This blog has been pretty sporadic since I left QPS several months ago, but I wanted to write briefly about an upcoming Wisconsin Association of Personnel Services (WAPS) training session as this blog still generates traffic through Linkedin and Twitter.
WAPS is a community of staffing professionals based in Milwaukee. The organization provides training resources throughout the year on a number of different topics relevant to the recruiting business. Since getting involved in 2007, I can attribute a number of placements to the techniques I learned at a WAPS event.
On Friday, March 25th, in Milwaukee, WAPS is welcoming Mike Tischer, Director of Education at Broadlook for a 2 hour training session. Broadlook is a company that helps businesses leverage the internet and utilize the information present there to help companies maximize their business. Among the many industries they service is recruiting.
Mike will speak about how to create an effective research plan for recruiters or for prospecting for new job orders. In addition, he will share some tactics for how to generate the best results (and source hard to find candidates) on the Internet.
A link for more information about the event and to register is here:
http://www.waps.org/training/usingtheinternettogetmorebusiness
Mike's profile is here:
http://broadlook.com/aboutus/bios/mike-tischer/
Full cost information is also available via the links above, but in summary WAPS members can send unlimited attendees from their office for $25.
If you're not a WAPS member, the cost is $49 per person.
Without getting too preachy, even if the seminar only helps you find one new job order or one candidate that you end of placing, my guess is the cost of the training and time invested will have been recouped 5 times over.
Please consider joining us next month, and stay tuned for other WAPS training events and roundtables this Spring!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, November 20, 2010
5 Tips From Finkel
Thursday, I attended my first training session since starting at ERP-Consulting.com a couple of months ago. The trainer was Steve Finkel, who has done recruiting training for a number of years. I actually had recently finished Steve's book---"Search and Placement!," so I was pretty excited to hear him.
For those in the Milwaukee area, the Wisconsin Association of Personnel Services hosted this event. A full day of training (breakfast and lunch included) was only $119. ($99 for members) WAPS will be hosting their next event in January.
Here are 5 things I pulled from his presentation:
1) Assumed Need Steve talked about moving away from the typical marketing call to a company using an MPC candidate. Instead, talk about an assumed need. By learning beforehand what types of candidates are in short supply, you have the leverage to then call a company and say that you heard this company has a need for this type of skill set. Regardless if there is reallty an opening, you will gain credibility by understanding their industry.
2) The Results of a Little Extra Work Its no secret that hard work yields results. However, in the training Steve showed statistics on how 5 extra calls per day adds up over a calendar year, and staying on schedule and keeping to a plan to make those extra calls will add to more success.
3) People Move On---Stay on Companies Steve talked about how most recruiters fall into a trap where they make a marketing call to an organization, and if the contact there quickly turns them down, they assume that this company will never use recruiters. It pays to look up other contacts at the organization, or recognize that people often switch jobs or organizations, so keep them on your call list.
4) Be Aware of Client Stability After a rough 2009 for the world economy, candidates are understandably very cautious when changing jobs. (Everyone is in their ear about last in, first out.) Steve explained thatl like never before, recruiters need to have detailed information on how an organization survived this last downturn and what their plans are moving forward should we dip again;.
5) What's Special about Your Guy? On the other side, its not news that organizations are taking a long time to make a hiring decision. To show how your candidate differentiates themselves from the pile, recruiters should know a specific accomplishment that helped their previous/current employer save money or increase revenue, as all jobs do one of those two things.
For those in the Milwaukee area, the Wisconsin Association of Personnel Services hosted this event. A full day of training (breakfast and lunch included) was only $119. ($99 for members) WAPS will be hosting their next event in January.
Here are 5 things I pulled from his presentation:
1) Assumed Need Steve talked about moving away from the typical marketing call to a company using an MPC candidate. Instead, talk about an assumed need. By learning beforehand what types of candidates are in short supply, you have the leverage to then call a company and say that you heard this company has a need for this type of skill set. Regardless if there is reallty an opening, you will gain credibility by understanding their industry.
2) The Results of a Little Extra Work Its no secret that hard work yields results. However, in the training Steve showed statistics on how 5 extra calls per day adds up over a calendar year, and staying on schedule and keeping to a plan to make those extra calls will add to more success.
