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How to Reach Passive Candidates Using Facebook Ads: Grabbing Their Attention

In Part 1 of How to Reach Passive Candidates Using Facebook Ads: It’s About the Context!, I spoke about considering the context of your ad content.

You need to remember that social media is a social platform that serves two (2) primary human needs:

  1. The need to belong; and,
  2. The need for self-presentation.

Want passive candidates? Grab their attention

So, your Facebook ads need to reflect the very reason why people are using it. Context and relevancy will stop the scroll and grab their attention (which really, is your ultimate goal).

Today in Part 2 in this video series, I share a few more insights to help you create Facebook ads to reach those-hard-to-get  candidates. Tomorrow in Part 3, we’ll focus on audience targeting.

You can also sign up for my online course — How to use Facebook Ads to Reach Passive Candidates

 

How to Reach Passive Candidates Using Facebook Ads: It’s About the Context!

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise: Passive candidates are not on job boards because they are not out looking for jobs.

If you really want to reach them you need to go where they are, and like 2.2 billion other people in the world, they are on Facebook.

An underutilized tactic for passive candidates

One of the massively underutilized tactics by recruiters and Talent Acquisition professionals is using simple Facebook ads, particularly if you’re trying to reach niche candidates or working on a hard to fill role. Yes, most audiences are on Facebook, and their advertising platform allows you to be VERY targeted in a way you cannot do on any other channel.

So, here is Part 1 in a three-part series that shares some tips on how you can best utilize Facebook ads to reach passive candidates

You can also sign up for my online course — How to use Facebook Ads to Reach Passive Candidates

Gen Z Dilemma: How Do You Get 20-Year-Olds to Want to Work For You?

We may have a little bit of an over-discussion on all the generational differences currently co-existing in the workplace (Silents, Boomers, X, Millennials, and now Gen Z), but even with a little hand-wringing over “the Millennial mindset,” these topics are pretty important.

Why? Well, for one, this is a really interesting time in terms of entry-level jobs — which is what Gen Z would mostly be aiming for now. That’s because entry-level jobs tend to be rote, task work-focused,  and are increasingly at risk for automation.

But if there’s no clear pathway into an organization, and organizations don’t want to start people in the middle (salary-wise and responsibility-wise), what happens? Deloitte actually wrote an entire paper on this at the end of 2017.

Getting the attention of candidates

In addition, there are questions about the alignment of higher education with work, because a college degree is essentially a prerequisite for most white-collar jobs now, as 60 percent of jobs (per Deloitte) are believed to need one.

Then we have that “Millennial mindset” from above.

Because Millennials (and Gen Z) are a more open, tech-connected generations, ideas about management may be a concern. We could see less command and control and more agile groups and collaboration. We could, or the status quo of hierarchy and direct reports may persist. Those models are being experimented with at various companies, in various states of success and failure, right now.

But regardless of what you think about the meaning of all these generations entering the workforce, you still have a job to do: Yes, there are requisitions and open seats to fill. You’re going to need quality talent from X, Millennial, and Z — and heck, you might still be recruiting Boomers depending on their connection to work and the health of their 401(k).

Getting the attention of a Gen Z is a lot different than getting the attention of a Boomer.

We won’t belabor that point because you know the big reasons why: technology and the rise of mobile. Within that big bucket of “technology” comes sub-buckets like social media, digital marketing, job boards, job ads, etc.

What actually works?

File this one under “what’s old is new again,” but at #HRTX DC — held recently at the HQ of Brazen — Jo Weech facilitated four discussions on university recruiting, and this always popped out:

As with most hiring and sourcing, Weech noted several times, “relationships are everything.” Most candidates do ultimately want to know what’s in it for them — either in terms of salary, culture, potential for advancement, skill development, etc. You can leverage employees who went to those schools or served as interns. They can define the candidate experience and employee experience as they consider applying.”

A lot of our attendees at that event were concerned about social, and they had heard Millennials and Gen Z weren’t on Facebook (which is largely true, as Business Insider has even reported in Generation Z could kill Facebook).

But where do you reach them? Snapchat? Instagram? (Yes. Yes.) But what if you don’t have dedicated social? Or what if marketing is a specific silo and wants to do their thing and not listen to HR/talent acquisition?

These are the concerns and battles of the current recruiting landscape.

One recruiter told this story:

The hiring manager wanted to be on big job boards (Indeed, etc.) for a content role. The recruiter was proposing niche job boards for writers and editors. The hiring manager wanted a wider swath of candidates, so some head-butting ensued. Without that being resolved, they moved to social. Marketing was brought in, but couldn’t schedule a campaign for 28 days — even though the seat they were trying to fill was open now.

These things happen every day in organizations. And, they are big challenges that need to be navigated when promoting an open position.

There are some quick hits to help you get that Gen Z talent, though:

  • Respect the attention span — It’s declining, so tailor info about your company to something that can be consumed in the span of a, you guessed it, snap.
  • Value communication — The candidate black hole deal really needed to end two generations ago, but for sure it needs to end now.
  • They actually might value independence more than Millennials, who tend to value collaboration — Again, both of these are generalizations and every individual is different, but … respect the idea that they can work on projects as an IC.
  • They want to be entrepreneurial — They grew up seeing guys like Zuckerberg make billions off a relatively simple idea, so if they’re going to go the corporate route, they want to know they can iterate and experiment.

Want more hacks and tips? Then #HRTX Dallas is for you

Remember above when we hit on #HRTX DC? We’re doing another one on March 8 in Dallas — #HRTX Dallas 2018.

This will actually be an interesting intersection point because cost of living is getting so high on the coasts (LA/SF/Seattle and Boston/NY/Washington, etc.), you’re seeing more and more young people moving/starting their careers in North Texas. DFW’s young population growth has way surpassed the rest of the country.

So, a lot of recruiters and talent executives at this event will be facing this exact question: How do you get people in their 20s to want to work for you? The conversations should be pretty — let’s use a Gen Z term here — LIT, so definitely come on out if you live in the vicinity.

We would love to see you there at #HRTX Dallas 2018. Here’s where you can go to sign up.

10 Candidate Mistakes That Instantly Destroy Their Job Chances

Every hiring manager and HR professional has seen this, and they know it to be true. It’s this: Some job candidates do things that simply destroy all chance of you ever hiring them.

