Dan Hanyzewski, Managing Partner, West Shore Partners LLC

The title of this piece could easily represent a number of volumes but I am going to humbly attempt to crystallize it in several paragraphs.

In one of his classes, Deepak Chopra, the founder of the Chopra Foundation, talks about what he calls “the soul of leadership” and says “that leaders appear when awareness meets need.” He goes on to suggest that there is a hierarchy of needs that contributes to what roles a leader has to address once that person steps into this void. Even though this premise feels reasonable and pragmatically comforting I am not at all convinced in the practicality of this theory in real terms. Are leaders really made not born? In the midst of chaos and stress can someone who knows what a group needs really prioritize and fill the Leadership Vacuum?

If you were to ask the pedestrian person what the Vacuum is and why it continues to persist in numerous aspects of our lives, I am certain you would get a myriad of answers that have a great deal of emotion attached to them with little in the way of consensus on how to fill the Vacuum. Therein lies the key, in my opinion, as to why the Leadership Vacuum is a real phenomenon and will continue to challenge our humanity.

In “Primal Leadership,” Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee describe six styles of leading that have different effects on the emotions of the target followers. The whole science of EI (Emotional Intelligence) has given way to great understanding of how emotional intelligence contributes to effective leadership by focusing on five essential elements of leader effectiveness: development of collective goals and objectives; instilling in others an appreciation of the importance of work activities; generating and maintaining enthusiasm, confidence, optimism, cooperation, and trust; encouraging flexibility in decision making and change; and establishing and maintaining a meaningful identity for an organization.

Chuck Ballard PE (“A Leadership Vacuum”), along with many other authors, has an interesting take on this phenomenon and suggests that it is the displacement of Leadership with Managership. Drawing on his experiences with Fortune 500 companies across the country, Ballard’s book examines trends in American business today that act to de-emphasize leadership in favor of management techniques and practices. The de-emphasis of leadership has accelerated and could inevitably bring American business to second-class status in a global economy. The reason for this is that leadership, in Ballard’s view, is a dying occupation in American business.

The same dilemma could be identified in politics, sports, education, and in most places we are craving to identify and revere Leadership.

So, is this a creation of generational shift? Is this happening because of negative ramifications for taking a Leadership role? Is it the apathy and numbing of our emotional cortex? When did it start? How do we impact a change in the outcome? As I mentioned earlier, this could be a number of books but I will attempt to give you some answers from one person’s perspective.

Some will say our world faces a moral crisis. We are in a cultural war against principles—lacking a moral compass to evaluate our direction. The AIDS pandemic in Africa, the sex trade among children in Asia, terrorism in the Middle East, drug traffic in Latin America, poverty in half the world’s nations, and a significant moral vacuum in America and Europe are pleas for dynamic, effective leaders to provide direction. Even in the U.S., more than 60% of children are being raised without their biological father. Values are hard to identify. It isn’t enough to add followers. We desperately need to generate class leaders.

In approximately15 years, 40% or more of the current workforce in the U.S. will be evaporating. The Baby Boomers, which are the majority of this group, will be retiring and vacating their roles in business, government, education, churches, and as missionaries. These vacancies must be filled by young, trained leaders. Why? Leaders provide solutions. According to research done by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, leadership qualities can no longer be the property of the elite minority. In today’s world, every student will need to learn and develop leadership skills.

Today, almost one half the world’s population is 21 years old or younger. This means that three to four billion people need to be provided and immersed in leadership skills. Prepared or not, they will attempt to lead our world into the future. The millennial generation (born between1984-2002) is passionate about changing the world. While they can seem to be self-absorbed and impatient, they are optimistic, relational, and adept with technology. It is our responsibility to prepare them to lead the way. It is more effective to influence a young person than it is to reshape an adult.

I would offer up that what I have suggested simply reflects to some, myself included, a rudimentary responsibility that was established in the DNA of centuries of generations in our past. I would like to think we who have experienced great Leadership and understand its magnanimous importance would act as stewards and impart this to our future leaders. One of my significant heroes in life and a great leader who has been studied by many, Vince Lombardi, said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

To fill this Vacuum we should take stock in our individual responsibility to do what we can and set a course for greater things and many more Leaders to come. The Leadership Vacuum is not only apparent but in practical terms it has been a devastating phenomenon to global aspirations. We look around us and we instinctively can easily identify the impact of the lack of leadership in all things that pertain to the human condition. On a macro level we have seen giants of industry crumble under the direct implications of this Vacuum. We have been impacted personally by policies that have lacked Leadership in the face of partisanship and we have seen the horrors of the Vacuum affect millions in countries defined by tyranny.

To eradicate this void will take an enormous amount of hard work, courage, desire, and vision. By doing so we will be gifted with solutions to problems we have yet to understand and solutions to those we choose to ignore until they become intolerable. It is reasonable to suggest that if we choose not to inspire those willing to step into the fray to fill this void we will all be doing a great injustice to the world we occupy.

Dan Hanyzewski is Managing Partner of West Shore Partners LLC / Redmitten.com, a niche consulting firm focused on delivering high-end solutions to a range of Human Resources, Procurement, Operational, and Finance clients. He is currently engaged by  Sunrise Systems as a principal to aggressively grow that firm and Kelly Services (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) to assist Kelly’s Outsourcing and Consulting Group build out additional capabilities in employment branding, recruitment strategy, and contingent workforce management.

Jeff Davis, Recruiter, Career Strategies, Inc

Whoever came up with the term “tough love” clearly met my father.

I never had any doubt that my dad loved me. He would always plan family vacations and would give my sister and me anything we ever wanted. There was a saying in my house that the Davis children weren’t spoiled, just well taken care of.

And sometimes being well taken care of meant going to live theater. I was completely taken with the magic of theater and the arts but, as my father found out as I got older and started to think of a career, cultivating my love of the arts had some undesired consequences.

I remember when I was a junior in high school my father asked me if I had given any thought to what I would do after graduation.

“Yes,” I said, “I’m definitely going to college.”

His eyes lit up.

“And I’ll study to become…AN ACTOR!!!”

At this, the light left his eyes and he started to give me a stern, sullen look. Now, while my father has many strengths, delivering his opinion with tact isn’t exactly his strongest suit.

“Jeff,” he said. “Well…how should I put this…you can’t act. I saw your last high school play and let’s face it. You’re no Tom Hanks. Hell, you’re not even a Tom Arnold. You’re just not good enough to compete in the entertainment industry. Your mother and I think you should be a lawyer or a businessman. Maybe you should consider that.”

And so the conversation ended, and though my ego was slightly bruised, the more I thought about it, the more certain I was that a traditional corporate desk job wasn’t for me. I knew I wanted to be an artist because art has the ability to make people see the world differently and change people’s lives. I knew I wanted to do that. I had to find a career where I could make an impact, so a while later I came back to my father saying,

“Dad! I’ve got it. I’ll go to school and study to become…A SINGER!!!”

