Amybeth Hale - Research Goddess

I recently spoke on using research effectively at the Fordyce Forum in Las Vegas. As anyone who has ever gotten up in front of a group of people to speak would agree to, I hoped that I conveyed the information in a usable manner and that my audience would find some value in my topic. Last week, I received the following recommendation from Glynda Finister, who sat in on my presentation:

“I heard Amybeth speak at the Fordyce Forum in Las Vegas in 2008 and she provided me with excellent tips for finding a good researcher and as a result, I now have two really great researchers. I could not have known what to look for with out her advice. After the seminar, she spent a great deal of time with Attendees with various questions on how to find a researcher. Thank you Amybeth!”

If that isn’t a validation that the presentation did some good, then I don’t know what is! Receiving a note like this is the best thing that could have happened, and I am so pleased that Glynda was able to hire not just one, but two researchers using some of the information she’d heard.  THANK YOU for letting me know!

The  Fordyce Letter Network recently posted a short video highlight from my presentation. Here is a link to it, or you can view it below:

Over 60% of those who suffer from HIV/AIDS worldwide live in the sub-Saharan region. Learn about the aid trip I am going on this November to Mamelodi, South Africa, and how you can help!

I’ve seen a lot of folks in our community who use Eventbrite to host trainings and organize networking events. But did you realize that you can use Eventbrite to help in your research efforts as well? Read on to find out how…

Eventbrite is a provider of online event management and ticketing services. If your event is free, there is no charge and if you sell tickets, they collect a small fee per ticket.  When people register for an event, it generates an attendee list for you. This list can often be viewed via a specific Eventbrite website. So, for example, let’s say we created an Eventbrite registration site for ‘Recruiting Conference’; our attendee list might show up on recruitingconference.eventbrite.com.

Why do you need to know this? For a very simple search technique! Using an easy site: search for Eventbrite, you can locate people from specific companies or with specific titles that you might be looking for. Here is an example:

site:eventbrite.com “public relations” “attendee lists”

This search yields me countless numbers of events, both past and future, with attendees from the public relations field. At the very least, I am provided with a name and a company, and as a good researcher, I can take that name and find a profile or contact information. Often, a city/state, website, blog, and sometimes an email address are provided. Any researcher worth his/her salt can take only a name and find the contact information for that person. Here’s a sample from the page of one of the events in my results:

Here’s another example: let’s say you want to find someone from a specific company – we’ll use Creative Director from Avenue A | Razorfish as the example:

site:eventbrite.com razorfish “creative director” “attendee list” – result page

Not only did we find a creative director from Avenue A | Razorfish, but we also know her location. In addition, there are some other folks on the list that would be worth taking a look at as well: an Associate Creative Director from Digitas, an Interactive Marketing Manager from Comcast-Spectacor, a Media Director from Backe Communications, as well as the VP, Media for Avenue A | Razorfish.

Another way to source using Eventbrite, especially if you are sourcing locally, is to search for a specific city name to find good networking events. This is a great way to learn what events are in your city, and also to find people who will be there who could be potential candidates or clients:

site:eventbrite.com Philadelphia “attendee list” - result page

This event hasn’t happened yet, and you can also subscribe to the attendee list so you’ll be notified when new people register for the event – cool!

 Learn about the aid trip I am going on this November to Mamelodi, South Africa. I need to raise $3000 by the end of October - any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

I keep seeing so many similarities between PR practices and recruiting, sourcing, and research practices - could it be because they are both service-oriented? (duh) I read this great article this morning in The Council of PR Firms‘ The Firm Voice - PR Firms Differ on the Best Way to Train Outstanding Account Executives. This article talks with some executives in the PR industry and asks them their thoughts on how to work most effectively with their clients, as well as what they believe are good qualities to possess as a successful PR professional. Most of what is discussed could also directly apply to developing client/recruiter relationships. Here are a couple of snippets:

• “Some of the most important skills an account service person should have include being service-minded, being able to manage expectations, being accountable, being able to communicate frequently, and working with a client in the spirit of partnership…”
• …”we are counselors to our clients and [that] we should be framing a strategy for our clients, not the other way around. We need to be 10 steps ahead of our clients…”
• “…the biggest mistakes also include not being aggressive enough, being afraid to make a suggestion, and taking something for granted…”

I encourage you to read the entire article and learn how many similarities there are in our methods of operation!

