It never ceases to amaze me how one topic such as social media/social networking can have so much debate associated with it. While there are recruiters out there who swear by LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or countless other social media sites, there are equally as many who are either finding it difficult to justify how much time it takes everyday to manage their social media profiles or they’re just plain overloaded and underwhelmed by it all now. In other words, they’re burnt out on social media.
The problem here is that people tend to latch onto new technology as if it was a magic silver bullet. The truth of the matter is, I don’t at all believe in the efficacy of Twitter. I believe it’s useless, a waste of time, and that it will fade into oblivion (or be bought by a competitor) and disappear as quickly as it started. I could be wrong of course. Twitter might be here for quite awhile but I don’t think that will be the case. The central tenet that technology is somehow this silver bullet is naive and dangerous. Technology is what we as users make of it. I am an avid fan of LinkedIn and Facebook but I don’t use Facebook for business very often. I use LinkedIn for that. I am able to offer my assistance to others in my network and in return as for small favors as well. I am able to bounce ideas off people in my network. I am able to share best practices, opinions, and other ideas. I see the value in LinkedIn (for business) and Facebook (for personal use). But Twitter is different. The jury is still out and will be until someone shows me quantifiable, empirical evidence that Twitter is useful across industry-lines and has repeatable and consistent success in recruiting.
So now that we’re on all of these sites and have pretty profiles all built, now what? Well, the answer to that is “maintain”. The smart recruiter uses these tools (emphasis on the word “tools”) to reach out to candidates, connect with them, and start to build a relationship with them. The reason I say they are tools is because this is just a mode of communication, much like a telephone or an e-mail or a fax is. People seem to forget that. The other thing that people need to remember is that the “relationships” you have online aren’t the same thing as actually creating and managing a real relationship. You have to at least pickup the phone and call these people to directly speak to them live so they have a voice to a name and to a profile picture. Only then can you really start to develop a good relationship. Anything else is fairly superficial.
So I say to all of you, keep the social media journey going. Some of you have experienced some success with it; others not so much. Every journey starts with your first steps and requires dilligence in walking step by step. Whether we like it or not, social media is here to stay (though not without permutations and changes in the future). We need to cozy up to the idea that this will be a favored mode of communication for relationship building for many. For others, the comfort of a phone call will still win out. Though times change, preferences don’t always change with them.
July 2nd, 2009
Hello again,
Well you knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. As a typical New Yorker, we cherish sports and have a way of embedding sports metaphors and sports-related jargon into our everyday lives. We’ve all used terms like, “taking one for the team” or that a meeting “went into extra innings”. We’ve heard people say, “huddle up” or “that was a slam dunk!”. While I promise to make every attempt not to be as cliche as those examples, I make no guarantees that I won’t occasionally reference wisdom from a family source or wax opinionated on what I am about to say.
One day during my youth, my father asked me why I was moping around the house and not going out to play tennis with my brother at the park. My answer was that he didn’t want to play today so therefore a partnerless game wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. To that my father said, “Well, why don’t you go down there and see if someone wants to play with you”? I think I looked at him with bewilderment and stammered something like, “I don’t want to play with those scrubs that play there. They’re all middle-aged men who have beer guts and talk about their “magic hands” when they make a lucky shot”. My father shook his head and said, “I suppose you’re probably right. You’re probably better than everyone down there so why bother, right?” I nodded. He said, “The thing you don’t understand son, is that you can learn something from anyone you play…no matter what their skill level is and besides, you might make a new friend”.
I went down to the park that day and played a man named Jerry Mintz. I’ll never forget Jerry. He was exactly the type of middle-aged beer-gutted man I was telling my dad about. He thrashed me in straight sets and taught me a lesson in humility. He beat this young high school tennis team captain with nothing more than shear savvy and grit. Both of those come from experience and years.
Why am I writing about an obscure event that happened some 25+ years ago? Because like tennis, recruiting is an opportunity for you to learn from someone no matter what type of person they are. Every candidate that you source and screen is different from the next. Every interview is a unique glimpse into the life and career of someone uniquely him/herself. And for those who are on the search firm side, every client prospect is someone you can learn from as well and the same holds true for in-house recruiters with their internal hiring managers. The questions are, “What will you learn and how will you learn it”?
