Boolean – Just the Basics, Please!

I recently started teaching a refresher course for Pinstripe – Boolean Basics. Providing this training has given me some great insight to the experience of other recruiters and I have realized a few things about my own experience with Boolean searching, continued learning and how much a recruiters’ ability to grow his/her skill set impacts a company’s bottom line.

In college I was first exposed to Boolean search methodology for a research course I was taking. I had no idea that only three years later I would land a job in the recruiting industry. More interestingly, I spent the first two years of my recruiting career “posting and praying” that the right person would apply or that I would be able to pillage my network for the ideal candidate. I spent those years not knowing that I could use the Boolean search methodology I learned in my college research course to source candidates!

I am sure that some of you are reading this and thinking, “Duh, Tegan! What did you think recruiting was?” What a great question! Don’t you wonder how many talented people are out there in recruiting roles and are not being taught the basics of sourcing? Sometimes, in your organization, you just need to take it back to the basics.

Recruiters are fantastic people in my opinion (but I could be biased). Good recruiters are creative, self-directed, hungry to learn and eager to please. Most of us are notoriously Type “A” perfectionists and we really hate to find out that we don’t know everything. Here at Pinstripe, we refer to ourselves as Type "P." The challenge for a driven recruiting professional is taking the time to keep learning in the midst of filling requisitions and being a good partner to hiring managers.

There is a second key piece here though; does the organization the recruiter works for foster an environment of learning and promote the sharing of ideas and best practices? Is there a leader who is keeping a pulse on recruiting trends and tools and cascading that information down? Or is the organization focused only on metrics and the bottom line?

The math is simple here (and this is my favorite kind of math). If a recruiter isn’t given the basics and offered a chance to keep up with changing trends and educated on new tools, they fall behind in their goals. When a recruiter doesn’t hit his/her goals, seats stay open, productivity lags, employees across departments work double-time (triple in the current economic climate) and the bottom line suffers. Your recruiter’s productivity and skill directly impacts your organization’s profitability.

How did I spend the first two years of my career not knowing that Boolean is a valuable piece of my job? I, along with everyone else in the company, was focused on the bottom line. We were building a business and focused on key pieces of what it took to get there; land clients, find candidates, fill jobs, repeat. We didn’t take the time to look at the factors that fall in between.

Human Resources Leaders, as you look inside your recruiting department or at the recruiting strengths of your RPO partner, are the employees being offered training and development? Are they plugged into what is going on outside of your company’s needs? Can they tell you about a new trend, trick or tool they’ve heard about or used in the past six months?

Recruiters, are you taking at least an hour a week to read up on industry publications, joining professional associations, combing LinkedIn or Twitter for interesting bits of knowledge?

Do tell: how do you stay on top of the ever-changing trends and technologies to ensure that you keep learning?

Post contributed by Tegan Trovato
Follow me on Twitter @TeganTrovato or connect with me on LinkedIn

Best Practices in Social Recruiting [Infographic]

This infographic highlights tips and best practices from the Pinstripe Best Practices in Social Recruiting Webinar.

Post contributed by DJ Huzjak
Follow me on Twitter @DJHuzjak or connect with me on LinkedIn

Are Your Candidates on Pinterest?

Pinterest is the newest trend to hit the social networking scene. Pinterest is a content sharing service that allows members to “pin” images, videos and other objects to their pinboard. Essentially, it is a virtual pinboard for any information, images and videos you want to come back to in the future.

It is the fastest growing network since Facebook and accounts for over 3% of all web referral traffic. That is a huge percent for a site that was only launched a mere 2 years ago!

Typical user demographics include: (note that these are not correlated)

• Predominantly female (68.2%)
• Age 25-34 (27.4%)
• Income $100,000 (28.3%)
• Geographic  (East south central: Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee)
• 50% have children

Now what does all of this mean for recruitment? Well for one, it is another resource pool of potential job seekers just waiting to be found. Though there probably aren’t too many candidates using Pinterest as a job seeking tool yet, it can definitely be used for sourcing. You can search candidates by keywords (i.e. RN or nursing) and see who is following certain organizations or trend boards to get an idea of what the candidates interests are. You can also search by location and individuals can add their Facebook and Twitter profiles.

Candidates can also use Pinterest during their job search efforts in numerous ways, including to:

• find companies that they want to work for.  Pin boards can help job seekers get a sense of the company’s culture, priorities, outreach strategies and overall tone.
• create a visual resume, portfolio, etc.
• find career advice from college career centers
• find career advice from career experts
• insprie themselves to find what makes them happy

Pinterest is still an invite-only site, but it is easy to join. As long as you know someone who has an account, they can send you an invite and you’re set to go!

