Happy Birthday, Yoda

The Recruiting Edge offers John Sumser their Happy Birthday wishes - we should live so long and be such a beacon of recruiting light as he is.

Big Sourcing - PhoneSlinger

“Damn!” she cried to herself as she slammed the phone down into its cradle. “How am I going to get into that derivatives accounting group at this goliath bank when all they have answering their phones is one of those maddening customer-unfriendly-invest-ten-minutes-of-your-time-in-our-automated-receptionist/ghost-in-the-machine “talking” cat-chasing-its-tail phone system before we unceremoniously and without apology disconnect you?”

Looking at her screen she perused the word doc she had up in front of her with the job and the prior night’s work from surfing the web looking for information on derivatives. “What are derivatives anyway? What makes them tick?” she curiously asked the web.

Several definitions popped up on the first hit when she entered the words derivatives and definition into google:
~Financial instruments, such as futures and options, which derive their value from underlying securities including bonds, bills, currencies, and equities
~A specialized security or contract that has no intrinsic overall value
~Trades that are constructed or derived from another security (stock, bond, currency, or commodity).
~Derivatives can be both exchange and non-exchange traded (known as Over the Counter or OTC).
~Examples of derivative instruments include Options, Interest Rate Swaps, Forward Rate Agreements, Caps, Floors and Swap options.
~...a financial Risk Financing strategy. These financial instruments can be highly Leveraged and therefore highly Volatile. A common form of derivative is a foreign currency hedge contract to finance overseas trade: the purchase of an option to buy or sell a foreign currency at a certain date for a certain price.
~...traded separately from the cash market.
~Convertibles (bonds, preferred, zeroes, warrants, rights, options, units)
~...a synthetic construction designed to give the same profile of returns as some underlying investment or transaction, without requiring the principal cash outlay. They are called derivatives because they derive their value from the performance of the underlying instrument. Financial derivatives can be found in debt, equity, currency and commodity markets.
~...used either to hedge risks or to speculate and generate a profit
~An agreement that defines certain financial rights and obligations that are contractually linked to interest rates, exchange rates or other market prices.

And then two definitions that appear to fall outside the financial realm:
~In mathematics, the derivative of a function is one of the two central concepts of calculus. (The other one is the antiderivative, the inverse of the derivative.)
~Blood products obtained from liquid or frozen plasma units that have been pooled and then chemically fractionated.
These last two deserve special attention. Many times the “other meanings” for something hold imaginative and helpful clues in bringing down the big game. Bu that’s another story/not this one...

Lots of words and lots of possibilities. This is the stuff internet researchers bathe in everyday. This is the stuff she uses to trebuchet herself into the internal machinations of corporate garrisons with her daily telephone assaults. She doesn’t just need derivatives managers; she needs derivatives accounting managers. “What the heck? Is this a subset within a subset?” she begins to suspect, eyes narrowing on the word “accounting”. And then she remembered a post from the day before on the handy-dandy trusty ERE network from a kind gentleman who answered her SOS she had posted looking for advice: “The best sources of Derivatives Accounting Managers are financial institutions with extensive (market making) trading and operations. Thus the usual suspects are companies such as Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Bear Stearns etc. etc. etc. You may need to focus on the specific line-of business as most firms organize Derivatives business within a subsidiary corporation as an enterprise risk-management strategy”.

The “etc” part spooked her – she realized the endless and varied responses that awaited her on the other end of the phone. Nonetheless she pressed on and read “financial institutions with extensive (market making) trading and operations”. Then her eyes settled on the “risk management” remark. Risk management – hmmm....she’d seen more and more of this work lately – it seemed to be a gathering storm of unbridled optimism on the parts of corporate directors regarding the abilities of their valued employees to protect their own oft-times wanton actions . Expectations were rising and so was the number of postings regarding the subject.

