Hiring

Hiring Good Programmers?

December 23rd, 2009

I found a good sample of Joel Spolsky’s thoughts on hiring good programmers:

This is seriously good content, and some really awesome reading.

Oh, and concerning Hitting the High Notes…

Remember, there are exactly as many notes as are required. No more, no less.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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Appreciating Your Interviewee

August 11th, 2008

Bottom-Line Up Front: Most managers don’t prepare well for their interviewees… That’s why most managers suck at it make mediocre hiring decisions.

You’re a busy professional. You have a lot on your plate, your team is working overtime, and that ugly deadline is fast-approaching.

Finally, the recruiter calls you with an interviewee. They send over the resume, and you skim it, but mostly, the recruiter sounds confident this person is the match, so you have them setup the interview.

Days go by, and your calendar reminds you that your interview is about to start in 5 minutes.

“Oh, yeah…. the interview…” you say absently as your mind races to find the resume you are sure you printed off.

After a few minutes of fumbling, you think to yourself, “hey, its not my interview… they should have a copy of their resume, if they want this job…” and you head down to the lobby to meet them.

Sound Familiar?

If it does, then you’ve got a serious train wreck about to occur. You, being unprepared for an interview, may be the absolute worst thing you can do for your company apart from posting those New Years Party photos on the Internet (you know, the ones that mysteriously appeared on your camera).

Here are three things hiring managers often forget when they are interviewing and, yes, these things really do matter:

  1. Read and annotate the resume beforehand:
    Chances are, they spent hours, and possibly some money on getting that “resume.doc” in your email.

    • Are you sure everything they say is real? Is it relevant?
    • What can you learn about them by the way they phrased the objectives and accomplishments of their last three positions.
    • What does their cover letter really say about them?
    • Don’t you think you should make a note to clarify what they mean by “some coursework completed” next to their claim to a Harvard MBA?
  2. Prepare Questions:
    If you don’t know what you’re going to ask, the truth is, you won’t ask the right ones. “Going with your gut” should be reserved for the craps table, not your organization’s retirement account’s future.
  3. Pay Attention to them:
    The interview is as much of an opportunity for the candidate to investigate YOU and your company. If you rush through, don’t seem interested in them as a human being or that you’re not really listening, they will translate that to mean you will overwork them, not appreciate them and, in the long-run, they won’t be satisfied with working for you very long.

Summary:

By their 30s, most people have had enough “bad bosses” to write long, lengthy books on the matter (not fun, nice-to-read books, but enough content to fill them up!).

Make no mistake about it, before they make any kind of move at all, superstar employees today are sizing you up as what kind of boss you are going to be.

Superstar talent want thriving, engaging, challenging environments and bosses that will help them thrive and flourish and introduce them to the right people that will help them make the next two or three career moves.

The upside, for you, is that you will forever be known as “the one who finds the superstars”. Don’t forget, when that new hire is getting recognition from the top level of the company, YOUR NAME will be in lights right alongside them… but, the slightest whiff from you that you don’t care, you’re “very busy”, or that you don’t appreciate or value what they, as a human being, bring to the table… well, kiss the chance to hire that person goodbye.

Isn’t that worth 10-15 minutes of prep time on your part, and asking two or three relevant “human” questions during your interview?

Popularity: 27% [?]

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4 Factors Creating Utah Workforce Funk

July 7th, 2008

There’s no question something interesting is happening with Utah’s professional/technical workforce right now, and I think there are no less than four competing factors at play any business-owner should be paying very close attention to:

  1. Real and Wage Inflation
  2. Intense Competition for Talent
  3. Corporate cost-cutting
  4. High Energy/Commute Costs

The hardest part to pin-down is that the economic indicators show a market that is schizophrenic. Utah’s high tech job market is part recessionary and part booming. There’s both signs of weakness, but signs of boom-cycle madness.

If there were ever a time to unveil the invisible hand and see what’s really going to happen to this economy over the next six-12 months, now is the time… those who navigate this juncture well stand to gain a lot of opportunity, while these massive icebergs of clashing forces might very well crush entire sections of our economy and workforce if we’re not paying close attention.

