The Sourcing Corner

Michigan IT: Are they a leader or are they a manager?

2008-03-18T15:44:00.000-06:00

Michigan IT: Are they a leader or are they a manager?
Very insightfull piece

www.sourcingcorner.com

2008-01-08T11:32:00.001-06:00

We have officially moved to www.sourcingcorner.com. We are adding all our new content there. We would appreciate it if you reroute your links to the official sourcing corner site at www.sourcingcorner.com. Come check out our new look.

Thanks for your support.

Moises

Internet research tip-tagging for words

2007-11-27T19:31:00.000-06:00

Here is another somewhat less than superficial look at another internet research tool. When you read the SEO blogs and commentaries there is talk about the metatags going away; that search engines are relying less and less on them. As real as this may be, I don’t see the metatags going away altogether anytime soon. While we wait for that day, just as we did a few days ago with the Plus (+) sign , I want to explore the metatags as a research tool.

At the risk of being to simplistic, first let me say that there are different types of metatags embedded into the code of any webpage. Many of the metatag fields provide information about file attributes, as well as content.

You might have heard of some of these, some of the tags include:

Author Metatag field
Comments Metatag field

Description Metatag field

Keywords Metatag field

SUBJECT Field

Title

URL

Metatags look something like the screen shot below.

The original purpose of metatags was to provide a search engine with information about the contents of a page. Not all web pages have metatags in them as some search engines do not rely on them, nonetheless they can still be very useful tools.

Let’s go to http://www.gigablast.com/ now to see the tags at work. Gigablast is the only search engine indexing metatags beyond just the meta description and meta keywords that some others index. It is also the only search engine that can also display metatags in the results list. It will not only display the results it can display the metatags themselves in the results list.
First let’s run a simple search, enter:

resume java beans

into the search box.

This time instead of looking for the search bar we are will be focusing on the url bar. Now the query should look like this:

http://www.gigablast.com/search?q=resume+java+beans&n=10&k3n=746817

In order for us to view the meta-tags lets add a command to the url bar. Add the following command to the url:

&dt=keywords

The url should now look like this:

http://www.gigablast.com/search?q=resume+java+beans&n=10&k3n=746817&dt=keywords
The results will look something like this:

Notice that after the description section there is a section that starts with “keywords:” (This is the red section after the description of the contents). This is the text that is found in the Keywords metatag field. Being able to quickly review the keywords metatag will help you see any keywords that the designer of this site thought would be important for search engines to identify the content of his page. In the case of the resumes that we are interested in, this metatag contents will give us additional keywords we can use to find similar pages.

If the “keywords” metatag isn’t enough; try adding +description to the url.

The query should look like this:
http://www.gigablast.com/search?q=resume+java+beans&n=10&k3n=746817&dt=keywords+description

Now we should be able to review not only the keywords metatag but now the description metatag as well. As long as you can find a metatag title you can insert it there and if applicable it will bring back the results.

Sourcing Juice from Concentrate

2007-11-26T17:17:00.000-06:00

It’s getting ridiculous! I’ve been getting calls and emails asking for sourcer referrals. There are so many firms asking for sourcers, that part is good. The bad part is that most job descriptions look like this one below. I did a search on indeed.com and just typed sourcing specialist. This is the first one that came up.

Minimum work experience required: 1+ years experience professional/recruitment sourcing experience

History of success in sourcing candidates (both active and passive) with emphasis on IT
• Cold Calling, networking and Boolean search techniques
Special skills required:
• Flexibility, Creativity, and Initiative
• Customer focused
• Communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills
• Process Management - ability to follow process and procedures (detailed & organized)
• Problem solving skills and critical thinking
• Technical expertise and Internet skills
• Ability to excel working independently
• Passive candidate recruiting
• Sourcing plan development and implementation
Description of duties & responsibilities:
• Researches, develops and implements new candidate sourcing and search methods and strategies & tracks effectiveness
• Posts open positions on job boards
• Provides measurable, qualified, diverse candidate pool for client openings
• Ensures accuracy of data and timely information provided to management
• Assists management with special project assignments

This is a long wish list for a one year recruiter/sourcer. They are looking for someone who has had a history of success sourcing both active and passive candidates!!! Come on get real, what kind of success can you have over one year! The candidate also needs to have both cold calling skills and internet research expertise and they need to be able to develop and implement a sourcing strategy if that wasn’t enough they need to track and report accurate and timely data to management. Oh lets not forget special projects!!!

It is obvious to me that most companies do not know what sourcing is all about and even worse don’t know what they want nor what it is they are asking. They didn’t mention pay but I doubt they are willing to compensate.

Could you imagine if we were asked to source for this description but let's just change the title to any other line of work? Let’s say a programmer. It should read something akin to this: I need a programmer who can do code from scratch as well as using compilers. They need to be able to define system architecture and implement the project and have full life cycle experience. Expert level experience on java, as well as team leadership and project management experience . A minimum of a high school education and one year of experience required.

Even in the fantasy world I live in, this is far fetched. Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic.