Let’s start with candidates. When interviewing, take the time to ask questions that reveal a more personal side to the person behind the resume. I’m not insinuating that you ask prying personal questions into their lives but what I am saying is get to know your candidate as a person through conversation, even if it is small-talk. How many kids do they have? What are their names? Do they serve on any community-related boards (PTA, Rotary, Little League, etc.) What do they like? What are their fears or concerns? (especially in an economy like this). Doing this will do two things for you. First, it will give you extra leverage when it comes time to talk about the offer. You will already know what the candidate’s needs and wants are based on these conversations so there won’t be any surprises. Second, you get to move away from the “one-and-done” mentally of placing (or hiring) people. Why is that important? Because when we lose sight of what it is we’re doing….affecting and improving the lives of job seekers and their careers, that’s a very important mission. And I for one don’t feel that you can do this effectively if you don’t treat candidates with respect and as human beings that have their own set of values, needs, and goals. My brother Chris the physician once said, “You don’t treat a pair of legs or feet that walk in, you treat the whole person”. This is exactly how we need to view the candidates that we represent.
Okay, well what about our clients (whether they’re internal or external)? Well, here’s where you as the recruiter have an opportunity to learn. Take the time to learn about the specific business unit, division or hospital department that you’re servicing. Learn what they actually do and how they do it. Find out what the subculture is like within that group. What are the preferences of each of your clients. For example, do they prefer someone who is outgoing, vivacious and “think out of the box” or people who are your “heads-down worker bees”? Getting to know their ways and their desires help you to become a more effective recruiter that has a more targeted focus. And what’s not to like about a focused recruiter?
I leave you with one last notion. The average human being only uses 1/10th of our entire brain. We have plenty of room to learn more than we imagine we can. Make a conscious effort to learn from people (no matter who they are) and you will find yourself not only being a more productive recruiter but also more fruitful in your relationships with just about everyone. No one ever died of “over-listening” or “hyper-care-ism”.
Happy Recruiting & God Bless!
March 22nd, 2009
Hello and welcome to Servane Cross! This is our first blog post on our own website although Tiffany, Liz and I have posted on many other recruiting-related sites before. We’re all very excited at the prospect of 2009 and although the economy leaves something to be desired, our own enthusiasm and zeal more than make up for any lack of economic promise. I will definitely be honest that neither Tiffany nor I are technical wizards when it comes to website design and administration. But then again, our strengths lie in delivering quality candidates, not in building a pretty or fancy or a pretty fancy website.
Although many of you know us already, let’s go ahead and introduce ourselves for those of you who aren’t familiar with Servane Cross’ Management Team.
Tiffany Johnson is our Recruiting Manager and Partner. Her areas of expertise include candidate fulfillment through creative sourcing and mastery of behavioral interviewing. But to paint her as just your everyday recruiter would be like saying that Hannibal was just another general. Her real prowess lies with her uncanny ability to partner well with just about anyone. It’s hard to disagree with her infectious smile and her simple yet insightful observations about people and things. She also has a way of making both clients and candidates alike feel like they’ve known her for years. I don’t think it matters what kind of business you’re in; those types of qualities always go a long way.
Elizabeth Nolan is Management Consultant and Partner. She is our “utility infielder” who is responsible for things as mundane as vendor selection and software evaluation to the handling of our strategic partnerships and alliances. She is also our New York connection and is currently developing business with a number of the finest medical centers in the Greater New York City metropolitan area. Liz is known for her ability to easily go from all things strategic to all things tactical in an instant yet is still able to visualize solutions and achieve goals (both internal and client-driven). Her many years in different verticals and industries in New York City give her both depth and breadth of knowledge and experience.
Finally, I am Sung Kim, Director of Client Services and Managing Partner for Servane Cross, Inc. My job is to find hospitals in need of our help. I view what we do as a consultancy. I don’t think it should cost an arm and a leg to find good talent to hire for your organization. I do, however, think that the best scenario is one where client trusts search firm and vice versa and there is a mutually benefiting symbiotic relationship. Finally, last but certainly not least, I believe in offering value. We not only deliver on our promise of outstanding candidates, we also do so for less than 99% of our competitors out there. For more on how we can offer your organization value and also about this management team’s track record, I invite you to visit our website at www.servanecross.com or call us at 800-718-1570. We believe in partnership with all of our clients and in personal attention to your needs. I hope that we have an opportunity to help you and be part of your recruiting solution.
In the coming weeks and months, we will have much more “informative” blog entries dealing with important recruiting issues. We just wanted to take this opportunity in our first blog posting to introduce ourselves and our firm, Servane Cross. We hope you join us again soon and please look for more exciting blog postings in the near future.
Warm Regards,
Sung
Sung N. Kim
Managing Partner
Servane Cross, Inc.
sung@servanecross.com
800-718-1570 x101
www.servanecross.com
March 16th, 2009
