Don Xml's Grok This

In my post Developer Career Tips 2006, I mentioned that the Information Technology recruiting infrastructure was decimated by the dot com bust.  One of the things I do not like to do is to complain about something being broken, and not at least make an attempt to give solutions on how to fix it, thus this post.

1. Blogs – Weblogs are one of the best ways to find competent help.  Not only do you get to learn what the potential candidate knows, but you get a good idea of their personality.  Searching thru blogs can be more productive then searching thru resumes on Monster.com or Dice.com
2. Subscribe to the Technical Careers @ Microsoft Blog – This blog is by the folks over at Microsoft recruiting, and if it works for them, odds are it will work for you.
3. Build relationships with local professional organizations - This is a little harder then it seems.  It means that you have to attend things like local User Groups.  But, my advice is not to let anyone know that you are a recruiter.  Odds are the folks you are least like to place will hog the majority of your time, and the folks that you really want to talk to will avoid you.  But do contact the user group leaders. Most user groups will publish job requirements to their members, at least for firms that they trust.
4. Expand your network – This might seem a little obvious, but I’ve run into a lot of folks with tunnel vision, and miss this.  Stay in contact with the best folks that you have placed previously, and let them know when you have a tough position to fill.  Email works best, and since it doesn’t seem as pushy as a phone call.
5. Start your own blog, on your company’s website – I can not understand why more recruiters do not have their own blogs host on their company’s site.  From a performance standpoint, isn’t it better to have people coming to you, rather then you chasing them?  If blogging is good for some looking for a job, it should be even better for folks trying to recruit.  Plus, it gives potential candidates more of a reason to hit your corporate site.  Obviously this is more important for a recruiting firm.
6. Be honest and up front about finders fees.  If you really want to increase your network, make sure you let know what the finders fees are, and don’t try to skimp.  Your most important networking leads (I’m not talking about potential candidates) are usually contacted by multiple firms, and they know the current finder fee market.  By avoiding finder fees, or setting them lower then the current rate, you will alienate yourself from your most important leads.
7. Read the resume before sending out an email.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been contacted by a recruiter for a position that wasn’t even close to something I’d consider.  If the resume says that a person is looking for a senior .Net position, don’t bother contacting them about a mainframe CICS or SAS position, even if it was on their resume.  Even more important, if someone is living in a desirable area (like NJ/NYC, Seattle, Silicon Valley), and they say they are not willing to relocate, don’t bother them about a position in Texarkana, no matter how great a spot may be.  It will just annoy the potential candidate and makes your company look bad.  I, personally, I keep a blacklist of companies, and this is the easiest way to get your company added to the list.

I know I have more to add to this list, I just can’t remember them all right now.  Since I’ve been actively looking for more consulting work lately, I know that a lot of recruiters are reading my site.  Some of this will look familiar to the ones that I’ve spent any appreciable time with on the phone.

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