David Kippen, Ph.D.'s Blog

In the old days (5 years ago), a talent search was like a two-dimensional board game. It allowed a company a leisured amount of time to send out requests for resumes, which could then be judged along a price/performance set of axis. It allowed for a precise, two-dimensional grid, and a search process so structured and simple that judgments could be handled by a corporate H.R. Department's less skilled staff.

Now, the world moves in three dimensions, at a speed more resembling a video game. It's Zap or get Zapped, in a real time. The War for Talent 2.0 rages and in such a fast-paced dogfight, you need to define your missions very carefully: no wasted energy, no blurred vision. The right people are even more important to find than ever before.

The Location Process: The Old Way
Employment agencies who just use advertising to recruit candidates typically yield the "Best of the Unemployed", the "Best of the Unhappy" and "The Best of the Unqualified". Occasionally they get lucky because a layoff/downsizing or bankruptcy. Luck has no place in recruiting.

Truth is: the winners and achievers your clients want are busy winning and not reading the newspaper ads or registering with Employment Agencies and may only be surfing the job boards because of an "incident" at work . BUT they are reachable by a professional recruiter who understands how to network and market their brand.

Lame and Tame Approaches
Everyone has heard the recruiting call that starts "... who do you know..." This is the hallmark of an inexperienced recruiter, hoping the candidate will say "why that person you described is Me and I'd love to meet your client..."

This over-used ploy today nets the response "I don't know anyone..." and a prompt hang-up. This conventional and unimaginative approach ends quickly and doesn't garner the recruiter any opportunity to present the career pitch, peak their interest, or qualify their background. Prospective candidates hang up quickly because the recruiter is deemed to be "light." There's no opportunity to repackage and represent the offer.

There Is An Alternative...
Candidates today are more sophisticated than ever and expect recruiters to be professional and knowledgeable. So many people now manage their own careers aggressively that they if they're going to talk to a recruiter, they want someone who can talk to them, their industry and its challenges.

As a recruiter you need instant credibility, spontaneous bonding and respect in less than 30 seconds--on your first point of contact--be that email, blog, v-blog, podcast or heaven forbid--a phone call. Then you need a plan and options which give you the staying power and the ability to package and present an opportunity around a candidate's needs such that it also fits your client's need.

Recruiters can't afford to waste a prospect by using the hackneyed "who do you know" question. Because they do know! Winners know they're winners, but they're not going to waste time telling you something obvious. As Lou Adler alludes to – the Top 10% know what’s what and more importantly who’s who. So a potential candidate for your organization will get turned off in disdain by an old approach.

Traditional recruiters are actually human relations amateurs, and that is why the placement industry has such a high turnover. These unprepared people get shot down in flames by yet another prospect before they even get a chance to tell the story of the opportunity.

Today, Science!
Research must underpin a Search project. The upfront work is often laborious even tedious and not enjoyed by many search professionals who simply want to sell the project.

But good research makes you able to tightly target your prospects. Hone the message and deliver it to the exact right individual. You are able to speak from a reference point of knowledge about them, their company, their industry, their challenges and therefore emphasize the positives of your opportunity.

You bond instantly. You develop a relationship. You're trusted. You're an advisor and they refer you to their friends and associates even when you don't expect them to.

The process has changed to one of scarcity. Now all candidates are scarce and demographics will keep it this way and you better understand how that impacts you. The good ones are being hidden by their company's management. They're incented to stay. They need to be wooed. They need to be enticed in the most professional manner possible.

How?

First, you have to be able to select a career opportunity that would be of interest to a rising star. Not an easy feat. You need to ask the clients the hard questions beyond "Why should some one take this job?" to really understanding the business drivers: their market pressures; their culture inside and outside the Boardroom; The dynamic beyond a snap shot in time of your current needs.

You need to understand the career implications and be able to relate them to a complete stranger --often thousands of miles away - who is happy, productive, and achieving for someone else.

That exercise ironically doesn’t start with your client it starts with you. You. Your brand and the company you keep speak volumes about your credibility. Who does your creative: a world class company like TMP Worldwide or Joes Ad emporium?

It’s critical because as the world continues to accelerate and talent becomes even scarcer, you need to be able to get people to select to call you before they call an employer or other recruiter.

Make 2006 the year you get aggressive about recruiting passive candidates. But for a freak event, there is too little supply of top people and hunting passive candidates is not only a necessity it’s a cost effective way to skim off the cream.

In my world there’s no debate – they’re worth it – but only if it’s done correctly.