3) People Move On---Stay on Companies Steve talked about how most recruiters fall into a trap where they make a marketing call to an organization, and if the contact there quickly turns them down, they assume that this company will never use recruiters. It pays to look up other contacts at the organization, or recognize that people often switch jobs or organizations, so keep them on your call list.
4) Be Aware of Client Stability After a rough 2009 for the world economy, candidates are understandably very cautious when changing jobs. (Everyone is in their ear about last in, first out.) Steve explained thatl like never before, recruiters need to have detailed information on how an organization survived this last downturn and what their plans are moving forward should we dip again;.
5) What's Special about Your Guy? On the other side, its not news that organizations are taking a long time to make a hiring decision. To show how your candidate differentiates themselves from the pile, recruiters should know a specific accomplishment that helped their previous/current employer save money or increase revenue, as all jobs do one of those two things.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Week One Observations
Week one is just about in the books at my new gig. Already, I’m shocked at the number of key differences between what I previously did (contingency-based direct-hire recruiting) and my new role (contract recruiting for ERP consultants.)
Since I know you’re curious :) I’ve listed them below:
1) Orders Need To Be Filled Much Faster: Often times our manufacturing clients were patient and were willing to wait for the perfect candidate. Not in this world. It’s competitive and our companies seem to already know exactly what they want. What I thought would take 3 months to fill could be two weeks.
2) Location is Not a Major Issue: I used to deal with mainly people from WI that usually were born here, raised here and want to stay here. I’m amazed how open our consultants are able to temporarily relocate to where the work is.
3) Phone Interviews Are the Key: Interviewing candidates nationwide, in my current role clients make decisions on project-seekers from one or two phone interviews. It’s a big change from the 3 on-site interview process which was standard from my manufacturing clients.
4) Need to be a Math Wiz: We make money based on the bill rate vs. the pay rate on our assignments. With burdens, W2’s, corp to corp situations, and non-taxable income for living expenses, there are a ton of variables to determining a final profit margin. It’s a little different from the straight-forward 25% placement fee.
5) Unique Searching: After about 4 years in manufacturing recruiting, I had determined there are only so many engineers in WI, and only so many ways to get in touch with them. In nation-wide contract recruiting, the Internet is your friend. Through unique Boolean searches, there are a seemingly limitless combinations of keywords to find new resumes and new potential candidates.
Since I know you’re curious :) I’ve listed them below:
1) Orders Need To Be Filled Much Faster: Often times our manufacturing clients were patient and were willing to wait for the perfect candidate. Not in this world. It’s competitive and our companies seem to already know exactly what they want. What I thought would take 3 months to fill could be two weeks.
2) Location is Not a Major Issue: I used to deal with mainly people from WI that usually were born here, raised here and want to stay here. I’m amazed how open our consultants are able to temporarily relocate to where the work is.
3) Phone Interviews Are the Key: Interviewing candidates nationwide, in my current role clients make decisions on project-seekers from one or two phone interviews. It’s a big change from the 3 on-site interview process which was standard from my manufacturing clients.
4) Need to be a Math Wiz: We make money based on the bill rate vs. the pay rate on our assignments. With burdens, W2’s, corp to corp situations, and non-taxable income for living expenses, there are a ton of variables to determining a final profit margin. It’s a little different from the straight-forward 25% placement fee.
5) Unique Searching: After about 4 years in manufacturing recruiting, I had determined there are only so many engineers in WI, and only so many ways to get in touch with them. In nation-wide contract recruiting, the Internet is your friend. Through unique Boolean searches, there are a seemingly limitless combinations of keywords to find new resumes and new potential candidates.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
QPS Farewell and Lessons Learned
Today will mark my last day of work for QPS Employment Group.
Funny, that was probably my best attention-grabbing headline, and it's my last QPS newsletter!
I'm moving on to do for recruiting for another organization, in a different industry and different market. It is time to do something new.
This swan-song newsletter is to thank you for the opportunity to work together, be it for 5 direct-hire placements or just a conversation every 6 months. Chances are, you've helped me become a better recruiter. Hopefully the information I've provided has been useful as well. I look forward to keeping in touch.
QPS has a transition plan in place. A great recruiter will contact you as necessary to discuss how the organization can potentially be of help. The recruiter will do a great job. How could they not? They worked with me:)
In typical fashion, I put together a list of just some of the things I've learned during my tenure at QPS.