The “AND” Operator with a punch.

2007-11-16T11:55:00.000-06:00

There are some things that we use so regularly that we take for granted. That is the case with some of the tools we use for internet research. Have you thought of what the PLUS sign does for instance?
We all have used the “plus” ( + ) sign in our searches right? In many search engines, the plus sign can be used as a substitute to the Boolean operator “AND” that is because just like the “AND” operator it finds pages that contain all search terms, but that is were the similarities end. Here is the first difference; unlike “AND” the “PLUS” sign list pages which have the keyword terms immediately on the right side of this operator only.
The use of the plus sign may produce some other unexpected effects. Using the plus (+) sign directs the search engines to sidestep some of the programming boundaries. For instance it causes characters or “stop words” or “noise words” that normally would be excluded from a search to be forced in as part of the searchable keywords.
I can hear you now!! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? It means that keywords like a, an, and, are, at, be etc.. can be included as part of your search.
Try running this query in yahoo (or whatever search engine you prefer):
Microsoft bites the apple
Now compare it to:
Microsoft bites +the apple
Isn’t it amazing. The plus sign is not the same as the “AND” operator after all is it?
Another interesting difference between “AND” + is that it produces yet another variation in the algorithms.
Try this simple query in Google:
resume develop vb
Now compare it to:
resume +develop vb

Did you notice the difference? What happened was that Google (as well as most other search engines nowadays) has an automatic stemming algorithm in place that allows for variations of keywords. In the case of the keyword develop it searched for develop, developer and development. Whenever you use the plus sign on a keyword it turns off the automatic stemming feature of the search engine.
Next time you use the “Plus” (+) sign in your queries notice the differences. There are times when may need the stemming features but isn’t it nice to be able to determine when it should be used?

The New Jim Stroud!!

2007-11-16T11:40:00.000-06:00

I just spent a few minutes over at jimstroud.com. I like the new look. It made me spend quite a bit more time at his site than usual. Now that I think about it!! I don't know if that is a good thing. Just kidding. I specially spent more time on his comics. This one was funny, it was titled The recruiting life-3

If you haven't been to Jim's site lately, i'd say it be worth a quick look. Keep it up jim.

What is up with John Sumser?

2007-10-16T08:17:00.001-05:00

Today I was reading a blog post as forwarded by friends and it put my “Haynes” in a wad. It seems to me that John Sumser either over edited his blog post till it made no sense or he’s talking in incongruent sentences just to confuse or to incite. On his post titled “relationships take time 4” He states some pretty wild things.

Let me give you an example; his second sentence says. “Internet search techniques, it is supposed, have created a new function in our industry.” Besides the bad sentence composition, it appears to be saying that sourcing started with the coming of internet research techniques.

Forgive me if I’m wrong but didn’t we have sourcers since like the seventies. Research was done by recruiters and as a result searching techniques came about which resulted in further specialization. We used to keep index cards and did research thru the phone. I remember doing research in the internet back when we had “gopher”, I didn’t know how to flip or x-ray then. Internet search techniques didn’t just magically appear to create a new function. Considering internet research a new function to the industry is not recognizing that recruiters have always sourced and that research function existed and was performed well by recruiters long before “internet search techniques” came about.

Mr Sumser’s next sentence states: “This sort of confusion happens every time there is a hiring peak.” It seems to me he is either declaring the internet research function a “confusion” or the reasoning for creating the internet research position a confusion. I long thought of Mr. Sumser as a visionary but I am rethinking my position.

His next statement is just as bewildering: "It might even be a good way to predict the end of a bubble". This is where the incongruity becomes obvious. I was under the impression that internet search techniques were an innovation and as the market tightens there will be more need for such innovations not that it was a result of confusion. And if I was to follow his reasoning it would mean that every time we have an innovation in the industry it is a sign that as he puts it is a “good way to predict the end of a bubble”. There you have it guys the new crystal ball for staffing/recruitment is the upcoming innovations as new things come about they indicate the market busting.

The last sentence in his first paragraph goes on to say: “Sourcing is a component of market targeting”. This is news to me, sourcing can be a form of market targeting but a component of it? I better not go any further before I go from annoyed to just ranting or worse yet I might become as incongruent as Mr. Sumser.

Internet Research Tip

2007-10-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

Good search results do not happen at random. We drive them through our queries. Whether you are searching CareerBuilder or Google the biggest mistake recruiters make is not thinking about their queries. Most recruiters just look at their new acquired job requisition and just start typing directly into the screen those keywords that they deem to be the important skills.

I went to indeed.com and pulled this position at random. I thought that this job description exemplifies the horrible descriptions we receive to work off of but it can demonstrate how we approach our searches.

If you would indulge me in reading this job description: (The only editing I did was take the company name out.)

Oracle Developer needed to design, develop, and maintain Oracle and web-based applications. In-depth knowledge of Oracle and Oracle tools is a must. 3-4 years of strong programming in PL/SQL, Oracle Forms and Reports required, plus a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience. Experience in UNIX, C++, JSP, Java, and related tools is a major plus. This is a direct hire opportunity with full benefits.

