Careers 2.0 Blog Recruit smarter – your guide to the latest news and trends

Trying to hire a software developer? Join the club. At last count, there are about 4.5 job listings for every job-seeking developer. So even if you’re posting your listing in the right place, using the same job listing that’s failed on 5 other job boards still won’t find you the ideal candidate. It’s not enough to just use the right job board – you have to target your approach based on the candidates you’d like to hire.

As an account manager for Careers 2.0, I see the following scenario happen time and time again: Companies buy a slot on our job board, post the same unsuccessful listing they’ve been using elsewhere, and suddenly expect better, top-notch results. While it’s true that being in front of the right audience is a very important first step (if not the most important step), your listing won’t entice any candidates unless you connect with that audience, brand yourself properly, and appeal to the interests of the community.

When I think about best branding practices, I imagine how I would sell my new beer at a craft beer festival. To start, I would tell everyone at the festival all the little details about my new, delicious beer. I’d be sure to describe the intricate brewing process, the high alcohol volume, the intricate flavors, the brilliant way it pairs with a medium rare filet, and how the hops give each sip a real citrus pop. By the time I’m through with my target audience, they would really want to try my beer. Would everyone love my beer? Of course not. But I would be confident knowing that at least I piqued their interest enough to try it—and those who like it would hopefully become lifetime customers.

By talking about my beer in a way that’s both unique and personal, it’s easy to get noticed by my target audience of people who want my beer know where to go to get it. But even beyond learning about the ingredients or the brewing process, showing that level of detail expresses passion for my craft. And passion for a product or brand is not just something you need from your CEO—it’s something you need from your customers, your employees, and in job applicants.

Think about this same tactic the next time you’re ready to post a job listing. If you’re posting on our site, you’re putting yourself in front of 22 million developers, so give this targeted audience the details they want! Developers have their choice of jobs, so you need to really sell your company and your job opportunity. Before you post your listing, make sure it answers all of these questions:

• Why should someone want to come work for you?
• What sort of perks do you offer?
• Will they have the chance to work with other smart people?
• What type of technology will be used?
• What type of environment will they be working in?
• What will a typical day at your company be like?

We’ve done the research, and we know that developers want to know these nitty-gritty details before they apply for a job just like you’d want to know what food to pair with your beer. So target your next job posting to the kind of candidates who would geek out about your product, your brand, and your development process. You’ll increase your success among active candidates and also start attracting the passive job-seekers who use Stack Overflow every day.

Looking for more ways to distinguish yourself among other companies who need developers? Sign up for a free company page to show off your office with extra-large photos, describe why you love your tech stack, and link to the Careers 2.0 profiles of your own developers who made it all happen.

Starting today, when you use our ATS to manage applicants to your job listings, candidates with Careers 2.0 profiles will be able to ask questions or offer feedback on your job openings—before they apply. Here’s how it will look to candidates on your published listing:

Our goal for Careers 2.0 is to fix parts of the technical hiring process that are broken—both for candidates and for employers. And it had been bugging us that candidates typically can’t learn more about a role until they’ve already gone through the effort to apply. It seemed backwards: Questions like, “But can I work remotely?” and “Do I really need experience in your tech stack?” should inform someone’s decision to apply—not be treated as an afterthought to the application.

We know that every developer looks for something different in a job and comes equipped with a unique background. With that in mind, it’s unlikely that your “perfect hire” will perfectly fit your “on-paper” description. At Stack Exchange, some of our best hires are actually those with mixed backgrounds—like hiring a developer for a .NET position who has only previously worked in Python. You may never think to include that degree of versatility in your job description, but we’ve learned that at the end of the day, it’s passion, work ethic, and that “smart and gets things done” mentality that makes us say yes.

Let’s face it: For the right candidate, everyone makes exceptions to the rules. We added this feature so you won’t need to worry about missing out on superstars.

From now on, when candidates with Careers 2.0 profiles review listings on our job board, they can either “Apply now” or “Ask a question.” When a candidate asks a question, you’ll receive their message along with access to their Careers 2.0 profile so you can learn more about them. (Like we said, everyone makes exceptions for the right candidate – so your answers may depend on the person who’s asking.)

We built this to get more conversations going between awesome developers and your company. Both sides will make more informed decisions, and ultimately you’ll receive more qualified applicants and won’t miss out on anyone for unforeseen reasons.

Changing jobs is awfully stressful. In fact, it’s among the most stressful life events, right after “death of a close friend.” People put their entire professional profile on a sheet of paper, take time off work to sit through multiple grueling interviews, worry about adhering to interview etiquette, all the while subjecting themselves to harsh scrutiny and the potential for rejection. Being good at your job and being good at getting a job are often very different things.

As a recruiter, it’s important to do whatever you can to alleviate some of this candidate-induced stress so you can both focus on what matters most: Are you and the candidate a good match? Below are 5 ways to minimize this stress factor in your hiring process.

1. Simplify your application process and respond to all applicants quickly. Beware of the “application black hole” – the perception that once an application is submitted, it falls into a pool of thousands of applications, never to be seen again. This idea persists because it’s a reality at many companies. While you definitely should have a standard application process (for things like applicant tracking, DOL compliance, etc.), keep it simple! There are a ton of applicant tracking systems designed to keep companies in compliance while ensuring a smooth, easy process for applicants. Most systems will also let you incorporate template emails that are automatically sent to candidates when an application is received or rejected. While arguably not the most personal approach, even a well-written form letter that reflects your company’s brand and culture is better than letting applicants wonder for months whether their application has been reviewed.

