Hiring Great People During a Candidate Advantaged Job Market: 4 Things to Do NOW!

We have entered a period when we have been experiencing explosive business growth following a period of severe contraction following the 9/11 attacks. More and more businesses are are discovering that their time-to-fill metrics (the amount of time it takes to fill a job) are getting longer as they discover fewer qualified people available to hire.

Now for worse news (I hope I scare you with this statistic):

During the next seven years, approximately 73 million people are scheduled to retire.

Put differently, almost 24% of the current US population is scheduled to retire in the next 7 years.

And you thought it was tough to fill jobs now! Just wait!

NOW is the time to make changes that position your firm as a leader in people's minds and advantage you when hiring NOW and in the future.

1. Don't just fill jobs. Find great people and make room for them.

This is a philosophical shift for many firms who, unintentionally, look at human capital like machine parts. We need a programmer with certain skills. We need a receptionist on 14. This works fine up to a point. We all know that great people will make a difference in an organization. Why not make room for people who can make a difference at a high level.

Tell your current leadership that they are important to your firm's success not just for what they do but for the ideas that they contribute that can make a difference. That you want people who can do
great things AND offer ideas that cn move the firm forward in the next ten years and position it as the leader in its industry.

Somewhere in the last 20 years that notion has been lost.

2. Impress all talent. It should go without saying, but whenever someone interviews with you, they should walk out impressed and wanting to work for your company.

Everyone from the security guard in the lobby, to the receptionist in HR, to the HR person who interviews them, on and on, should be talking about what a great firm you are to work for.

I'm not saying to hire everyone. Standards need to be observed. But in this interconnected social networking world we live in, a bad impression will be magnified tremendously and broadcast throughout the world.

3. Network. Network. Network.

Everyone knows about LinkedIn (if you want to connect with my 1000 person plus my public page on LinkedIn is at http://www.linkedin.com/in/thebiggamehunter,

Do you use Jigsaw to recruit? Jigsaw will help you find people cheaply. People with certain titles and job functions. In Europe, Xing is particularly strong.

How about your own alumni (see my other article in this issue).

4. Treat your recruiting sources as allies instead of annoyances. This means you need to evaluate your recruiting sources, too, and not just ask them to work on your jobs just because they happened to call.

This next one may be a little controversial--work witth firms who are not on your vendor list if they have a person who fits a need. Why not accept a great referral from someone who isn;t on your "list?" How did lists become so important anyway?

The organization that becomes a leader isn;t always the smartest or work the hardest, although those are two great qualities. Organizations become leaders by being alert to opportunities.

The same needs to be part of your talent scouting process, too. As an organization that wants to be great, or thrive or prosper or fulfill its mission statement (you know the corporate mission statement don't you?), you will need to acquire great talent and give it room to operate.

These four steps will help you do that simply and powerfully.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or to learn more and sign up for his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Boing. Boing. Is That The Sound of Your Next Hire?

"Meet the new boss

The same as the old boss”

--“Won’t Get Fooled Again,” The Who

Although that lyric from The Who, a 60’s band consisting of Pete Townsend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon, were singing of revolution and rejecting the status quo, there is something suggested in their lyrics that you can use to hire more staff more easily.

It is something that The Big 8 firms (the eight largest accounting firms) did for years during their peak of power and prestige. It is something that you can do NOW to plant the seeds for future hires—something that will become critical as the boomers start to retire and leave the workforce.

Form an alumni group and have someone on point for it so that you have a chance to hire your former workers in the future.

Minimally, collect information that allows you to re-contact former employees by email and do so every 9 months.

Help them get interviews for their next job with other former employees. Help them make good decisions about their choices.

Re-hire people whose skills and temperament fit your needs. Let them "boomerang" back to you.

Why shouldn’t you re-hire the programmer who worked for you three years ago if their knowledge and experience can help you solve a problem?

