7 Stats about Candidate Sourcing in 2013

7 Incredible Stats about Candidate Sourcing in 2013

 by Allison Reilly 

  

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Recruiting has changed a lot over the past few years, and it's still changing. If you're not changing with it, particularly your candidate sourcing, then you're going to miss out on great talent by selecting your candidates from such a small pool of the population. In fact, there is probably a thing or two that you can do differently, as the following seven incredible stats will illustrate. Candidate sourcing may not be what you think it is.

Over 2.8 Million Jobs are Advertised on Craigslist

Recruiters like to scoff at Craigslist, citing it as a place that can't possibly find white-collar jobs or serious professionals. Craigslist can be hit or miss, but that doesn't mean you can count it out, especially since it is the predominant player when it comes to publicly available job ads. It's certainly not social media, where LinkedIn only has 256,000 job ads. This chart is a snapshot of a four-year period, with the final numbers representing April 2013.

Dice is the Best Source for Technology Hires, while Monsters is Great for Manufacturing

"What we would recommend to any provider, or to any company looking at [their] job marketing strategy, is that it's really more important to look what are the type of positions you're hiring for and what is your industry," said Ray Rike, chief operating officer at Accolo. "Then, you get a little more granularity into what is the best place that candidates are likely to see your job."
LinkedIn doesn't even have half the tech industry jobs that Dice has, while LinkedIn only has about two-thirds as much as Monster in manufacturing. In the retail, financial services, and insurance industry, Careerbuilder leads in all three. This is because the types of jobs in these industries don't necessarily attract the people who are going to be promoting their skills and resumes on LinkedIn.

Social Network Statistics are Compelling

The previous two statistics said that LinkedIn wasn't worth the time. It doesn't have the market share and it's really not the place for positions in certain industries. However, don't count out social media recruiting quite yet. Below are a few compelling statistics that show it is the recruiting strategy of the future.

• LinkedIn has 202 million members
• 36% of its members are in the US
• It accounted for 40% of mobile job views
• The site as 90% revenue growth in its talent solutions last year

Even so, LinkedIn isn't the only social network out there. The big takeaway in social media recruiting is that Twitter, yes Twitter, is the fastest-growing network for certain demographics (40,000 new members per day) while being the most underused social network for recruiting. In fact, this leads us to our next incredible statistic:

LinkedIn is the Slowest Growing Social Network for Those 25 to 44

"For those of you... who say that LinkedIn is dominating social network growth, especially for hiring, I would ask you to challenge that bias," Rike said. "We were on the LinkedIn wagon five years ago, and although we're seeing more jobs there, we're also seeing more candidate fatigue."
Rike hypothesizes that if recruiters only focus on LinkedIn, they risk continued and increased candidate fatigue, leading to increased possibility of missing out on passive candidates who may be on the site.

If these incredible stats have changed how you think about your current sources of hire, then you need to view this webinar:
"Amazing Charts & Stats About Candidate Sources for 2013."
The 60-minute webinar features interesting hiring stats about job board performance including CareerBuilder, Craig's List, DICE, Indeed, Job Central, (The) Ladders, Monster, Simply Hired as well as compelling hiring stats about social networks including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Access the webinar now.

Could A RECRUITMENT PROCESS SUPPLEMENT (RPS) Solution Be The Answer To Your Recruiting Challenges?

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21  2PM EST            

Are you having a challenge keeping up with your hiring needs, finding the right talent or spending too much on recruiting fees?  This webinar will walk you through how a Recruitment Process Supplement solution may be the right answer.

Recruitment Process Supplement is a fairly new but growing solution where a RPS firm will partner with your organization to have one of, or team of, their recruiters help you with whatever recruiting function you need assistance.  These firms not only provide you with experienced recruiting support, but often these recruiters come with large databases, strong data mining techniques, behind the scenes recruiting support and leadership.  Solutions can range from handling difficult searches, or simply supporting your team with sourced and screened candidates to complete recruiting outsourcing.  Typically, the only fee you pay is an hourly fee.