Real and Wage Inflation

The Fed won’t admit there’s inflation yet, even though everyone else is worried about it… but one trip to the grocery store tells you a dollar doesn’t go as far these days. This plays into issues 3 and 4, and is the driver for issue 2.

Bottom-line: If the same amount of money you made last year isn’t cutting it, talented people will demand higher wages for the same jobs they were doing a year ago.

If the company they currently work for won’t pay up, no problem, they’ll just move.

Intense Competition for Talent

As a recruiter, I use every tool I can find. The job boards, these days, are as silent and un-exciting as a Hillary Clinton rally in Payson. The war for top-talent has moved from remote, tactical operations using unmanned email probes and remote-controlled resume submittal to (continuing the analogy) hand-to-hand, street fighting. Candidates are being approached at every angle, from every recruiter, in very creative ways…. and they’re getting hired, too!

At the Blogger Dinner last Thursday, Steve Spencer quipped something like: This is just like the late 90s. It doesn’t matter if you can actually do any of the stuff on your resume, but if you have the right acronyms, you’re hired!

(And, yes, Steve’s company is hiring… tell ‘em I sent ya)

Corporate Cost-Cutting

Client after client of mine has issued cost-cutting warnings. Several more companies are putting in-place hiring freezes, readjusting their priorities, laying people off or closing down all together.

This hyper-sensitive focus on costs can be unacceptable to a workforce already in high-demand.

One jobseeker for a Salt Lake-based IT Outsourcing firm told me last Thursday that his current employer has”implemented a new performance-based pay plan where you get a “very low base wage” and, if you hit certain quotas every day, you will get paid more.

The story goes that these employees, if they are industrious little busy bees, can earn even more than they have been making, but the employees don’t quite see it that way.

    “Its a joke,” my jobseeker friend told me. “I’ve done the math. It is impossible to make anything close to what I have been making. I am outta here.”

There’s bound to be losses when a company needs to refocus. A recent article by Tiffany Hsu in the Baltimore Sun explains this very well:

    “It costs a lot to let someone go,” said Don McNamara, president of Heritage Associates Inc., a management consultant company based in Laguna Niguel, Calif. “So we’ve got to circle the wagons and pull in a little bit.”

    Businesses, he said, can cross-train employees in multiple roles to boost productivity and restructure to remove inefficiencies…. but employers can’t cut too many expenses and perks without risking driving workers away.

    “You’ve got to be sensitive to your people and make sure morale isn’t one of the things you cut,” McNamara said. “If this comes as a surprise to them, they might be tempted to update their resumes at another company.”

High Energy/Commute Costs

Even thinking about high gas/energy prices makes me exhausted, but the simple fact is we are receiving regular calls and updates from our candidates seeking more commute-friendly work options, telecomuting, shorter commutes, or other benefits to offset the incredible rise in fuel costs this last year has seen. For once, the State has taken a lead here, generating (I predict) pressure on many new fronts to allow employees to have more control over when, where and how much they work.

On the flip-side, a lot of people who otherwise want to keep their current job are interested right now in part-time, flexible, contract-based work options too. That is an unforeseen consequence of these higher prices.

Summary

At the end of the day, companies are asking their employees to do more with less, while these same high-demand employees are not afraid of feeling out their options and making a more lucrative move if needed.

I fear, for companies too cost-conscious, this will become a race to mediocrity unless they very creatively examine their work demands, and be very open and honest with their employees. Find out what they need/want and even while cutting costs, you can make work fun and, heck, maybe even more productive.

Popularity: 45% [?]

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Posted in Available Talent, Better Recruiting, Company Culture, Economy, Featured, Firing, Hire POWER!, Hiring, Jobsearch, Know The Ropes, My Side of the Desk, Recruiting Industry, Talent Management, Utah, Utah Living

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Job Trends: Moonlight, Part-Time Desired by Candidates

June 12th, 2008

It’s likely a result of the current economy, but we have noticed a very high percentage of people coming to us and looking for part-time or extra work on graveyards/evenings/weekends.