CareerBuilder knows this too, and that’s why they do surveys every year on the many things that people do to ruin their chances for a job. Some of these surveys can start to sound redundant after a few years, but this one always seems to get a lot of attention: the 10 Interview Mistakes That Will Instantly Destroy Your Job Chances.

As the press release on the survey by CareerBuilder notes, “Even if you are the best candidate for the job, you can see a potential offer go up in smoke by making avoidable candidate mistakes.”

10 instant candidate mistakes

That’s sad but true, so here are the 10 instant deal breakers for job candidates, according to employers surveyed by CareerBuilder:

  1. Candidate is caught lying about something: 71 percent;
  2. Candidate answers a cell phone or texts during the interview: 67 percent;
  3. Candidate appears arrogant or entitled: 59 percent;
  4. Candidate appears to have a lack of accountability: 52 percent;
  5. Candidate swears: 51 percent;
  6. Candidate dresses inappropriately: 50 percent;
  7. Candidate talks negatively about current or previous employers: 48 percent;
  8. Candidate knows nothing about the job or company: 45 percent;
  9. Candidate has unprofessional body language: 43 percent; and,
  10. Candidate knows nothing about the industry or competitors: 35 percent.

I’ve encountered some of these candidate mistakes as I have recruited, interviewed and hired people over the course of my career, and the one that always jumped out at me was No. 7 — Candidate talks negatively about current or previous employer.

That’s because as most everyone knows, if a candidate will bad mouth a previous employer in an interview, it makes you wonder what will they say about you and your organization the next time they’re looking for a job.

If you don’t know this by now, you should: It NEVER pays to bad mouth anyone as part of your hiring strategy, and that not only goes for candidates but for hiring professionals as well.

The importance of body language 

One twist to this CareerBuilder survey is that they also asked hiring managers and HR professionals to identify “the biggest body language mistakes job seekers make during an interview.” If you’re big on body language as something that tells you more about a job candidate, these 10 things that hiring professionals identified will be interesting to you.

Here are the 10 candidate mistakes in this area that they identified were:

  1. Failure to make eye contact: 68 percent;
  2. Failure to smile: 38 percent;
  3. Playing with something on the table: 36 percent;
  4. Fidgeting too much in his/her seat: 32 percent;
  5. Bad posture: 31 percent;
  6. Crossing their arms over their chest: 31 percent;
  7. Playing with hair or touching one’s face: 26 percent;
  8. Handshake that is too weak: 22 percent;
  9. Using too many hand gestures: 13 percent;
  10. Handshake is too strong: 8 percent.

“There’s a lot riding on an interview — you have to make a great first impression, have knowledge of your target company and its product, and know exactly how to convey that you’re the perfect fit for the job,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder, in a press release about the survey. “The best thing you can do for yourself is to prepare and practice everything from your body language to answers to standard interview questions. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so going in well-prepared is key.”

Isn’t this what we want from job interviews?

Here’s something to remember about job interviews: they are a skill that people get better at over time, just like anything else in life. The more someone interviews, the better they are at it, and, the better they come off to hiring managers when they sit down to talk.

In my own experience, I need two or three interviews to get the rust out of my system when I haven’t been interviewing for awhile. No matter how much prep I do, and how much experience I have in interviewing, I always find that it takes me a few times out to really get back on my game.

Many of the body language candidate mistakes that hiring managers identified for CareerBuilder are probably just nervous ticks by people who haven’t gotten their interview groove going again, and that fact manifests itself in these little body language issues.

Anything job interviewers can do to help candidates feel comfortable and at ease will make for a better interview for both parties. And for the hiring pro, it will help them get to the critical issue — is this person someone who can really do this job and benefit my organization?

Isn’t that what we all want to get out of a candidate interview? The better we can do to get the candidate into a comfort zone to show us that, the better hiring decisions we will make, and that’s a win-win for everyone involved.

And, one more thing: This CareerBuilder survey found that nearly half of all employers (49 percent) “know within the first five minutes of an interview if a candidate is a good or bad fit for a position, and only 8 percent make up their mind within a half hour or longer.” That’s why it’s even more important that both candidate and hiring professional do whatever they can to make sure their interview gets off on the right foot from the very start.

When that doesn’t happen, it generally leads to bad things that nobody benefits from, aka, the killer candidate mistake.

This survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll for CareerBuilder from Nov. 28 to Dec. 20, 2017 and included a representative sample of 1,014 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes (of which, 888 are in the U.S. private sector).

Why the “F” Word Should Be Your New Best Friend

The “F” word is a very powerful word but let me just make sure we are talking about the same F word (Insert cheeky smile here).

The “F” word I am talking about is FOCUS.

Focus is easier said than done.

With so many distractions in our modern life, it is no wonder we are guilty of starting one job, then getting distracted and moving onto another before we finish the first one.

Focus on what you “should” be doing vs. what you “could” be doing

This is particularly true when it comes to the digital world and being overloaded with so much information which we are told that recruiters and Talent Acquisition professionals REALLY need to know.

As a digital specialist, I understand that keeping up with a fast paced and ever changing environment can be hard, however, there are ways to help you stay focused on what you “should” be doing versus what you “could” be doing.

To that end, here are some tips to get you started, and, to help you get a better focus overall.

You can also sign up for my online course — How to use Facebook Ads to Reach Passive Candidates

8 Smart Time Hacks for High-Volume Recruiters

Don’t expect a slowdown in the pace of your frenzied, high-volume recruiting position.

Get used to it. It’s just the nature of the beast. Trying to fill 100 open positions may seem unmanageable at times, but don’t back down.

Quality candidates exist. Hunting them down and bringing them into the fold is your mission. With that in mind, time can be an ally or an enemy. Either way, however, you’ll need to manage your hours efficiently to be successful.

Take a look at the following tips to help manage your most precious commodity.

1 – Have a Plan

This sounds simple enough, but know what you need to do long before you need to do it.

Set aside time the night before and mentally prepare for the following day’s meetings, prospect calls, and the bevy of incoming emails. Find a way to minimize distractions when the day begins.

Time chunking stands out as one of the optimal methods for staying on point. If you have an hour slotted to flesh out interview templates or make follow-up calls to candidates, devote yourself only to the task at hand.

Recognize that frivolous emails can be a huge diversion in high-volume recruiting, pulling you in a number of different directions. Shut down your email. If an urgent matter pops up, someone knows where and how to find you.

