ResearchGoddess

Networking knowledge is being beaten to death these days. Everyone has an opinion, everyone wants to get better at it, and it seems like everyone has some product or training seminar they want to sell you on how to get buh-zillions of leads from networking. There are the creepy networkers (you know, the guy who seriously violates the rules of personal space), the shy connectors (thanks Sacha Chua, I LOVE this definition!), the woman who knows everyone, the guy whose boss told him he HAD to attend the event, the person who walks around and leaves business cards on the tables without talking to anyone, the list goes on and on. So – how about being that person who makes connections for OTHERS? Or the person who makes time for someone who wants to learn from you?

When I was still living in Cincinnati, I was introduced to a guy who works in mobile marketing. We knew of each other through our social media networks but had never gotten a chance to meet. When I joined AT&T, I wanted to learn more about mobile marketing, so I reached out to this guy and asked if he would be willing to share some of his knowledge of mobile marketing and how it fits into the way we communicate today. Even though I know he’s a busy guy, he agreed to meet me an hour before one of our Jelly Cincy Tweetups. What was supposed to be a brief encounter ended up turning into over an hour of him sharing his passion for mobile marketing with me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated his time. Recently a colleague of mine expressed interest in this type of work, and guess who the first person was that came to my mind? The person who took a moment out of their busy schedule to share with me.

A similar story with a fellow recruiter: we discovered a mutual love for business books. We started having phone calls on a semi-regular basis just to talk about business strategy, proper mindset for achieving success, and how it applies to our respective industries – he, PR and me, now telecom. There was no hidden agenda from this guy (if there was, I would have seen it a mile away) – all he wanted was to talk about a personal interest we discovered we both shared. When some of my colleagues who work in PR reach out to me looking for new opportunities, guess who I send them to first. He shared moments of his life with me, and as a result I will send him referrals because I appreciate that.

One of my favorite things to do is to introduce individuals who should know each other, but don’t. I know lots of you do this too – you meet someone at a gathering, learn a little about them, and at another event you meet someone else and think, “I just HAVE to introduce so-and-so to this person!” I recently had a friend move to Chicago, and I introduced him to another friend of mine who already lives there (finding out that they now live about 10 minutes from each other – bonus!). Reasons for the introduction:

• They’re both guys (a poor reason for an intro by itself)
• They’re both tall and athletic (I understand a meetup to play some hoops was arranged)
• They’re both in their mid 20s
• They’re both big time into social media

My hope is that a new friendship is developed. It’s up to them of course, but chances are these two guys may never have met otherwise. What’s the personal benefit to me? Not much really, outside of knowing that two people I like can now be friends. I kinda enjoy that.

If you go into every new situation with an agenda, you’re going to end up being disappointed a lot of the time. There are some things to remember when you’re networking that will help to make you memorable to others and often results in situations like the ones above:

• Listen. It is often said that those who are perceived as the best conversationalists are the ones who listen the most. People remember how much you pay attention when they share with you.
• Ask, and then Listen (again). Ask probing questions to learn more about someone, but then make sure you pay attention to the response. Don’t just ask a question to appear interested.
• Connect. Try to make it a goal to make a new connection for someone. If they mention they enjoy cooking, say “Oh, I know so-and-so who also works in your field who loves it too – I’d be happy to introduce you!” If they say their company is looking to hire a social media coordinator, say “I just met someone the other day who might be great for that. I’ll connect the two of you if you’d like!” People remember gestures like this with fondness and appreciation.
• Make Time. I know you’re busy – we all are. But nothing resonates more than making time to meet with someone who asks for it. Of course, you can’t do this for everyone who asks if they can “pick your brain” and you would be wise to qualify these types of requests by asking what specifically they’d like to know. But taking an hour even once a week to have coffee with someone who is new in your business or someone looking to gain some knowledge shows that you are a giver. And go into these situations with the expectation that you are going to do all of the giving.
• Respond. (I feel hypocritical even putting this in the list because I am TERRIBLE about email responses. To those who I’ve yet to reply to, please forgive me. And please email me multiple times, that does help me!) Responding to people validates the outreach. I recently began gathering information on a very ambitious article I’m writing and hope to have published in a prominent news publication. (*hint hint to anyone reading this who works at any such business!) I reached out to about 30 high profile individuals to ask for their participation in this project. Realizing that they must receive thousands of emails each day, I am eternally grateful to those who took the time to respond to me. It showed me that they read what I was doing and saw the value in the project. And they will forever have an advocate in me for their own endeavors because of the kindness they showed to me.

As the holiday season is upon us, we should remind ourselves that it truly is greater to give than to receive. For in giving with no expectation of receiving anything in return, our returns eventually become greater. Remember this when you network. Give selflessly, and you will find a lifetime of return on your investment.

These days, everything is a mashup – our gadgets and gizmos aren’t worth purchasing unless they perform a million different functions. So no big surprise that our jobs are becoming mashups as well, and I think that as recruiting professionals, our roles within our companies are about as complex as they get. I wrote a post earlier this year discussing the various roles that recruiters play in our daily duties. There are certain aspects of this job however that are becoming more and more important, but I don’t think a lot of recruiting professionals really understand the impact and the value of these components of our jobs.