The July issue of The Source is ready! Check it out here: July 2008 - The Source

Also, don’t forget to register for SourceCon 2008! It’s under 2 months away now, September 2nd - 4th in Atlanta, GA. Gather with your fellow researchers and sourcers, meet people you’ve known for years but never seen in person, and learn a ton about tactical and strategic sourcing. Don’t miss out!!!!

Alright, I’m all for making new (meaningful) connections on LinkedIn, but this new site that a friend showed me tonight has taken things, in my opinion, to a sickening new level. The site, called InvitesWelcome.com, describes itself as the “casual and informal version of TopLinked.com [they are both registered with the same contact information]…. another way to show you are open to new connection opportunities.”  So basically, you can either do this for free and be on one big giant list, or you can pay $5/month or $20/year to be on a top list, and you’ll get fresh, new email addresses sent to you to connect with on LinkedIn. There apparently is also a ‘Top Supporters’ list that you can buy your way onto through toplinked.com by purchasing points or something….honestly, I wouldn’t consider a list to be a ‘top’ anything list if you had to buy your way onto it. It’s like those “Who’s Who Among Students” things we used to get in the mail (where you buy your own plaque, trophy, and bound book that honors you), or the mail-order beauty pageant applications that don’t even require a photo for you to be entered in some obscure beauty pageant.

Another thing that comes to mind is those chain letters that used to circulate through the postal system a few decades ago. You know, the ones that say, “Send $1 to the first person on this list, then write a new list adding your name and address to the bottom and remove the first person on the list, then send it to 10 people”, and supposedly you’d get thousands of dollars in the mail within 6 weeks. This seems kind of like that, except instead of sending dollars, you’re sending around your email address.

Though I would imagine several folks from the recruiting community are on the list, I still stand by my original opinion that buying people’s email addresses for this purpose is lame. Some might argue that it’s like buying a database access – well, not really. When you purchase a niche database, you’re pretty well assured that the information contained therein is industry specific. This is just haphazard connecting with people who may or may not be in your industry, and who may or may not be connected with someone who is in your industry. It’s total pot-luck!

Hey, if you’re into this method of making new connections, more power to you. I guess this is cool if you’re a ‘power networker’, LION, or a ‘top-linked’ person. Besides, it IS only a few bucks. And from a business standpoint as well this is profitable, because whoever came up with this is making some pretty easy money! But for me, it seems pretty lame. Lists that call themselves “top lists” should not be something you purchase points to be at the top of. You be the judge and come to your own conclusions about this one…

There is an endless supply of information available to us these days. This information comes at us in all forms – emails, blogs, RSS feeds, tweets, at times I know we all feel bombarded. Come join the latest social network! Check out my new website! Please subscribe to my blog! How can you possible keep up with the latest trends within your industry to maintain a competitive sourcing edge without spending the rest of your life trying to play catch-up with your RSS reader?

I propose looking at the flow of information and knowledge outlets in the same manner that you approach a trip to the grocery store. When some people go to the grocery store, they create a list of items they need ahead of time. This makes the trip quicker – in and out. Of course, there are always a couple of rogue items that get put into the shopping cart that were not on the list (usually your kid sneaks a candy bar or a bag of chips in when you’re not looking). Then, there are those who have an idea in their head of what they need when they hit the store. Usually, more rogue items end up in those people’s shopping carts, right? 

Regardless, you go to a grocery store, filled with thousands upon thousands of perishable and non-perishable items, and you come out with only a small sampling of what was available to you. Why? Because that’s all you need – at the moment. However, those other items that you did not purchase will be available to you the next time you need to go shopping, just in case you need one or two of them.

How is this like our seemingly endless flow of information? Well, the Internet is like that grocery store. It houses all the different portals and networks that we need on a daily basis to have a competitive edge in sourcing. Each of these knowledge outlets is like an item sold by the grocery store. They serve a specific purpose for a specific audience. And the important thing for us to remember is that we don’t have to buy every item in the grocery store (register with every network, read every blog, subscribe to every RSS feed). All we need to do is go in with our list, take what we need, and leave the rest on the shelf, knowing that if we need it next time we go to the store, it will be available to us.

