Open Door Recruiter FAQ

  1. What is Open Door Recruiter? It’s basically a small networking event. I work out of a local coffee shop in and around the Madison, Wisconsin, area, or it’s an online group web meeting, that allows people to show up and meet one another. Conversation can be around jobs, the company I work for, job hunting tips, or anything.
  2. When is Open Door Recruiter? I try to hold it every 2-3 weeks depending on schedule, I rotate days of the weeks to help accommodate your schedule. Can’t make Wednesdays, no problem, the next one will be on a Tuesday.
  3. Where is Open Door Recruiter? See #1 above. 🙂
  4. How will I know about an Open Door Recruiter event? I post on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Please tune in to one of those networks.
  5. Do I need to reserve a time or let you know I’m interested in meeting? Nope. Just show up and introduce yourself. No appointment necessary.
  6. What if I show up and you’re speaking to someone? Simply walk up and introduce yourself. We’ll all introduce each other and make small talk.
  7. Do I need to bring resume or dress to impress? No. It’s informal. No pressure. It’s not meant to be a job interview or screening.
  8. You recruit information technology professionals, but I’m not IT. Does this matter? No. I speak to anyone of any background, experience, or profession. It’s really just a more personable networking opportunity.
  9. I am not interested in meeting, but can I pass your name along to others? Heck yes!
  10. What’s in this for me? It’s really what you make of it. I can provide job hunting and resume writing tips, job market info, insight into the company I work, or get you in touch with someone else that may be able to help you.
  11. Bummer, I don’t live/work in the area. I understand and I wish I could be everywhere. I have done Google+ Hangouts. This is a free online tool that allows up to 9 people to video conference. You would have to have a Google+ account, web cam, and microphone to participate, but it is VERY easy to use.
  12. I still have questions. Hit me up on one of the social media networks I mention in #4 above and I’ll be sure to get back to you.
  13. Do you ever have to cancel? I have not had to do that…yet. Because I blast it out to networks, I would do the same for cancellations. Again, please tune into those networks listed in #4 above for updates.  I would also want to express a sincere apology to you for the inconvenience.

Open Door Recruiter

Need A Break? Get Some Air

I met with my manager one day. She mentions to me, “you seem a bit… on edge. Something wrong?” At the time I probably was having a bad week. Maybe I had some declined offers or some things that didn’t go our way. She says,”you know, it’s ok if you want to work remote and get out of the office. You can be just as productive without distractions.”

It got me thinking and made me realize that her flexibility may allow me to get creative in how to recruit talent.

Enter 2013. Time to make things happen.

I decided to take advantage of my employer’s flexibility, yet be sure that it would benefit our corporate recruiting efforts. Many recruiters and staffing firms talk about the relationship. It’s all about establishing relationships. Agreed. Knowing someone brings down a lot of walls. You learn about people when you’re comfortable around them. You find commonalities and discover new things from people. Meeting face-to-face is key in making this happen. I decided that a couple times a month I would work remote, but in a publicly-accessible location. Coffee shops work well for this. Actually, they should encourage it. If I work out of their location, and bring in 4 people to meet with me, I brought in more business for them. Win! I digress. This is not about coffee shops.

I didn’t think it would be hard to execute, but I wondered if this would really pay off. I had buy-in from my manager and many people I know appreciate those that think outside the box. It’s also known by associates of mine, along with my client base, that I work social media pretty well. I have accounts on Google+ (1200+ followers), Linkedin (1300 connections), Twitter (600+), Facebook (285) and Yammer. I use all of them to some degree. I’m not bragging, but some of those numbers have bearing on what I’ll get to in a moment.

The Plan

Simple. Pick a couple places in town, maybe one on east side and one on the west, that have the following:

  • Internet access
  • Accessible parking
  • Decent location
  • Places to sit with 1-3 others
  • Staff that appreciate you being there

Pick out dates, two weeks apart, but make sure they’re both not on the same day of the week. If someone is always tied up Wednesdays they’ll never be able to stop by. So switch it up.

Let people know. It’s time to post to all the social media sites:

  • Where you will be.
  • When you will be there.
  • Why you will be there.

If nobody shows up, I still have plenty of work I can do – screening applicant resumes, fielding emails, sending more emails. Continue reading Open Door Recruiter

Job Opportunity MS Exchange Engineer Madison WI

My employer is looking for a MS Exchange Engineer.

Apply online.

The only Engineer in a team of 4 administrators, this person will report to the IT Manager that oversees servers and storage area of our IT business area. The position is open due to an internal transfer of the member previously handling these duties.

Aside from the duties, responsibilities and requirements outlined below, this person will be responsible for the design, planning and implementation of MS Exchange Server and related technologies. The Exchange Engineer will work with architect(s) to determine direction of messaging environment as well as provide level 3 support when applicable. RightFax, Windows Server 2008 & Active Directory, MS Outlook and general storage knowledge – to include SAN/NAS, will also be needed. Experience with server-side anti-virus and malware protection technologies are also part of the position. Previous experience in an enterprise environment is preferred (5000+ mailboxes).

View entire job description or apply online!