Our jobs are all about building relationships. Such is the case with marketers, advertisers, and PR professionals. Our desired end result of building the relationship is really what separates us. Here are some very simple definitions:

• Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
• Advertising is a paid communication in which the message is controlled by the sponsor, and is designed to gain attention and motivate action.
• Public Relations is planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its public by telling an organization’s story to its public.

Subtle differences between the three, but the basic premise with all of these functions is to establish a line of communication between two or more entities.

Recruiting professionals would do themselves a favor to understand some of the job responsibilities that come with being in marketing, advertising, and public relations. For example: there is much more to candidate advertising (aka job posting) than simply plopping a boring job description into a post template and slapping it up on some job board. There is more to recruitment marketing than bulk emailing a spammy message with an e-newsletter attachment to your entire prospective client database in the hopes of gaining one or two additional job orders. And there is certainly more to creating good PR for your company than simply having a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page.

What I would like to do with this post is invite professionals who perform these unique functions to leave a piece of advice for recruiters to incorporate into their job function. Yes, I did work at a PR agency for a little bit, but that doesn’t make me a good source for PR strategy by any stretch of the imagination. I learned a lot while I was there, and I use that knowledge in my daily function now with AT&T, but I’m looking forward to hearing from the marketers, the advertisers, and the PR pros who are out there in the trenches on a daily basis. How do we, as recruiting professionals, utilize the strategies you exercise daily in our own efforts in finding, attracting, and hiring talent for our companies?

When leaving a comment, please let us know what job function you perform, and the industry in which you work. I look forward to an interactive discussion!

I was going through some of my old blog posts when I stumbled across one of the very first series of articles that I wrote, discussing the role researchers and sourcers play in their companies. I have decided to update and re-post them over the next few weeks. In this final week, we’ll discuss and dispel some common myths associated with the role of the researcher/sourcer on a recruitment team. Enjoy!

So, I’ve talked about what a researcher does and doesn’t do. I’ve given you some of my thoughts on where to look for a researcher for your office, and what qualities in an individual might lead them to be a good researcher. I’ve also given you some insight into the day in the life of a researcher. What’s left? How about some fun things: some common misconceptions of what a researcher is. Yes, I believe every researcher has beaten this topic to death at some point or another. But now, it’s my turn! The goal of this is to shed some light on some of the things that are incorrectly associated with internet research, and hopefully offer some suggestions on the correct way to classify this increasingly vital part of a recruiting operation.

Myth #1: “The researcher will find you candidates.”

You may think, ‘How is this incorrect? That’s what researchers do isn’t it? Source candidates?’ Not exactly….as I’ve mentioned in prior postings, a researcher’s duty is to source leads. YOUR job, as a recruiter, is to turn them into candidates. Now, there are times with this does apply; for example if you have a researcher who also pre-screens the contacts/leads they source before passing them along to the recruiter. But for the most part, we researchers generate the leads, and you recruiters qualify them and turn them into candidates. Call this a simple play on words or whatever you like, but I felt it needed to be included here.

Myth #2: “Just find me resumes.”

Sure, your researcher will find you resumes. Some of the time. But depending on what resources they are provided, the majority of the leads that your researcher can and will provide you with might just be a name, title, and method of contact. Perhaps also a short bio. When doing high-volume searches, I do use pay-for job boards (Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, etc.) for portions of the search, however when working on one-off searches, I will typically start with social networks. Most (good) researchers do not rely solely on resume boards. Should I even go so far as to say a good researcher will not only also use professional networking sites like LinkedIn to source? I might get some hate mail for saying that, but it’s true. Researchers will from time to time come across an HTML resume or a personal website with a resume posted on it. But most of their leads may be simply names and contact information. Just be realistic, and get excited if your researcher DOES give you a resume! Don’t get salty if ‘all’ they give you is a list of 50 names and contact information. Get pumped about all the networking you can do when you call those people!

Myth #3: Being an internet researcher is a ground-level starting point for becoming a recruiter.

Not in every case! Recruiting professionals across the board talk about this concept of the “junior recruiter” – some stating this as correct and others calling it a false assumption. This label is as dumb as thinking that all tall kids want to grow up to be professional basketball players. I for one have no desire to recruit. I enjoy the thrill of hunting down leads. Other researchers I know partake in some of the recruiting process and yes, they would aspire to be a recruiter one day. But don’t pigeonhole your researcher into being fast tracked to the divine status of “recruiter”. Take a few moments to find out what excites them and encourage them to develop their skills and pursue their own career goals.

Myth #4: I can do my own research. I don’t need to waste money on hiring a researcher.