This webinar will talk about what kinds of companies and situations benefit from this type of solution, how to choose the right firm, how to determine the right support level, tips to maximize integration into your process and ideas on how to structure the right deal for your organization.  No sales will be done in this webinar, only information for you to decide if this solution can increase your organizations effectiveness in hiring, reduce time to fill and recruiting costs.

To sign up, please email Jeff Taylor at jtaylor@skywalkgroup.com

Exit Interviews - A Missed Opportunity

A colleague of of mine wrote this about Exit Interviews.  ...a very good reminder for us all.

Exit Interviews- A Missed Opportunity

By: Sarah Hall

My first exposure to the idea of an exit interview was in a college lecture about underutilized evaluation tools. My grad school professor painted the picture of a generic survey completed and stashed away into a termination file, never to be looked at again. The protocol of a human resources generalist awkwardly asking an often disgruntled employee a series of questions about how they feel about the organization, and if they would recommend a friend to work there has caused us to undervalue the concept of the exit interview for too long. In truth, the exit interview is a gem of a tool that, if utilized correctly can serve as a powerful engagement resource.

It’s the question that counts

If your exit interview form is an outdated photocopy of generic questions with an accompanying 5-point Likert scale, throw it out. Exit interview questions should provide insight into the true reasons employees want to leave your organization. Starting a new job is often a painful process.  New employees must adjust to a new routine, team members and processes. Additionally, leaving a job to start a new one is a gamble. There is no way to guarantee that what someone is walking into is better than what they left…yet people choose the difficult unknown path over their current jobs every day. There is a reason for this, and there is incredible value in finding out why. When you have the opportunity to ask someone why he or she chose the unknown over your organization, take it! Is it about leadership, money, benefits or culture? You won’t know until you ask. A few of my favorite go-to exit interview questions are:

·      Do you feel as though you were able to build strong relationships with co-workers? 

·      Did your manager set you up to succeed?

·      Were you given an accurate preview of what the job would look like during the interview process?

·      Was your decision to leave caused by a single event?

·      Did you receive timely and appropriate feedback about your performance?

Rather than ask a ton of questions, try to cover the basics and dig in as deep as you can. For example, the information you gather by asking: Did you receive timely and appropriate feedback about your performance? May provide insight into the performance review process, organizational leadership or any one specific manager. The interview process should resemble a conversation, and the more relaxed and engaging you are, the more valuable information you will be able to collect from fewer questions.  

Good information gone to waste

It’s unfortunate that often times the completed exit interview is reviewed by one person and stashed away into an employee termination file. All of that glorious insight into your organization is sitting untouched in a dark cabinet. Take every opportunity to share the findings from an exit interview with your leadership team. If you have significant turnover, look for patterns. You can only drive meaningful and effective change if you have a grasp on what needs to be changed, and why.

Sharing exit feedback is not enough to reap the full benefit of their value. Save interview findings for a specified time period and use that feedback as you formulate your strategic plan for the next year. Or better yet, commit to a regular exit analysis with your senior leadership team on a regular basis. What finer guidance than the honest, candid feedback from people who chose leave your organization? Exit feedback is critical as you think about leadership development, engagement and determining a compensation strategy.

Turn the tables

I never understood why we often wait until employees are fed up enough to leave the organization to ask about how things are going. Consider talking to employees from a different perspective and facilitate a STAY interview. Why do you choose to stay with our organization? What are we doing well? What can we improve? The same caliber of valuable information is collected in a stay interview- and we don’t have to backfill a position!

Exit interviews provide a wealth of insight into what is going on in your organization. Consider implementing a robust strategy for collecting information related to why people leave (or stay with) your organization, and watch how quickly you will be able to align your exit process with the strategic goals of your organization!

How Online Dating Skills Can Improve Your Job Search

...and interesting article from Good.co on the parallels of online dating and searching for a job.

Ladies and Gentlemen: you’ll be pleased to discover that those hours of your life you’ve wasted on OKCupid, e-Harmony and Match.com may come in handy – your online dating skills can help you improve your job search. How?
Finding the perfect company is a little bit like online dating… minus the fake names and creepy messages, of course. It can be overwhelming at first. There are thousands of potential matches out there, many of which you would probably enjoy – however, there’s a major difference between Mr. Right and the dude you let take you out to dinner because you’re flat broke, desperate, and sick of eating ramen noodles with your cat.
If there’s one thing more important than finding a job you love, it’s finding a company that you love. A job might make you happy in the short term, but being with a company that shares your personality, values and ideals will offer you opportunities that can keep you happy in the long term. Ready to improve your job search?