Then, rereading the last line of advice, she noticed the disheartening “You may need to focus on the specific line-of business as most firms organize Derivatives business within a subsidiary...” Groan. She knows the first thing she may have to do is grasp the different lines of business at each company and she watched in astonishment as the prospects suddenly expanded to include far more than she originally suspected.

But then she remembered that first word that caught her attention – accounting. "This is an accounting/audit function," she immediately recognized when she googled the words “derivatives accounting manager” and saw the sea of job postings companies had up for this particular rare species. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines was seeking: “...a qualified professional to direct the accounting for derivative instruments and hedge relationships including hedge accounting and interest payment and accrual accounting. This includes directing the timely and accurate preparation of derivative reporting in internal and external reporting and assisting accounting management in determining the Bank’s position with respect to existing and new accounting standards.”

Hmmm...external reporting – that was no stranger. The Directors of External Reporting were many times reporting to the Controllers in organizations and she realized this was a good place to start – this person may be reporting to someone under the Controller’s organization. Her breathing started to slow. Controllers are not usually listed in public information but the Controller reports to the CFO and that person is usually listed. She picks up the phone after pushing the words www.hoovers.com into her browser and entering her first victim into the search box. The company’s vitals are exposed to her like a split-open carcass.

“Big Stock Traders – may I help you?” the young female voice intones.

“Yes, please. Can you tell me who the Executive Assistant is to Topbeen Counter?” Topbeen is the company’s CFO, listed glaringly on the People page at Hoover’s. Interestingly, she also notices listed out the different titles people hold for what appear to be the different lines of businesses the company contained. She wondered if each line could hold its own finance group – “probably,” she thought. But she also realized it was a pretty good bet all of the finance groups for each line probably reported to the CFO and she was headed directly to the CFO’s mouthpiece. Suddenly she changed direction. She was going to ask the Executive Assistant who was in charge of External Reporting but realized the first question out of the EA’s mouth would probably be “What division?” Darned if she’d be caught off-guard. Perusing down, she read what appeared to be an endless array of divisions and groups within the company. They included, but were not limited to:

Convertibles Origination, Equity Capital Markets
Principal Strategies Group
Depository Institutions and Specialty Finance
Equity Capital Markets
Global Equity Research
Fixed Income Division
National Sales, Fixed Income Division
Futures Department
Interest Rate Futures
High Yield Trading
Investment Banking
Strategic Finance
Retail and Apparel Investment Banking
Technology Investment Banking
Merchant Banking
Mergers and Acquisitions Group
Global Industries Group
Financial Institutions Group
Private Client Services
Global Private Equity Placements
Public Finance
Financial Institutions Group
Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities
Mortgage Research
Financial Sponsors Group
Convertible Bond Trading
Convertible Research
Credit Research
Global Credit Derivatives
Global Leveraged Finance
Global Leveraged Finance
High Grade Fixed Income
High Grade Fixed Income Research
Client Advisory Services Group
Fixed Income

Heading the list was the CIO who was also a co-head of what the company called the “Equity Analytics and Systematic Trading Group

Oh my. Lions and tigers and BEARS.

;)

“Which division?” the harried Executive Assistant did ask.

Scrambling and stabbing, she answered, “fixed income,” noticing it had the word “Division” after it.

“The Controller for that group is Sheila Stonewall - would you like her number?” the EA offered, giving off the distinct impression she would like to end the call as quickly as possible.

“Could it be this easy?” she wondered to herself, realizing, as she many times before, the answer was “Yes!”

“Please,” she answered and fleetingly typed in the direct dial the EA peeled out at her. “And if you would be so kind, could you also tell me who the Controller might be for the “high yield” group?

“That’s Mark Cookster – his number is xxx xxxx – they’re located uptown,” she remarked as an afterthought, sitting in her place of business at the foot of Wall Street.

“That’s great – I really appreciate your help – and would you also happen to know who is in charge of the
convertible bonds group?” grabbing another term from the tortured list.