Um, I’m curious how you successfully keep up with your own industry and not work 24/7 if this is your attitude toward research! In a conversation I had with a recruiter who had taken some time off, he mentioned that for two weeks prior to getting back on the phones he spent at least 10 hours a day researching the latest news in his industry. Yes, you read that correctly – 10 hours a day, for two weeks. And this recruiter still uses researchers on a daily basis! I presented this question to my LinkedIn network and was shocked at the number of responses I got that said “No, I do not use a researcher; I do my own research.” In my personal (honest) opinion, this is very cocky and I can’t imagine that many of those recruiters are big billers (as I prepare to be sent more hate mail for saying so!). As a recruiter, your bread and butter is earned by being on the phones during the day, not searching news sites and conducting research. I’ll bet the majority of those who do their own research do this on their own time – in the evenings and on the weekends – thus sacrificing family time and any resemblance of a personal life to do so. So, tell me again that research is easy and doesn’t take much time and that hiring a researcher wouldn’t be beneficial? Okay then…

Myth #5: 23 ways a researcher will help you make more placements in less time

I don’t think any explanation is needed here. This post is ALLLLLL kindsa wrong, IMHO! Please just read the list of what duties the author thinks a researcher can be responsible for and see if it doesn’t steam you. My favorite in this list has to be “watering plants”…

Myth #6: Researcher = data entry/PC troubleshooter/anything-I-don’t-feel-like-doing person

Yes, I think most researchers have a love for technology, which predisposes them to being good at all things computer-related. However, know that the more you ask your researcher to deviate from their research duties, the less time they will be able to spend on what you hired them to do – research! The last thing in the world you should be asking your researcher to spend a great deal of time on is data entry. This is a job for which you can hire someone at $8/hour. While it’s definitely part of what the job entails, using your researcher to do a large amount of data entry is, quite honestly, wasteful of your payroll dollars. A good friend of mine and former fellow researcher stated once that his job description was “All duties that no one else in the office wants to do.” Turning your researcher into a gopher is a gross misuse of talent and will inevitably turn your researcher off.

Remember – research is a vital part of your recruiting operation. There are four foundational parts of a successful recruiting office:

• Process (Operations)
• Client Relationships (and/or Business Development in agency settings)
• Recruitment
• Research

Eliminating any one of these components will cause your recruiting operation to run inefficiently, and research is an especially vital part of this foundation. Research is the backbone of the recruiting body; it supports and facilitates necessary information to reach the rest of the parts.

Don’t let the myths of what research is cloud its importance in the functioning of your recruiting practice. If you’re unsure how research will play an important role in your office, I urge you to contact someone who does use research and talk to them. Or you can call or email me; I’ll be more than happy to share my thoughts with you!

I hope this series of articles has helped you get ‘warm and fuzzy’ with research. My intent was to help the recruiting community better understand what research is and also learn about the thought process that goes behind it. Remember: researchers are real people too, and real important in the recruiting process! Even though we’re not actively generating the dollars, you really can’t put a price tag on the value that we bring to a recruiting operation.

Ugh – some of the things that people do online I just do not understand. Things that absolutely would not be socially acceptable in real life. Just this past weekend, I was witness to one of the rudest ones I’ve seen to date…

I received a DM from an individual I shall call John, changing his name to protect the, um, anti-social. John apparently had recently been conducting a job search and had been using Twitter as a resource to do so. Good job! Twitter I believe is a great resource when you’re job hunting – it’s not the ONLY thing you should use, but I think there are definitely some benefits. Well, John got himself a new job – good for him! But his next action was pretty rude, from my viewpoint. I, along with several others I would imagine, received this DM from John:

“The purpose of this account has changed. I started a new job. As such, I have un-followed you and ask that you do the same. Thank you.”

As well, in the bio section of his profile -

“The purpose of this account has changed. I will be un-following job search related accounts and asking them by DM to do the same. Please see @<otheraccount>”

Translate to the real-life version and it would go something like this: John attends a networking event for job search professionals and makes friends with several people who offer to help him with his own job search. John eventually finds himself a job, and promptly calls over his new friends to inform them that as he has no further use for their friendship, would they please delete his number from their cell and forget they ever met him. Rude, no?

I realize that people have every right to use Twitter for whatever purpose they desire. All John apparently wanted to do with Twitter was use it to help him find a job, as evident in the number of tweets on his page and their subject. No problems there. But I believe in this particular situation John COMPLETELY  missed the concept of “social” media. There are several other things he could have done to be less abrupt, crass, rude, etc. He could have sent a DM saying something like “I’ve found a job! I’ll be tweeting from here on out at @<otheraccount>”, or he could have simply deleted the account and started over again. But his words were rather harsh and carried the message “now that I have no further use for you, be gone!” Not the idea of social media at all.

Use social media – yes. Use people – no.

Last Thursday I drove down to Seattle to attend a luncheon put on by the Northwest Recruiters’ Association. The guest speakers were Kat Drum and Matthew Guiste from Starbucks. They are both involved in social media and digital strategy there, and they spoke to a room of recruiting professionals about the way that Starbucks has integrated social media strategy into its recruitment plans over the last 18 months. In this video are some of the highlights from their discussion:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx4x3i63Gfw]

It’s no secret that I’m a big believer in the power of social media in recruiting. At AT&T, we utilize Twitter, Facebook, SMS, SEO/SEM, and lots of other social technologies to find and attract talent. There’s a place for it in every recruiting strategy, but you’ve got to figure out the best method for you and your company. I always appreciate having the opportunity to learn from others. I hope to be able to attend more luncheons and seminars like this in Seattle now that I’m out here!