Maybe they were mismanaged by their boss or released during a down turn in the economy.

Why not bring them back?

The fact is that in the next few years, the number of skilled people will be leaving the workforce because of retirement will be in the millions. Unless we miraculously replace them with immigrants who know your business instantly, you should as few boundaries to hiring down as possible.

By creating a climate where talented boomerangs will want to return to your company and (making it comfortable for them to do so by giving them previous benefits toward vacations, for example) your business will be helped in many ways.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or to learn more and sign up for his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Behavioral Interview Questions: Decision Making

Discuss an important decision you have made regarding a task or project at work. What factors influenced your decision?

Everyone has made some poor decisions or has done something that just did not turn out right. Has this happened to you? What happened?

Give an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.

Give an example of a time in which you had to keep from speaking or not finish a task because you did not have enough information to come to a good decision.

Give an example of a time when there was a decision to be made and procedures were not in place?

Give an example of a time when you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.

Give me an example of a time when you had to keep from speaking or making a decision because you did not have enough information.

How did you go about deciding what strategy to employ when dealing with a difficult customer?

How do you go about developing information to make a decision? Give an example.

How do you involve your manager and/or others when you make a decision?

How have you gone about making important decisions?

How quickly do you make decisions? Give an example.

In a current job task, what steps do you go through to ensure your decisions are correct and effective?

Talk about a time when you had to defend a decision you made even though other important people were opposed to your decision.

What kind of decisions do you make rapidly? What kind takes more time? Give examples.

What kinds of problems have you had coordinating technical projects? How did you solve them?

What was your most difficult decision in the last 6 months? What made it difficult?

When you have to make a highly technical decision, how do you go about doing it?


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

6 Reminders When Hiring

Having worked closely with managers and business owners for many years, I have seen their hiring process fall on its face because they have forgotten several important rules. Forgetting any of these principles may bog you down, slow down your hiring process and ultimately foster the new hire failing even if you stumble into the “right” person.

1. Don't expect to hire a replica of yourself! You are not the “be all and end all’ of great talent and, as such, don’t expect to hire a clone. First of all, one factor to consider when hiring may be to hire someone who complements your skills and talents rather than replicates them.

If you are looking at junior staff, you may accidentally place an angelic halo around someone because their experience or behaviors may remind you of yourself and, by doing so, may fail to adequately investigate their experience.

Lastly, by doing so, you may foster an environment where you fail to adequately interview and hire people from racial, ethnic, religious and other backgrounds and experiences far different than your own that may foster “lock step thinking” and behavior and, obviously, bias.

2. Know exactly what you expect from your new hire. It may seem obvious in an era where job specs are approved at many levels before a person is actually hired but, again from experience, I know how often people ignore what is on the job description to hire someone who doesn’t fit in some key way or another (for years, the Wall Street Journal would publish a statistic that approximately 20% of all people hired did not fit the job description. That was 20% who admitted it!).

3. Know exactly what you expect from your new hire. What will someone need to do in order to be successful in your job? Do you know? How will you know that this person can actually perform as you hope they will? What will you ask to find out? No matter how junior or senior the person is you need to be able to know your expectations of them and how you will measure their potential for success before you actually hire them.

4. Set aside time. T may seem obvious but you can’t hire someone without making the time to interview them and making sure that your team has time, too. Try to anticipate when there is a lull in the action and avoid interviewing people when you and your team have far too much to get done. Don’t expect that job hunters will be willing to keep visiting your offices or plant time and again because you are too busy. They get the message that they will be overworked and that manners are not important. After all, they took time off from work or to make arrangements to meet you at a time that you said would work. How rude is it on your to push them away and make them return.

5. Create a training program. It may be a simple as “When you have questions, ask Jeff over there” how to handle it. Far better that that is a few days of immersing the new person in your company or group’s practices and processes so that they know what is going on, they know how to handle the basics, and that they learn the informal rules of the road.