She could hear the EA hesitate, and decided she had pushed her luck as far as it would go on this one and realized she may have to ask this question of one of the Administrative Assistants supporting the different groups. At least she had two to choose from. She held her breath and waited, half expecting to be turned away at this point, for the third.

“WHAT DO YOU NEED THIS INFORMATION FOR?” came the dreaded response.

Slowly, she explains, giving the EA a hint with her voice that she’s going to be bored with the details and sorry she asked, “I’m working on a mailing list...”

“Oh, all right,’ The EA interrupts, “the bond group has Michael PencilPusher as its Controller – they’re right next door – I happen to know he’s out of the country ‘til next month, ask for his Assistant, Mabel. She’s at xxx xxxx. Anything else?”

Suddenly she hears what sounds like the beginning of patience in the EA’s voice – somehow, some way, as it so often happens, this Executive Assistant has invested just enough of her own time in the process that she begins to offer help outside of what was originally expected.

“Do you know who supports Mark Cookster?” she daringly asks.

“Nancy Spiros – her number is xxx xxxx and I guess you need Sheila’s Admin too? That’s Martha Mopes and she’s at xxx xxxx. Anything else?”

That question again. She decides this EA has probably had enough. “I do appreciate your time. Thank you so much for your patience – bye!” and she hangs up the phone.

“You’ve come a long way, baby,” she thinks to herself as she reaches for and places her headset over her ears and pushes the dial number, settling back into her chair for a long day of telephone name sourcing...

Stay tuned for PART II of this Big Sourcing - PhoneSlinger story:
"Onwards and Inward – the Finance Organizational Assault!"


Maureen Sharib is a seasoned telephone names sourcer, names sourcing since 1997. She and her husband Bob own the names sourcing firm, TechTrak, and Maureen not only telephone names sources every day of her life but also teaches telephone names sourcing in her only-of-its-kind-online telephone names sourcing course "The Magic In The Method". She can be reached by email at maureen at techtrak.com or by phone at 513 899 9628.

Get the NEW and FREE Telephone Sourcing GLOSSARY by e-mailing maureen at techtrak.com

Living High on the HOG

Creative, on-the-edge thinking always warms the cockles of the Edge's heart. So it was with glee when Edge learned this morning that Harley Davidson renamed its ticker symbol to HOG. Now this is branding at its finest!

Ruse of the Day Contest

There's certainly a brou-ha-ha simmering over on Sourcer's Unleashed about pretexting and rusing. The battle between ethical recruiters and rusing recruiters is approaching a feverish pitch and shows no signs of slowing down. So in the spirit of edginess, we'd like to offer up a first-of-its-kind: A Ruse of the Day Contest. The winner - to be selected by the Edge and their panel of evil-doers - will win a company directory of their choice.

Here are some examples of ruses that qualify as evil:

• Pay a down-in-their-luck homeless person to become a security guard at a Big 4 company and once situated, have them procure the company directory for you.
• Call and say you’re sending individual pizzas/cupcakes/boxes of goodies/whatever makes sense that time of year/ to the finance meeting that day and you need to know everyone in attendance so you’re sure not to miss anyone. You need EVERYONE listed in marketing – you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings!
• Dress in a black polo and tan chinos, buy three lattes and a small coffee, head over to a company you've been trying to crack, and say you were called by the VP-Marketing to bring these over quickly; head up to the admin's desk and "accidentally" spill one of the cups on their desk; when they head to the break room for paper towels, swipe the directory off their desk and head out (don't forget to change into a white shirt in the elevator).
• Call and say you’re calling from headquarters and you need them to give you a list of all the (plug in your wish-list here) located in that office.
• Call up that crusty admin assistant who has been stonewalling your attempts at recruiting their boss but this time call as Detective Bilko from the local PD wanting some more details on the family case they're investigating.
• Call and tell them you need immediate assistance because your boss wants to talk to the enterprise sales rep selling to life-sciences companies and your boss can’t spend his time wading through their red (blocking) tape.