These are generally very talented individuals who like their current job/employer, but are looking for additional work to take on.

Likewise, these same people are usually willing to take a decrease in their “day-time wage” for a flexible work opportunity because of the, well, flexibility of it.

Some are cutting their pay-rate down as much as 75% of what they would deserve in a day-time/full-time gig because they are not looking for just income, but additional income.

If you are a software development manager and I was willing to experiment with adding flexible/additional staff (especially if you’re already considering outsourcing where there are time-differences anyway), this might be the time to seriously consider bringing on a swing/night shift (your programmers are already there all night anyway, right?) and acquire some excellent talent at a discount.

Of course, finding the people to do this is what we do all day (at SOS Engineering & Technology, where I work). Even if you had your own person in mind, contracting them through an agency like mine (so you would not have to hire them permanently, or deal with 1099 messes) can remove a lot of headaches and legal issues down the road.

If you’re curious about how an agency like mine could help you, please feel free to contact me.

If you know of companies that are accepting candidates for non-traditional work hours, and you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment!

Popularity: 30% [?]

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Posted in Available Talent, Company Culture, Employment Law, Hire POWER!, Hiring, Know The Ropes, Life, My Side of the Desk, Talent Management, Utah, Working With Recruiters

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Developing a Network of Passive Seekers

May 6th, 2008

I saw this plate the other day…

A few days ago, I wrote about how hard it is for good, employed job seekers to search for new work while retaining anonymity.

But what if a candidate is not really “looking”, but also wouldn’t pass up the right opportunity if it, well, fell in their lap…?

Sometimes the difference between someone “happily employed” and “happily employed… but listening” isn’t very much.  As an employer, how can you be attuned to those subtle shifts in perception of both your company as an employer, and their outlook as a candidate?

As far as I can tell, there is no way for someone to easily, passively and privately tell a company, “yeah, if you had something great for me, I would be interested.”

Is there?

Popularity: 17% [?]

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Tiffany Fallon Was Fired Because She’s Millenial

January 4th, 2008

Celebrity Apprentice Image Donald and Ivanka Trump

The Donald made a big mistake last night firing Tiffany Fallon and not Omarosa (links to video), but I don’t blame him. Everybody’s doing it.

[Tiffany Fallon Playmate of the Year Celebrity Apprentice FiredNOTE: I really have no idea if Tiffany Fallon, the first Celebrity Apprentice contestant to be fired (last night) by The Donald officially fits in the age category of "Millenials" or "Gen Y". According to Wikipedia, if she was born as early as 1976 and late as 2000, she is... and we'll give her the benefit of the doubt.]

What’s more interesting to me, however, is that she displayed several key attributes of Gen Y/Millenials in the workplace:

  • Passive-Aggressive: When Omarosa made it clear the task would be done without using celebrity (links to video), Tiffany clearly didn’t agree. Omarosa wouldn’t hear anything other than her own mission, though. So Tiffany stopped fighting back. And, surely, she was from that point forward just “putting a face on” to get through the task.
    • The Millenials who work for you already don’t trust you. Give them reasons to shut up and they will… but they won’t give you 100% either.
    • If you complain later that they’re not giving you enough, its because you didn’t give them enough at the outset. And, frankly, they don’t really care that you didn’t get everything you wanted. It’s only fair that nobody wins, after all.
  • Want Facts to Speak for Themselves: When Omarosa blamed everything on Tiffany in the boardroom, she didn’t fight back as well as she could have there, either.
    • She’s a southerner, so of course, she’s going to be polite.
    • More than that, the VIDEO was proof to everyone watching except maybe DONALD that Omarosa stabbed each of her teammates in the back, successively. Tiffany failed because of Omarosa’s direction to NOT do what Tiffany does–be a celebrity, but the instant the issue came up, Omarosa both blamed it on Donald by saying he wouldn’t approve of them using sex to sell, and simultaneously blamed it on Tiffany for not using her sex to sell.
    • Millenials want you to do your research. If you won’t let the facts stand up for themselves, fine. They don’t want to work for you. Donald seems to know everything about the show other than what really mattered last night–that “Omarosa’s a survivor like a cockroach.”
  • You Only Win If I Win, Too. Donald made it clear in his closing remarks before firing her (links to same video as above) that he was frustrated she didn’t play “all out” and call in a favor from her friend Hugh Heffner for a super-star donation to “the cause” which, of course, would have gone to Omarosa’s charity, not her own.
    • Duh!??
    • Why would she want to play her best cards in the first hand?
      Donald, in The Art of The Deal, show me the page where do you write that you should go into your negotiations without doing any research, in a field you don’t know (she’s not a hot dog salesperson, she’s a model!) with all your guns out, blazing, and lay it all out on the table for your opponents to take advantage of?