6. If you aren’t sure, ask for advice or help. It never hurts to get a second opinion from someone if you are wavering. And after you get the second opinion, if you still aren’t sure, reject the person and keep looking!

Taking the time to do these things will go a long way toward helping you as a manager, a business owner or as an HR professional focus in on the success points to hire someone who will succeed for years to come.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To subscribe to Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Behavioral Interview Questions: Communications

Describe a situation in which you were able to effectively “read” another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their individual needs or values.

Describe a situation when you were able to strengthen a relationship by communicating effectively. What made your communication effective?

Describe a situation where you felt you had not communicated well. How did you correct the situation?

Describe a time when you were able to effectively communicate a difficult or unpleasant idea to a superior.

Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation which you had to complete.

Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you , or vice versa.

Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?

How do you keep subordinates informed about information that affects their jobs?

How do you keep your manager informed about what is being done in your work area?

How do you go about explaining a complex technical problem to a person who does not understand technical jargon?

What approach do you take in communicating with people? What kinds of communication situations cause you difficulty? Give an example.

Tell us about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation. How did you prepare? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them?

Tell us about a time when you and your current/previous supervisor disagreed but you still found a way to get your point across. Tell us about a time when you had to present complex information. How did you ensure that the other person understood?

Tell us about a time when you had to use your verbal communication skills in order to get a point across that was important to you.

Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective in a talk you gave or seminar you taught.

Tell us about an experience in which you had to speak up in order to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.

Tell us me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you. Tell us me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across."

Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation which you had to complete.

Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you , or vice versa.

Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you.

Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?

How do you keep subordinates informed about information that affects their jobs?

How do you keep your manager informed about what is being done in your work area?

How do you go about explaining a complex technical problem to a person who does not understand technical jargon?

What approach do you take in communicating with people?

What kinds of communication situations cause you difficulty? Give an example.

Tell us about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation. How did you prepare? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them?

Tell us about a time when you and your current/previous supervisor disagreed but you still found a way to get your point across.

Tell us about a time when you had to present complex information. How did you ensure that the other person understood?

Tell us about a time when you had to use your verbal communication skills in order to get a point across that was important to you.

Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective in a talk you gave or a seminar you taught.

Tell us about an experience in which you had to speak up in order to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.

Tell us me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you.

Tell us me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across.

What challenges have occurred while you were coordinating work with other units, departments, and/or divisions?

What have you done to improve your verbal communication skills? How have you persuaded people through a document you prepared?

What are the most challenging documents you have done?

What kinds of proposals have your written?

What kinds of writing have you done?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com


Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

The Single Most Important Thing You Must Do During Every Interview

While evaluating a candidate for a client, I learned that the job applicant was also interviewing with two investment banks and was about to begin second rounds with those firms for positions that seemed very good but not as well-suited as my client's job was.

My person did well on his first round and was invited back for a second interview for a position and firm that he seems to like more than the others. That's good news for my client and good news for me.

Yet one thing about this is troubling me--my client has been focused exclusively on evaluating and assessing the candidate and taking almost zero time to do something that is absolutely critical to win the person if they want to hire them.

Want to know what it is?



Sell their company and the position to the job applicant.


Why should someone come to work with your firm?
How will this job fit their needs not just now but for years to come?
What do you like about working there?
What will they learn that can benefit them?
What career path exists? Does the firm even look at upward mobility?
What are bonuses like?
What are benefits like?
Why do you enjoy working there?


I'm not speaking about with the candidates you are interested in. I'm speaking about every single person.

You're saying, "I don't have time to do that."

Let me offer another way of looking at this.

Imagine that every person you interview is favorably disposed to working for your company so that when you make a job offer they are all leaning toward saying yes. Google has this advantage and so does Goldman Sachs. How can you create this for your firm?