At this he gave me the same stern, sullen look.

“But Jeff…well…how should I put this. You can’t sing. I can hear you singing in the shower in the morning and…well let’s just say you don’t have perfect pitch. You’ll face a lot of competition as a singer, and quite frankly I don’t think you’re good enough to compete. Once again, your mother and I think you should be a lawyer or a businessman. Maybe you should consider that.”

And so the conversation ended, and though my ego was slightly bruised once again, I thought about the matter a bit more, and a while later I came back to my father saying,

“Dad! This time I’ve really got it. I’ll go to school and study to become….A DANCER!!!”

At this he gave me that same stern, sullen look, which now looked a bit tired and frustrated by the whole situation.

“Jeff, there’s really no good way to put this. You’re a terrible dancer. I’m surprised you could even do the Macarena at your cousin’s wedding. Really, think about the doctor or lawyer or businessman thing.”

And so the conversation ended, and though my ego was really bruised now because I rocked that Macarena out, I thought about the matter a bit more and came back saying,

“Ok, Dad. I know you’re getting tired of this, but really, I’ve got it this time. I’ll go to school and study to be…A DIRECTOR!”

This time, my dad didn’t give me the same stern, sullen look. Instead, his response shocked me. He said, “Well, you’re stubborn, you can be bossy, and you’ve got an ego the size of Texas. You’d be fine as a director. I still think you’ll face a lot of competition, but if you apply to the most prestigious theater school you can think of and can get in, you have my blessing.”

And so I applied to the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television and lo and behold, I got in! I finally would get the chance to be around creative, narcissistic artists just like me, and I would study under even more.

One of those narcissistic artists I would study under was Michael Hackett. Michael was a legendary director who directed productions all over the world and had even worked as a director for prominent LA landmarks like LA Opera and The Hollywood Bowl. If you ever forgot any of his resume, not to worry. Michael would remind you.

Michael was my professor for my Shakespearian directing class. The curriculum for the class was very simple. There were no textbooks, no tests, and no finals. The only assignment was to direct a 10-minute scene from a Shakespearian play, bring it in for the class to see, have the class rip it to shreds with their critiques, and then bring it back in after another week of rehearsals for some more criticism.

Before we could bring in our scene, we had to get it approved by Michael, so one day I walked into his office and said enthusiastically, “Michael! I know what scene I want to direct!”

“Great, Jeff!  What play is it from?”

“My favorite Shakespearian comedy, ‘Titus Andronicus,’” I said sarcastically.

“Uh, that piece of garbage?” Michael exclaimed. “No one ever does that play.”

“I know. That’s why I want to do it.”

“And what scene do you want to do from it?”

“The one in which Lavinia’s tongue and hands are cut off.” What can I say. I had a very interesting sensibility at the time.

“I really don’t want to see that,” Michael said authoritatively. “Go back to the drawing board and come back to me tomorrow.”

So I came back the next day and said, “Michael, I’ve got it!  I’ll do Petruchio and Kate’s introduction scene from ‘Taming of the Shrew.’ I’ve always loved that scene, and I really want to work with something that’s so physical and slapsticky.”

“Ugh. Why are all my students so obsessed with that scene? Someone brings that in every year. Try something original.”

Instead of arguing with Michael that it’s tough to be original with Shakespeare considering that the source material has been around for 400 years, I went home and came back in the next day.

“Hey Michael. What about ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’?”

“Ugh Jeff.  That one’s overdone too.” He went to his bookshelf, grabbed his copy of “Henry IV, Part 1,” and said “Here, do a scene from this one.”

And two weeks later, I walked into class with a scene from “Henry IV.” I will admit, my scene was held together with nothing more than duct tape and hope. After watching the five minute long train wreck that was my scene, Michael turned to me and said, “You know Jeff, I didn’t see a lot of you in this piece,” and he gave me a C minus.

While I completely agreed with him that my scene was awful, I was infuriated with the whole situation. College theater should have been my time to take on any project I wanted without any rules or boundaries. This was supposed to be my time to discover my voice as an artist and be myself. I expected to have complete freedom to create anything I wanted to and to express myself without hearing the words, “you can’t.” Instead, I found college theater to be unbelievably constricting and political. This was not what I signed up for, and if it was any indication of what to expect in my career, I was in trouble.

I thought about giving up as soon as I realized I wasn’t getting what I expected, but I decided that I’m not a quitter. I carried on and stayed in the Theater Department, but everything changed one night in the fall of my senior year. I decided to order a pizza during a night of late night cramming, and the pizza delivery man just happened to be someone I recognized. No, it wasn’t Professor Hackett, but it was a recent graduate of the UCLA Theater Dept directing program.

I was staring at my future, and he was holding my meat lover’s pizza.

At around 10 o’clock that night, I called my father, crying as I ate my pizza.

“Jeff? Why are you calling at 10 o’clock at night? Are you ok?” my dad said in one of his rare panicked tone.

“No,” I managed to get out between tears. “I’m—I’m gonna end up a pizza delivery man and I’m scared.”

My dad asked me to explain, and eventually dad was able to calm me down.

The following day, my dad called me.

“So Jeff, are you ok?” he asked in a gentle tone.

“I’m ok,” I said. “Still about worried, but I’m ok.”

“Well I have some ideas for you,” dad said, in his patented problem-solver tone.

“Dad, I really don’t want to be a lawyer or a businessman,” I said back.

“Well what about Human Resources?” he asked.

“What the hell is that?” I asked. I had never heard of Human Resources before, and it sounded like it dealt with illegal black market organ trading.

After Dad gave me a brief definition of Human Resources and explained how my outgoing personality, my passion for solving problems, and my desire to help others would be an asset to that field, my ears perked up.

“I really think you should take a class in this,” Dad said. “You’ve got nothing to lose.”

A few weeks later, I started my Introduction to Human Resources course, and I immediately fell in love with it. A few months later when I took my first recruiting class, I became obsessed. The idea that I could make a positive impact on someone’s life by finding them their dream job—and by using nothing but my personality, my communication skills, and my gut instincts—inspired me more than anything I learned in four years in the UCLA Theater Department.

I finally found my calling, and I’ve never looked back since.

I have, however, thanked my dad profusely for his years of tough love. At the time, my ego got a bit bruised, but in hindsight, I realize that my dad was always trying to guide me into a career that would make me happy and successful. He understood and recognized the skills and talents I had when I was focusing on the skills and talents I coveted but never really achieved.

I’ve meet a lot of successful HR and recruiting professionals so far in my career, and none of them dreamed of a career in that field as a kid. They all fell into it by accident. I didn’t fall into it. I was pushed through some tough love and pizza, and I am damn grateful for both.