What does this all boil down to for managers not looking to make the mistake that Donald did? Well, it’s a bit humbling, but frankly, millenials are just not that into you.Whatever you’ve (the boss) got on your plate… your (corporate) goals and mission… unless you’ve taken the time to enroll your GenY/Millenial employees into your purposes, they’re just not that interested in pleasing you unless it’s clear they’ll get what they’re looking for simultaneously…. not eventually (as in paying dues, like you did).

CBS’s 60 Minutes’ story recently, The “Millennials” Are Coming highlights this as well as anybody:

Stand back all bosses! A new breed of American worker is about to attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, “millennials.” There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they’re rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60…

“The boomers do need to hear the message, that they’re gonna have to start focusing more on coaching rather than bossing. If this generation in particular, you just tell them, ‘You got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this.’ They truly will walk. And every major law firm, every major company knows, this is the future,” Crane explains…

“We’re not going to settle. Because we saw our parents settle,” [Jason] Dorsey says. “And we have options. That we can keep hopping jobs. No longer is it bad to have four jobs on your resume in a year. Whereas for our parents or even Gen X, that was terrible. But that’s the new reality for us. And we’re going to keep adapting and switching and trying new things until we figure out what it is.”

Make No Mistake About It

Some might see this as arrogance or that this is a generation of slackers (as if you weren’t called a slacker when “you were their age”), but make no mistake about it. It may be that they’re simply more on-purpose than you ever were at that age.

All they hear is blah, blah, blah.

Tell ‘em what’s relevant, and give them the opportunity to tell you why it matters to them. Leverage their irreverance, and their desire to mashup what is into something completely new.

And, for Fallon? In the cab on the way off the set, she said what many Millenials will say when their ego-driven bosses choose the back-stabbing self-defending Omarosa’s of the world over those with untapped potential and passion that runs deeper than just “winning this task”:

“…Moving on.”

Popularity: 73% [?]

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Dynamic Senior Software Developer Available for Consulting

January 3rd, 2008

One of our preferred consultants is currently available for c#, php, python, ms sql or mysql contract work. A condensed version of his resume is shown, below. Contact me, Robert Merrill at 801-426-6120 x2 or merrilr@sostechnical.com for more information in connecting with this consultant:

Executive Preview

With more than 20 years of solid experience with web and systems development, this consultant brings quite a lot to the table, technically. When you meet him, you’ll see why so many companies have trusted him to work on their mission-critical apps, as well as lead their development teams. He has a great personality for someone that understands the deep roots of technologys intimately as he does. Plus, he understands business through his experiences in small/startup companies as well as large ones. Currently, he enjoys the mentoring aspects of his role as a Senior Software Developer, and he works hard with clients/customers and co-workers to ensure that they’re getting all they can from the tools they have.