Do you see Pinterest being used as a tool for recruitment besides sourcing in the future? How are you using Pinterest now?

Post contributed by Brittney Horn
Follow me on Twitter @BrittneyLHorn or connect with me on LinkedIn

Sourcing VLOG: Basic Sourcing Skills [Episode 2]

Sourcing is an important skill in recruiting today to find candidates, especially for tough-to-fill positions. More and more organizations are looking for their recruiters to have sourcing skills. In this video blog, Tony discusses three keys to basic sourcing skills that every recruiter should have:

1. Learn Basic Boolean
2. Research in Google
3. Be Creative (Think Like Your Candidates)

This is an unbiased recruiting video blog that was produced by me - Tony Stemen (Sourcing Tony), Sr. Sourcing Recruiter at Pinstripe. I've been in the Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) industry for over five years, with most of that time focused on Sourcing Strategy & Candidate Generation.

Post contributed by Tony Stemen
Follow me on Twitter @TonyStemen or connect with me on LinkedIn

Narrowcasting Using Gmail Ads – An Email Inbox Back Door

Good recruiters have a lot of neat tricks up their sleeves to get into a candidate’s email inbox.  We’ve created an entire industry around Boolean search strings, deep web searches and cobbling together any type of public information to maybe, just maybe, land an email in the inbox of a highly desired candidate.

As another tool to add to your toolbox, using pay-per-click Gmail ads is a great way to open up the “backdoor” of a candidate’s inbox. Gmail ads are simply contextual display ads that display on the sides or top of a webpage while a user reads their email.  They populate based on a matching of words in the candidate’s inbox and the keywords an advertiser selects.  For example, a person getting a lot of emails about fishing will see a lot of ads for boats, tackle and rods.

For recruiters, this presents a way to target candidates without having their email address. With fairly high accuracy, you can bet that nurses get emails about nursing and physicists get emails about physics. So, setting up ad campaigns with relevant keywords like “C#,” “VB.NET,” or “Visual Studio,” you have a pretty high likelihood of finding a software developer.

If a candidate applies to a competitor or similar position, the “Thank you for applying for our Director of Oncology” auto-response is a great keyword match, as well. I always recommend the verbatim job title keyword for just this reason. People also often keep a copy of their resume or cover letter in their email box.  This contains just the keywords that will help you make a good match.

One advantage over deep web searches, is that they mostly find company email addresses. I submit to you that a candidate is more likely to respond to a recruiter’s email from her personal email than the one the company can monitor.

When talking about pay-per-click ads, the question always arises, “Does anyone actually click on these?” They do, although the response rates are low. But, Google has exceptional tracking tools that help keep your click and conversion data to measure campaign performance.

Here’s how it works:

1. Set up a Google Adwords Account
2. Set up a Campaign and Adgroup
3. In your Campaign, under Managed placements, select Add placement and type in gmail.com

Of course, there are lots of nuances to creating effective online ads. Here are a few things to remember:

1. Always get the user directly to the content you want them to see in one click
2. Make your ad copy compelling and short
3. Choose your keywords carefully to ensure you’re hitting the right audience

Gmail ad campaigns are an interesting way to get into the inbox of difficult to find candidates. By using a specific set of keywords, you can advertise directly to the folks you want to talk to without having to worry about those you don’t. A good recruiter’s toolbox can’t have enough good tools, and for certain positions, Gmail ads can be just the right one.

Post contributed by Adam Godson
Follow me on Twitter @adamgodson or connect with me on LinkedIn

Life of a Recruiter: Can I please have a few more hours in my day?

As I start my Monday morning with a cup coffee and an inbox full of emails I start to wonder how I am ever going to get through everything that the day is presenting me with.

As a recruiter finding top talent and building client relationships is very important. I’ve also found that it is very important for Recruiters to be experienced, savvy and exceptional planners.  

A question I have asked myself is how do I get there? How do I start my day prepared and ready to take on the challenges that are waiting for me?

From my own experience in being a part of the recruiting industry, and from working with very talented individuals, I have a learned quite a few planning tricks to help me stay ahead of the curve so I can keep my eye focused on finding top talent for my clients.

1. Use your Outlook Calendar. Recruiters have a lot of meetings. It helps to block out time Monday morning and Friday afternoon to plan for your week and the upcoming week.  You can also color code everything in your calendar, which helps you see what is urgent vs. a standard meeting. All of my urgent projects and meetings I color code in red, all of my scheduled prescreening of candidates are in blue, etc.

2. Use Outlook as a tool. Create folders and sub-folders in your inbox to help organize and manage the amount of emails you have coming through. I personally keep all emails in my inbox that I need to respond to, and I color code them by importance. Once I have completed the task I then move the email into the appropriate folder.  I have worked with Recruiters that schedule reminders, which is helpful as well. It is truly a matter of preference, but it is vital to use your outlook as a tool.

