It is not my intention to talk about this issue without aggravating many of the those in the targeted role. Alas, the only way to improve our profession is to identify the barriers that get in the way of clear thinking, decisive action, and a bold future state. There is no doubt that one of the most polarizing and important advancements in business is the one that has taken up most of the space inside the heads of not only P&L-minded company leaders but also heads of Talent Acquisition.

Ideas for new #CandidateExperience metrics... You know the adage, “When you become so good at using a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail”? Applies to many aspects of life – and especially to #TalentAcquisition. We’ve always done it this way… What if we took an “angled” look at how we measure our successes and not-so-successes (AKA learning experiences)?

Several events inspired the writing of this missive: The continued dehumanization of recruiting and the receipt of rejection letters that despite an intended dose of “but you tried your hardest”, in fact, reek of callousness and mediocrity. In professional wrestling, the term “kayfabe” is the practice of keeping the scripted nature of wrestling hidden from the audience; in Talent Acquisition, many have their own version of kayfabe to shield reality from the public.

At some point in time, the words in a job description will match the reality of the company, its real culture, the true abilities of the hiring manager, the specific deliverables of role required to achieve superior performance, and the true ethos/pathos of leadership. Like any relationship where there exists a belief that long term viability is achievable (like marriage or domestic partnership), the more these are presented up-front, the less likely there will be noxious surprises. All the agentic in the world won’t fix the lack of common sense in #TalentAcquisition. #lunchtimemusings

If you don’t like the outcome of a process that includes you, what’s your reaction? It must be broken. Welcome to Recruiting. For people to stop saying “recruiting is broken,” will take a shift in both reality and perception - which means fixing actual flaws and how we talk about the work. It’s not just recruiting; we’ve been having the same conversation about performance reviews, customer service, meetings, politics, taxes, education, healthcare, civility, etc.

Based upon a texting conversation I just had with Andrew Gadomski, I was left wondering how prepared #TalentAcquisition is to the "nefarious" side of agentic AI. Prompt: Create a long list of nefarious things that AI agents from external forces could do to derail hiring efforts at any company Let's see what the Twilight Zone of Talent Acquisition sabotage looks like, where AI agents with shady intentions, external allegiances, or just plain chaos-mode protocols wreak havoc on hiring...

Originally written with the fabulous Katrina Kibben for RecruitingBlogs back in 2016 Sports teams are typically a child’s first introduction to culture. See, between the pop, chips and juice boxes, we’re teaching kids a lot of the lessons we later see HR posting signs about in our workplaces. Think about it. From “remember to share the free snacks” to “respect is a core value,” the rules of corporate culture and good employee behavior are constantly echoed on the playing fields each weekend.

Ho-hum, another year, another September 11th. But not for me nor for thousands others; it never will be “just another day”, a day to yawningly pull clothes from the closet to wear to work, a day to stop by the local 7-Eleven for a cup of Joe, a day to follow the masses on the daily commute to work, a day to check the emails at work, a day to think-outside-the-box.

It's a pretty simple equation whose mathematical impact is powerful if one's underlying assumptions are sound and whose practical impact can be far more powerful. For example, does the equation itself accurately describe the phenomenon? When I discuss the equation, are my results generalizable to everyone reading this blog (which I believe is currently seven people - lol)? (I'm thinking about the transition from 2004 to 2005; is everyone else thinking about the same transition?) Do the variables "Old Year" and "New Year" as defined accurately portray the constructs we know as "Old Year" and "New Year"?

One of my favorite online and hardcopy pubs is CFO magazine. If you're serious about understanding the financial side of recruiting (and all of HR for that matter), I'd strongly suggest subscribing (it's free). Each month carries an article about financial metrics - the easiest way to inculcate yourself into the good graces of your CFO is to understand what makes them tick and which metrics they follow.

Reportedly uttered to Steve Levy during a particularly unctuous organizational change initiative by an angry manager desperately in need of the change Steve was offering... "If I had a bulldog with a face like yours, I'd shave it's a-- and teach it to walk backwards." Yes, the organization was ugly and many of the managers were ugly - especially this particular manager.