So, dear reader, I hope you can learn from my story. We all have goals, dreams, and aspirations, but those goals, dreams, and aspirations can change over time. I’ve heard time and time again that when it comes to your career, you should follow your heart and the money will follow. I completely agree, but I will add that sometimes people have a change of heart. That’s ok. If your heart is no longer in whatever you’re doing as a career or you feel you’d rather do something else, then do something new. You’re not trapped, and you’re not quitting. You’re just continuing your career in something different and new and daring. And pay attention to those voices in your head (or if you’re like me, the voice of your father) that tell you you’d be better suited for something else. Sometimes that voice, whether it’s internal or external, is onto something.

Jeff Davis is a graduate of UCLA and has an extensive background in Human Resources and Recruiting. He currently works for Career Strategies Inc (www.csi4jobs.com), a staffing firm specializing in direct and temporary placements in corporate capacities.

Bill Humbert, Recruitment Consultant

When trusted employees are promoted into management, generally what is their first task? Replace themselves. How do they interview candidates for their replacement?  Go to HR and ask for a list of acceptable questions to ask. If they are lucky, HR has a list of “approved questions.” Are the questions targeting the skills required to be successful in the position? Generally not, they are simply acceptable interview questions. Do those questions include, “If you were an animal, what would you be?”  Probably not, those questions are usually created by managers who feel they need to ask something more in order to get a better picture of the candidate. Is interviewing taken seriously in corporate America? If it were, hiring managers would be trained to be more effective in the interviewing process. As a matter of fact, trained and “certified” hiring managers from every company function would be developed. For instance, there would a certified interviewing manager in accounting, another in marketing, another in sales, etc.

If executives truly understood the cost of hiring the wrong person for a job, they would require the same or greater due diligence on the selection of a new employee as they require on the selection of a new corporate acquisition. This due diligence would include a meaningful job description, a meaningful interviewing process, and meaningful due diligence on the selected candidate after the interview.

Let’s examine the cost of hiring the wrong person. The first assumption is that they are in the position for two years before they make the grievous mistake that gets them fired (after being put on plan). Let’s say that person is earning $60,000 per year plus full benefits. They are in a decision making position, possibly team leader/supervisor. Let’s also say they have some client contact (customer service is full-time client contact). Does this begin to sound like someone your company has hired?

What are your hard costs of this hire? Did you pay a recruiting fee, relocation, advertising for the position (Internet postings, newspaper, other), attend career fairs, etc.? What time was spent by individuals in your company during the interview process? Did you need to pay the candidate expenses to interview them in person? Did you need to call in an employment attorney prior to letting them go? Did you pay severance? Were you sued by the candidate for wrongful termination when they were let go?

Many companies will glance at their hard costs of letting someone go but never even consider their potentially catastrophic soft costs.

Let’s examine the soft costs of someone who has been in a position for two years but is only doing part of their job – and not doing it that well. What is the cost of the work that is either not done – or done by another member of the team? What is the cost of their disruption to the team? What is the cost of the credibility of the manager for hiring someone like them? Have they driven away a customer or other employees? What is the cost of managing, coaching, and correcting them? What was the cost of the management time spent interviewing them; and then their replacement? Has their employment affected your brand as an employer? How has that affected recruitment? There may be many negative impacts.

On one occasional, I conducted an interview training session with a small consulting firm. The attendees included the CEO and CFO. At the beginning of the session, I asked the previous questions. The table with the CEO and CFO estimated that the potential damage to the company could reach to $1 million over two years. Imagine hiring just four people like that over a couple of years. Potentially that could make the difference between profit and loss – even between staying in business and going out of business. That is how important interviewing and selection skills are.

10 Tips for Successful Hiring Manager Interviews:

1) Create effective job description that includes the three, six, nine, and 12 month goals for that specific position (http://www.recruitingtrends.com/building-an-effective-job-description). This exercise makes the skills and experience necessary to be successful the first year crystal clear. Then the manager is able to focus questions on those skills and experience.

2) Use the goals and the departments this position interfaces with to create an interdepartmental interviewing team that focuses on its specific area and general corporate fit.

3) Create an interview that combines behavioral interviewing with 1 and 2 step interview questions to probe skills and experience.

4) Each interviewer focuses on their skill area – and reports how well the candidate would do in their area.

5) Treat the candidate as a potential client – they may be in the future if they are not already.

6) After the interview and within 24 hours, the interview team meets and discusses the candidate. Each member of the team gives thumbs up or down. The hiring manager accepts their opinions and makes the final hire/no hire decision after the reference check/drug test/background test processes.

7) The hiring manager is taught how to conduct reference checks since they know everything the candidate will need to accomplish. Remember, they make critical decisions every day that impact the company. They will conduct a more meaningful reference check than anyone else. Coach them as you would for interviewing.

8) Once the reference check/drug test/background check processes are complete, the final hire/no hire decision is made.

9) Based on the information collected during the interviewing and reference checking processes, create an offer based on corporate compensation, budget, and scarcity of candidates.

10) Begin your offer process by selling the candidate on the position again, asking how they will handle the counter offer, and extending the offer.

Using this straightforward process will improve your company’s candidate selection process—and, as a result, improve employee retention.

Bill Humbert is an expert nationally based Recruitment Consultant and the author of “RecruiterGuy’s Guide to Finding a Job.” His business, RecruiterGuy.com, specializes in recruitment continuous process improvement, employment branding, creative candidate sourcing, interview training, and how these tie together to attract Impact Performers.

Jeff Davis, Recruiter, Career Strategies, Inc

Many months ago, I was interviewing candidates for a recruiting position. The position had been open for months, and I felt like I was never going to find a candidate who had the unique experience I wanted. That was until I found the perfect resume.

I found a candidate, let’s just say her name was Amy, who looked perfect on paper. She had three years of experience as a recruiter, both for corporate entities and for staffing agencies. She had a proven track record and had worked for some major companies.  Household names abounded on her resume and, given her experience, I felt she could hit the ground running and quickly become an asset to the team.

Without any hesitation, I scheduled her for an in-person interview and made sure that my whole team could meet with her. I was certain that as long as she showed up and was breathing, she’d get the job.

A few days later it was time for Amy’s interview. My team and I rushed down to the lobby to great the person I had shamelessly hyped and praised.

When I entered the lobby, I saw two women waiting. One was sharply dressed and exuded confidence. The other looked like she had slept in her suit and didn’t bother to style her hair. Seeing as how recruiters depend heavily on reputation and appearance, the candidate who was the epitome of poise and style had to be Amy.

I walked up to her and said enthusiastically, “Amy!  It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

She smiled at me but looked a bit puzzled. Then a small, quiet voice behind me said, “Oh, um, actually I’m Amy.” I turned around, and the suit-sleeper was now on her feet, arm outstretched to me for a handshake.