The normal query would look something like this in a database like CareerBuilder:

[ oracle PL/SQL UNIX C++ JSP JAVA]

When you run the query in at first glance it seems to have done well pulling quite a few software developers but as we look closer they are a total mix of results including a few resumes of recruiters.

Here are my suggestions; since PL/SQL (Procedural Language/Structured Query Language) is Oracle Corporation’s proprietary server-based procedural extension to the SQL database language, you don’t have to use the keyword “Oracle”; especially if you use some of the subset of PL/SQL like DDL or DCL or DML . Our query would begin to look something like this;

[ (PL/SQL OR DDL OR DCL OR DML) ]

Also this position calls for web based application development and JSP is mentioned specifically. Since JSP generates html and xml there is no need to use those acronyms, but we can use Java to draw more of the web based work. Some people would use JSP OR Java Server pages so it would we good to use both formats.

[ (PL/SQL OR DDL OR DCL OR DML)(JSP OR “Java-Server pages” ]

If you went outside of the resume databases into a search engine like http://www.google.com/; you’d have to add a little something extra to re-emphasizes the database portion of the job try adding (RDBMS OR ORDBMS). In google the query would look like this:

[ resume (RDBMS OR ORDBMS)(PL/SQL OR DDL OR DCL OR DML)(JSP OR “java server pages”) -job -jobs -submit ]

The point of this exercise is that you need to visualize the results you want and then work the keywords to drive them out through the query. The one thing to remember as researchers/sourcers/recruiters is that we are not called to be engineers or programmers or experts in whatever field you are recruiting for but you do have to develop an expertise at finding the right keywords for your query.

The referral system, how to get the name

2007-10-07T23:08:00.000-05:00

Isn’t it interesting that all statistics that we read and everyone that we have talked to about the best source of candidates will invariably attest to the fact that the best source of candidates is referrals? Yet as you speak with recruiters asking them were the bulk of there day is spent, you will hear things like searching thru the databases or processing paperwork but referrals doesn’t seem to rank too high on the list of activities they spend their time on. I don’t know if you’d agree with me but if generating referrals is an important part of our work shouldn’t we be spending more time generating them?

It seems to me that if we do not spend time creating and developing a referral strategy then we just stumble our way into referrals.Referrals don’t just happen; they are made, and as phone sourcers we recognize these to be at the foundation of our work. Even if you are doing everything wrong in your recruitment, you will get the accidental referral but, by creating a methodical organized approach to consistently generating referrals, you will find that sourcing can become a pretty simple thing. So how do we stimulate this powerful sourcing strategy?

The place to begin is by identifying the ideal candidate. In order to receive high quality referrals you must be able to quickly communicate the exact type of person that makes a great referral. As some people in the industry have coined; have your elevator spiel. You must quickly and well be able to communicate who you are looking for. If you can’t communicate to others who it is you are looking for; then, how will they know who to refer to you. It takes more than rattling off keywords (after all, it is not a database you are communicating with).

Part of your message needs to easily explain the value you bring to anyone who is referred; why should they give you the name? It’s important that your referral sources know what makes you exceptional, what you have to offer. Spend some time shaping up a creative approach to motivate and stimulate referrals with value, respect, appreciation, recognition, and gratitude. I know, after that last line I can hear you say, whatever!! How do you do that? Think of your referral program as more than a means to ask for someone your contact would know. Make it a system which with you can educate your contacts on how what your needs are and what it would mean for them to refer someone to you.

Instructing your contacts on the steps of your referral program can make a great distinction between yourself and everyone else. By clearly explaining in simple terms what your requirements are you have set their expectations for a professional networking experience and in the process enhanced the quality of referrals. At the risk of sounding redundant, invest, yes, invest some time considering your approach, and recognize the value that relationships bring. Build components of trust and rapport building into your strategy; don’t try to fake your way, people can tell fake, even thru the phone. Let your personality come thru but guide the interaction with a well thought out strategy to make it a worthwhile exchange. When they provide you with a name it should not be because you coerced anyone, nor should they feel that they betrayed a friend, rather that they enhanced their friend’s opportunities by providing their name to a true professional who will honor their trust and respect their confidence.

You've Got Mail! A Great way to verify emails

2007-09-27T23:20:00.001-05:00

Name generation/research/sourcing involves sending over Quality names that can be reached! Here is a way (and a tool I use) that you can add to your sourcing toolbox to verify and check your names. Specifically to check if their email is valid before sending it over to the recruiter, hiring mgr, director or higher!

As Sourcers we are constantly tested to find particular talent hidden away and working hard within their respective organizations. I've found emailing to be one the best initial ways to make that first contact or connection with them.

Click here to continue reading and to find more about the cool website to check email validity.

