By Kevin D’Aprile – Independent Recruiting Consultant and Mark A. Leon – Talent Acquisition Specialist, Hewitt Associates

In July 2003, Kevin Wheeler wrote an article entitled “Could You Automate Recruiting? Some Thoughts on Recruiter Value” for Global Learning Resources. Kevin spoke about the internet, recruiting websites, applicant tracking systems and Enterprise software. He introduced the actuality that the full life cycle functionality of recruitment from sourcing to background investigation could be completely web-based. Though it can never eliminate the front end diligence of building and fostering new and continuing relationships.

Though it may seem primitive now, this article presented the future of modern recruitment. By introducing the industry to the new functionality and technology that are evolving, he was also warning us of the next Tsunami in the world of Talent Acquisition. The new face of recruitment was born. Now that we are growing up and facing the world on our own, do we know what to do? Like any journey we must face it with courage and inspiration.

Ryan Leary, on Cruitertalk.com ranted and raved about Web 2.0, Social Recruiting and Cloud Recruiting in his article “Recruiters Need to Get Soft Skills” but in the end all he needed was a cup of coffee, a deep breath and a simple belief: Grass roots recruiting will never go away.

It is time to Bring Kevin Wheeler back for a moment. He recently stated on ERE.net that “Being a modern recruiter is, in some ways, easy. It’s about treating candidates as you would like to be treated. It’s about knowing who you are and what you believe so that you can quickly know when the direction you are headed is wrong.”

We are built on principal and dedication.

1) Believe in the organization
2) Believe in the product
3) Believe in growth and stability
4) Believe in the culture

Standing behind your product will helped facilitate relationships with your primary customer; your candidates.

Technology will define how the modern recruiter behaves due to the cost reduction and time effective tools. This begs the question: Has the recruiter evolved with the new technology or has the technology evolved the recruiter? Let us ponder that thought for just a moment…..I love those deep thought moments.
Why must we respect social media? A very well received presentation by Brandinfiltration.com “What the F**k is Social Media: One Year Later” tells us.

A) Three-fourths of Americans on the Internet use Social Media Technology
B) Two-thirds of Global Internet users visit Social Network Sites
C) 1382% is the rise of monthly growth on Twitter from January to February 2009
D) 100,000,000 is the number of daily YouTube video views
E) Five Billion minutes a day are spent on Facebook globally
F) If Facebook was a nation, it would be the fourth largest nation in the world
G) 93% of Social Network users believe companies should have a presence
H) 83% believe they should engage formally with their customers through these communication media

Are you satisfied with the evidence yet or do you need more?

Chris Wellington (The Recruiter Guy) gave a poignant yet humorous take on computer overkill with his “1,2,3…How Many Monitors Are You Using to Recruit That Next Executive” article where he demonstrated one monitor with his ATS and another with his sourcing search engine tools. It was a humorous take but it was saturated with reality.

Chris is the Recruiter Guy. As you venture into the Social media web you will see the Radical Recruiter, The Modern Recruiter, The Confused yet Happy Recruiter, The Chuck Bartowski Recruiter, The Recreational Recruiter or Super Recruiter.

Are we at a point of taking out careers a little too lightly? Perhaps but more importantly we are creating personal brand. The internet has provided an open avenue of self promotion. How does one stand above the rest. Every industry and specialty skill with have its superstars and its lagers. The Social Media front is a means of creating, engaging and growing an image. This image will provide you with the leverage to promote the soft skills that will gain the highest quality talent in the market.
The technology will provide more efficiency and cost savings but the soft skills will gain the loyalty of the talent.

Remember there are some elements of your game that must never go away and must remain a strong part of your weaponry:

Believe in your personal and professional values and ethics and share those with others
Study the talent market, understand the skills, and be able to develop effective strategies to capture the skills needed to continue to help your business grow
Build relationships. One Lego is strong but many are a fortress. Each relationship is the building block of many more. Soft skills or “High Touch Skills” must remain a critical tool in the recruitment arsenal.
Learn effective techniques of sales. If you can sell and idea to a candidate and close the deal, it is pure magic

With all these tools and technologies at your finger tips and many more being developed as we sleep how do we not get lost in the ocean of modernization? It is very simple: Listen, Become Engaged, Measure your results.

Listen to your colleagues, competitors, candidates, people on the street, blogs, musicians, poets and your mother. Take in as much information as you can to make the best educated choices in your pursuit of professional greatness

Find a few focused sites or communities that you can contribute positively and become heavily engaged. Get involved. Volunteer, start a blog, build a community and make yourself known
Measure what is working and what is not. You will not succeed at everything but when you find the true value in your attempts then you will shine.

The field is changing. The grass is greener. The players are faster and stronger and the equipment is so amazing. Are you ready to run through the gate and take the field? I think I hear the whistle.
What is the bottom line? We can’t escape technology so why try. On one end of the field are the traditional grass roots recruiters and on the other end the techie geeks. Lay your pocket protectors down and lets get ready to rumble. Wait, wait, wait! There is a better idea; use both the technology and the soft skills to your advantage. Then you will be the true Modern Recruiter.

Let’s summarize our key points.