I shook her hand which felt like a cold, dead fish, and as I looked into the sad, droopy eyes on her smileless face, my heart sank.

What followed was the longest and most boring interview of my life. My team and I gave Amy every possible opportunity to impress us, but every question was answered in a ho-hum tone and featured phrases like, “Well, um, I’ve never done that, but I guess I could.” When asked what she’d say to a candidate before their interview to get them pumped up and enthused about our company, she looked down at her hands and said in a Ben Stein-ish tone, “Well, uh, I’d say that I guess it’s a good company and fun to work for.”

Needless to say, Amy did not get the job, but she definitely left an impression on me. To this day, I use her as an example to anyone I come across who is looking for a job.

Being a complete Disney fanatic, I often compare people I meet to Disney characters (in case you were wondering, I’m Mike Wazowski, the little green guy from “Monsters, Inc,”).  Amy was clearly Eeyore, the depressed donkey from “Winnie the Pooh.”

I understand that being unemployed and looking for work can turn even the best of us into an Eeyore, but keep in mind that Eeyores don’t get jobs.

If you think you might be an Eeyore candidate, try these 10 tips…

1)      Surround yourself with positive people

Ideally everyone you come across will be supportive of your job search, but some people’s idea of support is actually detrimental to your success. You will come across people that make up excuses for you, like “The job market just sucks right now. It’s not your fault,” or my favorite, “Let’s just get drunk and forget about it.” Distance yourself from these people. While they are trying to help, their “solutions” will only keep you down. Instead, if you have friends, family, and colleagues who say things like “I know you can do it,” or “Keep it up!” or do things like e-mail you jobs to apply to, keep these people close. Their support is positive, and being around them will give you a more positive outlook.

2)      Quit taking it personally

There is no doubt that even the most amazing job seekers will encounter rejection from time to time. Quit taking it personally. Most of the time, the reason for rejection has nothing to do with you anyway. The reason you don’t get the job or don’t even get an interview might be because of budgeting, internal candidates, or a complete revamp of the company or department you’re applying to. Don’t focus on things you will never be able to control. Focus on yourself and how awesome you are, which brings me to my next tip…

3)      Tell yourself you’re hirable

If you’ve worked at least one day in your life, then you must have some hirable skills, and even if you haven’t worked before, odds are you have at least one hirable skill that just hasn’t been utilized yet. So stop the self-loathing. You are good enough to get a job, but no one will hire you if you don’t think you deserve it. And besides, beating yourself up every day gets downright exhausting.

4)      Practice interviewing

There’s nothing as depressing and demoralizing as completely bombing an interview.  There’s one easy way to combat this: practice the interview. As much as I love recruiters and hiring managers, we’re not the most original, creative people in the world. Most of us will ask the same questions over and over again. You can find books in your library of standard interview questions. Lists of interview questions are also readily available on the internet. One word of caution though: a successful interview isn’t just about being able to answer the questions. It’s about how you answer the questions. Practice how you will answer the questions you anticipate being asked. Set up a mock interview with a friend, a recruiter, or even your spouse or partner. Acting out the scenario in a friendly setting will help you prepare for the real deal. If you’re a shy, timid person, I highly suggest getting involved with different organizations that can help you become more comfortable with interacting with others. Toastmasters and improv acting classes are great things to consider. Both will get you to open up, talk, and think on your feet. Go to a few of these events and you’ll gain a wealth of confidence.

5)      Get out of the house

When you’re looking for a job, your job search should be one of your top priorities, but it should not be your only priority. You can only sit in front of your computer and send out resumes for so long before you get cabin fever.  Getting out of the house is okay.  Reward yourself for your hard work by going out for a walk or grabbing some ice cream. Just getting outside, being around other people, and being in sunlight will have a dramatic effect on your outlook.

6)      Network

Since you’re getting out of the house anyway, why not go to some networking events?  Find some professional groups in your area or in your industry. Many of them may even have events that cater to people who are “in transition.” The people you meet at these events may be able to give you advice on how to be an effective job-seeker and may even point you in the direction of companies that are hiring. The worst case scenario is you get out of the house for a few hours, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

7)      Make a happy playlist

I remember when I was in high school, I was very angsty and angry almost all the time, but I really had nothing to be angsty and angry about. I then looked at the CDs I had in my car. All of them were very angry, angsty rock bands: Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Limp Bizkit. No wonder I was an angry guy! I changed to more mellow tunes: Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson. A few days later I started to notice a shift in my mood.  Before long, people close to me started to notice it, too.  It’s amazing how much music seeps into our subconscious and influences how we see the world. Pick music that puts you in a happy, positive, confident mood, and listen to that music when applying to jobs and prepping for interviews.

8)      Set small, achievable goals

It’s great to start with the end in mind, but don’t let the end be your one and only goal. If you wake up every day of your job search thinking, “Today is the day I get the job,” the fact of the matter is that you will fail from achieving your goal every day except for the very last day of your job search. And if you’re like me, that feeling of failure isn’t exactly motivating. Instead of focusing on the final step, focus on the smaller ones you need to make to get you there. Tell yourself, “I will apply to 15 jobs today,” or “I’ll RSVP for two networking events today.” These are small, achievable, attainable goals, and you will feel good about yourself when you cross them off your daily to-do list.

9)      Go shopping and give yourself a job seeker makeover

Clothes definitely make the man (or woman), so take some time to go shopping for a new interview outfit if necessary. There are some other perks to going shopping during your job search. According to studies conducted by Cornell University as well as polling companies such as Harris and Gallup, the act of shopping makes you temporarily happier. Investing a few bucks on a new outfit that makes you look like a million bucks will also make you act like a million bucks. When you like the way you look, you will exude the confidence, happiness, and positivity that Eeyore candidates lack.

10)   If it’s really serious, then get serious help

Being unemployed, especially for a long period of time, can easily lead to a serious depression problem. If you notice any depression warning signs over an extended period of time, such as having difficulty getting out of bed every morning or heightened alcohol consumption, go to your doctor right away and get help. Your job search is important, but your mental health should always be your top priority. Also, if you are clinically depressed and not getting proper treatment, your depression will be a major hindrance to your job search. Take care of yourself and everything else will fall into place.

Jeff Davis is a graduate of UCLA and has an extensive background in Human Resources and Recruiting. He currently works for Career Strategies Inc (www.csi4jobs.com), a staffing firm specializing in direct and temporary placements in corporate capacities.

Yogesh Kumar Global Talent Sourcing & Employment Branding Specialist

How does confidence relate to sourcing? I am referring to the entire process of sourcing for any position you work on. How many times do the following questions hit your mind before starting to source candidates for a requisition? How will I fill this requisition, what are my sources, what are the channels I can get help from, will my job postings bring great results with candidate applications – and if not, then what kind of impression will it deliver to my recruiters, am I choosing the right source in the beginning, and many more.