Resume:

SUMMARY
Development Manager/Senior Software Engineer with over 20 years experience designing, developing and implementing software solutions on many different platforms. Has lead development teams, reported to senior management including CIO and CEO, and even filled Sales Engineering roles. Can work equally in large organizations with large teams, with start up companies with very small teams or working individually.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Languages: C#, T-SQL, XML, HTML
Databases: Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, MySQL
Development Tools: Visual Studio 2003/2005, MS SQL Server Management Studio, Infragistics Controls, Vault, Visual Source Safe, Test Track Pro, Final Builder, Nunit, Django, Python
Operating Systems: Windows XP/2000, Windows 2003 Server

WORK EXPERIENCE

Confidential Company*
Senior Software Engineer
Currently designing and developing desktop software solutions using Microsoft .Net 2.0, and web applications using Django/Python for various clients. Helping clients implement the SCRUM agile development process.

Technologies used: C#, Visual Studio 2005, .Net Framework 2.0, XML, XSLT, T-SQL, SQL Server 2005, Django, Python, MySQL

Confidential Company*
Engineering Manager, Senior Software Engineer
Managed development and quality assurance teams. Designed and developed software used to create security policies. Assisted in the design of a database system that handles several thousand transactions in a day. Interfaced with customers on site and over phone for support of pre-sales technology questions. Managed Core Technology and Quality Assurance teams.

Used .Net 1.1, Visual Studio 2003 and C# to develop easy to navigate desktop applications.
Delivered projects on or before required dates.
Lead a team that finalized the successful development, testing and delivery of version 3.0.
Created and executed plan to scale out quality assurance test lab, including hardware upgrades, and improved test cases.
Utilized portions of the Dynamic Systems Development Model (DSDM), an agile methodology.

Technologies used: C#, Visual Studio 2003, .Net Framework 1.1, T-SQL, XML, XSLT, ADO.Net, SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Exchange Server

Confidential Company*
Development Manager
Managed development project deliverables, budgets, programmers. Improve existing application integration with computer telephony software and hardware, voice recordings and IVR. Assist in defining company architecture and product offerings. Reported to VP of Research and Development and Chief Technology Officer.

Developed a core reporting application, including report wizard, exporting and SMTP mail delivery.
Instrumental in designing and developing a middle tier system to manage all aspects of a hosted solution for Windows 2000, including Active Directory, Exchange Server, Genesys CTI and SQL Server 2000.
Managed the design and development of data extraction process that improved access from daily to real time.
Mentored developers, assisted in customer technical reviews, and client implementation.

Technologies used: C#, Visual Basic 6, XML, XSLT, SQL Server 7 and 2000

Confidential Company*
Senior Software Engineer
I worked as a contract Senior Software Engineer responsible for project management and development projects for key clients. These clients included American Express, Kennecott Utah Copper and Echopass Corporation. Also mentored other developers, conducted technical interviews and assisted Account Managers and Clients with project requirements.

Projects that I worked directly on were credit card application processing system, multi site inventory tracking and management system, and hiring a team of software developers to write applications used in call centers.

Technologies used: Visual Basic 6, Java Script, SQL Server 7, Oracle 8i

Confidential Company*
Team Lead, Software Developer
Develop applications and provide technical support for internal Manufacturing applications. Responsible for converting applications in DOS FoxPro to Visual FoxPro and mainframe based applications to Oracle Forms applications. Assist 6 plants with troubleshooting and system enhancements.

Confidential Company*
Contract Software Developer
Member of Y2K project team for American Stores Company. This team was responsible for inventorying and assessing all of the company’s software and hardware, evaluate it for potential failure and recommend solutions. Developed the application that was used in collecting information on company hardware, software, maintenance contracts and Non-IT assets. Application used by 40 plus individuals at various sites across the country. Utilizing Visual Basic 5, Microsoft Access.

MILITARY

United States Marine Corps, Details Withheld*
Communications and Electronics
Provided communications hardware and software technology to command centers and combat units.
Graduated from communications and electronics school
Expert marksman awards
Several awards and ribbons for exemplary performance
Honorable discharge.

CERTIFICATION / TRAINING

Developing and Implementing Windows-based Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, 70-316. MCP.

Sun Java Programming, SL275
Emphasis: Development of Java applications using Sun Java 1.2.