Social Media opens up more global avenues and access to talent that we did not have in the past. It provides us the opportunity to advance public relations, collaboration, networking, knowledge sharing and branding. Blend that with the true heart of recruiting, the social element of relationship building and networking and you have a complete professional.

In the end, if you are a recruiter, sourcer, generalist or hiring manager one must be able to sell the opportunity, the employer and culture and finally gain that acceptance. Then victory is ours
Accept change but don’t ever change.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @kdprile and Mark @markalex222

How Generation Y is Impacting Sourcing Strategy

By: Mark A. Leon, Talent Acquisition Specialist – Aon Corporation

In a time of extreme unprecedented global recession, a historic vision in domestic politics, and a time of more spiritual awareness, over 70 million Generation Y members will be embarking on the next level of maturity as they enter or grow in the professional workforce. This group of 15 to 28 year olds born between 1979 and 1994 brings a new mindset much different from the baby boomers and Generation X community.

Currently, Generation-Y accounts for 20% of the United States population. Attributes of a Generation Y professional:

Family Centric

Racially and ethnically diverse and socially tolerant

They are empowered by strong upbringings

Value hard work but do not want work to take over their lives

Value technology and a level of social community in the workplace

They want to continuously be challenged with meaningful work

They want to grow and learn

They are independent but respond positively to authority (family, heroes…)

Look for immediate results with tools like IM, text, Social Networks, GPS and smart phones

There is also a level of pessimism and cynicism that has engulfed this generation due to major world events that have shaped their thinking.

Some of the key major events that have shaped the thought process in this generation are 9/11, Terrorism, The Iraqi War, OJ Simpson Trial, Columbine, Waco, YouTube, dot.com rise and bust, the death of Princess Diana, IPods and IPhones, SARS, Y2K and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Yet this does not diminish the strong value in family, heroism and spirituality that has grown with this generation.

The unemployment rate for Generation Y is also more dire than the rest of the workforce. In December, 2008, the unemployment rate for workers under 29 is at 11 percent versus 9 percent in December, 2007. For workers ages 16-19, the rate is near 20 percent. For workers age 30 and above the rate is still under 7 percent. Now the playing field is even. They have core skill sets focused on modern technology that are essential to our needs. They possess value added talents in analytics, mathematics, statistics, programming and finance. The business community struggles to find less quantity and more quality. Now the true dichotomy comes together.

Now that we understand Generation Y, what are they demanding from us: the employer and how we can balance our needs with their core talents?

Candidate needs:

More vacation

Higher pay

More challenging work

More lateral diversified work

More access to technology and web based social networking

More affinity and community organizations at work

More flex time to be with family

Given the economic climate, the need for young fresh innovative talent and the growing concerns about job security, we must now develop talent acquisition strategies that will secure the most ideal talent to help grow your organization in an era of rebuilding and restructuring corporate cultures and services.

Stay connected: Networking is the most powerful tool we have in a growing global society. We are still in early stages of developing professional networking tools among the Generation Y population. The differentiation between social networking and professional networking is still in its infantile stages. Facebook, Myspace and Ning are common web terms to Gen-Y but Linkedin, InMobile.com, and Sermo.com are less common web sites. Our goal in Talent Acquisition Sourcing is to integrate social networking outreach with professional network connections.

Include the Family: It is important to understand how important family is in the decision making process of young professionals. Parents are role models and very influential in assisting their children with important life decisions such as career choices. The US Army recently developed a marketing campaign reaching out to the parents and not just the child. They understand the importance of parents in the Talent Acquisition process.

Respect the need for work life balance: Perhaps this may be one of the most difficult requests to adhere to but we must try to be cognizant of the need for flexible work schedules, extra vacation and home work to provide employees with more quality family time.

Listen to the candidates: In a virtual web-based society, the personal connection can be lost. Connect with the candidates. Talk to them in person or via phone and listen to their needs. Ask them what they want. Surprisingly many young professionals know exactly what they want.

Develop communities around their interests: Seek out candidates in diversity groups, athletic organizations, fraternity/sorority communities, internship networks and special interest networks. Find a common ground to establish strong long term relationships.

Market the technology: Understand your technology strengths, global presence and innovative services and products and ensure that you market those to the Generation Y community.

Build Trust: Don’t just connect or invite candidates into your professional networks or sourcing web but help build trust, confidence and credibility. Prep the candidates with mock interview questions and provide detailed constructive feedback. Give them some insider information on the culture and some of the little perks only an associate would know, and be realistic about growth, stability, and financial gain

Be creative: There are many sourcing tools in today’s market. Some are good, some are bad. Some yield high volume and some high quality. Do your research, don’t be afraid to pioneer something new and don’t be afraid to fail.

The bottom line is that this is not a cut and dry formula but a guideline of strategic suggestions to help shape and mold your sourcing strategy for the present and future. Each organization, whether you are a small niche company or a global Fortune 500, will have to integrate your strategy into your mission, core values and company culture. We all have similar goals and those are to provide complete customer satisfaction, become a financially stable and growth oriented organization and maintain the highest levels of morale and ethical standing in the professional community.

Together as technology and business come together we must continue to share knowledge and best practices and ensure that understand the changing demographics of the professional community. As we understand the needs of the new generation of worker, we will ultimately modify our way of sourcing, recruiting and company culture and operating processes.

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