Quick Tips: Rob Taub on Interviewing – The S.O.A.R. Technique

2007-09-26T20:57:00.000-05:00

This post, courtesy of Recruiting Blogswap, is written by Rob Taub, of RLS Executive Group. Rob is a 20+year veteran in the career consulting field and is currently the Director of the RLS Executive Group, N.E. for RL Stevens & Associates. He has also been active as a fund-raiser for Technology in Education, an auctioneer with WGBH Public Television, a debate moderator with Community Access Television, an instructor for Junior Achie. Author Website: www.ExecutiveCareerSolution.com

Your stories should tell about actions that you took to bring about positive change. The "SOAR" story technique does just that: A sure-fire method for bridging your qualifications and successes to the needs the targeted company.

One of the most important tenets in product marketing applies here in career planning: Differentiate your product from others in the marketplace.

John Folcarelli, Labor Attorney and Human Resource Manager for Laidlaw Education: "Most people involved in planning their career tend to fly by the seat of their pants rather than exercise control over the process as it unfolds. For instance, in the interview, instead of simply reacting to questions imposed by the interviewer, the job candidate can and should attempt to take on more responsibility for influencing the direction of the interview.” The story technique does just that. It is a method for bridging your qualifications and past successes to the needs the targeted company.

Continue reading "Quick Tips: Rob Taub on Interviewing - The S.O.A.R" »

Fuel Injectors for your Recruiting Engine

2007-09-23T21:50:00.001-05:00

Sourcing is being more and more often proclaimed as the solution to all recruitment challenges. Yet while I listen to the concerns of sourcers throughout the industry I keep hearing some common themes, some of those I mentioned in the last few posts as they relate to the relationships between sourcers and recruiters. These concerns have driven me to believe that most sourcing initiatives will not succeed in providing their anticipated results. Why the gloomy view of sourcing? Don’t misunderstand, sourcing is my passion and I believe that it can take our industry to the next level. It isn’t that I’m trying to say that sourcing doesn’t work.

Continue reading "Fuel Injectors for your Recruiting Engine"? " »

Two new faces...

2007-09-22T13:41:00.001-05:00

Help me welcome two new faces to my blog. Over the course of my short blogging life I have learned many things, one of which is that not all good ideas come from one group or one person. In fact I think that most of the best ideas come from the meeting of like-minded individuals.

As I mentioned in earlier posts...

Continue reading "Two new faces..."? " »

"Sourcing" Colored Lipstick, the new rage!!!

2007-09-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

I can’t shake the thought that there seems to be an incongruity or maybe even a contradiction within the recruitment industry, or maybe it is just my nearsightedness that is causing me to perceive this in that light. Let me share with you my thoughts and you tell me.

For now let’s just say that sourcing is in fashion, if you put on a "sourcing" color lipstick you’ll be hot, and everyone will want you. It seems like every where you go there are articles or news about all kinds of new sourcing tools, techniques, and such… there is such a big demand for anything closely resembling sourcing.

I have implemented two sourcing teams and have been sourcing for let’s just say a few years. Still I believe that the biggest problem Sourcers face is not the labor shortage, nor the inability to find quality prospects, nor the lack of sourcing skills, nor the right metrics or any such affair. Believe it or not, I believe the biggest challenge Sourcers experience is high internal resistance to sourcers or sourcing support. Doesn’t that seem odd? If sourcing is so important, and so hot, how could there be a resistance? What do I mean resistance?

A Sourcer can be a recruiter’s lifeline, yet they still try to give sourcers their job req’s in a posted note, or they continuously find fault in the candidates they receive from their Sourcer or continuously fail to provide proper feedback etc..

So what is the answer? Are you ready for this? Are you sure you want to know? Change your lipstick!!! Just kidding, I don’t have the answer but here is my take, sourcers have to be more than just researchers (whether phone or internet) the have to also be marketing specialists. They have to work harder at building rapport with the recruiters that they are going to support than at the research they are undertaking. Most sourcers take to sourcing as ducks to water, research quickly becomes second nature, but they struggle to “sell themselves” or their “wares” sort of speak to the recruiter’s.

The service that sourcers provide to recruiters is very valuable and even though we shouldn’t have to market ourselves or what we do, the reality is that it is not enough to source well. That is only half of the equation, if you want to succeed you have to market yourself and your service to your recruiters, build rapport and then we will see sourcing go from flavor of the month to staple meal.

10 ways to irritate a Sourcer

2007-09-16T22:21:00.000-05:00

As I reflected on the discussions I participated on over the course of the week. I contemplated on some of the top things that irritate me as a Sourcer and thought to pen them down. These thoughts were prompted by listening to AmyBeth Hale talking about the way recruiters should not communicate with the Sourcer s. Anyway as I talked to several people throughout the week, I felt the theme resonated with many of us.

Here is my list of the top ten ways to irritate a Sourcer.