Developer/2000: Forms and Reports Builder
Emphasis: Design and deployment of Oracle Forms and Reports.

Oracle SQL*Plus
Emphasis: Database creation and management through SQL procedures.

* Certain information about this consultant, including companies worked for and dates worked there, have been withheld from this posting for privacy reasons, but is available upon request.

Popularity: 42% [?]

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What’s It Like Working for SOS Staffing…

January 3rd, 2008

I was asked a question from someone who found me on LinkedIn about what it’s like working for SOS Staffing, my parent company. Here’s most of my reply, as I thought it would be valuable. Note also, that this blog and all its content are solely my own opinions, and may at any time prove to be right or wrong.

Dear J:

Let me clarify some things:

I work for SOS Technical, a specialized division of SOS Staffing Services, inc. There are other divisions, including Skill Staff (hard-hat and skilled labor) and Devon and Devon (High-end Permanent Placement only).

I’ll take a poke at answering each question, below.

On Jan 2, 2008 10:20 AM, J wrote:

- From what I’ve found through talking with other recruiters, most of the recruiters time are spent on the phone following or creating leads, does SOS Staffing have a dedicated program for recruiters to follow or do recruiters have the ability to use their own skills to find the right people?

One of your other questions might help to answer this one, too. Each branch of the company has a branch manager, but they are not franchised. Yes, each branch has some autonomy, just as each District (group of branches) and Region (group of Districts). The home office of SOS Staffing (in SLC, Utah) determines certain key standards for operations that all branches must follow (all branches are audited no less than 1x/yr to ensure compliance), but the day-to-day style, business-mix, sales and operational processes do have a general amount of leeway.

Yes, all “recruiters” are tasked to use their skills–all of them–and be creative at finding the right people for the jobs you’re filling. We have some excellent tools, maybe not “industry best” but they work, and then your ingenuity is the most-important asset you can bring.

- What are the profiles of your client company, what companies do you work with to facilitate staffing?

It depends on the brand/division. 80% of SOS Staffing fills clerical or light-industrial “temp” or “temp to hire” jobs. Mainly packaging or assembly or office work/reception, etc.

However, 80% of what MY branch fills, for example, is long-term (contract or direct hire), high dollar IT/Engineering positions. Likewise, Devon and Devon focuses on financial and HR positions as well as executive placement.

- What attributes, skills, types of successful individuals work for SOS?

Creativity, ability to communicate “smart”–understanding your audience and using the best tools at your disposal. Critical thinking is important–able to discern even intricate non-verbal information from given conversations to fill client and employee needs, to fill orders, and to appropriately/legally represent the company. Finally, ambition is fairly well rewarded here, I think.

- How does SOS foster team work?

Compensation plans are based around individual plus team effort. Each branch and area, though, will of course work independently in some ways to work together. The most-successful branches in the company, have the most cohesive teams. That’s not a surprise.

- What type of growth opportunities are there with SOS?

The company has grown more than 10% for the last three years. There are always new opportunities.

- How do they help their employees, team members become better at their job? Do they provide training and if so, how often?

Several training programs are available from the home office. Alternate training is provided as needed. I have not been part of a company more interested in personal development. However, that may be thanks to my Regional management, not just the company.

- How well does leadership and members of the team accept feedback?

Well, I think. They do not always change things, but I have never been “shut down” from providing feedback, and I do… a lot.

- What do you enjoy most/least about your company?

I enjoy the flexibility to do my job and the tools they provide.

- What are some challenges you experience with your line of work?

I am in a growing branch less than 3 years old. There is a lot of work still to be done to get this branch where it should be.

- I noticed that there are SOS Staffing agencies nationwide and within each geographic region. Are each of branches operated and managed independently? Meaning, are they similar to a franchised owned organization? If not, who “owns” SOS Staffing Services?

SOS Staffing’s home office is in SLC, Utah. See my answer question 1.

- From reading your website, it appears that most of the jobs available are labor intensive, temporary, basic clerical and administrative positions. Are there any opportunities for long term professional placements?

