SourceCon Article Speaks the Truth: "Show Your Sourcer the Love (and by Love, I mean Money!)"

Great article in SourceCon.  The title says it all:  Show Your Sourcer the Love (and by Love, I mean Money!)

As I stated in response to it: Yep!  Most of us can put the majority of recruiters to shame should we decide to do so! So, in other words, you better pay up!

A Non-Veiled Attempt at Getting a "Finder's Fee": Well, At Least He Tried!

It’s uncommon to actually have people ask to be paid a “finder's fee” (unprofessional) for “leads”, but it does happen.  However, when it does occur, it’s usually a little more veiled than this.  I’ll be curious to see if the person still provides the names after I tell him we do not pay for leads.  You'd think he'd just simply want to help others hear about some great career opportunities, but maybe not.  Excuse the spelling and punctuation.  I left it exactly as I received it:

Justion,

I can provide you 2 contacts who might be helpful to you.

If one of them get selected than what do i get?

Names Sourcing (Telephone and Internet) and Vetting: You’re Still a Sleuth AFTER the Find

Been spending more time lately telephone names sourcing.  Really reminds me just how important it is that a good name sourcer also be a very good (and intuitive) sleuth.  But I’m not only referring to sleuthing in regard to finding names; I’m also referring to sleuthing in regard to finding out the truth once a person is identified and you begin talking to them.

In this game, it’s not just about creative ways of finding names (Company Telephone Name Directories, Conference Attendee Lists, LinkedIn, Association Websites, etc.), it’s also about finding out the REAL story behind someone’s background and career motivation once you move them from passive to active.  When asked about motivation, it’s not unusual to get the PC answer: “I’m very career minded and just open to opportunities.” But is this the genuine and real reason or are they withholding the truth?

In addition, a candidate may say they’ll move, but will they REALLY take the leap when the offer comes forth? Did the spouse go along with the process to make the candidate happy but when reality hits will they be too scared to move away from family, friends, etc.?  This is one of the largest deal breakers after all.  

Because we often are the front line in the recruiting pipeline development process we need to make sure our vetting process is as thorough as possible. 

There are many tricks to help increase the level of vetting, but at times these tricks still don’t bring out the FULL truth.  So, be the sleuthing and intuitive person you are and ask the right probing questions (sometimes repeating them) and read between the lines.  You may have to once again use your intuition and your hunches to determine if what you’re hearing over the phone is really what the truth. Science?  No.  But, this stuff isn’t always A OR B. And guess what?  Even after all of this, you still may not be 100% correct in your assessment.  Fun stuff!

The Dilemma: 1 InMail Left and 2 Candidates to Message, but Which One? What Factors Weigh in Here? Roll the Dice on a Hunch? Lesson?

I’m posting this not as a tongue-in-cheek statement, but to act as a hybrid thinking exercise and as a lesson in regard to the nature of names sourcing and recruiting.

So you’re faced with a dilemma.  You have one InMail left (because you’vealready done a lot of messaging using the right InMail strategy) and you have two great potential candidates to message.  But which one?  Ahh, decisions.  Is there a clear path here?

What factors weigh in here?  Does location factor in?  Do you go on a hunch?  Real estate prices?  Do you assume one owns a house and one does not?  And, if one does own a house, can you assume that they can or cannot move due to the market in that area?    What about desirable areas to live?  Can you assume one will likely not move from sunny and nice vs. one who lives in a cold climate city?  Say one lives in San Diego and one in Duluth, MN.  Maybe you see that the guy in San Diego went to school up north and the job is in the far north.  Maybe he WANTS to move back north.  Of course, you cannot know this for sure.  Or, do you just assume that anyone in Duluth would love to get out of there, and, that no one in their right mind would want to move into or back to Duluth? Wouldn’t that be over assuming? After all, many people who live in the UP area of the U.S. love it! 

Etc.  You get it. 

If all thing are equal in terms of title, success, company type, degree, etc., then which one do you message? 

Lesson: Sometimes - even to the dismay of many who believe names sourcing is an A OR B Boolean act - it just comes down to weighing all factors and going on a hunch!  Well, I’ll soften the blow so as to not be struck down by the Boolean gods and call it an educated hunch.  So, I’ll keep some logic in it!  Those of you who have done your fair share of searches know what I’m talking about!  This is not always a straight forward game.  Did I burst some bubbles?   

16% Response Rate to Recent LinkedIn InMail Campaign: A Significant and Well Above Average Response Rate in Relation to Email / Message Marketing

16% response rate to recent InMail campaign.  A significant, and well above average response rate in relation to email / message marketing.  Remember to make it real, relevant, concise, clear and respectful.   And, of course, make sure that you respond to every response with a sincere message of thanks, even if it’s a “no.”  Always respect the time of others.  

For more on name sourcing and lead generation using LinkedIn InMails, read Name Sourcing and Lead Generation Using LinkedIn InMails: GeneralTips and Make Sure to Keep Your “InMail Feedback Score” at a Five Star Rating!

How Do You Know When You’re Doing Your Job Right as a Names Sourcer? When Google Asks You to Verify that You Are Not a Bot or Contact Scraper

Ha…get it?! My new saying.  It's copyrighted!

You know you’re doing some searches that are very rarely done (or more complex than average) when Google asks you to verify that you are not a bot or contact scraper. 

