Archive for Recruiting

Of Recruiters and Angels

Lesa Evans / / No comments

On Monday I attended a Meetup event for entrepreneurs in Santa Clarita – what a treat to be only 15 minutes away for a change! The group is SCV Startup and the speaker was Bob Aholt, an angel investor and screener with the Pasadena Angels.

I learned a lot from Bob’s presentation titled “How Investors Really See Your Startup”, and am so glad I attended. Bob discussed the objectives and motives angels have in mind when reviewing startups. Specifically, angel investors are generally invested in multiple companies at a time, they use a very blunt formula for their first pass assessments, they really want to see a strong team (I took personal issue with this topic, but that’s for another post) and they reject far more businesses than not. What really surprised me though, was how similar the landscape is for both angel investors and recruiters.

Apparently investors are generally viewed as being slimy, greedy, arrogant, and lecherous. Hey, that sounds an awful lot like the sentiments of IT folks for recruiters – how interesting, indeed. So there I was, in the meeting, holding my own and just trying to learn about the world of raising capital, and I find myself also drawn into exploring what it must be like to be an angel who has to tell hundreds of people “no” every year. I have to do the same with candidates of course, so it’s very similar. It’s also similar that we screen and reject more people than we actually talk with, and the people we have to say no to are emotionally invested in our answer; their finances are attached to the deal, there is a lot of money involved, and their egos are inevitably bruised at the end. Of course the rejected are not bad people, they haven’t done anything “wrong”, we probably like them a lot in fact, and sometimes it just sucks to tell people no.

Any thought of ever approaching an investor (outside of a dedicated meeting) with my pitch at the tip of my tongue has been properly dashed. I’m always happy to talk with people about their careers, their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interviews, etc. until it involves them wanting me to do something with the information. I talk with every single person who is referred to me and offer everyone the same opportunity to call me any time, request introductions to folks in my network, and generally count on me to assist where and when I can. What I cannot do is get someone a job! Saying recruiters get people jobs is a crude way to describe what we do. I don’t get credit for any hire beyond making the introduction. I can’t make anyone do well in an interview, nor can I make a hiring manager hire someone they don’t feel comfortable with. Now I realize that investors are in the same boat – having to navigate a terrain where the products (people/startups) walk, talk, lie, are disorganized, cheat, flub questions, forget how to have a dialogue, offend important people, or just don’t have the right combination of skills and experience to be the right person for the given investor or hiring manager.

Somehow it’s nice to know there are others who walk a path similar to mine. And what I got out of that meetup was a whole lot more than I ever thought possible. Kudos to SCV Startup.

 

Category: Agency Recruiting, Corporate Recruiting, Internal Recruiting, Recruiting, Startups, Uncategorized / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The True Value of Referrals – It’s Greater Thank You Think

Lesa Evans / / No comments

Employee referral programs work for organizations that promote and manage them well. Even companies without formal employee referral programs have some awareness of the employee referrals they encounter. Since organizations have their own unique cultures, the definition of “well” is arbitrary. Having recruiters at the forefront of the referral effort is a great way to turbo-boost the number and quality of the referrals received for professional level positions.

Most recruiting teams use a very forward-thinking approach to referrals and it works well; some referrals are received and most are followed up on. To be even more successful, the recruiters can do some or all the following:

1. Consistently market the message
2. Close every candidate
3. Close every referral
4. Remember the little people

Recruiting is a marketing function in multiple ways. Part of the role of the recruiter is to sell each candidate on the opportunity they’re considering so that if/when an offer comes, the candidate is prepared and excited to accept. In another direction, each candidate a recruiter encounters is a potential customer or referrer of customers to the products/services of the business (with a few exceptions of all sizes). Each candidate is also a source of referrals for other current and future opportunities within the organization. Therefore it is imperative that the recruiters use every opportunity to market the business, the opportunity, and future/other opportunities to each and every candidate.

Every email should contain some reference to how wonderful referrals are, either in the body of the message or as a line of the signature. Be creative, be on message, and be thorough! Marketing the message goes beyond the candidate pipeline, too. From chatting with hiring managers or leaders from other areas of the organization to staying informed of big news for the organization or products – be in the know to capture more and more opportunities to spread awareness throughout the organization.