3. Create a List. Lists are no longer just for grocery shopping or errands on the weekend. It is important to know what  you have going on week to week, what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done. I personally rely heavily on my outlook calendar for this, but I also keep a separate word document ‘To Do List’ open at all times on my computer. I break it down into a few categories – what is due today, what is not as urgent but due during the week, and miscellaneous items. The miscellaneous items group is very important, because someone may ask you to do something during a phone conversation and you are able to jot the task down quickly and go back to it later.

4. Become an expert at using your applicant tracking system. This tool is specifically built to benefit you in your role. Continue to learn outside of just understanding the basics. Schedule a meeting with other recruiters to understand ‘best practices’ or unique features in the ATS system you are using for your client.  Learn how to run reports to better support your recruiting strategies for each position you work on. Always remember to use this tool to its full advantage.

There are so many ways to stay organized with all of the technology today, and as a Recruiter is it important to embrace this in order to stay ahead of the curve.  Without planning it is impossible to reach goals. Ask your colleagues what they do and what tools they use to plan out their week, and create a strategy that works best for you.

This quote caught my attention and is something that is worth sharing, “For every minute spent in organizing an hour is earned.” – Anonymous. By planning ahead I cannot promise that you will still not be asking for more hours in the day, but I can promise you that you will stay on top of deadlines and feel pro-active in your approach.

What planning tools do you use to help organize your calendar and to do lists?

What tips do you have that might help other recruiters organize their day so they can keep their eye on the important goal of finding top talent?

Post contributed by Michele Capra
Connect with me on LinkedIn

Social Recruiting Doesn’t Begin and End with Job Posts

Social recruiting is not an easy task. It is simple to post positions routinely to social media websites; but that won’t keep job searchers engaged and coming back for more. So, what is it that will keep them engaged and will continue to drive traffic to your social recruiting space?

I have been a member of Twitter since its inception. To date I have maxed out at around 450 followers (but last time I checked I was somewhere close to 326). The way I use the site is to recruit followers, influencers, mavens, and of course, people who may be able to help me in the recruiting space. Recently I have found myself tweeting more like a celebrity than an active contributor. The drop in my followers should serve as an indication of the need to stay engaging, active and focused.

Becoming too self serving is a risk we all run while engaging an audience on Twitter.  Our days are busy and we have goals that we need to meet. It is too easy to fall into the routine of posting content that we think will help us meet those goals instead of posting content that is actually of interest and beneficial  to our audience.

What can be learned from past mistakes; considering your audience should be paramount in order to gain and retain followers? As a one-time avid user of the Twitter sphere I have this to advise:  if you are to use Twitter as a routine recruiting tool, you must stay engaging. Or, as Brad Pitt’s character, Billy Bean, stated in Money Ball, “Adapt or die.” That does not simply mean posting positions with the hash tags #jobs, #nowhiring, or #recruiting. This is a popular method that has spilled over into LinkedIn feeds, but is not attractive to many job searchers. What adapting to the audience means is simple. Adding personality to your posts does much more for an audience than posting a job that needs to be filled as soon as possible. Not being self serving is difficult on all social media platforms. Sharing articles about recruiting and job searching may seem like the best route, but letting your personality or your company culture shine through is important too.

When I was presented the opportunity for my onsite interview at Pinstripe, that morning I looked for talking points on Pinstripe’s twitter feed (and I am glad that I did). I happened to show up on a day when the office was learning ways to stay fit and active in the office. Many were attending a seminar on different exercises that one can do while at their desk. This not only showed the personality of the company, but it also prepared me for what I was walking in to.

What can be learned from this? Social recruiting does not begin and end with job posts. It involves courting your audience and keeping them interested in following the brand called YOU. How do you stay engaging? Simple, by staying engaged.

Post contributed by Justin Dunn
Follow me on Twitter @JustDunn10 or connect with me on LinkedIn

A Peak Through the Glassdoor at Inside Connections

Glassdoor.com is shaking up the culture of online professional networking, the world currently dominated by LinkedIn. Glassdoor is already the leading information provider to job seekers, providing an in-depth look behind the scenes at companies and their interviewing processes. With the recent launch of their new Facebook App, Inside Connections, Glassdoor is trying to advance where and how professionals network online.

Inside Connections leverages your Facebook friends to create a valuable source of legitimate networking information. You see a job posting that interests you? Check Inside Connections to see if a Facebook friend works there (perhaps that random middle school classmate that you connected with because they KEPT friending you even after you ignored them a dozen times). Have an interview coming up? Job seekers can use Inside Connections to see if they have any 'ins' at the company and then partner that with the detailed inside information already on Glassdoor to better prepare.

