Tag Archives: SourceCon

How to Find, Hire, Train & Build a Sourcing Team: SourceCon 2013

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Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_AquariumI recently presented at the largest-ever SourceCon event held at the mesmerizing Georgia Aquarium where you can network with industry peers while watching whale sharks, manta rays and Beluga whales swim by.

My session focused on building out a sourcing function with an emphasis on building a sourcing team from scratch with people who have no prior experience in sourcing and recruiting.

I recently hired and trained a team of 40+ sourcers so I was able to share my journey and lessons learned, as well as my theory that you can more effectively train people with no prior experience than you can people with a few years or more of sourcing and recruiting.

My theory is supported by my own experience (I’ve never attended or received any sourcing or recruiting training), as well as a couple of books I referenced in my presentation: The Talent Code and Talent is Overrated. It’s quite interesting to realize that most environments are neither conducive to effective learning, nor effective in developing extremely advanced levels of sourcing and recruiting capability.

If you didn’t have the chance to see me speak at SourceCon and you haven’t already viewed this deck on SourceCon’s website, please review my presentation below to learn more about the ideal conditions under which you can create the next generation of sourcing masters.

And yes, you’ll get the chance to see a handful of the Boolean search strings I use to find people with no prior sourcing or recruiting experience (or any specific experience, for that matter!) who have a high probability of developing into world-class sourcers and recruiters.

 

 

 

My SourceCon Presentation – LinkedIn: Beyond the Basics

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I was honored to be asked to present at the Dallas 2012 SourceCon event – which turned out to be the largest SourceCon event ever!

When I was talking with Amybeth Hale back at the end of 2011 about what I’d like to present on, I asked if anyone had ever run a session solely dedicated to LinkedIn.

Now, I’ve been to every SourceCon save 2 (the first one and 2011/Santa Clara), I’ve spoken at 5 of them, and I couldn’t recall anyone delivering a LinkedIn presentation, and neither could Amybeth (for the ones I missed or sessions I did not attend).

That struck me as beyond odd, given how valuable a resource LinkedIn is for sourcing and recruiting.

What you see below is the deck from my “LinkedIn: Beyond the Basics” session, complete with YouTube videos.

 

 

SourceCon 2012 Atlanta – the Biggest SourceCon Ever!

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It’s official.

The SourceCon event at the Georgia Aquarium on Feb 9 & 10 will be the biggest event ever, with more attendees than any other SourceCon!

What that really means, other than proof that Atlanta is the center of the sourcing universe [sorry Seattle ;)], is that attendees will have more opportunity to network with, share best practices, and learn from other sourcers and sourcing leaders than ever before.

As you would expect, SourceCon will treat those in attendance with high-value keynotes and general sessions from industry luminaries such as:

  • Aida La Chaux from Yahoo on sourcing through adversity
  • Adam Lawrence of Alexander Mann Solutions on global sourcing
  • Jim Stroud of Bernard Hodes on social & personalized search
  • Eric Jaquith from SourceRight on how to stack the deck in your favor when it comes to sourcing
  • Conni LaDouceur on phone sourcing best practices (and yes, you’ll hear recorded calls!)

In addition, there are breakout tracks for sourcing leaders and for sourcing practitioners lead by Charles Bretz, Shannon Van Curen, Shannon Myers, Cathy Henesey, Elaine Order, Justin Clem, Anne DeWys, Therese Hightower, Cathy Henesey, and Atlanta’s own Chris Havrilla, covering topics such as ATS/candidate databases and social and mobile sourcing. Continue reading →

Creating or Selecting Effective Sourcing Training: SourceCon NYC

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Have you received any formal training on how to source candidates?

If yes – what kind of training was it? What was the format? What was the focus – syntax, techniques, sites? Who delivered it – a third party trainer or an internal resource? How was the content delivered? Was it effective? Were you tested or certified?

If you’ve never received any formal training on candidate sourcing – you’re not alone. When I asked the SourceCon attendees the aforementioned question during my presentation on the topic of creating or selecting effective sourcing training, by a show of hands, the majority had not received any formal sourcing training.

I’ve never had any formal sourcing training either – everything I know I learned the hard way, through trial and error and a simple determination to not fail and to get results.

Although certainly not ideal, figuring out how to do something by yourself isn’t actually the worst way to learn something. Aristotle (384-322 BC) once mused that “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Before I delve into the training methods that have the highest amount of knowledge transfer, it is important to take a look at why it tends to be so difficult to effectively train sourcers. Continue reading →

Talent Mining and the Future of Sourcing and Recruiting

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Many people equate sourcing candidates with simply creating and running Boolean search strings.

In my opinion and experience, Boolean search neither adequately describes nor gives proper credit to what sourcers and recruiters are really doing when they leverage the Internet, resume databases, ATS/CRM applications and social networking sites such as LinkedIn to find candidates, and to what some very talented and highly skilled professionals are able to accomplish with human capital data.

I had the distinct honor of delivering the keynote presentation at SourceCon 2010 which was held at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. I spoke about a specialized form of information retrieval and text/data mining which I call talent mining, defined as querying and analyzing human capital data for talent discovery, identification, and ultimately acquisition.

At the strategic level, talent mining is the process of transforming human capital data into an informational and competitive advantage – much more than simply writing Boolean search strings. Continue reading →

The State of Candidate Sourcing – SourceCon 2010 DC

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SourceCon_LogoDid you attend the SourceCon event in D.C. at the International Spy Museum online? Did you watch it via live stream? Did you miss it altogether?

Whether you attended or viewed SourceCon 2010 or not, I’d like to share with you my reflections on the event, including:

  • An observation and a question about social recruiting vs. sourcing
  • The fact that sourcing does not just mean using the Internet
  • Mike Notaro has raised the bar for conference knowledge sharing
  • An open call to talented sourcers all over the world

Continue reading →