Being a sourcing professional you are actually a person who becomes the face of an organization/client and then jumps on to the market with his weapons (sourcing tools).

Where does confidence come from? It comes from the entire sourcing cycle you are following to kill/fill a requisition, and it is also very important that you know your sourcing cycle very well. Improving it continuously is another key to be confident.

Everybody has different strategies and different questions (especially those mentioned on the list above) when they run through their sourcing cycle.

Let’s now start solving the questions above and pedal the sourcing cycle which will help us generate confidence.

The sourcer starts with a requisition with the first few steps of going to job boards and posting a requisition to the major channels like LinkedIn, Monster, Facebook, Twitter, and other powerful resources. This generates the following sourcing cycle:

Resume search on Job Boards>>>Posting the Job on web channels>>> Waiting for response from the postings/paid postings & Not being confident!

The only thing missing here is the confidence and I have no doubt that even this cycle will bring results. However, I am not too sure about the confidence piece. Everyone follows the job postings, they run searches on job boards, etc. However, are we actually in a position to think of a perfect sourcing cycle which will surely bring the confidence in advance to fill a position?

It only comes when you have been improving your sourcing strategies (sourcing cycle), prioritizing tasks and gaining knowledge about 95% of the sources in advance..

I have been talking to sourcing professionals, taking their suggestions and thoughts from different countries, and I find the majority of them are highly focused on a few sourcing channels and they are able to fill their requisitions through this strategy.

How do I build confidence? I am going to share my strategy here which will include 95% of sources to pull the talent from.

For the remaining 5% I have an interesting example to share.

For example, you never found a Java developer who created a profile on the Web. However, you found him solving someone’s query on a technical troubleshooting forum with his contact details. This Java developer comes from that list (5%) of unknown tools/sources which do not feature profiles of people but include some information about them.

Now I  want to highlight my strategy (sourcing cycle) to build confidence.

I am going to take a SharePoint developer requisition and I will work on it now with confidence and with reasons for confidence.

My Sourcing Cycle

■  I will directly hit the job boards. Why? First, I have got access to them (provided by clients/my organization). Second, this is the only database which has one potential thing in every corner and that’s what I need to have, i.e., resumes. I will do the deep search with all specifications to pull out the cream (solid candidates) and will make contact with them to field out their interest. I will also save an alert for this search query to receive the strongest candidates right into my mailbox. First step is done here.

■  I will then use LinkedIn (including X-Ray search) and will make the strongest string to pull the highly relevant profiles. I don’t stop here. The moment I find the profiles, I will not be going to LinkedIn to make contact with these candidates since LinkedIn policies don’t give you full freedom to make contact with people. I will try to locate these candidates again on job boards. I know I made the best string already to pull the cream out of job boards but there is a huge difference between the search syntax used by LinkedIn, Google, and job boards. So, you may not find the same candidate with the strongest string you ran on the job board but you may find them on LinkedIn/Google and other sources with that string.

You may not always find a LinkedIn candidate on a job board, but nothing is better than finding them there and making a contact with them instantly through email/phone to field out their interest. With this step I have covered the most important part of sourcing channels.

■  My next step is always to look for candidates in a database which is usually called “my friend” by me; I am referring to my Application Tracking System.

You have been receiving applications on this tool and this is one of the richest sources. An ATS is one of the best weapons (tools) a sourcer should utilize. Approximately 90% of the candidates who applied for a position went to your ATS database. They are still external candidates. The remaining 10% are the ones you hired and are your internal candidates.

Now the key is you have a mix of talent in this huge pool of 90% candidates which gives you immense opportunities to search for your target, i.e., SharePoint developer. If you have even five good candidates with all the details of their progress from past requisitions, then you are giving the highly qualified candidates to your recruiter with this step.

Also, you never know if these candidates applied to a role earlier which was not relevant for them due to reasons like location, salary expectation, work hours, and many others. Here you have a chance to tag them to the relevant requisition and let them know about the opportunities. You must search the LinkedIn candidates in your ATS as well – never miss a source to get the contact information faster. By completing this step I have a strong pipeline that follows me – I am not following it anymore – and I am confident enough to see the results.

■  Now I will post the job to relevant sites, groups, tools, social media, etc. to make sure that I have penetration of application going on, while I am busy with working on the cream I found from the last three steps. It will keep me confident that the people are applying to the position and I will have something handy in case there is an alarming situation (which should not happen often). Do you see some confidence now? I certainly do.

There are a few more steps here which can be followed to keep your efforts secure and to keep yourself away from the questions we mentioned in the beginning.

1)    Generate referrals through internal employees.

2)    Review all the applications within a time frame of not more than 48 hours since the application was submitted to your requisition.

3)    Manage the response and follow up with the four major tasks you performed above for results.

Give a thought to this strategy while you have a new requisition in front of you and see the confidence you will build to get great results without having too many questions in mind before you hit the Web tools.

Yogesh Kumar is a Sourcing & Social Media Employment Branding professional with about 6 years of total work experience. He has worked with Aon Hewitt for the last 4+ years, supporting the organization with Global Sourcing initiatives and Social Media branding for India.

Jason Gorham, CEO, SharkStrike

It amazes me how many conferences, current technologies and new technologies are available for recruiting.  I have been recruiting for over 15 years and it makes my head spin, and I can only image what an entry level person must think. In the past week alone here are some of the things that I have seen.

Recruiting Innovators Conference
New Social Media Tool Announcement
LinkedIn Recruiters Conference
LinkedIn New CRM Tool
Taleo Join Government to Help Job Seekers
Facebook Partners with Government to Help Job Seekers
Recruiting Innovation awards for making it easy for applicants to apply to jobs???

And the list goes on and on. I personally can’t keep up with it and do my job, so I’m not sure how anyone could. So let’s slow things down a little bit and take a deep breath and simply take recruiting to its lowest common denominator which is you either Push or Pull. I guess you could say that I’m biased to the word Push as I named one of my products around it, “Push Posting”; however, it’s also a very simple concept.

Let’s look at Push first.

Push is anything that you are sending out. These could be some of the following:

Job Postings

• Pay-Per-Click Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• RSS Feeds
• Banner Advertising
• Job Fairs
• Blogs
• Email Marketing
• Phone Calls To Candidates
• Any type of marketing

Pull could be some of the following:

• Applicants Applying to Job Postings
• Applicants Applying at Job Fairs
• Passive Job Seekers finding you
• Applicants Visiting Your Website
• Employee Referrals

I’m going to give you a couple of recruiting hints and some technology that is geared toward pushing and pulling that you will be able to utilize today without breaking the bank or your budget.  Everyone knows about the big recruiting technology Push players including Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. But what about other lower cost or free resources? Here are a couple of tools that I use to Push.