2 – Sourcing

sourcingThe more prospects you can stream through the pipeline, the more likely you are to meet your quota.

You’ll need a variety of sources to harvest qualified applicants. Job boards are a reliable source of recruits but you need to think outside the box.

Colleges and universities make a great source for candidates seeking entry level positions. Also, you might uncover some unexpected treasures by keeping tabs on happenings in the community via a news outlet or the grapevine.

The sale or acquisition of a local company causes anxiety among the rank and file. If those embattled employees own transferable skill sets, your impeccable timing should fill up the pipeline quickly.   

3 – Referrals

Word of mouth marketing is one of the more effective means of getting name recognition, and in high-volume recruiting, it costs little more than some extra effort.

Each time you make a touch with a prospect — interested or not  — it never hurts to seek a referral. A lot hinges on the candidate experience.

If the conversation flows amicably, your contact will likely be more than happy to offer up a name or two. Garnering 150 referrals from 1,000 contacts increases your activity by 15 percent without sacrificing significant time and resources. Build a LinkedIn network and stay in the sights of those folks regularly.

Ask for those referrals. The worst outcome is a no.

4 – Screening

You want as many touches as possible, but quality supersedes quantity.

Find a way to weed out the tire-kickers and unqualified prospects by pre-screening applicants. Brief online tests efficiently determine cognitive skills and personality traits. Individuals who fail the test can be eliminated and those people who are merely browsing won’t bother to take the next step. If the job requires a degree, include a checkbox at the initial stage so recruits can respond accordingly or walk away.

When it comes to high-volume recruiting, leveraging automated tools will help you focus on engaging the candidates who stand a better chance at success. The thrill isn’t always in the chase.

5 – Job Descriptions

Vaguely worded job descriptions often invite anyone and everyone to apply.

Take time to clearly state job duties and requirements. Thoroughly flesh out, point by point, company expectations for the position. Be specific about years of experience and whether the position requires a degree or certain certifications.

Applicants who have the necessary qualifications won’t be intimidated, and those are the folks you want to pursue. The mildly interested candidates will feel overwhelmed and simply take no further action.

Tuning up those ads shouldn’t kill a lot of time, but it will certainly save you some.

6 – Tracking

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) give a birds eye views of candidate profiles.

Spreadsheets are prevalent as well but require more manual work as new data becomes available. In addition, most ATSs integrate with legacy systems, accepting relevant updates to create reports at a glance. As time passes, these programs deliver important metrics, painting a picture of what channels deliver optimal outcomes.

It’s at this juncture you can pinpoint which sources yield the most viable prospects. Automation does its job with little intervention, allowing you to concurrently focus on relationship building and other personal interactions.

7 – Deadlines

To fulfill your role effectively, you must have a sense of urgency.

The job doesn’t stop after you’ve created a short list, walked candidates through the application process, completed interviews, and made an offer. Once a recruit says “I do,” the onboarding stage still looms.

With so many phases, and hopefully multiple new hires in the mix, managing your responsibilities becomes crucial.

Set realistic time frames for each milestone. Some HR personnel may view deadlines as threatening; other professionals work well under pressure and use end dates as an asset, maintaining a keen awareness of timelines and acting accordingly.

By expediently handling all chapters of the hiring process, you’re much less likely to lose top talent to a competitor.

8 – Technology

Responsibilities pile up so quickly, some days you wish there were two of you.

Thankfully, technology isn’t quite there yet, but numerous tools do exist to make your high-volume recruiting job easier. While some recruiters view technology suspiciously, other professionals see a partnership.

Automated sourcing programs perform targeted candidate searches, matching qualified job hunters with specific open positions. Software suites attract visitors to your site, motivate passive job seekers, and convert those visitors into applicants.

From start to finish, automation seeks to enhance the overall candidate experience.       

The Bottom Line with high-volume recruiting

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.”

As you juggle all your high-volume recruiting job duties, prioritize the mapping of your days and weeks. Industry knowledge is vital, but planning and organization form the basis of your continued success.

Culture Fit: It’s THE Critical Quality Hiring Pros Should Be Looking For

When it comes to hiring, there are lots of qualities that recruiters and hiring managers look for, but in my experience, there’s really just one that’s a real game changer.

Although hiring skills are important, in the end it all comes down to one critical component — culture fit.

How well a new hire fits into your organization’s culture is THE most important component to their ultimate success. Yes, interviewing for a person’s “culture fit” is something your talent managers should be laser focused on as they search for that next great hire, because without it, even the most skilled candidate is likely to be a bust.

That’s why I get a little crazy when I talk to TA professionals about finding great talent and never hear the term culture fit cross their lips.

Is culture fit the most important quality?

If you believe what The Wall Street Journal says, culture fit” is probably the most critical quality that talent managers should be hiring for. As The Journal points out:

Though employment experts warn that fuzzy criteria such as culture fit may permit bias in the hiring process and result in a lack of diversity, companies say culture often determines who succeeds or fails in their workplace.

A 2016 survey from research and consulting firm Millennial Branding and career website Beyond.com found that human-resources staff, when considering recent college hires, ranked cultural fit above a candidate’s referrals, coursework and grades.”

But the WSJ also made the point that hiring for culture fit can also make it easier to discriminate against certain job candidates, opening up the company to legal issues if they choose to put too much emphasis on it.

“In many organizations, it is this catchall for, ‘I don’t feel right about this person,’ ” says Lauren Rivera, an associate professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

In her studies of hiring at banks and law and consulting firms, she’s found that people use culture fit as an excuse to weed out candidates who are too different from their ranks. … and Ernest Haffner, a senior attorney-advisor in the office of legal counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, described culture fit as a “vague,” “amorphous” term that potentially could lead companies to exclude specific groups.”

Skills are important, but culture fit is the game changer

I get where the attorneys are coming from, but I’m less concerned about “bias in the hiring process” when it comes to hiring for “fit” than I am about making “fit” the be-all-end-all quality that trumps everything else during hiring, and that seems to be what The Journal story is getting at.

Not too long ago, I was part of a special committee that was doing a search for a new leader for a prominent local non-profit organization. The previous leader, although immensely talented in many areas, had huge struggles with the organization because — and don’t be surprised by this — he wasn’t a very good “fit” with the organization’s culture.

