What You Can’t Get From Google

Posted on July 7, 2008
Filed Under Online Recruiting, Best Practices |

Written By Peter Weddle, Weddles

Search engines are a wonderful invention. They’ve taken much of the tedium and practically all of the labor out of finding stuff. With the click of a couple of keys, you can uncover the date that Edison invented the radio. Or was it Marconi? Or some lesser figure whom history has overlooked? But, what did Edison invent anyway? And how many light bulbs are there in use today? And, where are most of them made? And … well, you get the picture. Whether it’s Google or Yahoo! or some other search engine, finding facts and figures has never been easier.

That’s why recruiters increasingly turn to search engines in their work. They can use these powerful little devices to:

promote their brand or even specific job openings by using the “search marketing” services offered by at least some of the search engines;
boost the visibility of their own employer’s site by optimizing its position among the natural search results generated by various search engines;
monitor comments made about their organization at various blogs, newsgroups and sites that provide a platform for employer “evaluations;”
probe into specific sites where talent might be hanging out online (e.g., LinkedIn.com);
hunt for resumes archived in other places online, whether that’s a personal site, a publicly accessible database or some other venue; and
conduct research on the value proposition espoused by their employer’s competitors.

It’s all useful information and data, whether the information and data are outbound (through advertising and the natural results of a search), or inbound (via collected resumes and business intelligence). But, that’s as far as you can go with these little engines that can. They help us find stuff.

Stuff, however, is only a part of what it takes to be a successful recruiter. In fact, we can have the best stuff in the world-we can be a world class stuff finder-and still fail as a recruiter. Why? Because we work in a people-centric profession. Success depends on human contact. And, what search engines can’t provide is the character necessary to leverage all of that stuff into genuine, engaging interactions with top talent.

What are the key elements of a successful recruiter’s character? There are many personal attributes that matter, of course, but I believe three are of particular importance. They are a person’s integrity, empathy and judgment.

Integrity

There’s not a lot said or written about the importance of honesty in our work, yet that trait is central to both our personal credibility and our organization’s success. More important, I think it’s the only way we can look ourselves in the mirror when we get home from the office each day. What does integrity involve?

We must be honest with our customers, the hiring managers we support, even if they don’t (appear to) appreciate it. We must tell them when they’re asking for too much in candidate requirements or offering too little in compensation or on-the-job responsibility. We must make sure they know the reality of the labor market and not flinch when they disbelieve us. That response is symptomatic of their own issue with integrity-they don’t live in a vacuum so they know (or should) that top talent is scarce-and we don’t help ourselves by stooping to their level.
We must also be honest with the candidates we source. We’re pretty good at assessing individuals, and we should tell them when there isn’t a good fit between their values and goals and our employer’s culture and mission. Even if they are fully qualified for the job, even if the hiring manager wants to make them an offer, we owe candidates that measure of integrity. I fully understand the pressures one can face when mission critical positions remain open, but we’re dealing with people’s lives and careers, so in my view, there is no room for quibbling.

Empathy

Job search, regardless of whether one is an active job seeker or a passive prospect, exposes a person to one of the most difficult passages in life. They must open themselves up to the judgment of others. They must make themselves vulnerable to a detailed examination of their successes and failures, their hopes and dreams. It’s a humbling, often frightening experience, whether one is at the top of their game or desperate for work. It creates a level of stress that often blunts a candidate’s ability to communicate or even think clearly.

This situation requires that we recruiters have a natural proclivity to relate to those whom we source, interview and evaluate. We must be able to establish enough familiarity and trust with individuals to induce them to represent themselves accurately and positively. That’s the only way we can make good decisions and select the best candidate for each of our openings. Moreover, given the pressures of our requisition load, we must form that human connection quickly while not diminishing its authenticity. Said another way, we must find it within ourselves be genuine, even at warp speed.
The same situation also requires that we help hiring managers-who may not be naturally gifted with empathy-to be better people people. First, we must teach them the importance of this character trait by showing how it can impact their ability to select the best prospect. Then, we must show them how to unleash it if they have it or acquire it if they don’t. We must help them overcome both their reticence with strangers and their inability to relate to those who are, in essence, seeking their approval. Basically, we must show them how to convey warmth and interest in the sterile confines of an interview so that candidates are comfortable and able to be the best they can be.

Judgment

Whether we make the final hiring decision or not, our judgments have a huge impact on the caliber of the talent our organizations access. We decide who will and who will not be considered qualified and thus suitable for in-depth evaluation. Our opinion often determines who is on the final slate of candidates and who will be sent a “Thanks, But No Thanks” note instead. Indeed, there’s not a part of the recruiting process that isn’t significantly influenced by our conclusions and convictions. We decide:

how to articulate our organization’s employment brand,
where to place its recruitment and brand ads (e.g., on job boards, in print publications or both),
which of the various sourcing methods we will use (e.g., online data mining, virtual career fairs), and
when we will communicate with the prospects we uncover and the manner in which that message will be conveyed.

The most important judgment we make, however, is the one that precedes all of those other decisions. Our index judgment is the decision we make about how competent we will be to make good judgments. We determine the level of expertise we will have and the extent of our experience. In essence, we decide the caliber of our talent for making sound judgments. And that’s why judgment, itself, is a matter of character. We choose to be prepared or not in our judgments.

So, here’s my simple suggestion for ensuring you recruit to the best of your ability. For every session you spend on a search engine, devote a commensurate amount of time reaffirming, refining and enriching your character. The search engine will provide the information and data you need to succeed, but only you can find the human qualities to engage the talent your organization needs.

Thanks for reading,
Peter