Or maybe it should be: “You’re not doing your job as a names sourcer if you’re not being asked by Google to verify that you are not a bot.”  Sorry folks, that quote is owned by me! 

Don’t be so Myopic! Boolean / Keyword isn’t the Only Method of Search: Browsing is Also a Formal Method of Info. Discovery in Library and Information Studies

Browsing IS a Formal Method of Information / Content Discovery

First, read this: “Browsing is a crucial component of information discovery; it allows an information seeker to expand organically upon an initial vague, often unarticulated need.”   This came from the wonderful article Why Browsing Is So Important to Content Discovery at http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/browsing-content-discovery/

It’s Cool to Say You Know Boolean, but Boolean is NOT Always Effective

I know, it’s cool to say you know Boolean.  Heck, there are even blogs focusing on Boolean run by the “elite” (self anointed) in this world in which we focus.  Plus, Boolean also looks cool.  People literally think that once you know or understand Boolean search, that you will then find whatever it is you’re looking for.  After all, how could it fail given that every source you search is perfect (sarcastic)?!  

Why is Boolean Not Always Effective?  A Source is Only as Good as How it Was Created and How it’s Maintained

• “Hidden” resources / the invisible or deep web -  http://www.namessourcing.tv/2010/11/short-video-tutorials-on-using.html

• People are individuals and see things differently, including what industry they would classify themselves as working in - http://www.namessourcing.tv/2010/04/think-big-and-use-linkedin-dynamic.html

• People are individuals and see things differently, including what they think their title is (or what they WANT it to be) -  http://www.namessourcing.tv/2011/08/when-names-sourcing-using-professional.html

• Incomplete profiles / orphan profiles - http://www.namessourcing.tv/2011/05/yes-it-can-happen-use-right-linkedin.html

• Different ways of abbreviating titles, companies, industries - http://www.namessourcing.tv/2011/08/when-names-sourcing-using-professional.html

• Yes, believe it or not, people make mistakes and misspell - http://www.namessourcing.tv/2011/03/quick-post-for-job-seekers-those.html

• Etc., Etc., Etc.

Hopefully you get my point.  IN NO WAY WILL YOU COMPLETELY PERFORM AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH ONLY THROUGH THE USE OF BOOLEAN / KEYWORD SEARCH!  

So, is there any way to perform an exhaustive search?  Nope.  BUT, you can increase the effectiveness of your search through the use of browsing.

Why Browsing for Content / Info. Discovery? Think Grocery Stores

When you hear the term browsing, you probably think of ineffective searching, or a sort of  “Hail Mary” approach that relies on luck.  Nope.  Just consider this: is every classification system perfect?  Ah, no.  Is Dewey more perfect than the Library of Congress?  Ah, no.

 

As a real life example, when you’re at a grocery store, are things ALWAYS where you think they’d be?  No!  You think an energy bar should be in the candy aisle, but Henry thinks they should be in the vitamin section.  So, you go to the candy aisle and no luck.  Since everyone is on break, you begin to…….BROWSE!  You being to think.  Ok, where else could they be?  Natural foods?  Browse there…no.  The check out area?  No.  Wait, wait, where are the Vitamins?  You head there, you turn an aisle, and bang…the energy bars.  See, now you know what I mean.

Think Taxonomies, Ontologies, Controlled Vocabularies: Even LinkedIn Uses Them

I’m not going to go on too much more because hardly anyone reads this blog and I have 50 things to do. 

In the subject of browsing in Library and Information Science, you’ll find the term Subject Headings.  You’ve probably heard the words Taxonomy or Ontology, or, perhaps, the term “Controlled Vocabulary.” In short, this is a group of words or terms or even phrases that relate to each other, typically by subject or area of focus and usually organized hierarchically.  Example: Engineering – Chemical Engineering vs. Engineering – Mechanical Engineering.  Under these “higher” subject headings follow more terms such as professional titles - Process Engineering. 

Real Life Recruiting Examples of Browsing: Someone at LinkedIn Knows about Controlled Vocabularies 

Someone at LinkedIn knows about subject headings and taxonomies and their relation to browsing in order to find related people and/or companies.  

Next time you’re in LinkedIn and you perform a search, make sure that when you open an applicable profile that you look to the right of your screen and scroll down to the section “Viewers of this profile also viewed...”  What do you see?  Other names, right.  Wow.  Now, not all are related, but the algorithm behind LinkedIn has done some work for you based on like keywords, industry focus, etc.  (Hint: ontology).  Now, browse!  Open some up and you’ll see that many did not come up in your keyword search due to the factors mentioned above.  But, many may still be worth calling.  Refine the list if necessary, even by adding keywords! 

But it doesn’t stop there.  One last example.  Open up a profile that fits with your search and scroll over the persons’ professional title.  What do you see?  You’ll see that it becomes clickable, but you’ll also see the words “Find users with this title.” OR if you scroll over other areas such as “Education” or “Activities and Societies” they too become clickable and you’ll see the words, “Find users with this keyword.”    Are you following me?  If you follow them, you’re browsing!

Ok, now I’m done.  But if you still don’t get it, check out this great article: Why Browsing Is So Important to Content Discovery at http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/browsing-content-discovery/

Note: Justin Sivey holds and MLIS, Master of Library and Information Science.  So, unlike most, he finds this stuff fascinating and loves to talk about it!