The reason for this is because the previous search committee that chose him didn’t spend very much time focused on his “cultural fit” was with the organization. They concentrated on some very specific job skills he had that, although important, didn’t ultimately help him to succeed.
The fact of the matter is that it was this leader’s inability to fit within the organization’s culture that became a bigger and bigger issue over time. It drove a wedge between him many of those he was leading and working with, so much so that it eventually led to a huge breach and his subsequent departure.

So, as a member of the new hiring committee trying to replace him, I advocated this approach in our search for his replacement:

  1. Any serious candidate MUST have all the required skills and talents needed to perform the job. This was our bottom line, and only candidates who could demonstrate that they had these skills would make it to our list of finalists for the job.
  2. Once we were satisfied that a candidate had all the required skills, the process pivoted to the issue of cultural fit. No one made it to the finalist stage without the right skills, but we also weren’t going to seriously consider them for the position unless we felt good about their ability to “fit” with our culture and help us avoid the problems we had with our departed leader.

In this way, we acknowledged that cultural fit was a huge issue we had to address, but not until we were satisfied that the candidate had all the other required skills and talents as well.

It’s all about meshing with the culture

This seems to be the hiring process for a number of companies that focus on “fit,” as The Journal story noted:

Employers are finding new ways to assess job candidates’ cultural suitability as they seek hires who fit in from Day 1. … Companies such as Salesforce.com Inc. have experimented with tapping “cultural ambassadors” to evaluate finalists for jobs in other departments. Zappos.com Inc. gives company veterans veto power over hires who might not fit in with its staff — even if those hires have the right skills for the job.”

I’m not a big fan of many of the odd things that Zappos management does, but I agree with the thinking that having the right skills for the job is only half of what a new employee needs to be successful.

By the way, remember that new leader my committee was looking for to lead the non-profit? We actually found someone with great skills and talents who we also thought would be a great “fit,” too. So, we hired her.

She’s been on the job a little over a year, and from all that we have seen, we hit a home run. She’s a great “fit” and brings a great many qualities to the position that the previous leader did not.

In this case, it really was all about the culture fit.

Remember: Job skills are always important, but skills without a really good “fit” with your culture will only leave you with a skilled person who doesn’t stand much of a chance of ultimate success. Is that the kind of hire you really want to make?

Loxo AI: An Inside Look

We first talked about Loxo back in this post in 2016 as a clean ATS with modern UI and a built-in CRM that was created from the ground up for the agency and executive recruiters.  Loxo also has a chrome extension and a widget which can be used as a bookmarklet for other browsers.

created from the ground up for the agency and executive recruiters

This tool has, ATS/CRM, automatic data capture, email/calendar integration, custom workflows, a Chrome extension, bookmarklet, posting to job boards, drag and drop pipelining.

Introducing Loxo AI

Today we’re digging in deeper to share a specific part of Loxo that we feel is a valuable resource. This is the Loxo AI, their Artificial Intelligence technology. With this feature, you tell them what you are looking for in your ideal candidate, and they find the best candidates for you.

  • The Loxo AI Form Try it here

Loxo AI FormFirst, fill out the form with detailed information on what you’re looking for. This includes the basics such as the job title, description, and location. Next, fill out job responsibilities and even rank your priorities for the candidates. You can also cover details like compensation. In the advanced section, you have the option to link to your ideal candidate’s LinkedIn profile, or the LinkedIn profile of who the candidate will be reporting to.

  • Receiving Your Matches

Once you fill it in,  hit Submit and you receive an email letting you know that your search is done. Within Loxo you’ll find your list of candidates that meet all your criteria. For the majority of candidates, you’ll see at least one contact option, either a phone number or an email. From this point, it’s easy to use the rest of the Loxo product to move on to the next steps of your recruitment process.

The quality of the search results that Loxo AI brings in make it a tool that’s worth using. In fact, it’s one of the better AI’s that are available on the market right now according to Dean. We recommend trying this valuable tool for your recruiting needs.  So let’s get to Dean and have a look.  – Noel Cocca

Find COntact InformationDean Da Costa is best known for his work in the highly specialized secured clearance and mobile arenas, where he has been a top performing recruiter and sourcer.  Dean’s keen insight and creation of innovative tools and processes for enhancing and changing staffing has established Dean as one of the top authorities in sourcing and recruiting.

Connect with Dean at LinkedIn or follow @DeanDaCosta on Twitter.
 

How to Save Time & Money on Hiring the Right Employees for Your Team

No matter how much you spend on various aspects of your company or keep up with the latest technology and trends, your business will only be as good as your employees.

All your staff, from the lowest rung to the highest rank, represent a facet of your business to your clients or customers and to the world.

It is therefore important that you get the right person during your first try since hiring the wrong person can cost you more than just time and money.

Selecting the right recruit the first time around

According to seasoned recruitment consultants, when you choose the ideal person to add to your team from the get-go, you will save time and money through the following ways:

  • You won’t go through the whole time-consuming hiring process again. Recruiting the best talent for your company will ensure that all the time and effort you spent on getting a new staff won’t go to waste. If you chose the wrong person to hire, you just wasted a lot of time and energy. Unfortunately, you’ll also have to go through another time-consuming and tiring hiring cycle. This is something that can negatively affect your schedule, work, and overall business operations.
  • You’ll save time onboarding new employees who will just leave immediately. Training new employees, orienting them in detail about company processes and policies, and helping them fit into your team takes a lot of time. It can take even the most talented and experienced person months to reach optimal productivity and work seamlessly with your team. If you onboarded the wrong candidate, all the time spent on training and integrating them into the company would be fruitless, especially if this person leaves after just a few months.
  • You will reduce the overall cost of your hiring activities. The whole hiring process is one of the most expensive parts of any business operations. You will have to spend money on job vacancy ads, skills tests, and criminal background checks. When you hire the wrong person, aside from devoting additional time and energy to find a replacement, you will also pay for the same expenses. As such, you will double your recruitment cost. This is something that you could avoid when you hire the ideal candidate from the start.