Like online dating, you have to narrow down the pool. Why? Because you want to:
A) Ensure that you don’t waste your time
B) Find a company in which you will flourish
Your first step in the hunt for your ideal company should be similar to how you’d proceed on an online dating site. Spend some time getting to the bottom of who you are. What’s your personality? Who are you and what’s important to you?
IMPORTANT: absolute honesty is key here. If you’re not upfront with yourself about your personality, you won’t be able to narrow your search effectively. For example, maybe you’d feel warm and fuzzy if you went to work for a non-profit that encourages volunteerism – but if you don’t give a flip about volunteering, it’s not going to be a good fit (and let’s face it – you’ll seem like a total Bozo every time your team gets excited about a trip to the soup kitchen while you roll your eyes and go back to your spreadsheets.)
So ask yourself – who are you?
Are you an introvert? If so, you should probably mark off the companies that put a big emphasis on teamwork. Are you an extrovert that needs constant action? If yes, then you’ve just marked through a big chunk of employers in the government sector.
Also, consider what is important to you.
What about your personal values? Do you value time off more than money? Making that distinction will definitely narrow down your choices. What about things like religion or politics? Could you work for a company that politically supports an idea that you’re in strong opposition to?
You should even consider your hobbies and recreational pursuits.
Do you absolutely love the arts? Sports? Accounting? (Seriously. Some people do.) Maybe a company in one of those industries would be a perfect match. Or maybe not – you might be the type who wants to keep work and play separate. It’s just as important to know what will make you happy – and what will make you miserable. 
Once you’ve made a list of all the things that define your personality, spend some time searching for a company that fits that profile. Narrowing companies down based on your personality type will not only make your job search faster and more relevant, but you’ll be a much more attractive candidate when you do land that first date…er… interview.
No fake names required, of course.

When the salary request is a huge jump

Every now and then you will be interviewing a candidate and they will indicate that they want a significant jump in compensation over what they are currently making.  Presently, they are earning $45,000 but in their next position they only want to consider opportunities that are above $70,000.

While your first reaction might be to politely tell them that they are out of their mind, I have always used the following question to broach the subject:

“You are asking for a significant increase over what you are currently making.  My client will ask me about that.  Tell me, is their something that has changed in your world like an additional degree or specialized license that would warrant the such an increase?”

Sometimes, you are surprised and learn something that really allows you to sell this candidate.

When there is no justifiable reason for the increase you need to address it.

“Without any significant increase in education or experience, it will be very difficult to get that kind of compensation.   With that in mind, at what salary level would you not want me to reach out to discuss a possible opportunity?”

You will often find that with the subtle reality check that you gave them, it brings the expectations back in line.

4 Types of Interview Styles & How To Prepare Your Candidates For Them

There are 4 main types of interview styles.  By preparing your candidate for the interview style of the person they meet with you will increase their effectiveness in the interview.  How do you know what kind of interviewer your client is?  You get this information when you debrief the first candidate you send in to interview.  They are your Guinea pig that sets you up to prepare everyone else extremely well.

IN-DEPTH
This is the interviewer who will ask very detailed questions on what is on the candidate's resume as well as what is not on the resume.  This is also the interviewer who asks detailed questions based on the answers to other questions.  Behavioral Based interviewers fall into this category.  They listen intently, don't miss much and quickly recognize conflicting information or answers that don't make sense.

The way to prepare a candidate for them is to let them know to be prepared to talk specifics about their experience.  Where there are accomplishments or awards noted on their resume, the candidate should be prepared to explain how they did what they did - in detail.

CASUAL
This is the interviewer who may start off the interview with "So, tell me about yourself."  They are very comfortable to talk to, are very friendly and open...and candidates will often find themselves opening up and sharing details that they never intended to or wanted to...it just seems like such an open conversation between friends.