What are some good ways of keeping these things organized? The example I’ll use is RSS feeds. I have about 16 different folders in my reader – one for recruiting blogs, one for PR blogs, one for analyst relations blogs, another for social media, etc. Each one is a specific category that I can choose to read at my leisure. Or, I can collect the blog posts for future reading if it’s not an area of top priority to me. For example, I still have a folder for RFID, which is an industry in which I researched over 2 years ago. Who knows if I’ll ever need that knowledge again? But just in case, I’ve got that folder there waiting for me.

So, remember that you don’t have to buy everything in the store; just get what you need at the moment and know that the other items will be there if you need them. Happy Sourcing!

Bill Bradley, an editorial assistant at Vanity Fair, asks for ideas on how he can “be more lame and attract more fans” to Vanity Fair’s Facebook page. Because if he doesn’t, his boss says he’s canned. Seriously - check out the article on Ragan. Interesting publicity stunt here, as Bill is using all kinds of on- and off-line methods, including flyers and sandwich boards, to get people to be his friend on Facebook. Whether or not it’s true that he’ll actually lose his job if he doesn’t make his goal of 10,000 friends by August 5th, it’s still and interesting, and slightly cheesy, way to gain more fans for the Facebook page. In Bill’s words, “the surest way to accumulate 10,000 fans is to transform oneself into a class-A stalker…” I’m curious how many researchers and sourcers have been accused in some fashion of being stalkers. hehehe…

So, is this what it’s come to? We’re being forced make friends to preserve our employment? I wonder what’s next, paying people to interview with us? Oh wait, that’s already been done

For those of us who work in the world of recruiting, we have been blessed with numerous new resources for name gathering and communication – the various social networking sites to which we belong. We sing their praises because of the ease with which we can now find people to fill our open positions. All we need to do is search our networks tofind these people, and then leave them a message on the site.

There is, however, a downside to this newfound ease in communication. The InMails, the friend invites, the notes we can leave for people, is it all too easy? What do our prospects think of the influx of recruiter outreach?

I’ve heard from a couple of senior level executives that social network outreach is a daily occurrence for them, numbering up to 5+ notes every day that they receive from recruiters. Others I’ve spoken with say they are contacted on a regular weekly basis, and still others several times each month. What do prospects think of this? Of course there are some who enjoy it; it makes them feel important, special, wanted, valued, however you want to describe it. A lot of folks however describe their feelings toward social network recruiter outreach with indifference, saying that they usually delete the notes before reading them (keep in mind that this is unofficial information – gathered only through conversations I’ve had with people and not in any formal format).

There are those as well who, being networkers themselves, take the time to read a few of the notes received from recruiters and either respond or pass them along to their networks. These are good people to know; however, don’t abuse your relationship with these folks by sending a lot of irrelevant openings to them to pass along. You don’t want to wear out your welcome, after all!

(As an aside to this, how many folks tell you they will pass an opening on to their network, but never do? It’s kind of like the promised prayer to actual prayer ratio isn’t it?)

So, with the increase of ease in reaching out, are we in fact alienating the very audience we desire to reach? Hey, I’m certainly not excluding myself here! As a researcher, my networks have become invaluable tools for me, especially when it comes to contact verification.  But I personally think that, if you rely heavily on this method of contact, it is important to personalize your outreach to people. Make sure they know that you took the time to find out a little about them.

I’d like to encourage discussion of this topic via comment. Please share your thoughts on the matter by leaving a comment on this post. Do you think social networks have jaded our audiences? Do you think social networks have encouraged greater interaction between recruiter and prospect? As well, how do you think you can make yourself stand out in the crowd from all the other boilerplate notes that your prospects are receiving?

I had a great time attending the Fordyce Forum in Las Vegas! As I mentioned in my post shortly after I arrived, the city itself was intimidating for me as a conservative Midwest gal. But I enjoyed my time there. I have stayed in touch with a former candidate (lesson there J) who lives just outside of the city, and as we have become friends outside of our professional relationship, she invited me to hang out while I was in town. We went to the Red Rock Canyon about 30 minutes outside of Vegas and went rock climbing. She also treated me to Mama Mia at Mandalay Bay – what an awesome friend!