The simple answer is to send people into the world with stars in their eyes excited about the possibility of working for your firm. Obviously, not everyone will be hired, nor is everyone qualified. But if you can get them to think, "WOW! I'd really like to work for them some day," they will chat up your firm now and for years to come.

When someone is interviewing at your firm years from now, they will speak favorably about it.

So take the time to speak about your firm and the opportunity and what's in it for the candidate to join . . . especially now while there are labor shortages that will make the market for talent competitive for years to come.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

The Background Check: How Much Do You Really Want to Know?

A few years ago, a client manager asked me to screen for a position on his staff. He wanted to hire a Unix systems administrator with experience in financial markets. After submitting a resume of a very qualified person, I received a call from him rejecting the candidate. I was confised because he certainly had the qualifications for the job. I asked why.

"Go to www.google.com and search for by his name; you'll find what I did. A message he posted on a discussion service where he talked about sizable trading losses. We can't let him anywhere near our systems or anywhere near our trading models."

And from there I learned a valuable lesson.

As a junior recruiter, back in The Stone Ages, I lost two hires for matters that might seem personal--one was an officer with a bank who, shortly after she joined, had penned several pornographic books; the other was a computer consultant who, apparently not long before accepting a position with the consulting firm I introduced her to, had posed for two magazines that were released two weeks after she joined her no employer (how they discovered the photo shoot and magazines was never asked, of course).

With the recent NFL draft highlighting a drive toward great athleticism and character resulting from recent bad episodes involving players, it begs the question of whether your firm is doing anything of even a marginal basis to check a person's background prior to their joining your firm.

Does your firm engage in a background check?

Do you use Google to search for old resumes that are inconsistent with the one you received?

Have you been surprised by anything that appears on their web page or social network site page?

If you have, have you asked the person about anything that you've found?

To be clear, I am not suggesting that your firm turn into the second coming of the KGB. I am suggesting that character is impoprtant in your new hires is important and that question marks need to be investigated before something occurs later that will be an incredible headache for everyone.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Creative Hiring in Active Job Markets

By now, I'm sure you've noticed that the job market is extremely active and that it is hard to find qualified people, let alone qualified people without breaking the bank.

I want to share an anecdote from a recent hire that a client of mine did that showed intelligent creativity.

The position involved was for a technology professional with a J2EE background plus solid architectural experience. I could go into a lot of detail about the job requirement but I believe it is unnecessary to making the point.

The first thing my client did was to be flexible to job hunters who might not be working near their offices by doing an initial phone interview with job candidates. Instead of having human resources make the initial call, HR scheduled an interview with two of their managers and the candidate. This allowed them to do a solid evaluation of the person and their competencies prior to meeting with them.

The second thing they did was open their search to qualified individuals who were working in the US under an H-1b visa. doing this allowed them to access to less expensive potential employees.

They met the person in their offices (the job applicant worked outside the region during the week but was home on Fridays and available to meet them), and spent time both evaluating and assessing the individual and their qualifications but also talking about the firm and the good things about working there.

A second meeting was scheduled with a Director and at that time, HR spent a significant amount of time talking with the potential hire about benefits and quality of life issues. They also made clear the fees that they would pay for both the visa transfer and the green card--all except for job applicant legal fees.

An initial low offer was made but they indicated that there might be some small flexibility. They then improved it slight, increasing the base salary plus providing a sign on bonus that would pay for the legal fees for the transfer.

Asa a result, they hired someone who was qualified to do their job for $14000 less than what they had originally budgeted for the position while maintaining salary parity within the firm.

Are there any ideas you can take from this?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Rusing

If you don't periodically explore the website ere.net, you are missing a treat.

ERE is a site that focuses on recruiting in many different ways--there are daily articles from industry leaders, blogs, product information and discussion groups. Personally, I am fascinated by some of the discussions that occur.

A recent one involved the employment agency technique of doing rusing to find job applicants.If you are not familiar with the term, let me provide you with some examples of rusing.