Making sure each and every candidate is closed is one of the simplest, yet rare practices in the recruiting field. When candidates are asked why they don’t like recruiters, often it’s because recruiters have a reputation of being fair-weather friends. Every single candidate should be contacted (by phone is best) to have an opportunity to provide feedback on their experience and to receive information about how the process will be completed. If they have been rejected already then reject them; if the hiring manager is still considering their options then let the candidate know you’ll be in touch within a specific amount of time and then do it. Telling candidates they have been rejected is not fun, and it never really stops being a painful process altogether. But it goes so far in endearing them to your company/brand that they will not only have a high opinion of the company/brand, but they will actually refer other people to interview for the same role if they had a good interview experience. And the key to having a good interview experience is for the recruiter (or designated recruiting dept. representative) to close the loop with honest-as-possible dialogue.

To illustrate the point above, imagine two outcomes from one scenario:
1. A software engineer arrives late to an interview. The candidate called the recruiter 15 minutes earlier to let them know. Of course everyone is upset and feeling that this is unprofessional and unacceptable behavior for a potential employee of xyz company.
a. The recruiter communicates these feelings to the candidate in one or more forms and the candidate is now in a pressure cooker to perform well and make up for the faux pas.
b. The interview goes okay, but not great. The hiring manager didn’t feel the candidate handled themselves well and will not be a good fit for the team.
c. The candidate is escorted out at the end of the interview by someone from either the engineering or recruiting team, and no one is speaking. An awkward goodbye, and the candidate is gone.
d. The recruiter doesn’t follow up with the candidate because everyone could tell that the interview went poorly. Besides, the candidate was late, so it’s no loss because the team/organization is aiming for A+ superstars.
e. The candidate leaves feeling they had just escaped a gauntlet and cannot wait to put some miles between them. The relationship that never really started is now over, and the message carried forth is that the company is ridiculous and unsupportive of normal, human behaviors (true or untrue is irrelovent).

2. Same as above except the recruiter contacts the interviewing team to let them know in advance and only mentions that the candidate is running behind. If/when the manager complains about the tardiness, the recruiter reassures them that it’s a common human error and should not be counted in the wrap up unless there is additional evidence of an unprofessional demeanor.
a. The recruiter reassures the candidate that everything is fine and not to worry; just travel safe and focus on being relaxed and not frazzled.
b. The interview goes okay, but not great. The hiring manager didn’t feel the candidate handled themselves well and will not be a good fit for the team.
c. The hiring manager and recruiter sincerely thank the candidate for coming in and taking the time to interview and someone pleasantly escorts the candidate out.
d. The recruiter follows up to let the candidate know that the team decided to move forward with another candidate whose experience and skills were spot on for the role. They then thank the candidate again for interviewing and staying patient throughout the process. Reassurances are given, an invitation to apply for other roles in the future is extended, and an invitation is given to connect on LinkedIn and/or interact with the organization via Facebook, Twitter, or Google +.

The same candidate who is not a fit for the organization can be a dead end or the first real step in a relationship that has a greater likelihood of generating referrals for the business in the form of customers and/or potential employees.

When people are on their way up the success ladder, we all kid around in reminding them to remember “ the little people”; those who helped the successful person on their path. The same goes for candidates who have the opportunity to interact with the recruiting team – all of them should be automatically signed up or offered to receive the organization’s future messages via social media or standard newsletters periodically. All of these people should be reminded why the organization is great and how much referrals mean to the team. Keep in touch with these little people to widen the reach and scope of referrals across the board.

The value of referrals is almost immeasurable, but when the perspective is shifted from forward-focused efforts to holistic marketing best practices, the changes are significant and real. The costs associated with the practice are minimal. In fact there is no reason for any expenses to be incurred to implement the first steps. The only challenge is the commitment and discipline to deliver a great recruiting experience for the team, the candidate, the hiring manager, and ultimately, the business.

Category: Recruiting /