10. As AmyBeth so eloquently said it at SourceCon, give the Sourcer the job requisition in a "posted note".

9. Describe the position requirements with the least amount of words possible.

8. Do not give the Sourcer the pay requirements and relocation needs.

7. Give him unrealistic deadlines; after all you need this candidate like yesterday.

6. When he does meet those unrealistic deadlines, find fault in each candidate.

5. Wait three weeks to call the candidates you received from the Sourcer just to show him/her who is boss.

4. Do not respond to phone calls, emails, or request for status update; after all he/she will find out anyway.

3. When the Sourcer follows up with you; always give him/her excuses for not having contacted the candidates.

2. after the three weeks when you call the candidate and he is no longer interested in the position, blame the Sourcer for his/her incompetence in only giving you uninterested candidates.

1. Tell everyone that will hear how the candidates your Sourcer gives you are either bad or uninterested, then turn around and give him or her the next job to work on.

In the words of Jeremy Langhans…

2007-09-14T22:49:00.000-05:00

I finally have a few moments to chill and reflect. I was so anticipating the arrival of SourceCon 2007. It came and passed so fast, and in hindsight I must say, I agree with Jeremy Langhans. Jeremy left a comment on my blog earlier stating that all he could say was SourceCon was Amazing, Amazing Amazing, and Amazing. I couldn't have said it better myself Jer.

My expectations were set very high for this event and sincerely, even so, they were greatly exceeded. I felt truly honored to have been entrusted with many friendships. I had been reading Jim Stroud's stuff for a long time and was surprised to find how down to earth and funny he was. He has such a positive and well balance outlook that he was a delight to be around with. Thanks for your friendship Jim. AmyBeth what can I say, she shared my excitement and nervousness and yet she maintained such poise. I was so surprised to see how young yet knowledgeable both Jeremy Langhans and Mike Notaro were. By the way, despite the fact that they having some major braggin' rights they were almost bashful about their accomplishments, they displayed such unassuming and modest nature. Russ Moon was inspirational and encouraging to me.

I was riveted as Shally Steckerl showed his magic. I must say I research into the makings of search engines and look for the commands and query comp0sition tools as if they were hidden treasure and have quite a few in my arsenal yet watching Shally not only did I learn new tools but learned new ways to use some older ones. (When I grow up I want to be like Shally.)

I was spellbound by Krista Bradford, she was truly great to listen to, very insightful and profound. Tracy Friend also captivated my attention and made me a fan of hers. Glen Gutmacher's presentation was lightning fast but mesmerizing (I'd like to borrow his brain for an hour). Dave Copp’s presentation was spellbinding and hypnotic yet funny. (Brilliant!!!)

I wish I could have spent more time probing the great mind of Rob McIntosh to find out more about metrics and such, unfortunately my world was spinning so fast and I was so "star struck" as Suzi Tonini told me that I couldn't sit still long enough to strike a conversation with him.

If I listed everyone that made a lasting impression on me I would turn this into a list of about 150 great people. I did want to name a few others that were new found friends whom I enjoyed meeting: Leah Hughes, Connie LaDoceur, Eric Jacquith, Tim O'Connor, Jessica Walden, Donato Diorio, Rennick Morris, Ray Towle, Dan Harris, Julia Stone, Marvin Smith, Sean-Paul Veilleux, Daphne Mahotiere, Rithesh Nair.

The last comment I would like to say about the event is I am truly grateful to Lesley O'Connor for extending me the invitation to attend. Until I talked to her I was undecided on attending the conference, (truth be told, I was more inclined not to go) had it not been for her kindness I would have missed out on a great deal.

I just met Tim O'Connor

2007-09-08T19:10:00.000-05:00

...and honestly, he's a really cool guy!

My head is spinning as I think about all the people I look forward to meeting in Atlanta next week. I'm driving down MacArthur Road, here in Irving, and it's all I can do to keep my eyes on the road as I think about SourceCon 2007. My brain knows this is just my nature but my mind doesn't care, I'm looking forward to meeting several people, Leslie O'Connor, Russ Moon, Jeremy Langham, Shally Steckerl, Rob McIntosh, Rithesh Nair among others. I don't know what impression I'll make but I am just thrilled at the opportunity to meet them. I'll tell you something about my meeting with Tim but let me just say this: I have one thought running in my head!!

It is a repeating thought: "I can't wait to be there!!!" The fact that this thought plays on an endless loop inside my head shows that I spend too much time alone. There is a growing list of some pretty amazing people in sourcing which brings me to my initial reason for writting this post today. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Tim O'Connor Strategic Sourcing Lead for Cap Gemini NA. The most refreshing part of meeting Tim is his gracious humility. We had a frank discussion on sourcing in general but it wasn't about the panel content, for sure. It was about sourcing, sharing our beliefs on the state and the direction of the industry. It was a blast to say the least to meet someone who shares my vision and passion for sourcing. As I drove away from my meeting with Tim I couldn't help but wonder how many other amazing people will I meet in Atlanta next week.

I'm sitting here pecking at my keyboard now, the light is on, the internet is working, and my desire to drop everything and get in the car and drive to Atlanta has lessened and I feel so much better. It's not the act of waiting for SourceCon 2007 that kills me, it's the anticipation of meeting all those wonderful people.