Hiring the best employees

Adding people to your team who will fit in effortlessly, will understand your business goals, and contribute to achieving them is not impossible. You can do this by following these useful hiring and practices:

  • Have a great hiring strategy in place. Hiring the wrong candidate often stems from the mistake of not having or following a standard recruitment operating procedure. This is a mistake that small businesses tend to make. Having a hiring strategy from the start will help you avoid bypassing important steps such as not considering your company culture in choosing candidates. You will also be certain that your shortlisted applicants met all your requirements.
  • Be as specific as you can with your job description. Create a checklist of all the qualifications, skills, and requirements your ideal candidate should possess. Be as detailed as you can, but avoid being too specific with your job ads. The important thing is you have a list of everything you’re looking for and need in the new employees you want to hire. Some of the key items you can put on your checklist include:
    • All the tasks the new employee will have to take on. Aside from the usual ones, add some possible duties or responsibilities, if necessary.
    • Complementary skills.
    • Relevant experiences.
    • Personality traits that will help the employee have an easier time fitting in your company.
  • Consider the company culture. Every company has a culture. Each one has a unique way of approaching business, thinking, operating, and dealing with customers or clients. It is essential that you know the kind of culture your company has now and consider this when shortlisting your candidates. In general, it is always best to hire someone who will fit into your company culture. This is especially true if your team is already running smoothly.
  • Go through the interview process meticulously. Lastly, the interview is the best opportunity for you to assess all applicants and find out which one of them would fit in your company. Some helpful interview tips you can follow to find the most suitable employees include:
    • Come up with an assessment strategy on how to evaluate an individual’s suitability for your company culture.
    • Closely observe each candidate during the first few moments of the interview; meeting the candidates and shaking their hands for the first time will allow you to gauge their confidence and enthusiasm
    • Use the interview to know more about the candidate’s communication skills, personality, work habits, and perception of the job and his or her role within the company
    • Ask the candidates if they have any questions at the end of the interview; candidates who are really interested in working for your company will want to know to know more about your business just as much about you as you want to know about them

Following the right hiring formula will allow you to avoid a lot of hits and misses and ensure you will hire the ideal candidate from the start. This will ultimately allow you to gain new employees who will work well with your team and contribute greatly to the improvement and growth of your business.

Four Key Recruiting Takeaways From #HRTX DC

Last week was kinda a blur for me. Which usually isn’t a good thing.

But last week it was because we hosted a talent acquisition un-conference (more on that in a sec) at our Brazen headquarters in D.C called #HRTX. And the event was so engaging, no, so inspiring, that the day went by in a flash.

But fortunately for me (and you) I took copious notes while sitting in on some sessions in between filming interviews with attendees, shooting video of the event and making sure everyone was properly caffeinated and feed. So here are my four takeaways from this awesome un-conference.*

*NOTE: This event was not your typical conference where there are scheduled speakers; rather, the sessions were discussions and conversations led by facilitators who are experts on the given topic. The format really pushed attendees to participate as opposed to passively listening. I think this sort of structure and engagement left everyone with something more substantial to bring back to their own companies.

Key takeaway No. 1: Stop blending in


I know you’re not a marketer or brander or advertiser or even a sales professional, but I think the old adage that everyone is in sales (and to some degree, marketing) applies to recruiting as well. And what are you selling? Your company, of course.

But if you’re doing the same thing that your competition is doing then how are you going to make an impression on candidates? How are you going to stand up and stand out?

Jo Weech, the facilitator of the University Hiring group at our #HRTX event, addressed this problem and encouraged recruiters looking for students to stop attending general job fairs. Instead, she recommended that talent acquisition professionals consider targeting the individual colleges or departments of the type of job they are hiring for.

Need software developers? Target the computer science department. Engineers? I think you get it.

A participant in Jo’s group also suggested that companies host their own career fairs, either online or in person. Again, if you host your own events, you own all the attention of the candidate. And attention gives you a chance to pitch your company and brand thereby helping you stand out.

Key takeaway No. 2: We are a society of “right now”

In another one of the sessions led by Ben Gotkin, we discussed employee referral programs.

One thing all attendees agreed upon is that regardless of the magnitude (big or small) or type (payout or bonus) of the incentive you offer to employees for referrals, it has to be offered right now to truly affect behavior. If you delay the gratification, it loses its impact.

It’s no secret that we are a society of right now (see Amazon’s 1-click ordering as evidence). This is  how we’ve been conditioned. So unless you plan on reversing decades of conditioning brought on by technology, you need to play by their rules.

Instant gratification is the name of the game.

And while we are on the topic of employee referrals, another attendee addressed the elephant in the room: You don’t want referrals from your “C,” “D,” and “F” employees.

Bold? Maybe. Honest? Definitely. But the point here is that birds of a feather flock together. So why would you want referrals from average employees if there is a more than likely chance that they’ll refer someone average?

You don’t.

Key Takeaway No. 3: We need leadership’s buy-in

All the sessions I sat in had energy. And lots of it. But there was something especially palpable about the energy in the air in the session about diversity hiring and inclusion. It was so palpable that the words on this page can hardly do it justice. But I’ll do my best.

When I walked into the session, the group was in the process of articulating the crux of the problem. And what they found is that we can’t fix diversity hiring and inclusion unless we actually find a voice within the organization with participation from all levels.

However, this is easier said than done.

Based on the feedback from attendees it seems that getting buy in from leadership is a real challenge which can also impact sustainability. But Torin Ellis, the bold, steadfast and inspirational facilitator of the group encouraged attendees to find that voice by working with leadership by making a business case for diversity and inclusion.

This is what leadership is willing to listen to.

Key Takeaway No. 4: It’s all about the candidate

The last takeaway I gleaned from the un-conference is one that I think permeates all of the aforementioned takeaways.

In this competitive labor market, the candidate is in the driver’s seat, so as recruiters and talent acquisition professionals we need to remember that whatever we do, it must be done with the candidate at the forefront or else we risk losing that candidate to our competition.

So, put yourself in your candidate’s shoes and do whatever it takes to engage and connect with candidates sooner in the recruiting process.

To learn more about Brazen and how their chat software is helping recruiters engage and connect with candidates sooner in the candidate journey, please visit our website.

The Critical Role Your Marketing Strategy Has in Landing Top Talent

When we think of talent acquisition, we often think about the process of sourcing, interviewing and persuading top candidates to join a company.

However, talent acquisition is no longer exclusively HR’s domain. Marketing departments also play an integral role in recruitment and marketing strategy – whether they realize it or not.

Here’s why: The purpose of marketing is to drive consumer awareness, and all candidates are consumers. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re customers of the company they’re applying to, but they consume information about the organization across multiple channels as prospective hires.

