chipotle just around the corner from where the fourth (un)Conference event just took place. 

 

The Minnesota Recruiters Network was born.  Paul’s efforts in building the Minnesota Recruiters Network (including the development of a web presence on a social networking platform) combined with his planning and promoting of the (un)Conference events have produced extraordinary results in less than a year.  As of today, 372 members appear on the Minnesota Recruiters Network roster. 

 

The Minnesota Recruiters Network has three key elements that provide events, networking portals and content:

1. (un) Conferences – four have been held so far and more are planned

2. Topical Sessions – the first of these was held on April 4, 2008 with Jason Alba, founder of JibberJobber.com and author of “I’m on LinkedIn, Now What???”.

3. MinnesotaRecruiters.com – a social network and blogging platform for recruiters on Ning with 372 members as of this posting

 

The co-founders and volunteers directly supporting Paul’s efforts from the beginning include: Don Ramer, Steven Rothberg, Josh Kahn, Nicole St. Martin, and Toby Dayton.  Paul Debettignies is credited by this distinguished group of industry professionals as being the driving force behind the effort.  In Josh Kahn’s words, “He won’t admit to it or take credit, but he’s the guy”.

 

Local recruiting-related businesses have shown a strong interest in the rapid growth of the Minnesota Recruiters Network and the (un)Conferences.  Sponsors of the (un)Conferences providing the support necessary to produce high quality events at no cost to attendees have included:  Arbita, Job Dig, Oberon, Jobs2Web and LinkUp. 

 

Paul Debettignies’ impact in the Twin Cities has received national industry attention for some time now.  He has been featured or written about by some of the highest profile recruiting industry thought leaders in the country.   Jason Davis (founder of Recruiting.com and RecruitingBlogs.com) recently recognized Paul in his May 1, 2008 blog post.  Jason’s post about sums it.

 

And he’s just getting started.