Yes, again, see above.

Popularity: 33% [?]

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Why Startups Need Recruiters

January 2nd, 2008

Occasionally, I will get a note from a startup or other early-stage company in response to my inquiry about recruiting for them that will say, in essence:

“Currently, we’re not using external recruiters, but as we get more established, it’s something we might look into…”

Which is secret code for:

“No.”

Which is secret code for either:

  • We don’t have a lot of money, and we’re scared you’ll take it all.
  • We don’t have a lot of time on our hands and we’re scared you’ll take it all.

Of course, there’s other things it might mean, but in essence, these are the exact reasons WHY small/startup companies should look at leveraging external, 3rd party recruiters: TO CONSERVE TIME & MONEY.

PPF - Production Possibilities FrontierEconomists have proven that specialization is the best way to achieve maximum returns given the investment of your resources. This comes from the concept of the Production Possibilities Frontier or PPF (see diagram). The basic idea is that:

  • Resources (assets, time & money) are scarce.
  • You can only do “so much”. As in, no matter what, you can’t get more than what is possible.
  • Most people and organizations fall under the PPF curve (I admit that I do) by trying to do stuff they’re not specialists in doing.
  • Every unit of a resource you put into one thing is, by definition, taking away from something else.
  • Doing what you’re BEST at, and leveraging others to make up the difference is how you maximize returns.
  • You can push the entire PPF curve outward, meaning you “enlarge the pie” of possibilities, but only after first maximizing returns via specialization.

Think about it: do you ask your friend, who is a pediatrician, to operate on your broken wrist? Well, she is a doctor, isn’t she?? Of course not. She’s not “that kind of doctor.”

Neither should you have your organization spend valuable time, energy & money doing the mundane, low-level recruiting tasks that third-party agencies are excellent at doing. Every dollar you pay your managers to recruit is a dollar you’re NOT getting your best returns from.

Yes, they should interview and hire. No, they should not do the rest (see below).

Using an external recruiter is easy. They boil the search process down to the really crucial part: Interviewing only the top candidates, from a much wider field of possibilities, and making the right candidate selection. Outsource where possible and get your high-dollar returns where it really counts.

Services a 3rd party recruiter should provide to you:

  • Free consultation about fees and how to fit their services in your budget.
  • Free consultation about exactly what problems you’re trying to solve, and what kind of candidates you’re looking for.
  • Job Posting (free).
  • Candidate Sourcing (first step in recruiting — determine who is out there).
  • Preliminary candidate interviews and skill match.
  • Submittal of only highest-qualified candidates along with descriptive reasons thy rise above the rest.
  • Coordinating interviews or other screenings you determine.
  • Coordinating additional and final interviews.

If desired:

  • Coordinating presentation of the offer.
  • Informing all “other” candidates that have not been selected, and ensuring they feel good about your company.
  • Salary negotiation.
  • “On-Boarding” or administering hiring paperwork.
  • If contracting: Timecards and payroll administration.
  • If contracting: Consolidated invoicing and payment terms.
  • If contracting: Free consulting about benefits and permanent-hiring best-practices.

Depending on if you want to use the firm on Retained or Contingency basis, other or different services will be available.

Popularity: 21% [?]

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Utah Unemployment Death-Grip Loosening?

October 11th, 2007

Wow, what an amazing year this has been. The very tight unemployment rate seems to finally be seeing a little light with some well-known Utah companies laying off employees, other movement of employees from company to company still strong, and the relative salaries being paid seeming to stabilize instead of the spiraling out-of-control, even excessive salary jumps that I’ve witnessed this summer.

Of course, one never wants to look a gift-horse in the mouth… and while I’ve enjoyed the incredible economy, and I don’t really want to see things loosen up a bit, I have also been affected in that I’ve been unfortunately less successful in recruiting for some would-be pleased clients, if the economy had just a few more qualified people available to recruit. Here’s to hoping we don’t slide too far down this slippery slope!

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Posted in Firing, Hiring, Utah, Working With Recruiters

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