Calling the switchboard of a target company, saying that you are a college student trying to interview someone for a paper who is the head of ________. What is there name and number??

Using the voice response system of target firm to collect names to call.

Meeting with a junior person in the department for an interview taht has little reason to occur accept for those few minutes where you ask them for an org chart of their department and where they fit into it for the sole purpose of getting the names of the others to call.

Sending a resume of someone witha terrific background to a non-client.

"They look good; let's meet them."

Oh, they just took another job, but I have a few others I'll send over to you. Tell me what you're looking for exactly."

The subject of the discussion is "All Great Recruiters Ruse."

So, let me ask you, if someone told you that they fond a job applicant in this manner, would you be happy? Would you been disgusted? Someplace in the middle?

Email me at thebiggamehunter@gmail.com and tell me what you would think if someone admitted to you that they did this to find your most recent hire.

Oh, by the way, after 35 years of doing search, my network and technology tools make this completely unnecessary.

Again, email me at thebiggamehunter@gmail.com and tell me what your thoughts would be if a recruiter admitted to you that they did this to find your most reent hire.


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter Concepts in Staffing thebiggamehunter@cisny.com © 2007 all rights reserved. Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist. To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, designed to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.thebiggamehunter.net. If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Get The Applicant Off Balance

Most interviews are extremely predictable. They have three basic parts--an introduction to the interview that often begins with a question like, "Tell me about yourself and what you've been doing professionally." The second phase where skills competence is evaluated; the third phase is where you ask if they have any questions.

Some people like to conduct interviews with very easy tones to them; others prefer "stress interviews."

Like you, I see my job as finding out the truth--I want to geta sense of a person and their competence and experience, chemistry with my clients and their attitides, character, self-confidence and, maybe charisma. What Ir efer to as personal leadership.

I want to know what someone knows, what they want and how flexible they are in pursuing it (the money, the location, the nature of the job).

Because most interviews have become extremely predictable, i've been looking for something that would be helpful in obtaining a real insight into the person I'm sitting with--something that is not part of their prepared script of answers.

I wasn't satisfied until recently when I read an anecdote from someone who spoke of their worries about being promoted into a job over their head and then it hit me.

"Tell me about a professional situation where you were in over your head and how you handled it."

I ask this question early in the interview.

I'm looking for an insight into the person, not just from what they say but from their body language. I can accept taht they may not have been put into sucha situation but I want to see how they respond to the question and how they respond to my next question.

Did I throw them off? That will be how they handle it in real life.

Will they say that it has not happened to them professionally but in their academic life or personal life, hee is what happened.

I want to get them off the "script" of answers and learn something about the person in front of me.

Email me at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com and tell me what happens when you try using this question, particularly, early in the interview.


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter Concepts in Staffing thebiggamehunter@cisny.com © 2007 all rights reserved. Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist. To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, designed to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.thebiggamehunter.net. If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

How Much Should We Be Paying for a ______?

It is a pretty common occurrence for me to receive a call fro a client asking me about how much someone who is doing a particular function should be paid. With time, I learned that the answer that was least satisfying was "Whatever the market deems them to be worth." Although true, most of you want concrete numbers.

So how do you best get those numbers?

The Internet is a great tool. I'm not speaking of sites like www.salary.com or www.payscale.com.
Personally, I find these sites too generic for my taste.

The sites I use are:

www.jobsearchuniverse.com
www.indeed.com
www.simplyhired.com

In the name of full disclosure, Job Search Universe if a search engine I build using Google search engine technology; it searches more than 2200 websites and employer career pages for information. Indeed and Simply Hired are similar meta search tools.

Each provides enormous job market penetration that allows me to collect information.

For example, if I want to know about j2EE Swaps developer salaries in New York, I enter the search into one of these search engines and examine the results anc determine what salaries are for the skill.

I know its easier to just call me and ask but, heah, this will probably be far more accurate!