SourceCon2007 = Tsunami of Energy

2007-08-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

Over the last few years sourcing has been taking a more prominent place in the industry as we all come to realize its importance. As each organization’s needs are different we all encounter different problems and develop new solutions. It is through those struggles that we have learnt and grown to see sourcing become a specialized niche in recruitment. As they say; necessity is the mother of invention. I know, I know, we’ve all heard it so much it is now cliché. But what happens when you get a large group of innovative and inventive thinkers together, Synergy, I mean, SourceCon.

The first ever global sourcing conference is still weeks away yet the synergistic tsunami of energy of all those creative minds coming together is becoming palpable. For those of you who see me daily, you know I can’t stop talking about this conference. But, just look at the impressive list of luminaries line up to speak Jimm Stroud, Shally Steckerl, Rob McIntosh, Krista Bradford, AmyBeth Hale, Glen Gutmacher, Tim O’Connor, Dave Mendoza and others. It is as Tim O’Connor said “It’s the who’s who of sourcing. Most of the speakers have been re-shaping the recruitment world already and it is exciting to be part of such an event. I sincerely can’t wait to be there.

I see SourceConas platform that is bringing the most passionate minds in sourcing together to discuss, learn, share and celebrate in all things sourcing. It is designed for sharing those lessons learned along the way on our quest for talent acquisition. Opportunities like these empower us frontline sourcers and recruiters to analyze complex sourcing scenarios and measure them against the experience of others to optimize ourselves into higher performance. What I mean is this; I am going to this conference because I will be able to get a glimpse of the industry’s best, to learn from them, and grow. I look forward to meeting every single sourcer because together we are making history, we are shaping the direction and future of sourcing.

If you haven’t registered yet, time is running out. To register just click here and click on the register now link. If you use Promotional code ml0830 you’ll get a 10 percent discount as having been referred by me. I hope to see every one of you there. If you see me, Be sure to stop by and say hello as I do want to meet you.

tagged by the research goddess

2007-07-30T22:08:00.000-05:00

I’ve been tagged by Amybeth Hale (The research goddess) at www.amybethale.com

As Dan Sweet from fracat said "She’d like me to tell eight things about myself that you probably didn’t know. These are also things that you might not have wanted to know, but the “Tag Receiver Code” commits me to comply."

THE RULES:
1. Post these rules before you give the facts.
2. List 8 random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names (linking to them)
4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged!

Eight Random Facts About Me:
1. I love drawing and painting portraits. I received the gift from my grandfather who made his living painting and then selling his works in public parks and high traffic places across Mexico. If we ever get to chat you might twist my arm into showing you my sketch book.

2. I have been Sourcing/recruiting for over thirteen years with the last four in sourcing management, but I’ve only been authoring on my blog only since April 2007 (After being encouraged by the recruiting Animal himself, Thanks Michael).

3. I began my sourcing career raiding companies. I would be assigned a target company and would be tasked with making a minimum of two hundred twenty five (yes! 225) calls a day. I was often reminded that the day that I didn’t reach my goal I would not need to return to work the following day as I would be fired.

4. While I attended High School (W.B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, TX) I ran my own business buying dresses wholesale and sold them canvassing the neighborhood. Yes! I was a door to door salesman at the age of fifteen. I learned a lot about how to read people and how to close the deal.

5. I also have a firm faith in God and a strong commitment to lead a life that cultivates every one of my faculties in such a way as best represent the Kingdom of Heaven in every thing I do.

6. After high school I worked as a longshoreman unloading the bananas as the arrived to Port Hueneme, CA from Central America. It was physically a very demanding job which gave me a hearty appetite.

7. I am 43 years old, I am divorced, I have one son 14 who is my best friend. I was married for 14 years but unfortunately we couldn’t keep it together. I’ve now been divorced over four years going on five now.

8. Besides English I speak Spanish and Portuguese fluently. I can also read Italian and French ( I can’t speak Italian nor French)

The people I am tagging to continue this chain of revealment are:
1.Amy Garner of Wine Talent
2.Alize Cortez of Improved Experience.
3.Trey Bettinger of not jobs
4.Michael Keleman of The Recruiting Animal
5.David Perry Gerrilla Job Hunting
6.Josh Khan of The Sourcing Riff
7.Rithesh Nair of Research Secrets
8.Dave Mendoza of Six Degrees from Dave

Some of these people I have had the pleasure of meeting, others I just exchanged emails or calls with and some I would just plainly like to know, but all are people I admire!

I look forward to their 8 Things...

Inhibited Sourcing Innovation

2007-07-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have been able to see and think and write. I finally carved out some time and now I was thinking about how to accelerate strategic sourcing excellence. In today's corporate world sourcing needs are reaching a critical state, so the question rises, how do we deliver an intuitive and integrated solution for managing the complete strategic sourcing lifecycle to deliver results?

Yes there are a lot of great tools available but one of the reasons why these tools may fail is that as we tend to get impressed by the many bells and whistles offered that we may be failing to match the tool to the skills our sourcers/recruiters possess. Without realizing it, we may be inhibiting innovation and collaboration, by placing too much trust in naively hoping that the tool will deliver optimal results.