Inside Connections is user friendly. You can log into Inside Connections with your Facebook profile and instantly a professional network is created and mapped for you based your Facebook friends. And even as a fan of Glassdoor's mission, I was impressed with the ease and depth of the information the app provided with little time investment on my part. I do wish the app wouldn't request that you invite all of your friends (who doesn't want to ignore more app requests on Facebook?!?!?!). And sure Glassdoor will have to find a way for users to post a different profile picture for the Inside Connections profile. Despite those issues, Glassdoor is onto something with this app and the combination of this app and the information housed within Glassdoor's website are definitely tools both companies and recruiters should be aware of because they could change the way we all operate.

Companies must pay attention to employee satisfaction, which has plummeted during the recent recession, because employee's experiences and satisfaction is incredibly easy to share. If a company harbors a terrible culture and views work/life balance as a dirty word, new applicants are going to learn before it's too late because they can easily tap into current and former employees. As the economy gets better, companies with dissatisfied employees are going to see an exodus of current staff members, AND find it more difficult to recruit new employees because tools like Glassdoor's Inside Connections and Facebook in general are making it easier to share these experiences. Meanwhile companies with happy employees are going to reap the benefits and win any battles for talent that may occur.

Recruiters must be aware of this upcoming shift and figure out ways to utilize these new tools. Companies are already seeing a shift in hiring and recruiting on Facebook, and Facebook isn't even trying. Sure Monster and other job searching companies have Facebook apps, but Glassdoor's Inside Connections is the first app that's main goal is to connect people professionally using the power of Facebook. The task for recruiters is to stay current and find ways to tap into what Glassdoor and Facebook have to offer to continue to find and hire the best candidates.

I'd recommend taking Inside Connections for your own test spin. See what you think. Do you think Glassdoor is onto something? Do you think people's desire to separate their personal (Facebook) and their professional (LinkedIn) is so strong as to limit a connection between the two? I'd love to hear your comments.

Post contributed by Phillip Marquart
Follow me on Twitter @pdmarquart or connect with me on LinkedIn

Sourcing VLOG: Utilizing Passions in Recruiting [Episode 1]

Finding your passion within the recruiting industry.

When I started in the Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) industry over five years ago I started doing phone screens and quickly realized that I wasn't passionate about what I was doing. One of the great things about the RPO industry is that there are so many facets to be involved in. So, I sought out other parts of the industry and I realized I enjoyed sourcing - figuring out the best ways to find the candidates to fit specific positions. What are you passionate about in the recruiting industry?

This is an unbiased recruiting video blog that was produced by me - Tony Stemen (Sourcing Tony), Sr. Sourcing Recruiter at Pinstripe. I've been in the Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) industry for over five years, with most of that time focused on Sourcing Strategy & Candidate Generation.

Post contributed by Tony Stemen
Follow me on Twitter @TonyStemen or connect with me on LinkedIn

What’s love got to do with it?

As I sift through interview guides for different positions - I wonder…

As I review websites and articles searching for the next best interview questions to ask - I wonder…

As I substitute a question in my interview guide with a new one I find as I try to compile the perfect combination of questions to ensure we’re asking the right questions to help identify the right candidates - I wonder…

Is all of this really necessary?

As you read this now you may be forming an opinion on the outrageous thoughts above and wondering where I am going with this. Recently I read a compelling article entitled, “Top Executive Recruiters agree there are only three true job interview questions” contributed to by George Bradt - and I will admit it made me laugh out loud.  It also made me wonder. Bradt contends that the only three true job interview questions are:

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

I would imagine many of us are now considering this and wondering – “Is this possible? Is it really so simple?” Most likely not, but it does make one pause for a moment and think about what questions you are asking and why. Do you currently spend so much time asking technical questions that you under value or flat out disregard the need to appreciate if your candidate will be the right “fit” for the team or department?

I enjoyed this article by George, in that he talked about any question you may pose will be in some way a variation of one of the three questions above. This is a helpful reminder to us all to ensure we are considering the full spectrum of needs the hiring manager/department has and keeping these thoughts in mind as you work on filling the opportunity.

As recruiters, we are motivated to show our expertise and passion with an appreciation of the technical, which of course is valid, but let us all continue to work and keep in mind the importance of the cultural fit of the potential team member and the team. To borrow a final thought from the legendary Tina Turner to illustrate the last final important piece of the puzzle, “What’s love got to do with it!?”

I encourage you to review George Bradt’s article, “Top Executive Recruiters agree there are only three true job interview questions.”

Post contributed by Jeff Jurinak
Follow me on Twitter @JeffJurinak or connect with me on LinkedIn