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, designed to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.thebiggamehunter.net.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Campus Recruiting: The Lost Focus of Staffing

Back in ancient times, when I was beginning my career, the Bell Labs was considered a terrific place for people like me. They recruited "the best of the best, " regardless of race, creed, religion, national origin, etc.. Once on board, you worked on exceptional projects and were set for life.

If I were to ask you today, who fits that kind of description, the closest firm that comes to mind is Google (in mine, any way) and what you hear out of them is about what a great place they are to work for an experienced person. . . but nothing that says, "We can take your career from cradle to grave.

Since the post 9/11 recession began, campus recruiting has fallen off of many firm's radar screens (is there a phrase as anachronistic as "radar screens") . Companies are trying to hire finished products and few are taking the time to plant seeds in the ground, feed and water the seeds and help them grow into beautiful flowers. Yet, now, more than ever, firms need to make strong efforts to train and hire rookies and juniors.

What is working now when you go on campus to attract beginners?

In public accounting, the hiring process on campus is tied up by Thanksgiving because the firms are able to anticipate and plan their needs that early.

The recruiting process begins with a company presentation in the fall that offers students the opportunity to learn about the various positions available within a company and the locations that are being recruited for. Firms should start to connect with some of the students and collect information about them, their interest and begin a process of communication with them.

Make sure you obtain their email address, IM and cell number!

In the months that follow, you should contact them with follow up information, an occasional contact and be able to answer their questions honestly. One reminder: during these presentations, be sure to have your story straight. Anything you say to the student during the presentations will be remembered forever.

If you are asked questions, make notes of your answers and share them with others on the team so that of they are asked similar questions, everyone can be on the same page.

DO NOT SPEAK CRITICALLY OF YOUR COMPETITION FOR TALENT.

Calling a competitor, "The biggest mistake you could ever make," does not endear you to the student, even if it's true. Better to calmly speak about the difference between your culture and theirs if you actually know it or to speak purely in positive terms about your own.

Usually, the recruiting team consists of relatively junior people in the organization who, it is believed, will be able to connect with the student better than an older person might. Then there is the "senior manager type." Make sure your senior manager has that sort of "good father" or "good mother" demeanor and/or manner about them. You don't want the company grouch interacting with the kids, sent only because they are available that day and no one else is.

Make the student feel important. an attitude that says, "You need us; we don't need you," will sink your efforts.

Once you've identified some of the people you are interested in, bringing them into your office for an event where they meet some of the staff who are focused on attracting them to the firm gives them a chance to interact with the staff away from the hustle of the meat market (or meet market) of the campus recruiting effort. Such "high touch efforts" give everyone a feel for one another and suggest care for the new hire.

As much as you want them to express interest in working for you, they like to feel like hiring them matters to you.

Oh, yes, look at the composition of the teams involved with hiring. What is the message you send when the team consists of young blind women in HR and old Caucasian men representing the management. Let me give you a hint: It does not suggest diversity in your firm's culture which, given that more and more students are neither of purely Caucasian households, nor male (as a matter of fact, interracial marriage, interfaith marriage, gay parenting and interracial adoption are far more the norm in the US than 20 years ago).

I hope I've re-opened some of your eyes to campus recruiting and its importance in your staff planning and offered a few reminders and tips that will help you obtain a great return on your investment.

Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, designed to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.thebiggamehunter.net.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Keeping Your Staff is Within Your Grasp

The Top Reasons Why People Resign Their Job

A recent issue of Fortune Magazine cited the top 5 reasons why people quit their jobs. In order they were:

1. Better compensation(including benefits) elsewhere 30%

2. Better career opportunity elsewhere 27%

3. Ready for a new experience 27%

4. Dissatisfied with career opportunities at present company 21%

5. Desire to change careers or industries 16%

To this I’ll add that people dislike their boss and leave because of that.

What’s interesting is that the Fortune list is really only 3 reasons because #2 and #4 are really the same and #3 and #5 are really the same.