Let me explain. I love tools. I cannot walk into a Lowe’s or Home depot without buying a new tool. I have long ago found that tools for me are like stamps to a collector. I have them and admire them (the right tool for the right job; I always say) but many weekend projects have turned into disasters to be passed on to a professional. I know what the tools are supposed to do but somehow that knowledge transfers into danger in my hands. I am just not mechanically inclined.

We acquire new sourcing tools and techniques and we introduce them indiscriminately to the team and expect all to use them and learn to be effective at them not recognizing peoples limits. Long ago I read (and I can’t remember the source to credit appropriately), that we have two types of recruiters, (and I apply it to researchers/sourcers as well) hunters and farmers. A farmer cultivates the databases and job boards and is knowledgeable on how to exploit the weaknesses of those tools. On the other hand a hunter is one who thrives on the thrill of the hunt and goes after candidates that are not in databases.

When we give hunting tools to a farmer he feels lost and confused and even though he may grow to work the hunting tools appropriately it may take some time. As in real life hunting requires more than having the right rifle and clothes and equipment, you must acquire knowledge of hunting strategies and such…

So what am I saying, not everyone can be a farmer (nor should everyone be) and not everyone can be a hunter either there are certainly needs for each skill set. Let’s evaluate the sourcing skills and attitudes and match them to the tools. As we expand the performance of sourcers in all aspects of their roles we need to identify the organizational capabilities needed to achieve strategic sourcing excellence only then can we refashion sourcing strategies to achieve superior bottom-line results.

You May Be Sabotaging Your Internet Search Strategy

2007-06-29T21:50:00.000-05:00

There are so many challenges to finding the perfect candidates on the Internet. First there is the size of the internet; just in case you hadn’t noticed it is huge. Second, there is the fact that all information on the internet is disorganized almost as if it was not meant to be searched. If that wasn’t enough we have hundreds of thousands of search tools, it would take a rocket scientist to learn how to use all of them effectively. It is hard enough as it is but even then we usually will make it harder on ourselves than it ought to be. You received your job order, you scan through it, you log on to your computer and then what? Just because you recognize the keywords, it doesn’t mean you are ready to begin you search or does it?

Often times we just see a job requisition and start typing our keywords into a search engine. We see keywords and assume that is what we are searching for. But if we see Oracle, UNIX, SQL, that can return anywhere from Database administrators to software testers. Just doing keyword searches is not enough. You truly may be sabotaging your chances at finding the very candidate you seek by failing to invest time in the beginning to set your search syntax right. The following are five suggestions to improve your queries.

1. Define what you are looking for not by keywords but by skills. If you focus on using the Keywords on the job description you will find the same resumes everyone is searching for. Try to understand what skills your candidate needs to have and develop those into individual concepts.

2. Identify the important concepts within the search. At this point we’re still avoiding keywords we are trying to narrow the list and we are prioritizing the concepts into a searchable list.

3. Identify search terms to describe those concepts. Remember we are trying to stay away as much as possible from the keywords listed on the description. You are not always going to be able to avoid them but the more you stray away from them the higher the chances you will find a different candidate than everyone else.

4. Consider synonyms and variations of those terms. The most useful place to begin is often with synonyms. The best synonyms provide relatively complete coverage for the concept you are searching.

5. Prepare your search logic. Be creative in writing your query, use as many of advanced search techniques as possible. Include such things as wildcards (*), the minus sign (-) to exclude words, the plus sign (+) to be sure a word is included, and quotation marks (“”) to designate a phrase whenever possible. Also use the Advanced Search features of the search engine you are using to maximize the search.

As you implement your search strategy be sure that what you meant is being properly understood by the search service. Increasing your ability to search for candidates in the internet can be a lifelong learning process. One that we, as sourcers and recruiters, need in order to remain employable.

A blast of synergy...

2007-06-25T14:02:00.001-05:00

As bloggers we have some awesome opportunities. We have the opportunity to contribute and to build relationships and community. We voice our thoughts and we make people think, talk, debate, discuss and hopefully learn. And as a result we get to meet some interesting and at times downright special people.

This Friday I had one of those awesome instances; an opportunity to meet with someone extraordinary with whom I shared an explosion of thoughts. I had a very stimulating networking lunch with Alise Cortez PhD, who is a founding partner of Improved Experience. She is also a blogger who just happens to be here in the Dallas area and I couldn’t pass up a chance to meet with a fellow blogger so close.

Today, I’m feeling very reflective about the whole experience and thankful to have met Alise. She introduced me to a different niche of recruitment analytics which ties in amazingly well to sourcing.

If you have been reading my blog, you have heard of my musings on the need for more sourcing infrastructure. My belief is that the framework for the recruitment sourcing lifecycle has three majors clusters: First; identify & select needs, (which includes defining sourcing goals), second; planning (deriving both long & short term strategic plans); and third; implementation and continuous improvement (deriving both tactical & operational plans, determining effectiveness and efficiency, etc.)...