Wrote this ERE gem waaaaay before #tchat came upon the Twitter stage. It still makes be yearn for a real culture that's more than words on a career page... Start with a cage containing five apes. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, an ape will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the Banana.

Received a call from a friend lamenting that her job isn't what she had signed up for (that really happens?)...which reminded me of one of the classics in search humor.  Just in case you never heard it... One day while walking down the street a highly successful executive woman was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St.

Been shaking my head quite a bit lately over various ERE group threads. In particular, the threads in Sourcing Techniques and Methodologies and Ask Maureen on Names Sourcing and it's potential illegality really amuse me; perhaps amuse isn't a strong enough word. I'm actually beginning to feel grief for this profession. Let me explain?What is it Mo? "only 10% according to Wheeler" of a typical recruiter's time is spent on names sourcing (hopefully our article will appear soon on ERE that speaks to the business cases of names sourcing).

Things have been getting spicy on several ERE Groups.  For instance, there's been a wonderfully intelligent discussion in Carl Braun's Diversity Recruiting group - one of my favorites as a lurker - where one can read (followed by my thoughts): I do't know of any recruiter who seeks to discriminate; perhaps but I don't know many recruiters who'll volunteer to their customer that their requirements are discriminatory and/or downright stupid.

In today’s High Tech Recruiting Group thread, I read about Sandra DeChant’s exceptionally noble effort to assist a cancer survivor assess their vocational strengths and assist in getting her back on her feet. I had to call Sandra and see if I could do something. The woman – her name is SiuLan – “survived throat cancer, an abusive marriage, the loss of her sister to breast cancer and the loss of her career as an IT Project Manager.

Blogs are great but then there's always that delay in communication. People interested in your company often want answers - now. What else can you do? Learn from the Army. As Gerry Crispin told me a few minutes ago, the GoArmy website is the only one he'd give a 5 out 5. Now some may say it is out of desperation that this has been part of the Army's recruiting strategy for several years, but if you are a potential recruit and want to speak to a recruiter about…

Have a friend who had been interviewing for a head of recruiting position with a well-known company; like Michael Homula, he is a TPR - this would be his first corporate role. During the 15 plus hours of interviewing, he was driving on all cylinders, discussing strategy, sourcing, tactics, metrics, etc. He was recently told that if he had in-house experience, he'd have been a shoe-in.

A primetime TV soap-series with a business take on career happiness, this new series will take a dark look at the recruiterazzi, where the secret lives of names sourcers and talent scouts aren't always what they seem. The series began with Noreen Collin picking up her Panasonic telephone and placing her Plantronics wireless headset across her perfectly coifed hair - and calling the main number of a Fortune 50 company.

There's a very interesting thread in the Global Recruitment Strategy Group - Global Staffing Leaders - People, Process and Technology. Russ Moon - soon with MBA in hand - accurately notes that "Multinational companies have proven time and time again that one size doesn't fit all, that each country has their own unique dynamics that one must understand and respect in order to prosper there."

Quotes recently sent to me...  Il n'y a que le premier pas qui co�te (The distance doesn't matter; it is only the first step that is the most difficult.)                -Madame du Deffand: French hostess and a patron of the arts (1697-1780) Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.      -Chinese Proverb There is always room at the top. 

With the countdown to ERE's DC conference, here's a timely article (may require free sign-up) in my favorite "liberal" newspaper about the use of emails as a primary source of communication. "In contrast to a phone call or talking in person, e-mail can be emotionally impoverished when it comes to nonverbal messages that add nuance and valence to our words. The typed words are denuded of the rich emotional context we convey in person or over the phone.

Emergency Recruiting Believe it or not, there are times when I wish I recruiting hadn?t found me. For instance, take this past Sunday; I was doing some yard work when out of nowhere, an excruciating pain developed in my torso and back. I?m thinking, ?Dang not another kidney stone? (another chapter). One hour later, the pain had only gotten worse upon which a called was made to a doctor buddy.

From a great site... A Senate committee Thursday approved a nearly 50 percent increase in special visas coveted by Silicon Valley companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers and boosted application fees to help ease the federal budget deficit. The actions, which still are several steps from becoming law, are less a statement of job growth in the tech sector than a pragmatic solution to two problems.