As such, the primary factors why people leave their jobs are:

1. Better career opportunity elsewhere/ Dissatisfied with career opportunities at present company 48%

2. Ready for a new experience/Desire to change careers or industries 43%

3. Better compensation(including benefits) elsewhere 30%

4. Dislike their boss percentage unknown

Do you see what I see?

Boredom and lack of challenge is the overwhelming reason why people change jobs.

Review time is not the only opportunity to discuss advancement possibilities with your staff.

Your staff may be attending programs for degrees, advanced degrees, skill improvement. Ask them about what they hope to do with their new knowledge over the next year or two. Can your firm re-deploy these people or use them in a role that would let the use their new skills?

Isn’t it expensive to replace someone

You can be creative.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

If you have a question that you would like me to answer, email it to me at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsesarchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com .

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

How Do You Evaluate Your Recruiting Sources

Show as Much care to Your Choices as you do to Other Purchases

I bought an SUV last year after we moved to Pennsylvania. I wasn’t sure what to buy, so I went on the web, looked at a variety of guides, read reviews from existing owners, examined price at different dealers, found the best price in my area, then looked at service contracts and what the best price was I could get for one before I walked into the dealer’s showroom.

All the stories about customers getting into the sales office and getting snowed into overspending didn’t happen to me because I learned what I wanted in advance, and shopped for the best price in the two places in the two places where I would be charged—the car and the service contract.

When the dealer heard my counteroffer on their service contract price, they asked how determined that amount. I answered, “It’s $50 over your cost and the fact is, I’m going to come in here for service anyway so you might as well collect the money from me.”

When most companies agree to have a recruiter work on helping them fill their jobs, most know far less about the recruiter than I did about my SUV. They select the recruiter because

1. They called at just the right time
2. Got through to them on the phone
3. Were willing to agree to their fee terms
4. Claimed expertise in the market that the job was in.
5. Have a voice or presentation that you found “tolerable”

Is it any wonder that most of what you receive seems like resumes are flipped to you like burgers at a fast food restaurant? What do you really know about this person?

Instead of just listening to the “typical agency speech,” consider asking them a few questions. If you ask about their experience, most junior recruiters will claim more years of experience than they actually have so that may not be a useful tactic.

Ask them about the jobs they’ve worked on. Listen to how they answer your questions for holes in their story. Your questions might include

Talking about a similar search they’ve worked on

Clients in your industry they’ve supported in a similar search

Whether they only do work in your area or in a broader territory

How did you hear about this position being available?

To whom do they report?

What challenges they might have in qualifying someone for the position?

Do they have any “real life” expertise in this area (have they been an accountant doing this kind of work)?

How will you evaluate and assess someone and determine if they are qualified?

Are they published? Do they write for the trades (or publish an ezine like this one)?

Google the person and the firm.

It’s not just what they say, but how they describe their experience that will help you determine if they will be useful or a probable waste of time.

In addition, communicate changes in your thinking about a job to them.

From the time a position description is approved until the time it is filled, a job description actually goes through frequent and subtle changes based upon the people that you meet.

If you don’t communicate the changes to the recruiter, how would you expect them to know of them?

This happens very frequently and slows the staffing process down unnecessarily.

And aren’t you trying to fill your positions quickly with the least amount of effort?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

If you have a question that you would like me to answer, email it to me at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsesarchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com .

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Is There Bias in Your Hiring Process?

No one likes to think of themselves and their organization as biased. Most of like to think of ourselves as being nice, decent and fair, as well as competent so to suggest there might be bias in your process may offend or anger you. Yet for years, I have heard managers at clients refer to wanting to hire a junior person as a euphemism for someone under the age of 27, someone who is perfectly spoken for someone who is born in the US or someone who can work nights and weekends for someone who is not a Sabbath observer.

Yet bias is often far more insidious in most organizations.