The conference itself was an experience! I ran into people left and right that I hadn’t seen in awhile, that I hadn’t expected to see there, and who I’d met through social networks but never in person. I posted about running into Julia and Lisa, but I also had the pleasure of seeing both my former employers, Jon Bartos and Tom Johnston, at the conference. In addition, I got to meet some new Twitter pals – Nick Jimenez and Mike O’Brien of Climber.com. I also got to meet the crew from ERE who’d been so awesome about making arrangements for the conference – you guys did an incredible job!

As far as the content goes, I personally was quite impressed with the presentations. I attended Shally Steckerl’s pre-conference workshop on applying today’s technology to find A+ candidates.  His presentation was a thorough overview of internet research – from “this is a search engine” to how to use Boolean search strings to find online resumes. I found it interesting that a question came from the crowd asking why we would need to search the Internet, as all resumes can be found through online resume databases like Monster and CareerBuilder. I believe this lack of knowledge only further solidifies the need for dedicated research AS WELL AS good research training in order for those of us in the recruiting industry to have a good grasp at the vast amounts of information out there, and how to scale it.

I was particularly impressed with Jeff Skrentny’s keynote on Thursday morning. Admittedly, I didn’t know who Jeff was before the conference, but I am glad that I got to meet him! He brought so many good nuggets forth on how to be successful, and even though his presentation was geared toward the recruiting profession, I know that everything he talked about could be applied in our everyday lives. A couple of my favorite bullet points from his talk on the 9 lessons he learned in his best year ever:

• Don’t let email interrupt your day (makes me think of Pavlov’s Dog)
• Build a structured calendar – 55 minute power sessions regularly scheduled into your day
• Exercising regularly helped him achieve his best year to date
• Regularly attend training sessions and get educated

As well, Jon Bartos’ keynote on Friday was also very informative. Jon talked about the generational differences between the Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and Gen Y’ers (or millennials) and how it all fits into recruiting as well as retention.  Jon shared an interesting perspective of mentorship, that Baby Boomers would make good mentors to Gen Y’ers, because the millennials see them as a sort of grandparent figure and someone who is to be respected. He said that the Baby Boomers could teach them professionally, while the millennials could teach the Baby Boomers about technology. A good trade-off! Jon’s presentation was devoted to how each generation must be approached differently in the interview and hiring process, as well as in work environment and retention. He did a very nice job covering this from all angles and there are plenty of lessons in his presentation that can also be brought back for client education as well.

I sat in on several presentations over the week – Doug Beabout, Mark Berger, Joe Pelayo, and I wish I’d been able to sit in on more! I heard that Stacy Ethun’s presentation on learning from hearing things that you don’t want to hear was great. There’s just a good lesson in that – I think some of the best lessons learned are the ones we know we need to hear but it hurts to hear them. And I have to say, I was surprised yet pleased with something that Doug Beabout said: he said that if he had to choose between firing a researcher and firing a recruiter, he would fire the recruiter first! I think that speaks volumes about the value that research brings to the whole recruitment process, and it’s great to know that our peers are starting to see this.

I received good feedback for my presentation as well. Those of you who know me will understand when I say that I feel I could have done better, but it’s the audience feedback that counts the most. I spoke about things to consider when you are thinking about hiring a researcher – how personality characteristics play a big part, knowing what functions you want performed by a researcher before you begin interviewing, and also some thoughts on how to help a researcher be successful once they are on board. I am happy that several people came to me afterward and mentioned that the information I shared was helpful! Just in personal reflection, I had sort of talked myself into being nervous so the next time I do something like this, I’ll make sure NOT to do that J While talking in front of crowds is not the most comfortable place for me to be, I do love what I do and I want to do whatever I can to help educate people on the research function and the benefit it brings to an organization.

Make sure you check out the post event tab on the Fordyce Forum website – many of the PPTs from the presentations are available to view there, as well as some video snippets from the presenters. And keep an eye out for the next Fordyce Forum as well – I was pleased and honored to be invited to participate in this one, and the next one is sure to be even better.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Bill Vick of “Big Biller” and “XtremeRecruiting.tv” fame. Bill put the video of our talk up in a few locations, including the Fordyce Letter and XtremeRecruiting.tv. Check it out!