Rude candidates vs. Rude recruitment processes

Tip o' the hat to Jason Pankow for this great article on Fistful of Talent: http://fistfuloftalent.com/2013/05/rude-candidates-are-annoying-but-maybe-i-should-be-nicer-to-them.html I do believe that recruiters - yes, you too! - have an obligation to improve the processes used by their employer or client. And a big part of that is manners... What Mom taught us was valuable. And we need to set higher expectations for ourselves on manners in the process of recruiting. It is too easy to fall into bad habits and excuses. Like, everybody does this these days... What a cop out. Take responsibility. Take the time to prep your candidates well. Build a real relationship with them. Talk to them, understand what drives them, and know that they are more than the skills on their resumes. End of sermon for today!

Are the "non-hip" our next protected class?

Tip o' the porkpie to Dawn Burke of Fistful of Talent for this one: http://fistfuloftalent.com/2013/05/hipster-bias-another-hr-hurdle.html#comment-31097 I run into this all of the time with young organizations. They often don't realize the difference between selecting for cultural fit and selecting for talent. And then they end up firing people who can't do the job they were hired for. It's a delicate balance always to hire for past performance or future potential. But the idea of not hiring someone who isn't hip enough raises a whole new spectre of discrimination.

Remember the basics

Your LinkedIn profile and your resume are great tools, but only is they are crisp, to the point, and free of typos and chronological errors. These are things that bug most recruiters and bother Silicon Valley headhunters even more. If you can't attend the basics, you're probably not a very good candidate generally. And this applies to software developers just as much - if you make mistakes on your resume, your code is probably not error-free either. So, proof-read, proof-read, and then put it down and proof it again later. Better still, ask someone else to proof it a third time. It is worth the effort, I promise.

LinkedIn - Job Board or Social Network?

Tip o' the hat to Raj Sheth of Recruiter.com for this interesting article: http://www.recruiter.com/i/linkedin-job-board-or-social-network/?goback=.gde_4930685_member_236839301 While I'm tempted to say it doesn't matter, it really does. LinkedIn continues to develop new products for recruiters, a primary customer target group for the company. But I am finding, and hearing from other recruiters, that LinkedIn is now so overrun with recruiters that candidates aren't responding. When a passive candidate gets 5 or more requests per day from recruiters s/he doesn't know, the efficacy of LinkedIn drops way down. I have noticed that response rates to my InMails are dropping as well. With an average of 20% response rate over the long haul (I was a charter member of LinkedIn in beta), my response rate is probably half that today. So, I'm looking at other ways to reach out. I still use LinkedIn as much on identifying people I want to connect with. But I'm getting more creative about the "candidate acquistion" piece. What are your thoughts?

Software Product Managers?

We're supposed to be at the heart of Silicon Valley... where are all of the experienced, high level, strategic, enterprise-class Product Managers with software expertise gained in an agile environment? All I'm finding are newbies that have 3 years or less of solid true product experience. And they're missing any of the depth of field that's needed for the combined enterprise to mobile and cloud systems that my clients are working with/in. I need people who can manage their way out of a paper bag and into a cloud-ready environment... and that takes an understanding of multiple distributed users on a big system. These positions also require an understanding of marketing and campaigns and marketing automation. So, if any of this sounds like you and you live in the neighborhood, drop me a resume at info@broadbandhr.com and we'll talk immediately. This company is not tiny but it's not huge and it ain't Google :^) Thanks!

Social Recruiting? Yes, but...

I think I'm pretty hip about recruiting using social media. But this article sort of lights me up - and shows little respect for the recruiting or HR functions of the company. While online reputation is important for a social marketer, I want more than street cred if I'm running the search. I want real accomplishments in the non-social world of marketing, and I want a track record that shows me this person is analytical and data-driven - that's a key success factor for anyone trying to make a difference for my company's/clients' bottom line. http://blogs.enterasys.com/hiring-a-social-marketer-no-paper-resume-accepted/ If I can help your company hire a smart social marketer or some other technically qualified role, drop me a note at info@broadbandhr.com