For example, by not offering standardized testing for skills-based positions, subjective interviewing, rather than objective measuring become part of the process far too often. By this, I mean, interviewers start asking questions by whim, influenced by the appearance, race, age, gender, perceived sexual orientation and other biases.

An article I recently read described a search process for a major firm that was hiring for a division and strongly considered hiring “the good looking” male candidate until someone remembered to probe into their measurement of success in their current position. Upon doing so, they discovered that the candidate had swung business to MAYBE a 3.5% improvement in profits. When they interviewed someone who was “less good looking” who had turned around a division at a competitor and brought them from losing money to strong profits.

Another way to examine bias in your organization involves looking into your organization and noticing patterns in departments

Here are more examples.

Is everyone in the department male?

Is everyone born in India and no one from Pakistan?

Is Saturday test time the requirement when it could just as easily be Sunday?

Is everyone male?

Have you noticed that no one is over the age of 40? 50?

Are all the worker-bees from a minority group and all the managers white?

Some of the points may seem obvious to you but it never hurts to remind someone that you can ask:

1. Reasons for termination of previous employment,

2. About references;

3 . Work Schedules;

4. Previous work experience;

5. Job-related feeling about previous assignments or present position;

6. Career interests;

7. Job duties of job training;

8. Education;

9. Job-related professional associations;

10. About qualifications for the duties related to the job; and

11. Any other information on the application related to the position.

You cannot ask questions to find out:

1. Age or date of birth;

2. Previous address;

3. How long at present residence or whether they rent or own their residence;

4. Religion or name of priest, rabbi, or minister,

5. Father's surname or mother's surname;

6. Maiden name or marital status,

7. Age of children or how many children or who will care for the children;

8. Spouse's place of employment or spouse's residence;

9. Parents' residence or place of employment;

10. Loans or financial obligations or about wage attachments or personal bankruptcies;

11. If ever arrested or about legal convictions, unless relevant to the jobs;

12. Services in a foreign armed service or about foreign languages spoken, unless requirement for the job;

13. Dates of education;

14. Race or membership in social organizations; and

15. Attitudes towards geographical relocation, unless required for the job.

In addition:

• You may not ask questions of one sex and not of the other.
• Questions about race, color, place of birth, national and family origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age or ancestry.
• Questions about past, present, or future marital status, pregnancy, plans for a family or child care issues. You can ask if the applicant has any commitments that would preclude the applicant from satisfying job schedules or performing job-related travel. If such questions are asked, they must be asked of both sexes.
• Questions about weight and height, unless this information is job-related.
• Questions about the candidate's state of health.
• Questions about disabilities, and the time needed for treatment of the disabilities, unless this information is necessary to determine the candidate's ability to perform an essential job function without significant hazard.
• Questions about a foreign address that would indicate national origin. You may ask about the location and length of time of a candidate's current residence.
• Questions about a candidate's native-born or naturalized status. You may ask if the candidate is eligible to work indefinitely in the U.S. if the question is asked of all candidates.
• Questions about a candidate's native tongue or how foreign language ability has been acquired. You may ask about foreign language skills if the position requires such ability.
• Questions about a candidate's willingness to work on religious holidays. You may ask about willingness to work a required schedule.

Things to Do:

Evaluate your hiring process.

Speak with the manager or determine for yourself what questions will be asked to determine applicant qualifications. Be specific!

Make sure that every person who will be evaluating knows what the focus of the questions needs to be so that they don’t stray from their expertise.

Require standardized post-interview reporting of thoughts and qualifications. Remove the comments for elements of bias.

These four steps are a start. There is no simple recipe or cookbook to eliminate it. After all, bias tends to go further underground when a flashlight shines on it. Yet it may offer a starting point to attack a problem that may be keeping your firm from hiring gthe most qualified candidates.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free meta job lead tool or to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com For information about personal search services, go to www.VIPPersonalSearch.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).