Recruiting – The Hiring Manager Can Help

I had an associate of mine approach me the other day.  There is dialog within her client base on how managers can help with the recruiting efforts of the manage’s department. This inquiry was not centered around “what can we do better from a process perspective – feedback turn-around, slimming down job requirements, etc”, but catering to more on pipelining candidates and finding good people for their respected staff. Credit to a manager for their willingness to help! Continue reading Recruiting – The Hiring Manager Can Help

Social Media – Are you tuned in?

I have worked with clients in the past, typically smaller businesses with less than 50 staff.  They know the buzz around social media and realize it’s not going anywhere. They have used it personally, read Facebook, but have not approached it on the professional side of their lives. Many are late to the game, but know they need to get there. Some may have setup company accounts and profiles on Twitter and Facebook, but little has been done. I can think of larger companies that have also failed to execute on social media, which is unfortunate because transparency can really help their public image, provide insight to the company, attract talent, and be part of the community. Just think of a secret government business – imagine how someone would talk about them.

When consulting with past clients I’d often start the conversation with, “so you want to be doing social media. Ok. What are you trying to achieve?” It’s the marketing person’s first question. Brand awareness is a good one. Spreading the word, similar to brand awareness, is a good one. I think we need to be there, etc.

But what about interacting with your client base?

Knowing what people are saying about not only your company but your products and services can allow you to be a better company, provide better products/services. You provide more value. The days of 800 numbers and email are still around, but I don’t have time to be on hold or wait for a response. I’ll throw my complaint on Twitter for everyone to see. Like many social media experts, you can’t control the message, but you can help steer it in the right direction. In the past people could complain about your company and you didn’t have to care. Why? Because their reach was severely limited. They tell their friends and family. Now, they can tell the whole world and wage an online war against you. They can create parody websites domains, YourCompanyNameSucks.com. They can put their disgust on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Friendster (does anyone still use Friendster?), etc. People can be very vindictive if they feel slighted. Ensure they don’t.

So what do you do? Well, be active in social media. Have the proper accounts, but be sure you aren’t just blasting stuff out there. Be sure you’re interacting. Recognize those that recognize you, especially if they like your brand and company. Thank them for retweeting and sharing your info. Respond to people.  Put keywords into the tools you use for social media so they can alert you to those talking about your company, product or service. Your goal is to have ears all over the world tuned in to as many conversations that has to do with your industry, your company, and your products/services. This is a cocktail party that happens 24×7 all over the world. Attend it.

Inside Staffing – Candidate Control and Salary

Know When to Hold ‘Em

This article was inspired by a conversation I had with a staffing firm.  Let me just say that we were in the process of extending an offer to a submitted candidate only to hear that their salary increased from the time of submission. We made it work, but the situation presented itself again, with the same firm.

All us recruiters know, we’re not working with widgets. We get it, but there’s an art to making all this happen. When it all comes together, it’s awesome.  When it goes south, it can get really bad. It can even tarnish the reputation of the recruiter and the firm if you can’t handle salary correctly.

Know When to Fold ‘Em

A firm knows the budget of their client. Part of determining if the request is a legitimate one, worth the firm’s time, is making sure salary for the role has been determined.  When screening candidates for the role the staffing firm knows what budget they’re dealing with and what candidates are in range and which ones are not. Those outside the range should be discarded and not considered for the role. It doesn’t do much good to submit a person if they are way out of salary range. Keep in mind there may be wiggle room, but use caution and discretion.

Presenting the opportunity to the candidate is simple, but expectations need to be very clear. “When we met, you said you were looking for a salary of ‘x’. I have an opportunity at Company ABC as a ‘Insert Title Here’. I’d like to submit you over to the company with salary expectations of ‘X-ish’. ”  Again, this all comes down to the initial meeting where salary expectations are set. It is very uncool to have this change in the middle or end of a deal. Lock it down up front and you’ll save everyone’s time. “Is this good with you? Is there any other financial considerations we need to let the client know about – stock, options, obligations to your current employer like tuition reimbursement or relocation obligations, etc. We want to le the client to be completely aware of all the details.” This should really ensure there’s no communication issues on this delicate subject. If the candidate replies to your salary inquiry, remember you’ve already met with them once during the initial meeting, with “well it depends on the job”, be sure lock this down again. This may include sending official job description and reiterating that you aren’t sending them to to be a CIO under the guise of the duties equal to a Sr Manager in an Enterprise environment with 3000 staff.

Know When to Walk Away, Know When to Run

Good firms will actually know when to pull the plug if the deal seems to go south. Should a candidate reconsider the salary, maybe they believe the position should really pay more than what is proposed, the candidate should withdraw from the process if the difference is considerably higher. However, the firm should be the party responsible for having this discussion with the candidate and make the ultimate call. What could end up happening is that the firm looks like they’re playing a game with the client.

All the aforementioned details, if they go bad, is what we call “losing candidate control”.  Put your firm above the candidate. Your business depends on it. You can always find a different candidate, but don’t let them tarnish your reputation. Reputation is much harder to develop and it’s the integrity that business ethics relies upon.

Don’t let the candidate play games. You can have honest conversations with candidates you represent IF you have mutual rapport between each other. It takes two to tango. Firms that meet face to face with their candidates and are honest and have candid conversations with each other will provide a level of trust and openness that will prevent catastrophes down the road. This does not mean that it’s kumbaya, unicorns and rainbows, but it will facilitate a healthy, honest, discussion.