Push Technology

Smart Recruiters – This would fall under both push and pull as it’s a free applicant tracking system. You can post your jobs and send them to job search engines without any charge to you. Your company gets free branding, your jobs get exposure and you get candidates in one fell swoop! You get what you pay for and the system does have some glitches but I’m a big fan of it. If you want to parse resumes you will have to pay an upcharge as you get a minimal number of resume parses per month.

Blogging Your Jobs – Search engines love content and what better way to get your jobs visible than by blogging them. Blogs are very easy to set up and if you have a job ad just cut and paste it. You can also take it one step further and social media your post by adding Tell & Share by Social Twist. I love this tool because once I post a blog I use it to push to every social media site including Digg, Stumble, etc. Here is an example of blog/SEO juice. 

Search Engine Optimization

Pay-Per-Click Marketing – I love pay-per-click (ppc) and have been doing it since 2003, and I’m not just talking about Google either. Done right ppc can bring you more value than you will ever know. It does become tricky especially in Google so you could spend your entire budget in one day if not careful. However it’s still fun to play around with. If you’re serious about investing a good amount of budget I would have a professional manage it for you. Here are just some of the benefits:

• Brand your company in the advertisement
• Brand your job in the advertisement
• Target your competitors’ keywords
• Pay Per Click and not just when someone views the ad
• Geo-Target across the world or across the street

Some newer platforms have emerged in the ppc world including Facebook and LinkedIn. I love the LinkedIn ppc platform because I can narrow down on title and location. Facebook I’m not so crazy about. They have gobs of data and their targeting is awesome, however it’s very difficult in my opinion to get people to click on the ads.

LinkedIn Ads

Pull Technology

Jigsaw – (Acquired by Salesforce) – I have been a long time user of Jigsaw and still love it to this day. It’s not that difficult to get contacts and get points. All you have to do is run some Boolean search strings for good lists, upload them and boom, your have points. It’s very cost effective and I can’t remember the last time I paid for contacts.

Here is a breakdown of my account on Jigsaw.

Privilege Level: Rainmaker (Highest Level Attained)

Rating: 97%

Data Contributions: 3,484

Member Since: 12/09/2004

Resume Databases – Everyone knows and uses the typical resume databases but do they use them effectively? When I start a search I go from most recent and then move to a year or plus older. Why, you may ask? The people that are fresh on there are low hanging fruit. However with low hanging fruit come lots of pickers. So job seekers are bombarded and I mean bombarded with emails and phone calls from agencies and corporations. However if you start with the oldest people you are going to get less people contacting them and most likely they have changed from the job that they were in that you see on your resume. I recently did this and recruited a candidate from IBM that spent his entire career with IBM.

Email – Email is the best way to reach busy candidates. However if you’re not presenting the right opportunity to the right person your creditability is shot. The creation and crafting of the email must also be inviting enough to garner a response. I can tell you that by working for a company and have a signature coming from IBM gets a lot more response than from an agency. Agencies don’t despair, get creative. I typically will tell them that they were referred to me or use a “Who can you recommend” in the subject line to get their attention. Of course they are going to see that they are a fit for the job and will come back with “me I’m a fit” – really, I didn’t know that!

I know that these technologies or the recommendations that I made may be obvious but they are effective and, at the end of the day, that’s what the goal is, right? As you see, recruiting is just that simple, it’s not complex, it’s just pushing or pulling.

So do you Pull or do you Push?

Jason Gorham, CEO of SharkStrike, helps talent organizations learn how to transition from effectively attracting the right candidates, to understanding and developing the skills it takes to be exceptional.

Bill Humbert, Recruitment Consultant

As I chat with companies regarding a potential recruitment contract, it has become apparent that many companies follow the same process as candidates. They post jobs on the Internet and pray they will receive the best replies from candidates. You see evidence of this on Yahoo Groups and occasionally in various LinkedIn groups when recruiters ask where they may post for different types of candidate.

A couple of months ago a senior corporate recruiter informed me that they “recruit” by posting on LinkedIn. “It’s expensive but it’s effective!” In the next sentence she told me that they had blown their recruitment budget for the fiscal year.

Posting an opening on the Internet is a marketing effort where the poster pays and prays for great results. It is not a sales effort. Recruiting is a sales process. The most successful corporate and third party recruiters realize this and build relationships with candidates.

Recruiting is a dynamic process. Efforts that are wildly successful today may fail terribly a year from now. Therefore it is important to be out there from a marketing perspective and make it easy for candidates to apply if you attract their attention. Requiring candidates to complete an application prior to a conversation is not defined as “easy”. It benefits a company to have their resume in their database. It does not benefit a company to lose good candidates because it takes too long to complete the automated 1960s application.

May I suggest a new recruiting dynamic? How about “post and prey”? There is a reason for the title “headhunter”. These are specialists who know where to find the best candidates in any field and then deliver their “heads” to their clients. Does this take more time? It depends on how active a corporate recruiting staff is while building relationships with future candidates. What is the corporate budget telling them? When does the company forecast they will need certain talent? Then begin to identify that talent – not after the position has been opened.

Posting positions where potential candidates hang out virtually or physically is fine – just call it recruitment marketing. Then use the available tools like LinkedIn or Broadlook to identify who you want to hunt. That is the “prey” part of the process. Then call them not email. Thus the recruiter is beginning a professional relationship with the potential candidate.

During the conversation, ask if they saw your posting. If yes, where? If no, find where they are looking and their peers are probably there also. Now you are conducting market research at the base level and fine tuning your recruitment marketing. No need to spend money where the pool has dried up

Candidates love to be told they are wanted by another company. Posting and preying is more effective and more fun than posting and praying.

Bill Humbert is an expert nationally based Recruitment Consultant and the author of “RecruiterGuy’s Guide to Finding a Job.” His business, RecruiterGuy.com, specializes in recruitment continuous process improvement, employment branding, creative candidate sourcing, interview training, and how these tie together to attract Impact Performers.

Tony Lee, Chief Alliance Officer & EVP of East Coast Operations, Adicio

It’s normal to be nervous before any interview, but some job seekers are especially affected, and so are many of the recruiters who interview them. In fact, at many small companies where hiring exactly the right person is so important, interviewers fret for days before each meeting with a top candidate. Some people are so fearful and apprehensive before any interview that they become tongue-tied, talk too much or say the wrong things.

To be sure, a manageable level of stress can actually improve interview performance. “It quickens our mind, sharpens our conversation and pumps more adrenaline into our system,” says Arlene Hirsch, a Chicago career adviser. “If you don’t feel any stress, you may not be ready to perform well.”

On the other hand, if your blood pressure rises too much and your palms become too clammy, you need to control your reactions. The key to calmness is learning not to exaggerate an interview’s importance. Lowering the stakes can reduce your stress level considerably.