OK evil-ones, the ball is now in your court - ruse away!

Learning Communications from Nigerian Spammers

Although they fall right into my junk mail folder, I can't help but read all the spam I receive from the Nigerian. Well, I read the Viagra and hair growth ads too but we'll leave this for another day. ;)

Seriously, I read these not because I have millions of dollars to waste on scams or am sexually dysfunctional but because the creativity is something that our profession desperately needs (don't believe me? Read the ERE and Yahoo recruiting group posts each week seeking creative ways to source).

Let's start with the titles of these emails. The National Lottery of England informed me in the subject of today's email that "Winning notification {FINAL ATTEMPT}". Hmm - let's carry over this theme to emails we send out when prospecting. Rather than the same hum-drum, "Job Opportuntity - New York City, Software Developer", how about something Nigerian like "Stop the NYC# Commute - Diamond Digital is dotNETting in Huntington!"

How about the following that I received from Blamoh J. Kromah this morning...

I am 25 years old. Please I am contacting for the business investment I want to establish in your country. Though I have not known you before but I am taking this chance to confide in you because my late father had partners from your country that convinced him of good investment opportunities and protection in your country. I have lost the contacts of late father's partners in your country, which is why I am contacting you.

My late father deposited Eighteen million U.S dollars ($18,000,000.00) in Deposit Company before some rebels in our country assassinated him.

Unfortunately, my late mother was also mother murdered after some month later because she was accusing the government of my father's death. Then I have to run out and took refuge.

Let's do some marketing for the ubiquitous .NET Developer using Mr. Kromah's model:

It seems as if I've been looking for a dotNET guru for 25 years (yes, I know dotNET as a technology has only been live since 2000). But then you came along and it suddenly seems as if my nomadic search for someone who knows C# as well as others know VB.NET is over. Although we haven't met, I'm contacting you because I believe your experience may actually have given you the expertise to answer the following two questions which have stumped others so far:

One, given "try, catch, finally" what can be said about the order in which they are called?

Two, is the "finalizer" guaranteed to be called by an object that implements it and why?

Unfortunately, too many developers take the easy road to answering these; I just have a feeling that you're a diamond in the rough - which is why Diamond Digital is interested in speaking with you about being a dotNET guru.

Deal or No Deal?

The biggest problem I see in our profession is becoming so proficient at using a hammer that everything begins to look like a nail. I take creative inspiration in areas ranging from Sunday newspaper ads to Nigerian spammers. Keeping one's eyes open to new possibilities is the mark of true recruiting leader, one who - to borrow from JJ Hunter - practices Talentism every day.

8 Reasons Candidates are Turning You Down

I read far too many e-zines - some from finance (CFO.com's newsletters are tah die foah - if you are passionate about business performance and metrics, these are must reads), some IT (Baseline and Techrepublic come to mind), CRM (CRM Weekly) and obviously some are from HR (I'll list them all in a future post). One I really like is ExecutiveTalent.net because it's so darn practical.

In this week's issue comes an article written by Peter Newfield is President of Career-Resumes.com entitled, "8 Reasons You Are Not Getting a Job Offer", the eight reasons most commonly given by HR people for rejecting applicants:

Lack of enthusiasm
You don't have to be a Zig Ziglar or a David Letterman, but you must express enthusiasm for a job if you don't want to be weeded out immediately.

Lack of interpersonal skills
When a candidate even hints at an inability to get along with others, it dramatically weakens that person's chances in an interview. While this sounds obvious, it's surprising how open some people are about their faults.

What's in it for me?
We know you want to know about the benefits, vacations, etc. but don't lead with these questions! First, the employer will want to know what you can do for them. You can't negotiate for more vacation time before you have been offered a job. Convince the employer that you are the right person for the job, be sure that you want to work there, then you can discuss pay and benefits.