Sincere Regards
Dave
1) People Want To Work:
I've talked to thousands of candidates, and it's amazing how many times I've heard this line. "Dave, I'm not one of those people that doesn't want to work. I need to find something." Even though the recession may have knocked us down a bit, it didn't affect our desire to make a difference."
2) Business Leaders Will Return Your Call:
The key is to have something of value. My message that never worked. "My name is Dave and I would like to tell you about QPS." No chance. But if I said: "My name is Dave and I have a candidate that helped his last company save 50K last month by modifying their manufacturing process," my callback rate skyrocketed.
3) Social Media Has Blown Up:
In recruiting, specifically Linkedin. When I started almost four years ago, it was just a fad. Now every recruiter uses it, and companies are not only aware of it, but they use the tool for searches of their own. Moving forward recruiters are going to have to use other methods to find candidates that companies can not source on their own.
4) Organizations Are Caring:
With rare exceptions, most companies I worked with gave employees the benefit of the doubt and did everything in their power to make their people successful. The stigma that companies are just out to make a buck doesn't seem to extend here.
5) People Want to Get Along with People they Work With:
This one shows that the interview process is two-sided. Not only are you learning if this candidate is right for your organization, you're selling the company on why this is the right choice for them. I used to be surprised when a candidate would take a lower paying job for what they deemed a better "cultural fit." Now it seems to be the norm.
6) Flexibility is Key:
Along those same lines, candidates rarely left positions where they were "treated like adults" and granted flexibility with work at home and work schedules that allowed them to take care of obligations outside of work. Right or wrong, with the expectations of Gen X and Gen Y the heavy-policy workplace seems to be on the way out.
7) This is a Fun Business:
Most days, (I don't think any job is perfect) recruiting is a blast. You interact with successful motivated people, and provide them with opportunities that may be a better fit for them and their family, while helping a company succeed.
8) QPS is extremely customer-oriented:
It was behind everything that we did. While other companies severely cut staff, we maintained a structure that allowed us to service our customer effectively during the recession, and be in the best position to help them now that things are picking up.
Funny, that was probably my best attention-grabbing headline, and it's my last QPS newsletter!
I'm moving on to do for recruiting for another organization, in a different industry and different market. It is time to do something new.
This swan-song newsletter is to thank you for the opportunity to work together, be it for 5 direct-hire placements or just a conversation every 6 months. Chances are, you've helped me become a better recruiter. Hopefully the information I've provided has been useful as well. I look forward to keeping in touch.
QPS has a transition plan in place. A great recruiter will contact you as necessary to discuss how the organization can potentially be of help. The recruiter will do a great job. How could they not? They worked with me:)
In typical fashion, I put together a list of just some of the things I've learned during my tenure at QPS.
Sincere Regards
Dave
1) People Want To Work:
I've talked to thousands of candidates, and it's amazing how many times I've heard this line. "Dave, I'm not one of those people that doesn't want to work. I need to find something." Even though the recession may have knocked us down a bit, it didn't affect our desire to make a difference."
2) Business Leaders Will Return Your Call:
The key is to have something of value. My message that never worked. "My name is Dave and I would like to tell you about QPS." No chance. But if I said: "My name is Dave and I have a candidate that helped his last company save 50K last month by modifying their manufacturing process," my callback rate skyrocketed.
3) Social Media Has Blown Up:
In recruiting, specifically Linkedin. When I started almost four years ago, it was just a fad. Now every recruiter uses it, and companies are not only aware of it, but they use the tool for searches of their own. Moving forward recruiters are going to have to use other methods to find candidates that companies can not source on their own.
4) Organizations Are Caring:
With rare exceptions, most companies I worked with gave employees the benefit of the doubt and did everything in their power to make their people successful. The stigma that companies are just out to make a buck doesn't seem to extend here.
5) People Want to Get Along with People they Work With:
This one shows that the interview process is two-sided. Not only are you learning if this candidate is right for your organization, you're selling the company on why this is the right choice for them. I used to be surprised when a candidate would take a lower paying job for what they deemed a better "cultural fit." Now it seems to be the norm.
6) Flexibility is Key:
Along those same lines, candidates rarely left positions where they were "treated like adults" and granted flexibility with work at home and work schedules that allowed them to take care of obligations outside of work. Right or wrong, with the expectations of Gen X and Gen Y the heavy-policy workplace seems to be on the way out.