The best way to prepare a candidate for this type of interview is to explain that they are very friendly and open and have a way of getting candidates to open up.  Make sure that the candidate knows to make sure the details they are opening up about pertain to their career, accomplishments and experience.

NEGATIVE
Negative interviewers feel that they need tell you about every possible negative thing you may encounter about the company and job.  These people aren't always negative people, they just believe that if you are going to work there you should have full discloser on everything that could be negative.  They will say things like: "So, how do you feel about working 80 hour work weeks with no feedback?" or "Here you will be exposed to a great deal of swearing and inappropriate behavior, are you OK with that?" or is could be a simple as constant comments like "We are slow to make decisions, are you a patient person?"

The way to mitigate the impact of a negative interview is to let the candidate know this is what they will experience in advance.  Failure to do this will cause the candidate to want to run out of the interview as quickly as possible.  The approach can be as simple as "Timmy believes that he owes it to people he likes to tell them everything negative they might experience.  He does this not to scare you but is in the spirit of telling you everything - don't let it scare you."

UNSEASONED / UNPROFESSIONAL
This is the person who doesn't interview much, has never done one, or just doesn't care what is appropriate.  They will ask inappropriate and sometime illegal questions. "So, got any kids....are you married?"  It may be as simple as swearing in the interview or not knowing what questions to ask and they end up asking questions that never allow a candidate to explain their qualifications or experience.

The best way to prepare a candidate for this type of interview is to let them know that the person doing the interview doesn't do them often and may spend their time asking questions that don't have anything to do with the job.  Let the candidate know to quickly answer the interviewers question in as simple and appropriate way as possible THEN follow up with a comment about the job and how their experience will allow them to excel.  It might sound something like this:  "On the weekends, I like to ice fish.  I notice on your job description that they main thing you are looking for is someone that can take care of your purchasing of raw materials, I have 100 years of experience doing this and have developed procedures that allow me to minimize the cost paid and maximize credit terms.  What do you currently use for purchasing software?" 

Don't Think Positive Reinforcement is Important? Run A Marathon

In 2000 I completed my first, and only, marathon.  I remember limping across the finish line bleeding, blistered, exhausted and very excited to see my wife and 2-year-old son.  I checked that item off my bucket list, and hadn’t put on shoes for the purpose of running in nearly 12 years.

I put the medal they give you when you cross the finish line in a shadow box on the wall in our basement along with many of the other family accomplishments.  Over the years, my sons and I have talked about running a marathon together someday.

Fast forward nearly 13 years and my eldest son and I are training to run a half marathon with a full marathon soon to come.  We created a solid training plan and have been sticking to it religiously.   During a recent longer run my son had finished and I was struggling a bit.  After he finished, he came back, gave me high five, said “You’re doing good dad, lets finish this,” and we finished the run together. 

His simple act of positive reinforcement helped me finish and reminded me of my marathon.  It was around mile 22 and I was simply putting one foot in front of the other with nothing left in the tank but determination.  Turning the corner, I saw one of those very long San Francisco hills and my heart sank.  As I started the climb I noticed that there were a number of people who had already finished the race who were walking the course backward to encourage those still struggling.  At that point, even a complete stranger reminding me “you have almost made it, you’re still moving forward and by pushing a bit more you will finish” – meant the world to me.  That simple act of timely positive reinforcement was enough to give me the mental strength needed to make it up the hill and finish.

As business leaders, it is often too easy to fall into routines or get hyper focused on a goal and forget the importance of positive reinforcement for those on our team.  Positive reinforcement not only reminds people that they have the skills to complete the task, but that they also have the confidence of their mentors.  When people know their leaders believe in them they are empowered to push harder, take risks and often over-achieve the goal.  People who receive regular appropriate positive reinforcement are more excited to come to work, will stay in their jobs longer and be more forward thinking in their ideas to improve – because they know they have support behind them.

There are those leaders, and I have worked with a number over the years, who believe positive reinforcement is over-rated.  To them I would say – run a marathon, see what that reinforcement does for you when you are wiped out and then imagine what it could do for someone you work with.  Remind your people how talented they are.  The results are amazing.