From online reviews like Kununu and Glassdoor to the language used in job descriptions, overall brand reputation can impact whether candidates choose to join a company or not.

That’s why managing brand sentiment – traditionally under the purview of marketing – is critical for talent acquisition success, because no matter how well an interview goes, outside impressions of a company will always factor into a candidate’s job offer decision.

Here are some ways HR and marketing departments can collaborate on marketing strategy to attract top talent:

Marketing strategy DOES impact culture

company culture basics HRNAn effective marketing strategy goes beyond external branding, and the company values it promotes become absorbed into a company’s culture – and culture is an increasingly important element in the workplace, particularly to Millennials.

One way to promote a solid culture is by carefully selecting the language used in HR and recruiting materials, which must communicate that it’s an enticing place to work while reflecting the company’s external brand. HR leaders should start by reviewing all candidate-facing materials, like job descriptions and benefit packages, and compare them with public-facing marketing resources.

This is important: While different languages may be appropriate for different audiences and channels, brands need to be consistent.

If your job descriptions are formal but your company’s website, logo and branding are edgy and casual, rewrite them. Otherwise, it doesn’t indicate a unified message and culture within the company – and your prospective candidates will notice.

HR and talent acquisition should also collaborate with the marketing department on using other resources to promote talent-facing messages, like the company blog.

Top candidates typically do thorough research about a company prior to taking an interview and often start with a company’s website. This makes a blog an ideal place to issue stories that highlight the most unique parts of that company’s culture and provide a glimpse into what it might be like to work at that company.

Blog content like this sometimes marks the very first impressions and connections that candidate’s might have with a company – so the messaging throughout must be strong and distinctive. Apart from influencing candidates’ perception of a company, these resources also help keep a company accountable in upholding their own values.

One more big thing: Taking control of reputation management

Thanks to the Internet, anyone can publicly praise a brand — or rip it to shreds.

Positive or negative online comments are sometimes enough to affect a candidates’ perception of a company. For example, candidates who see a lack of considerate responses to customers on social platforms might have reason to believe that the company would treat them the same way, if they accept employment there.

That’s why securing top talent is contingent upon marketing departments keeping a close watch on what their customers are saying and being diligent about responding.

Apart from monitoring sentiment, there’s value in demonstrating that customer feedback is graciously acknowledged. It’s a sign of a healthy company that can adapt to change – the kind of company that everyone wants to work for.

While HR departments don’t typically control their company’s social media strategy, however they can take ownership of their presences on career-related sites like Kununu and Glassdoor to both monitor and respond to online comments, particularly the negative ones.

Taking the time to respond to employee and candidate feedback goes a long way toward building an honest conversation around your company’s value. HR leaders can also check in periodically with marketing colleagues to get an overview of what customers are saying, which can inform future talent-facing content.

Our current low unemployment rate means it’s a candidate’s market, and companies can’t afford to lose out on top talent. That’s why it’s important for HR departments to work with their marketing colleagues to implement strategies that capture a company’s unique culture and communicate a consistent message to candidates.

Becoming a 5 Minute Digital Marketer: Why Saying You Have No Time is BS

Digital marketing is a big topic and can be overwhelming for many recruiters due to the amount of information and choices available.

It is a simple fact of life that none of us have enough time, or resources available, and we would gladly take an extra 12 hours to get everything done that we are told we should do.

How to start becoming a digital marketer

However, don’t despair — there are numerous shortcuts, hacks, and simple ways to get some traction and make some progression with your digital marketing efforts.

The world is digital and you have no choice but to play in today’s digital world, so it’s high time you stop making the “I don’t have time” excuses, and instead, start working to gear up and truly become a 5 minute digital marketer. And remember, it’s all about digital visibility!

This short video is a really a good place where you can get started becoming a real 5 minute digital marketer:

WhoKnows Recruiter Tool Review

Today we are taking a look at the WhoKnows Recruiter tool which is part of the lineup of several different WhoKnows products, and it offers a variety of features we find valuable.

Here is what we liked the most:

  • The Size Of a whopping 307 million plus people, this tool combines people from all across the globe’s data from a variety of different sites, not just LinkedIn. While it could seem daunting, this size is a huge benefit and not a detraction. This is because the biggest feature we like is:
  • The Search Feature  For a basic search, you have all the must-have options: keywords, names, and location. The location is essential because you can search worldwide for pages of results, or you can handpick your location for just the candidates in the area you’re recruiting. If you really want to fine-tune your results, they do offer an advanced search option. Here you can delve into finer search results that include diversity, education, and experience.  It really helps check off all those boxes we need checking.Once you run your search WhoKnows Recruiter arranges the data into easy to read columns. These include candidate’s profiles which showcases their photos and companies, contact information, expertise, and experience. Under contact information, you can see email addresses, phone numbers, and even their personal social media pages.It is easy and quick to upload, download, and save information and searches.  Also exporting the profiles you want to contact is a breeze.
  • The Price  Their basic limited search features are free! This is perfect if you want to get familiar with the platform before committing, or if you just need it to supplement other tools. There are also a variety of other spending levels that include access to all the features, and each includes a free trial with no credit card needed to check it out.
  • The Dashboard – Create your own dashboard. You can use this to keep an eye on profiles and skill listings.

And Now Dean DaCosta:

 

If you’re interested in trying out the free version or signing up for the free trial, you can find more detailed information on the WhoKnows Website.  ~ Noel Cocca

Find COntact InformationDean Da Costa is best known for his work in the highly specialized secured clearance and mobile arenas, where he has been a top performing recruiter and sourcer.  Dean’s keen insight and creation of innovative tools and processes for enhancing and changing staffing has established Dean as one of the top authorities in sourcing and recruiting.

Connect with Dean at LinkedIn or follow @DeanDaCosta on Twitter.

Talent Acquisition is NOT Responsible for Retention, But Guess Who Is?

Sometimes, I can’t believe some of the things I see.

I just finished reading a very ill-informed article by a HR novice/Intern titled Employee Retention Should Be a Talent Acquisition Responsibility. This article boldly asserts that it’s now time for Talent Acquisition to become responsible for employee retention.

Wait a minute; let me calm down and extinguish my hair, which is on fire after absorbing this!

