We’ve all seen the recruiting industry change drastically over the past 10 years. Technology has changed the way we do our jobs (just as it has changed the way we do business in general). Equally important, the recognition of “people” as the driving force behind the success of a company has begun to elevate our profession into the realm of strategists and businesspeople, and away from that of simple administrators. Having said that, it’s still fun to look back and see how far we’ve come. Nowadays, most of my time is spent talking to staffing groups who are trying to build or rebuild their staffing engines. I’m often asked about what’s currently “hot” in recruiting, and I’m constantly reminded about what’s not so hot. So I decided to have a little fun with this concept to go along with the “vacation attitude” many of us have at this time of year. Below you’ll find a list of some “Hot” and some “Not So Hot” ideas in recruiting. And if that doesn’t bring a smile to your day, be sure to read the top ten “You Know You’re A Stone Age Recruiter If…” list at the bottom of this article. Hope you have fun with this and maybe even get a few good ideas. Enjoy! What’s Hot: Video Streaming of employees describing day-to-day activities
What’s Not: 500-word job descriptions that include words like “self-starter” What’s Hot: Beaming job descriptions over PDA’s
What’s Not: “Fax resume to…” What’s Hot: Referral programs that include sponsorships
What’s Not: Referrals that go to the “Black Hole of HR” What’s Hot: Real-time, online, web-based candidate profiles
What’s Not: Paper resumes What’s Hot: Workforce Planning
What’s Not: 230,000 unemployed people in the U.S. since February, 2001 What’s Hot: Employment branding
What’s Not: Single-placed ads with no URL’s What’s Hot: Interactive Corporate employment sites that tell a story or take me on a journey
What’s Not: “Email your resume to hr@companyx.com” What’s Hot: Qualified candidates for hard to fill positions
What’s Not: Every candidate calling on your mobile phone What’s Hot: Web-based access to a candidate database
What’s Not: Limited access proprietary, office-based system What’s Hot: Search agent technology that does the work for you
What’s Not: Waiting to search your database until after everyone has gone home What’s Hot: A great hire with a lot of friends
What’s Not: A package deal What’s Hot: Job description URLs in your e-mail signature
What’s Not: 5 clicks to find a job description What’s Hot: Candidate source tracking
What’s Not: Cookies (the technical ones, still ok with Mrs. Fields) What’s Hot: Games on employment website that test needed skill
What’s Not: Five pages of benefit descriptions of working for a pre-IPO start-up (oh yeah, that’s on our website!) What’s Hot: You sometimes try “bold practices” from which you track results
What’s Not: You always follow “best practices” (a recipe for mediocrity) Top Ten Ways to Tell If You’re a Stone Age Recruiter
- You consider yourself an electronic recruiter because you have an email address.
- Your idea of employment branding is explaining the company’s vacation policy.
- Your idea of Workforce Planning is getting the resume to the hiring manager an extra 10 minutes before the interview.
- Your idea of candidate advocacy means telling the interviewee they have something in their teeth.
- “Searching your Candidate Database” means flipping through paper resumes in your Inbox.
- Your categories for tracking candidate source are “U.S. Mail,” “Fax,” and “Hand Delivered.”
- You think decreasing time to hire means conducting shorter interviews.
- Your idea of a passive candidate is someone with a weak handshake.
- If you’re heard saying over and over again, “Heck, nothing is better then my rolodex!”
And finally, the number one way that you can tell if you’re a Stone Age Recruiter is…
- Your concept of “pre-screening” means checking out the interviewee’s outfit from your secret hiding place in the lobby!