In contrast, if you believe that you must succeed at all costs, your tension level will soar. You’ll be a self-conscious spectator of your behavior, watching and judging every word you say. Not only does this make you more anxious, it also divides your attention.

Excessive self-consciousness is most common among perfectionists who feel they can’t afford to fail. Any real or imaginary deviation from their self-imposed, often unrealistic, standards triggers more nervousness and self-critical ruminations.

“The self-imposed pressure of trying to ace an interview can make someone focus too much on how he looks and acts,” says Ms. Hirsch. “Research has shown that this self-consciousness not only can prevent you from responding to questions with confidence, it can actually cause you to perform at levels below your demonstrated capabilities.”

Even preparing your responses in advance can hurt if you’re too anxious. You’ll tend to be over-prepared, which chokes your spontaneity and your ability to field unexpected questions.

Nothing to Fear

Remind yourself that whatever happens, you’re sure to survive another day. And the less you worry about making mistakes, the less anxious you’ll be. Worrying about an experience is always more unpleasant than the experience itself.

Also be careful to never confront candidates, regardless of how tense you’re feeling. Instead of making them the butt of your misdirected anxiety, tell yourself that they’re only human and treat them as friends.

Another way to reduce stress is to visualize how you want to come across, then separate yourself from your performance. Develop an image of an ideal executive, then model your behavior after this image. Just as an actor or actress creates the character in a script, you must try to create a character for the task of interviewing others.

To reduce stress, some recruiters practice relaxation exercises before interviews. For instance, try to visualize a serene and beautiful scene, such as a moonlit beach, while becoming aware of your breathing rhythm. As you inhale, think “I am.” When you exhale, think “calm.” Breathe at least 10 times, then recall a successful interview experience.

A more advanced breathing technique would be to relax and exhale completely. Next, close your mouth and place your thumb of your right hand on your right nostril so that it’s completely closed. Then slowly and deeply inhale and exhale through your left nostril at least 25 to 30 times. This allows you to tap into the right hemisphere of your brain, say stress experts, particularly the limbic part that governs emotions. You’ll experience an immediate reduction of your anxiety level and feel more relaxed and controlled during the meeting.

Power of Visualization

Many top athletes use visualization techniques to reduce anxiety, improve concentration and enhance athletic performance. Tennis star Chris Evert, for example, says she tried to visualize opponents’ shots, form and strategy before championship matches. She then pictured how she would counter their maneuvers.

Jack Nicklaus gives the following description of how he programs his internal “bio-computer” before golf tournaments: “I never hit a shot, even in practice, without having a sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. It’s like a color movie. First, I ‘see’ the ball where I want it to finish…I ‘see’ the ball going there: its path, trajectory and shape…the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous image into reality.”

As in sporting events, when interviewing candidates, a high level of performance is required for a short period. Thus, using visualization techniques can help build confidence and reduce anxiety. The trick is to create a memory of a successful meeting. When interviewing, you’ll feel a sense of déjà vu, as though you had the experience before. Stress counselors say the following steps are helpful when trying to visualize:

• Find a tranquil, quiet place where you’ll be totally undisturbed.
• Purge your mind of ordinary concerns, worries and preoccupations. Eliminate thoughts that aren’t directly pertinent to your visualization and find a quiet mental space.
• Lie down with your legs uncrossed and your arms at your sides. Close your eyes and inhale slowly, expanding your chest and lower abdomen. Pause for a moment. Then exhale slowly and relax your chest and abdomen. Inhale and exhale until you feel deeply relaxed. As you become more tranquil, breathe more slowly and evenly.
• Relax your feet and legs and imagine that they’re becoming heavy. Say to yourself, “My feet and legs are becoming more and more relaxed. They’re now deeply relaxed.” Pause, then repeat this on your ankles, thighs, pelvis, stomach, back and chest. Rest a moment. Then repeat it with your hands, forearms, upper arms and shoulders. Pause, then relax the muscles of your neck and jaw. Allow your jaw to drop. Relax your tongue, cheeks, eyes and forehead. Rest and enjoy a totally relaxed feeling.
• To relax more deeply, imagine that you’re alone in an elevator. Visualize the doors closing, then the numbers showing the floor level. Imagine that you’re on the tenth floor and going to the first. Feel the descending motion as the elevator drops. As the elevator passes each floor, you’ll enter a deeper, calmer mental state. When you reach the first floor, your mind will be open and tranquil. When the elevator doors open, imagine that you’re sitting in a comfortable chair in a dimly lit room. Picture a large screen on a wall. You’re now ready to begin visualizing.

Repeat these steps at least three times before any stressful interview, visualizing for as long as you like. With repeated visualizations you can enrich the scenes with more detail and perfect the outcome. When you want to resume normal consciousness, mentally return to the elevator and ascend to the tenth floor. When the door opens, open your eyes. Chances are you’ll feel rested, strong and determined.

Interviewing skills improve with practice. As your fear subsides, you’ll perform better. You’ll gain confidence in your interviewing skills and, ultimately, you’ll be performing as well as the person you visualized.

Carl Shusterman, Managing Partner, Law Offices of Carl Shusterman

Recruiters with their eyes on the global talent pool know that the most efficient way to recruit and employ international professionals often is through the H-1B visa. This is an employment-based, temporary visa category for foreign-born workers whose jobs require at minimum a four-year degree or its equivalent. H-1B work status is good for up to six years, and many foreign workers elect to adjust their status during that time to permanent resident. Business executives, information technology professionals, scientists, physicians, and educators are among the many types of workers who are recruited and employed byU.S.firms on H-1B visas.

While recruiting international talent is one key to success in a global economy, immigration processing costs can be substantial. For example, the cost of filing an H-1B petition may include:

*H-1B petition filing fee: $325
*Anti-fraud fee: $500
*ACWIA fee: $750-$1,500
*Premium processing fee: $1,225
*Public Law 111-230 fee: $2,000

To ameliorate these costs, some employers ask their employees to contribute toward the fees. Recruiters should be aware, however, that this is not always a wise course of action.

Federal regulations require the employer to pay the H-1B worker a wage that is equal to or higher than the actual wage or the prevailing wage for similarly employed workers.  The actual wage is the wage rate paid to all other workers in the same position with similar experience and qualifications. If there are no such examples, then the H-1B worker should be paid the prevailing wage. The prevailing wage is determined by the Department of Labor (DOL), or by the use of an appropriate salary survey or collective bargaining agreement, and is detailed on the accompanying Labor Condition Application (LCA) that is certified by the DOL and attached to the H-1B petition when filed.

By statute, the only portion of the H-1B filing fees that must be paid by the employer is the ACWIA fee of $750-$1,500 under Section 214(a)(9)(A) and (B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

However, if the employee pays for any other portion of the H-1B process, this amount may need to be added to his or her salary. The wage offered to the H-1B worker after his or her portion of the H-1B process has been paid must be equal to, or greater than, the actual wage of the prevailing wage, which is higher, as indicated on the LCA.

