100+ Free Sourcing & Recruiting Tools, Guides, and Resources

  It’s been a LONG time coming, but I finally got around to updating my free sourcing & recruiting tools, guides and resources page where I now keep a current list of the best of my work all in one place for easy bookmarking and reference. You can find it here on my main page:     Additionally, I thought … Read More

How to Effectively Source Talent via Social Media & Networks

Sourcing talent via social media requires an entirely different mindset than sourcing with other forms of human capital data, such as resumes/CV’s, employee directories, conference attendee lists, etc. Back in early 2009, one of only 2 guest posts ever co-written on my site was published on the topic of non-standard descriptors and the role they play in social media. Valerie Scarsellato … Read More

Have You Analyzed the Value of Your LinkedIn Network?

When someone connects to you on LinkedIn, they gain the benefit of any non-overlapping  network connections from your first and second degree network. Your first degree connections become their second, and your second degree connections become their third. Have you ever taken a look at your LinkedIn network at the first and second to see what your network value proposition … Read More

Will 2011 be a Big Year for Recruiters and Social Media?

I read a brief sidebar article in the November 1, 2010 Fortune magazine that detailed the hottest jobs of 2010 and I was pleased with what I saw, and I thought you would be too. Apparently, Fortune worked with “LinkedIn’s top data crunchers” to pull some exclusive information about the job titles that saw the biggest percentage increase in 2010 … Read More

Top 25 Most Connected Recruiters on LinkedIn

I’ve complied a list of the top 25 most connected recruiters on LinkedIn. To generate this list, I searched LinkedIn for anyone in the world who had one of the following terms in their current title: recruiter OR recruiting OR recruitment OR sourcer OR sourcing OR talent, and I sorted the results by connections. It looks as if you will need at … Read More

LinkedIn Network Connections: How Do You Measure Up?

You’re on LinkedIn – congratulations! So, how big is your network? Without going into a rant on quality vs. quantity (who says we can’t have BOTH?), let’s take a different angle on the size of your LinkedIn network…at your current company, where do you rank in terms of number of connections? Do you know off the top of your head? Why not? … Read More

Social Media and Recruiting – Beyond the Hype

I’m very much an anti-hype, anti-bandwagon person. I neither like to nor want to get caught in the undertow of the emotional rush associated with being excited about something that nearly everyone else seems to be excited about, where everyone celebrates the new and “cool factor” with little-to-no critical thought. When that next bright and shiny object comes along, it’s all too easy to be … Read More

The Future of Recruiting: The More Things Change…

Now that we are on our way into exploring the new year, I’ve seen some articles on what’s coming next for the recruiting industry this year, and even as far out as 10 years from now. When I read one such article written by Kevin Wheeler, I was struck by his comment that although sourcing remains a topic he is interested in, … Read More

LinkedIn Search Results Sorting: Relevance or Keyword?

When I deliver presentations on how to leverage LinkedIn to source candidates, I have the opportunity to get a sense of what most people seem to know about using LinkedIn.  Recently I have been making it a point to ask how people tend to sort their search results when searching LinkedIn, and the overwhelming majority leave their results sorting at the default value, which … Read More

LinkedIn by the Numbers – Searching by Title and Clearance

Ever wonder how many executives are on LinkedIn? How about accountants, software engineers, “Big 4” employees, or people with TS/SCI clearances?  Well I did. So I decided to run a number of searches for common titles in information technology, finance and accounting, recruiting and human resources, business development, social media, and administrative support and publish the results for the world to see.  I also … Read More

Is LinkedIn Becoming a Job Board?

Is LinkedIn a social networking site, a job board, or a little of both? Most people consider LinkedIn to be a social networking site, or more specifically a professional network service. LinkedIn describes itself as an “interconnected network of experienced professionals.” However, when I take a step back and take an objective view of LinkedIn, I see a great deal of “job … Read More

Searching Social Media Requires Outside-the-Box Thinking

Non-Standard Descriptors and the Role They Play in Social Media Article by Valerie Scarsellato, Sr. Sourcer at Intel Corporation Co-written by Glen Cathey Sourcing has always been a significant component in the recruiting lifecycle. However, in recent years, sourcing has taken a giant step into the forefront and has become recognized as the solid foundation at which successful recruiting rests upon in … Read More

Job Boards Evolving With Social Media?

With the rise in companies effectively leveraging SEM (Search Engine Marketing)/SEO (Search Engine Optimization), vertical job search engines such as Indeed and SimplyHired, and social media campaigns, it seems as if many feel that the ROI of posting jobs on the major job boards has steadily declined.  Perhaps this is where the strong anti-job board sentiment comes from within the recruiting and staffing industry. However, there is … Read More

LinkedIn Poll: Job Boards More Effective for Getting Jobs

Job Boards vs. Social Media – which is more effective at helping people get jobs? At least for now, statistics appear to support that job boards are either more widely used to find jobs, or simply more effective at landing people jobs than social networking sites. According to a recent LinkedIn poll, 4310 people responded and 22% of the respondents used a major … Read More

Job Boards vs. Social Networking Sites

I follow a number of recruiting blogs as well as many sourcers and recruiters on Twitter and I see a growing trend of job board bashing – typically comparing them (very) unfavorably to social networking sites and applications. I love and leverage social networking as much as the the next recruiting professional, but I refuse to just blindly follow the crowd or … Read More