Unclear job goals
Don't be a generalist. Be clear about the job you are seeking. If the interviewer gets the impression that you are just looking for a job rather than a specific opportunity to use your skills, you will sabotage your chances.

Poor personal appearance
The key here is to fit in with the organization that you are contacting. I will defend your right to wear cutoffs and a baseball cap, but if you really want a job, you must dress appropriately. Many times I hear people who are irritated about not being given a job when they have a nose ring, bad breath, and unshined shoes.

Unprepared for the interview
If you fumble when asked basic questions, you will appear unprepared and uncaring about the process. When asked, "Tell me a little about yourself" you should have a concise 2 minute answer: 15 seconds about your personal background, 1.5 minutes about your work experience, and 15 seconds about what you can do for this company. Your time spent in preparing for the interview will be time invested wisely.

Not being clear on your strengths
You should be able to state without hesitation, three characteristics that would make you a great candidate for any given job you are applying for. If you cannot clearly identify your strengths, no interviewer will convince you what they are.

Not selling yourself
Even if you would not enjoy selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, you have to realize that in the interview process, you are selling yourself. Especially in today's market, you have to promote yourself. Follow up immediately with a thank you note and a telephone call three or four days later.

So what about companies? Here are my "8 Reasons Candidates Reject Job Offers":

Lack of enthusiasm
Recruiters and hiring managers who cannot convey the joy of working at their company might as well take out an ad in their local newspapers begging people not to apply. Word will get around.

Lack of interpersonal skills
Recruiters and hiring managers who are as personable as pieces of lint are telling candidates that if they think I'm dull now wait until you work for me. I'm always taken back when company ambassadors don't make eye contact or give the impression that they're fun to work with. Heck, I might as well spend my time in the dentist's chair. Why work with creepy people?

What's in it for me?
This truly is a two-way street - as recruiters, we want to make a hire and wipe a position off the docket. But too many recruiters and hiring managers take the quick road to disqualify someone before getting to know the true talents of the person. Did it ever occur to some that how you're asking questions may be one reason why you're not getting the answers you seek? Interview training is a process that is never complete...and great interviewers are noticed by candidates.

Unclear job problems
The job description is NOT what you're interviewing against - if it is, you are clearly misguided. Do you know the specific problems the person will be addressing in the short and longer term? I mean down to the desired outcomes and measurement of success as well as some of the steps one might take to get to the desired outcome? Don't you think you should? If you don't make the opportunity compelling why would someone want to work there???

Individual appearance
Why do companies insist on eliminating individuality. I shave my head and have a soul patch on my chin in honor of my late Uncle who was my second father; nothing will ever make me shave it. Should my hairy chin prevent me from working at a company with a no facial hair policy? What does this solve? Embrace individuality so long as its not illegal, immoral, or fattening...

Unprepared for the interview
See "Unclear job problems" above; this also includes being on time, having read the candidate's resume, being aware of future company moves, etc. Why are you trying to sabotage the interview?

Not being clear on the company's strengths
You should be able to state without hesitation, three characteristics that would make the company a great place to work and grow in the person's specific area and not have any of these include the phrase "world class." If you're no different than other places, why would someone want to work there?

Not selling yourself
Promoting the company is something that should be part of every interview - every opportunity should be made to re-sell the company. Sending a thank you note to the candidate - try it! If you don't think the fit is there, tell them so ASAP. Keep them in the loop with newsletters and job updates. You never know...

There are now millions of blogs, with an estimated 70,000 created daily.

SAN FRANCISCO — Hunting for ways to boost revenue, a growing number of small businesses are adding another weapon to their marketing arsenal: blogging.

A blog lures more traffic to a company's website because it improves chances the site will reach the top of search-engine results. Blogs are easier and cheaper to update than conventional sites. And they encourage customer feedback on new products and services.

Read the whole thing here.

Clearly, these blog things are a fad and don't work...