In recent years, the federal government has been more aggressive about auditing employers’ immigration related paperwork. For example, officers with the U.S. Center for Immigration Services’ Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) branch conduct random onsite inspections of H-1B employers as a way to verify information contained in certain petitions, including H-1B petitions.

There have been reports that among the questions asked by FDNS agents during these inspections is who paid for the H-1B process. Employers then must justify their policies and may be obliged to prove that if the employee paid any portion of the fees, that portion was added to their wages. The best way to avoid this contentious issue is for the employer to pay all of the filing fees.

What happens if the employee is asked to pay part of the filing fees and complains to the Labor Department?A Federal District Courtrecently ruled in one such case that it was the employer’s legal responsibility to pay for all the government filing fees and the attorney fees associated with the H-1B petition.

Although this ruling currently is on appeal to the U.S Court of Appeals for the 6^th Circuit, employers who pass along any of the costs involved in securing H-1B status for their employees do so at considerable risk. Recruiters are therefore advised to consult with their human resource departments to ensure that this risk is avoided.

Carl Shusterman served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (1976-82) and is principal of The Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, a firm specializing in immigration law. He can be reached at carl@shusterman.com.  

Andrew Gadomski, Chief Advisor and Founder, Aspen Advisors

In his earlier article, Andrew Gadomski put forth three hypotheses regarding the Class of 2011 and their recruitment: talent is being redefined as beyond employees, the separation of talent acquisition activities, and the return of the manager. Here he shares three more hypotheses.

Hypothesis #4 – Employment Brand Manager positions will increase greatly on the staffs of corporate recruiting and third party recruiting organizations.

Attraction will increase, and potentially trump scouting and sourcing activities for certain resource teams as a reliable way to acquire quality. Because we are approaching less than three degrees of separation everywhere, the amount of potential resources a talent team can assess has skyrocketed.

These choices will force us to focus on “Who really wants to work for us, and can be great.” This will be a move away from “Who could be great, and do they want to work for us.” Of course the “Who wants to work for us?” is amplified by how many new influencers a person has access to. In 2001, when you had a job offer, you asked your siblings, parents, and college roommate. The Class of 2011 will ask 500+ social media connections and have them “like” the idea – in about 10 minutes. Controlling and proselytizing an employment brand will have to produce applicants that are significantly convinced the brand/project/work is for them, which will lead to better resources. We aren’t going to be selling; they are going to be buying. But if we don’t control the brand, it will be controlled for you, as will your viable resource pool.

Test It – Do you have members of your team that specialize in campaigns regarding employment branding? Do you use more technology, social media and other venues more than ever before, and do you see it increasing or decreasing? Do you see the variety of sources from where you get candidates increasing? Have you had to make concessions on the number of sources you track in your ATS because it is now too many? Do you see more people talking about your brand without your direct influence more than a few years ago?

Hypothesis #5 – Micro-employment brands will carry more influence on an acceptance decision than the larger employment brand.

What the heck is a micro-employment brand? Think iPad team vs. Apple. We see it now – people want to work on the Diet Coke brand or on the tablet team at Blackberry, and so on. As businesses monopolize on products and services that are brand-dependent, it is not impossible to believe that each of those brands will have their own employment brand. In many cases, they have specific innovators, leaders, and so on.

Large companies typically grow by acquisition, initiative or regional focus while smaller companies grow by pushing on a sector or product, so it is likely that companies will have to acquire resources specific to those ends. One of the great examples is actually in the gaming space, where different game labs have different locations, leaders, and projects.

So what are we REALLY selling? Are you selling Google or Google Chrome? Diageo or Johnny Walker? For smaller brands, are you selling your company or the project? The more we diversify, become remote, and use varying resources, the more we separate from other teams/initiatives in our companies; thereby, the micro–employment brand is produced.

Test It – Are you now describing specific teams or projects in your job descriptions? Is your corporate website separated by brands, initiatives, focus, and areas of development? Are you regionally focused for headcount expansion with a concentration on specific product lines? Are certain products targeted for growth much more than others?

Hypothesis #6 – Performance management will rely on external talent intelligence, and bring recruiting into robust succession planning activities.

Excuse me while I paraphrase from the dozens of conversations we have with HR and business leaders each month – “There is a talent shortage.” Meanwhile, there are so many people looking for work, so many people looking to grow, get promoted, and get developed. In the US, the underemployment rate is higher that the unemployment rate, which is plenty high. But again, “We don’t have the talent we need.” Then there is ANOTHER problem we keep hearing about: “We don’t have the leaders we need – but we can’t let those leaders go because we can’t find the talent we need.” These themes are all over the map, and it’s a broken record.

But there is a glimmer of advancement. Some companies are merging succession planning and performance management, and starting to look at talent pipelining as a part of those exercises – and it’s changing the conversation. When you combine the three (performance management, succession planning, and talent pipelining), you start hearing statements like “Let’s keep John is his role, and change his development. We have two internals that can be developed in this leadership position, and our recruiting team has six people on the hook long-term. Let’s not let John’s need for advancement hold us hostage. We don’t think he is ready, and we have plenty of options on how to advance that product line.”

The more this service level develops and the more it spreads, the more recruiting is going to be brought to the succession planning and performance management table. And that opens up a whole new set of assignments, types of work, and competencies. Recruiters and managers are actually doing proactive work associated with business planning. You asked for it – and it is coming – but the responsibility will be great. Recruiters will have different conversations, more training will be required, and managers will learn to recruit without an open job. It is going to be daunting and different. The presentation skills, reaction skills, and strategic questions are so different for this new group of conversations, that the term “recruiting consultant” will be exactly that.

Test It – Are you being drawn into succession planning meetings or asked to produce reports in regards to these meetings? When management does its leadership review, do you get asked for reports or sourcing information about the marketplace? Are you placing internal versus external talent on key positions – and external is starting to win more? 

In the next installment, I will post the last four hypotheses and tests. Here is a preview:

• Hypothesis #7 – Early productivity results will fall to recruiting’s responsibility, and assessment of candidates will become more rigorous prior to hiring manager interview.

• Hypothesis #8 – Smaller brands will need to increase their local and in-person presence, and the recruiting process differences will widen between well-known and less-visible brands.

• Hypothesis #9 – Job security will be assured because of skill set, not the actual employer for which you work.

• Hypothesis 10 – Education-dependent careers will decline even further and candidacy will widen, increasing the talent pool even further for the US and other modernized markets.

Andrew Gadomski is the Chief Advisor and Founder of Aspen Advisors. A truly unique efficiency consultancy firm, Aspen is the first organization to focus purely on talent strategy and productivity, enabling clients and partners to focus on execution and management.