Here’s the gist of the “TA should be responsible for retention” argument:

As TA seems to be more directly affected by the employee retention, maybe it is time to rethink the way organizations split duties and responsibilities, and transfer some of them from HR to Talent Acquisition …

Employee retention is an issue which keeps employers awake at night. It is something that can create disruption in the way an organization works, but at the same time, people leaving the company can result in huge costs for the company.

To avoid such disruptions and costs, it is time to shift responsibilities within the HR department and make accountable for employee retention the HR sub-function that really cares about it and that is directly affected by its consequences. Talent acquisition team has more reasons to care about employee retention, and maybe it is the time it becomes responsible and gains full control of the practices and process which focus and aim at increasing employees’ retention.”

Did I really read that right? I thought the entire company is responsible for retention!

In my 20 years of leading global Talent Acquisition (and Employer Branding and Diversity Recruiting) at various global Fortune 500 companies (Lockheed, Monsanto, etc.) as well as some mid and small size established and startup firms, I have seen a lot of successful hiring processes and strategies for acquiring top-talent. I have also seen broad Company and HR approaches which have aided employee retention.

Here’s what TA is REALLY responsible for

Needless to say, I have also conducted more than my fair share of exit interviews and exit interview surveys, and never once did I hear, “I am leaving because the Talent Acquisition department failed to retain me.”

Let’s approach it this way — what is Talent Acquisition directly responsible for?

Here’s a news flash: TA is responsible for the acquisition of talent for the organization involves, among other things:

  • Building, maintaining and living the Employer Brand;
  • Writing the job descriptions, meeting with the hiring managers;
  • Posting the job vacancy inside (at first), and then externally;
  • Building networks and pipelines to pools of talent;
  • Accessing diverse individuals and ensuring equal access to opportunity for all;
  • Ensuring a fair and rigorous hiring and evaluation process;
  • Rigorous interviewing, assessment and screening of the resumes and candidates;
  • Creating the short list;
  • Hiring manager behavioral interview training;
  • Selling the position to prospective candidates and “closing the candidate;”
  • Communicating with the applicants/candidates;
  • Exhaustive reference and background checking (drug screening, criminal background checks, etc.);
  • Maintaining and updating (along with IT) the external and internal career websites;
  • Handling the internal job posting process and system;
  • Benchmarking competitor salary data (discovered in the candidate) offer process;
  • Helping to select (along with IT) the Applicant Tracking System;
  • Running the new hire orientation program in some cases;
  • Initially explaining the company’s benefit offerings;
  • Surveying the new hires, and in some cases, doing the exit interviews;
  • Etc., etc., etc.

Now, let’s turn to “who” is truly responsible for employee retention in an organization.

In my experience, I would submit that it is the entire company that is ultimately responsible for working to retain employees.

Here’s what helps to retain employees

Consider this: Many factors go into why someone decides to leave a company (or join one, for that matter). Some of these factors the organization can directly control, but others it can’t.

The company and all of of its departments, and more importantly, its offerings, are responsible for helping to retain (or even attract) individuals. Specifically, some of an organization’s critical offerings include:

  • A competitive compensation and benefits package, including “perks;”
  • The organization’s culture and overall environment;
  • Training and development opportunities;
  • Promotion opportunities, and the company’s market reputation as a fair and good place to work;
  • The quality of the organization’s managers, executive leadership team, CEO, C-Suite, etc;
  • The employee’s particular Hiring Manager and the associated team;
  • The company’s performance appraisal system;
  • The quality of the employee’s co-workers;
  • Annual raises and bonuses;
  • A state of the art computer system and its companion software;
  • The organization’s esprit de corps;
  • An attractive work location, and, reasonable commuting times;
  • “Best Place to Work” awards designations;
  • An equal opportunity workplace environment;
  • Etc., etc., etc.

Everybody in the organization is responsible for retention

So, should Employee Retention Should Be a Talent Acquisition Responsibility?

No, I don’t think so.

When we are all bunched together, we vividly see that “retention” is the responsibility of numerous internal departments which ultimately impact whether or not an individual or individuals choose to stay or leave the company.

These things all provide that special “organizational glue,” as I call it, for employee retention.

Surely all of this, cannot and should not be laid at the feet of the over-worked Talent Acquisition Department and its team of professionals. Keep in mind, again, this longstanding truism: the Talent Acquisition staff exists to acquire talent and bring that talent on board.

But since Talent Acquisition is the “first face” the candidate sees, in most cases, it is incumbent upon Talent Acquisition to set the first impression and proper tone with exemplary service delivery and lead the way.

In other words, it takes an entire company, all working together, to provide that much needed “retention glue.” And, you won’t be retaining very many employees without it. 

Here’s the Inside Scoop on What You Missed at #HRTX DC

As Jim Nantz might open things up: “Hello, friends.”

Last Thursday (Feb. 8), we had our first #HRTX 2018 event of the year in Arlington, VA at the home of Brazen, a chat/online event software platform for candidate attraction and engagement. 

At the #HRTX event we had four “tracks,” where all the participants attend one of three facilitated discussions and then interact with the tech vendors in their fourth block. The three discussions were about:

  1. Diversity and inclusion;
  2. Employee referral programs; and,
  3. College recruiting.

Before we get into it, one other word of thanks to Brian Fink, a senior technical sourcing recruiter who served as the MC (master of ceremonies) of this event, and he’ll MC future #HRTX events in a city near you. So golf clap it up for him. (See how Jim Nantz keeps tying in here?)

The broadest overview possible in one Post-It Note

In each facilitated discussion during the #HRTX DC event, participants (TA professionals) wrote down observations from that discussion and posted them on a common area wall at Brazen.

At the end of the day, we discussed some of the main observations. We had over 100 Post-It notes pinned to that wall, and this one might jump out more than any:

Remember this as we move on through.

Employee referrals: When do you pay the bonus?

This discussion on employee referrals was moderated in Arlington by Ben Gotkin, who’s also the founder of the Association of Talent Professionals, or ATAP.

One of the major discussion points was about the timing of the employee referral bonus. Many companies pay it 90 days or even 180 days out (six months), but paying the bonus more quickly (say, in one month) can create a better incentive for existing employees to make referrals. This has been backed up by research from Dr. John Sullivan and others.

