The Recruiting Paradox (Chapter 7)
- Companies needed good technology people.
- Companies are in even greater need of technology talent than they were in the late 1990s.
- To end your technology talent woes is to build talent development programs and grow your own.
- CIOs are experts at business process change, but they have not done much to change the process of recruiting.
Requirements Definition
Beware of the purple squirrel
- One of the greatest obstacles to a good search is in the way some CIOs define the roles they would like to recruit.
- They define their senior positions based on what they need, not on the career paths that people actually follow.
- The way over-specification of job requirements manifests because of the CIO’s desire to hire someone who is both strategic and technical at the same time.
- The more you match your requirements to the career paths that IT professionals actually follow, the faster you will fill your roles.
Plan carefully
- Most searches will take longer than you think.
- Recruiting the right & qualified people takes time. Plan your timetable carefully.
- Another recruiting paradox: CIOs are probably better at strategic planning than any other executive, but they don’t always apply that skill to their recruiting needs in order to launch a search before their world is on fire.
Devote the time
- Give a position description gives some information.
- Investing the time at the beginning of the search to talk through the role with your recruiter.
The Interview Phase
Stay in touch
- Do not lose contact with your candidates, this kills the momentum.
- Keep the communication going between you and your candidates, keep them updated on the recruitment process.
Keep the first round small
- Set up a short first round with just you and an HR leader and leave the rest of the interview team for your two finalists.
Prep the hiring committee
- Once you get to the final set of interviews, you and your interview committee are auditioning too.
- You and your team must conduct an impressive interview.
- Sit down with your team before the interview to make sure you are all on the same page about the role.
- Remind them that their job is to sell the company and the position as well as to evaluate candidates.
The Offer Stage
Remember that time kills deals
- Give your interview team deadlines for delivering feedback and stay on top of HR during the offer process.
- The faster you can deliver an offer, the sooner you can hire your winning candidate.
Keep your recruiter close
- Your recruiting firm’s job as your search partner is to build a relationship of trust with the candidates they present.
- Allow your recruiter full participation in the formation of that offer.
Beware the dark period
- The dark period can occur at either of two specific points in the search.
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- The first is when the finalist knows that she has been selected but, because of administrative issues, it is taking a while to produce the actual written offer.
- The second comes when the candidate has accepted the offer but is not due to begin work for another month.
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- As recruiters it is our responsibility to keep your candidate warm and to serve her up no matter the circumstances.
- One of the primary reasons the candidate wants the job is that she is going to work for you. She is excited about having you as her manager.
- When the going gets tough—and the offer is taking weeks—a call from you, the CIO, will go a long way toward sustaining your selected candidate through the dark period.
Conclusion
- When you hire a recruiter to find you qualified candidates, it is her job to put the pedal to the medal and complete the search despite the obstacles.
- Remember, we have a talent crisis on our hands, and you need recruiting to be a core competency.
- The devil is in the details, and if you go to the trouble of hiring a search partner, put the process in place to make the relationship a success.
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