The Illusionist

EstroEdge went to see a movie yesterday afternoon - a beautiful warm sunny Sunday 5pm afternoon outing but what the heck let's go before the price goes from $6 to $8 so we don't get too ripped off - hey - get me a large popcorn and twizzlers and oh yeah a KingKong diet coke to wash it all down at $13.75 additional charge but hey, like the EE says, what the heck? You only live once.

EE talked her griping prone positioned "roommate" to the event with a solemn promise not to, "poke me if I fall sleep - this one looks like a real snorer...can't we see "Crank" or "Invincible" instead...? grumble grumble...". EE cleverly counters with "Then it's "Black Dahlia" or "Hollywoodland" - it's MY turn to choose...".

The movie EE dragged her recalcitrant mate to was "The Ilusionist" - a fine piece of work about a "master magician named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) who vies with Crown Prince Leopold of Vienna for the hand of Sophie (Jessica Biel), the woman he once loved. He brings his considerable powers to bear on the prince, as she is about to be named royal fiancee. However, a police inspector named Uhl (Paul Giamatti) tries to warn Eisenheim that he is playing a very dangerous game. Based on a story by Steven Millhauser."

At one point Eisenheim the conjurer tells his spellbound following, who want to believe more than anything else, that what he does is an illusion, sleight-of-hand, a product of the imagery of their imaginations, a kind of theatre of the mind. Still their belief lives on, platformed by their anxieties and fantasies. It dawned on EE as The Illusionist wound spellbindingly on how much this movie was about names sourcing. See it.

"Perhaps there's truth in this illusion." ~ Uhl

Worst Recruiting Nightmare Contest

Just received an email from my friends at Staffing.org in which they asked recipients for their worst nightmare recruitment story; if selected you'll win "a beautiful Herman Miller Aeron chair to rest comfortably in your office."



All entries must be received by November 30, 2006.

Recruiting and Baseball

In the May 2006 issue of FastCompany, Jeff Angus, author of Management by Baseball, notes, "We consider management an art, not a craft, so we don't train managers as if it were a profession."

Angus further comments that, "In business, the thing that prevents you from being outsourced or downsized is keeping the talent you have from being commoditized." That means fresh and invigorated.

In recruiting this can mean putting a moritorium on tried and true techniques for something completely different - try a one week "ban" on the use of job boards or for one week, actually taking phone calls from job seekers. Bobby Cox, manager of the Atlanta Braves worked miracles for 15 years with different kinds of teams - hitters, fielders, pitchers - that all won by modifying his managerial style to fit the tenor of the team. It works just as well in recruiting...

Remembering 9/11

Five years ago, I was going through my morning networking emails and voicemails at Required Technologies (RTI), without a doubt the greatest “couldn’t miss” start-up that did when Sharon, our office manager extraordinaire, came by and said that a Cessna had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. It was just before 9:00 AM.

I remember thinking that this was very odd as it’s not easy to miss those babies. Surfing over to 1010wins (New Yawkahs go here first), then CNN and MSNBC, it became quickly clear that this wasn’t a personal aircraft causing all the ruckus – the flames and debris shower. I had friends at Cantor Fitzgerald, the SEC, and what is now Homeland Security in both towers; I also had many friends who were FDNY including former rowing partner Dave Fontana, a firefighter with Squad 1 in Brooklyn.

I called as many of these people – and not a single call went through. Then we heard that a second plane had hit. Internet activity slowed to a crawl then stopped. Cell service stopped. This was very bad.

Sharon and I made our way to 40th and 5th Avenue where we – along with thousands of others – had a clear view of the burning towers. Realize that to New Yorkers, the Towers were icons like Wrigley Field to Chicago, South Beach to Miami, or the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco, and to see them ablaze was to poke holes in childhood fantasies. I had been in them countless times – I knew how the lines queued up to get to the Observation Deck, I knew the sculpture that sat in the courtyard between them, the wind the whipped through them, the view down from the top. I had eaten at Windows On The World many times, experiencing the impeccable service that brought me back time and again. The feeling of seeing the curvature of the Earth.