Still, our own man William Tincup (President of RecruitingDaily) brought up a good point in these discussions: You want to make sure only “A-” and “B”-level talent are actively referring new candidates for open seats. If “D”-level talent refers employees, there’s a good chance the incoming hire may also be “D”-level talent.

It’s a hard truth we often don’t want to acknowledge.

One of those in attendance asked Tincup: “How do we know if someone is “A” or “D”?”

“You have to know,” he said (rightfully). “And if you don’t, think of it like this: if 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work, what 20 percent would you keeping in a financial reversal?” Those are the “A-” and “B”-talent, and that’s a direct reference to the Pareto Principle (aka, the 80-20 rule).

It’s important to also note here that referred hires have a 50 percent greater retention rate after six months on the job.

“The keys to any good referral process or program are responsiveness and speed,” said Gotkin several times throughout the day. “A lack of transparency absolutely kills referral programs. Communication is everything.”

Some strategies that attendees noted included:

  • Using affinity groups as a form of micro-targeting.
  • Using more team-based hiring so that the hiring manager only has a portion of the decision control.
  • Coach employees on how to approach their friends and former co-workers currently at other companies.
  • “Buy back” 5-10 hours of employee time a week (ask their manager) and train them on how to effectively recruit and source.
  • Worry less about “pipeline programs” from specific universities, as these can create homophily, or sameness of thought/approach — and that can doom companies in such a fast-moving time

College & University recruiting: It’s all about the technology

At #HRTX DC, this topic was moderated by Jo Weech.

These discussions centered a lot around technology — and especially social media. The inherent dichotomy is this: Although some sectors of recruiting are getting younger, it remains largely an area dominated by 40/50 somethings.

“The technologies you need to be using today weren’t around when some of these recruiters were in college, so there’s a learning curve,” admitted Weech.

Generation Z — those coming up after Millennials — aren’t using Facebook that much or even, for that matter, LinkedIn. You need to reach them with Snapchat and Instagram, such as McDonald’s did (high-volume hiring) with Snaplications. (The company just brought back Snaplications in late 2017 again.)

As with most hiring and sourcing, Weech noted several times, “relationships are everything.” Most candidates do ultimately want to know what’s in it for them — either in terms of salary, culture, potential for advancement, skill development, etc. You can leverage employees who went to those schools or served as interns. They can define the candidate experience and employee experience as they consider applying.

One concern that pops up in many discussions: How do you reach people on Snap and Insta if you don’t have dedicated social, or if marketing (which typically owns social) isn’t speaking to recruiting?

Again: the answer is communication.

Be clear about what you want and what you want to convey to your future workers on social. This is often called “employer branding,” and while that’s one way to describe it, really what you’re doing is showcasing what the experience of working there might be like. That’s it.

A TA professional from AKQA talked about the “Future Lions” program, which is a global student competition to attract the best talent possible. The winners receive an offer to any AKQA office in the world and an apartment for a year. Most companies admittedly cannot do this at the same scale AKQA can, and that was discussed, but there is potential for local “hack-a-thons” or problem-solving competitions (i.e. case study competitions) to draw out some of the best talent in your area. You can consider making them offers based on these types of competitions, whether they’re global in nature or not. (Most won’t be global, no.)

Remember this: Per most statistics, 72 percent of recruiting across multiple industries is happening through referrals. When you combine Gotkin’s session and Weech’s session, then, it’s extremely important to think about how you’re reaching potential candidates and how they’re perceiving you.

Diversity and inclusion: More than skin color or gender

This #HRTX DC facilitation was led by Torin Ellis.

As you would expect, this was the most emotional discussion, with one recruiter from Capital One referring to diversity and inclusion discussions as “the dream deferred.”

One of the common themes here was that diversity and inclusion needs to be owned by all, as opposed to executives pushing it to HR or sub-populations that look like they should be owning diversity.

“If you value meritocracy, diversity will happen more naturally” was said by several TA professionals throughout the day.

Another common refrain: “Diversity shouldn’t just be a metric,” because that leads itself to box-checking. Marcia Call, who was at the event, actually wrote a LinkedIn post on this semi-recently titled “Diversity is a process, not a word.”

In the same vein, one recruiter compared diversity processes to going to the gym.

You don’t go to the gym for one day and expect to look like Mark Wahlberg. You need to put in time and effort, and then sometime down the road, you see results. But too many companies still view diversity as something that can be a “quarterly initiative” or something similar, and that’s not enough time to see results.

We also talked about the old CFO-CEO joke:

CFO: “What if we train these people and they leave for competitors?”

CEO: “What if we don’t train them … and they stay?”

One of the concerns was that companies are risk-averse, and like to do things the way they’ve always done things — which limits opportunities for training, which in turn limits increased efforts at D&I. There are companies countering this, however: Infosys University is one example, as is the Google-Coursera partnership.

These efforts at learning and training are important because diversity is more than just skin color or gender. While those are incredibly important, we’re also talking about the need for cognitive diversity and experience. A cluster of people who all think, look, and act the same is a company ripe for disruption.

And yes, it is true that Google and Infosys have billions of dollars and can offer more robust learning programs — and, indeed, it’s also true that Google’s own diversity has been questioned.

These are complicated, extremely nuanced issues — which is why it’s so important to be having conversations about them and viewing them as real business initiatives as opposed to a box to check.

As Torin noted in one session:

If you want to understand the commitment to diversity, when you go into a new company, ask to see the meeting and travel schedules of the top decision-makers. See who they are meeting with and traveling to see. Then you can see how big a commitment to diversity and inclusion there really is.”

Very powerful — and true.

We also talked about GapJumpers, a blind screening process, and BayAreaCodes as a way to source talent. Several TA professionals brought up New America’s Better Life Lab as well.

Next up: #HRTX heads to Dallas/Fort Worth

There are seven (7) more #HRTX events this year, and our next #HRTX 2018 event on March 8, 2018, will be in Dallas at 9 am at the TopGolf HQ.

The #HRTX event runs from 9 am-2 pm, and there’s a host of incredible insights throughout the day.

The learnings will be as deep in Dallas as what went down at #HRTX DC this month. If you’re a recruiter (or know someone who is) in north Texas or within a reasonable travel distance, you definitely should consider joining us in March.

I’ll be at this event as well (I’m based there), and this time I’ll be looking to speak to more vendors for the recap article. So if you’re a subject matter expert or have a tech solution that can benefit TA professionals, please reach out as well. I would love to connect.