7) This is a Fun Business:
Most days, (I don't think any job is perfect) recruiting is a blast. You interact with successful motivated people, and provide them with opportunities that may be a better fit for them and their family, while helping a company succeed.
8) QPS is extremely customer-oriented:
It was behind everything that we did. While other companies severely cut staff, we maintained a structure that allowed us to service our customer effectively during the recession, and be in the best position to help them now that things are picking up.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Set It and Forget It!
I listened to a short autobiography recently about Ron Popeil, the founder of Ronco. If you are up anytime between 2:00-4:00 a.m. and had the TV on, chances you saw Ron and his unique products.
Ron is the inventor of the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, "Set it and Forget it!" as well as the GLH-9 spray on hair (Great Looking Hair) His show formula was usually to come out to a live studio audience, demonstrate how these products work, get some feedback from the audience on how great the invention was, and offer a "remarkable" offer that couldn't be refused.
I remember stumbling upon these as a UWM freshman after a long night of umm...studying. Even though I had $6 in my checking account and could never buy one of these things, I always ended up watching the remainder of the informercial.
Did anybody buy this stuff? And why did I always watch way longer than I should?
Well, people did buy...a lot. There have been 7 million Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Ovens sold in the US. In 2005 Ron Popeil sold Ronco for 55 million.
I didn't know the answer to why I always tuned in to Ron's informercial until reading Michael Dalton Johnson's excellent article: "Isn't That Amazing!" Johnson explains that the reason these products sell is because of the salesmanship of the pitchman. A link to the article is here:
http://alturl.com/hwphe
Dalton Johnson explains about salesmanship. There is the buy one get one free offer, or the testimonials of the studio audience, but the because the pitchman (in this case Ron Popeil) is incredibly pumped up about their product, the informercial succeeds. They are charismatic and they truly believe that you the customer, are better off with this in your home.
Most of us don't have a camera in front of us every day, but through enthusiasm and salesmanship, I believe we can more effectively influence and lead others. If I genuinely believe a job is a great fit for a potential candidate, and I approach my call or meeting with confidence and enthusiasm, my success rate skyrockets.
I can't imagine it's any different for a HR Manager telling a group of employees about a new benefit package, or a GM addressing a manufacturing floor about the company's potential strong 4th quarter. Have conviction about your message, and people will follow.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hide my credit card in case I'm inspired to watch Ron Popeil cook a turkey in 2 hours!
Ron is the inventor of the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, "Set it and Forget it!" as well as the GLH-9 spray on hair (Great Looking Hair) His show formula was usually to come out to a live studio audience, demonstrate how these products work, get some feedback from the audience on how great the invention was, and offer a "remarkable" offer that couldn't be refused.
I remember stumbling upon these as a UWM freshman after a long night of umm...studying. Even though I had $6 in my checking account and could never buy one of these things, I always ended up watching the remainder of the informercial.
Did anybody buy this stuff? And why did I always watch way longer than I should?
Well, people did buy...a lot. There have been 7 million Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Ovens sold in the US. In 2005 Ron Popeil sold Ronco for 55 million.
I didn't know the answer to why I always tuned in to Ron's informercial until reading Michael Dalton Johnson's excellent article: "Isn't That Amazing!" Johnson explains that the reason these products sell is because of the salesmanship of the pitchman. A link to the article is here:
http://alturl.com/hwphe
Dalton Johnson explains about salesmanship. There is the buy one get one free offer, or the testimonials of the studio audience, but the because the pitchman (in this case Ron Popeil) is incredibly pumped up about their product, the informercial succeeds. They are charismatic and they truly believe that you the customer, are better off with this in your home.
Most of us don't have a camera in front of us every day, but through enthusiasm and salesmanship, I believe we can more effectively influence and lead others. If I genuinely believe a job is a great fit for a potential candidate, and I approach my call or meeting with confidence and enthusiasm, my success rate skyrockets.
I can't imagine it's any different for a HR Manager telling a group of employees about a new benefit package, or a GM addressing a manufacturing floor about the company's potential strong 4th quarter. Have conviction about your message, and people will follow.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hide my credit card in case I'm inspired to watch Ron Popeil cook a turkey in 2 hours!
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