And then it all came down.

Sharon turned, buried her head on my chest and cried. We all cried. Sharon and I made our way back upstairs. I was able to make it through to Dave’s wife – 9/11 was their wedding anniversary – and said if I heard from Dave, I’d call her. Dave had called her just as the all-hands calls came in and said that they’d be meeting for “breakfast” as planned after this was finished. Eight years as husband and wife.

Breakfast never happened.

No one was able to work the rest of the day – we couldn’t even get home as the railroads shut down; some walked home, some resigned themselves to sleeping on the office floor that night. Filled now with fear, grief, and uncertainty, the overriding feeling was that Utopia was gone. Walking along the streets – as hundreds of thousands were doing – you quickly noticed the sonorous silence – even the hardened taxi hacks refused to blow their horns – compassion, and helpfulness. People readily offered their shoulders for others to cry on, their ears to bend, and their hands to hold. Utopia may have been shattered but it was replaced by something more real.

The next day’s train ride into NYC saw the same silence. People managed faint smiles and patiently waited for others to find their seats. One person managed to carry on a loud cell phone conversation – contrary to most “normal” days, no one else was – until I told him that it was rude given yesterday’s attack. He muttered something to me along the lines of mind your own business at which point I stood up and offered to find a new place for his cell phone. He stopped using his phone and other actually smiled and thanked me for being so persuasive. Back to recruiting found me face-to-face with a new set of questions from candidates – What floor is your company located on? Are you anywhere near [pick one] the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Madison Square Garden? Being near Times Square lost us several candidates as well as being located in NYC. For me, recruiting had forever changed.

Today was just the same kind of day as five years ago – the stars were bright at 5:30 AM, the sky clear and blue at 8:46 AM, the air just as nippy. Why all 9/11’s have been this way is a mystery to me. What is not is how I view the relationships I have in my life – personal and professional. I’ll do more now for my friends than I ever did before; professionally I try to do the right thing every time and when I don’t I find myself being so critical of not calling someone back when I promised I would. Rather than succumbing to a mass of contagion-based criticism of a person, I try to find the one positive element of their behavior or personality that I can build on – Jack, you can have your 20-70-10 percentages.

Recruiting has always been about relationships and more than ever, it still holds the key to successful hiring. It’s also that much more difficult because not only have people become more guarded but recruiters have generally become more prone to not going the extra yard. The economy is blamed, the lack of technical talent is blamed, the location of the company is blamed. Excuses. Try something very different. Toss away job boards and start calling people. Host meetings at your company. Try and win state and federal grants for developing new cultural programs that will be helpful in attracting people to your area. Stop believing that because you're so good at using a hammer everything has to look like a nail. Think and act outside the box...

I’ve always said that what we do is one of the three most important roles in a company – the CFO, the head of sales, and recruiting. To be average really doesn’t require a great expenditure of energy or time. But to be great, to leave a mark is hard work. When I gave one of Dave's eulogies, I used the following quote - often attributed to Emerson - to describe the kind of person Dave was...

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

It’s not easy being great but the rewards are worthy of the effort. What recruiting needs is for more people to start trying to be great. Believe me, people will notice.

Will you join me?

FIREstorm starting HERE:

http://recruitomatic.wordpress.com/2006/09/07/are-you-a-damned-liar-too/#comments

Big Sourcing - Will Sourcers Ever Put Recruiters Out of Business?

Hell, no! I don’t know if you all understand the difference between an extrovert and an introvert but I sure do. An extrovert (70% of the population) is a person who likes people and an introvert is one who doesn’t. (Or maybe it’s really the other way around!) I know, I know, I’m gonna insult some egos and bruise some feelings but this one fact remains – there are two types of people in the world – those who “enjoy” dealing with others and those that don’t. Is that better? Is that more socially acceptable? Let’s go on.