At Improved Experience they have developed a system to evaluate your recruitment processes. They pinpoint the areas that are crucial to unleashing your sourcing potential and turn them into benchmarks. Their system takes the guesswork out and presents you the internal mechanisms while addressing key performance areas for the purposes of process improvement. As Alise said in her blog “sourcing and recruiting intelligence have the same objective: to empower a company with actionable data that drives its lifeblood initiative of finding and keeping great talent”.

We met thru a stroke of cyber luck; we shared a brainstorm with an eye to sourcing and recruitment intelligence and discovered a friend with a shared interest. As I drove away from PEI WEI to my office I felt like the dizzy kid that’s just missed his last swing at the Piñata and, removing the blindfold, finds himself dizzy and facing a completely different direction then he’d expected. So if you have even the slightest bit of a geek inclination, you may want to take a look at improved Experience. And if like myself, you are looking to improve your sourcing strategies you might find they’re priceless.

Follow that link…

2007-06-19T23:04:00.002-05:00

The Internet can be a recruiter’s dream come true. By browsing the Internet, much as you would browse the shelves of a library, you can easily access millions of resumes readily available for free. But possibly the biggest obstacle facing recruiters and sourcers on the Internet is how to effectively and efficiently access the vast amount of information available with the simple click of the mouse. With the Internet's potential as a sourcing tool, sourcers/recruiters need to learn and manage strategies for sorting through the abundance of information.

Sourcers regularly fall into the trap of clicking on any link that contains their keywords. It is easy to get sidetracked on fun or interesting links, either that or they get caught trying click on other “related” sites whenever a server connection times out. Sometimes in the mad rush of wanting to get something onto their screen they will click away from slow link connections even if the new page being viewed is not what they need.

Other ways of getting sidetracked include following interesting articles or video, music, or image files. As sourcers we have to keep our focus and remind ourselves constantly the purpose for our search. Ask yourself, “will I be closer to finding the candidate that I need by following this link?” There are many reasonable and logical reasons to follow links. As sourcers we are very much like detectives and have to follow every lead. But every time we stop to read interesting posts or listen to cool songs or view cool graphics it adds to the time we’ll be spending on our search. The search for resumes can be both overwhelming and frustrating enough without having to deal with wondering eyes.

As a Sourcer an important skill to acquire is to determine which and when to follow links. Link’s can offer the “dangling carrot” of the perfect candidate. So when should you follow the link? At the risk of sounding too obvious when it will take you to something useful.

What tools do we need?

2007-06-17T20:23:00.000-05:00

Anyone can get on the internet, choose a few keywords, click on a few of the results and stumble across some interesting resumes. But finding candidates on the internet is not nor should it be a matter of luck. Even though you can’t always find the ace candidate easily, you can certainly find him if you have an intuitive approach. In order for your search to yield the performance you seek you have to find relevant candidates in an efficient and timely manner. Once you learn hoe to effectively search, finding candidate on the net so much faster.

The easiest way to shorten search time and ensure success is to choose the right tool for the job. I read recently that there are over 400,000 search engines. That is such a large number, I truly can’t imagine that many, we don’t have to know them all, but in order to be effective as a sourcer/researcher we have to at least know the different types of Search Services available. I classify them as follows Search Engines, Meta-Search Engines, and Subject Directories. I don’t want to define nor create a listing of them. There are many such lists available in the internet. What I do want to do is emphasize the need to know what is available and how to use it.

You get much different results for a search engine to a directory. We just need to know what we want and let that help us define the search tools. Whether we are searching for association/conferences, company profiles or industry specific information, or plain resumes, knowing what search tools are available will help us find what we need efficiently.

Winds of change?

2007-06-06T17:07:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting article titled “The Dirty Dozen Dangerous Online Job Search Assumptions”. It is riddled with comments about the job boards’ inability to ensure that the companies that advertise thru them are real or that the job positions for that matter are real.

The article went on to recommend the use of an identity suppressed or cyber-safe resumes. As I was reflecting on the issues involved I realized that this is a growing problem that may start affecting Internet researchers/sourcers if it hasn’t already. People are becoming more and more jittery about disclosing private information online and we can see a growing number of confidential resumes on the job boards.

To make things worse there are an increasing number of companies that are wising up to sourcing strategies such as "flipping" and "x-raying" etc. and are beginning to protect their employee information on the net and/or are monitoring employees blogs, adding to this the tightening market and it is not very hard to imagine the need for change. In this climate sourcing innovation is inevitable.

The first and critical change I can foresee is our approach to sourcing. I can see a change from the sourcers/researcher mindset to the mindset of master networker. We already see the social network scene expanding and contracting, the better we adapt to the networking tide the better we’ll be.

Networking is not about exchanging business cards but about developing lasting connections with people to take your career to the next level, it is simple and powerful. Networking cannot be just an after business hours activity nor is it an option that we chose not to exercise. It is a strategic harnessing or professional connections which we need to integrate into such a vital part of sourcing that it becomes second nature and forms part of everything we do. The key to our sourcing success lays in our ability to build a strong and lasting network.