This subject strikes at the heart of what makes a good sourcer. Ronda Campbell just made an interesting point when she commented over on the Yahoo group Sourcers Unleashed, “...really good researchers/sourcers (those who exclusively as their bread & butter) – don't do recruiting…they probably don't like it and may not be good at it... each needs to recognize their strengths as well as weaknesses.” I agree with Ronda when she says the two functions should be separated in the recruiting business – there should be the sourcers doing what they LOVE to do (and this isn’t usually building relationships with people) and the recruiters should be free to do what they LOVE to do (build relationships with people). It’s an oil and water mix and rarely found in one individual. It reminds me of the customer who calls with a request for sourcing and then continues to add layers to the onion – possession requirements for those he wants sourced. One, occasionally two layers might work – you go beyond that and you’re hopelessly mired in the muck.

The “build relationships” (recruiting) function is for the people who like (uhhh, I meant “enjoy”) others and the “build lists” (sourcing) function is for the people who don’t like (uhhh, did I say that again? I mean “enjoy”) personal interaction with others.

Are we clear on that yet? Usually, never the ‘twain meet in one personality, but then I said that already, didn’t I? So how in the world, explain this to me someone, can sourcers be a threat to recruiters? It just doesn’t make sense. Yes, the value-add we bring to the process is enormous – with one swipe of a 50 name list at a procurement cost of about $2000 you’re going to have access to a hire. Beats hell out of that $24,000 fee, doesn’t it? But let’s look at this thing a whole lot closer. Who’s gonna make the call? Your sourcer? Uhhhh....NOT! You don’t want that person making that call – your sourcer is more than likely a curmudgeon type like me, closeted away from the world for reasons your sourcer would like to think only she knows. (In reality she’s a whole lot more transparent than she thinks she is and on some level she knows this.)

But do you think for one minute she has the patience or the emotional fortitude to put up with all the bitch wrangling one has to go through to recruit someone to a job? I think not. This takes patient empathy and understanding and compassion – the patient part she’s not usually or no longer in great supply of. Do you think she has the personality type to withstand the long delays inherent in some recruiting propositions? I think not – one reason she loves to source is that it’s fast, it’s clean and it’s over. She’s nobody’s mistress – she masters her own fate. Do you think she wants to be paid on the if-come? She’s likely experienced these disappointments in her past and no longer wants any part of the gamble. She’s willing to settle for far less to get way more peace in her life.

So, to return to that niggling doubt, that gnawing fear, that elephant in the room – will sourcers put recruiters out of business? So NOT! All we can do is help in the equation – you’ve seen this before:
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.

;)

Introversion is a legitimate personality style. Introverts have special needs and a different kind of self care than their more numerous companions, the extroverts.
1. Introverts are territorial.
2. Introverts love privacy, long walks, quiet times and reading.
3. Introverts speak softly, especially when they are saying something important.
4. Introverts prefer reading and writing to other means of communication.
5. Introverts appear shy, even weak, but they can stand alone and they don't care what other people think.
6. The inner life is the most important.
7. Introverts seek authentic meaning in their lives.
8. Introverts love nature and the outdoors.
9. Introverts require privacy.
10. Introverts give energy to others and can become exhausted from too much social interaction.

“Within the oftentimes bombastic and truculent appearance that I present to the world, trembles a heart shy as a wren in the hedgerow or a mouse along the wainscoting.” ~ George Moore


Maureen Sharib is a seasoned telephone names sourcer, names sourcing since 1997. She and her husband Bob own the names sourcing firm, TechTrak, and Maureen teaches telephone names sourcing in her only-of-its-kind-online telephone names sourcing course "The Magic In The Method". She can be reached by email at maureen at techtrak.com or by phone at 513 899 9628.

Get the NEW and FREE Telephone Sourcing GLOSSARY by e-mailing maureen at techtrak.com