2. Be sensitive to your candidates’ lives outside the interview room. Your candidates are more than just candidates. They’re people with jobs, families, commitments that can’t be broken, and lives that don’t slow down. No matter how badly they want the job, it’s never easy for people to break their routines to accommodate a half-day’s worth of interviews. Get creative and be flexible with your interview process. Consider phone and/or video interviews to be a large part of your process for people who can’t make it into your office very easily. Make yourself available for interviews outside of regular business hours if need be; it’ll show candidates that you’re serious about them. And if a suit isn’t required interview attire, tell your candidates that – especially if you know they’ll be coming from work to interview with you.

3. Set clear expectations – and stick to them. Interviews suck, don’t they? Someone can be perfect for a job, but if he or she isn’t the best at communicating that in an interview (due to nerves or other understandable factors), you’re probably not going to hire that person. So be gentle! Describe what the candidate can expect through the entire interview process before you drill down with questions. Give candidates all the information they need in order to prepare for the interview the right way. If you’re going to ask them to write code, make sure they know this well in advance. If there’s role play or any abstract questions you plan to ask (which should be used very carefully, by the way), don’t surprise the candidate with this. And please, please don’t ask any trick questions. I once heard someone ask, “What is one misconception that people have about you?” There’s no way to answer that question without making yourself look bad. You want to give your interviewees the chance to shine, not fall into a trap.

4. Remember that you’re being interviewed too. Each interview is more than just a hiring decision between you and your team. At the same time that you are interviewing them, candidates are assessing you, too. And they are looking at things far beyond basic information about the job. Candidates observe things like office upkeep, employee morale, work conditions, and other factors besides day-to-day responsibilities. Most importantly though, they’re assessing you, the interviewer. Will they want to work with you? Are their work ethics and values similar to yours? Do you communicate harmoniously with each other? Do you have realistic expectations, and are they expectations the candidate can meet? Put yourself out there, warts and all, so that if an offer is extended and accepted, both parties know what they’re getting into.

5. Give clear, constructive feedback – even if it hurts. Once an interview is complete, candidates are on pins and needles wondering how they did. Sometimes, it’s obvious that it went really well or really poorly. Usually, it’s not. So give feedback promptly and directly. If you were the candidate and you made a fatal mistake in the interview, wouldn’t you want to know what it was, instead of wondering why you weren’t good enough? Ninety-nine percent of the time, candidates who fail an interview are very appreciative of any feedback you’re willing to give. One percent of the time, the candidate will disagree with your decision, and make a fuss—which serves as great reinforcement of your decision not to hire that person. And one important note: If the recruiter (instead of the hiring manager) is responsible for delivering negative post-interview feedback, make sure you give them all the necessary info to craft a thorough let-down. No one likes bad news, but a clear, thoughtful rejection notice is hard to argue – and it’s better than leaving someone wondering what’s wrong with them.

While this is clearly not an exhaustive list, implementing these tactics at your organization will improve your candidate experience by putting job-seekers at ease right from the start. And if you ever have doubts about your process, just remember the golden rule: Treat people they way you’d like to be treated in stressful situations, and you can’t lose!

Think you’ve already got a fantastic candidate experience and culture? Show it off with a free company page. Set yours up at s.tk/companypage or email us at [email protected] to connect with one of our account executives.

This week, we’re excited to announce that French-speaking employers and candidates can now access a localized version of Careers 2.0 at careers.stackoverflow.com/fr. Our official launch will take place at the Paris-based startup hiring fair, “Rejoignez une startup” on Saturday, May 25.

In case you aren’t familiar, this launch is actually our second localized version of Careers 2.0 (we started with a German version this past December), and the reasons for our French translation aspire toward the same goals: Give more employers a native way to interact with candidates on Careers 2.0, and get developers more exposure.

France represents the 6^th largest global audience on Stack Overflow, and we currently have more than 2,500 French candidates with developer profiles, including another 1,000 profiles in Belgium. In a hiring market where more than 60% of French employers have trouble recruiting IT engineers and developers, Careers 2.0 brings a fresh and proven model for sourcing high-quality technical talen to the French market. It will also make it easier for employers to connect with French-speaking candidates, as well as access resources and tip sheets about best hiring practices.

We’ve only just kicked off this new site, but we already have quite a few companies who have posted jobs about developer job opportunities in France. If you’re currently hiring in France, add your listing today to start gaining more traction to your open roles. (And if you speak French fluently, please let us know if there are any glaring errors in our translation.)

Today, we’re excited to announce a brand new offering to employers — a free company page on Careers 2.0 to showcase the cultural elements that define your company.  Job listings on Careers 2.0 are great, and they work. However, even the best listings can’t convey some of the most important aspects in the minds of job seekers during their search: What is this company really like? Why this company and not the other ten that show up in my search? Do other smart people work here?

With Company Pages, we’ve focused on the best ways to tell an interesting company story. And what better way to tell your story than with massive photos of workstations, team outings, hackathons, local attractions, and the people who make the companies who they are? There are tightly designed sections to list your company tech stack and benefits, along with plenty of room to be creative and communicate what makes your company special, what awesome products you’re working on, and the philosophy that drives your team forward.

One feature of Company Pages we’re particularly excited about is the people section. When we ran the 2012 Stack Overflow survey, we learned that the #2 most important data point to programmers evaluating an employer was the existing team. Good people want to work with other good people. The people widget allows companies to invite their best developers into the Careers 2.0 world and feature them where job seekers need to see them most, next to the jobs they’ll be applying for.

Company Pages are ultimately an extension of the job listing, and developers will find them in their normal job search on Careers 2.0. Search results now feature a tab for both job results and companies, and sections of the Company Page are integrated into job listings.

We’ve already seen some excellent pages built by great companies, and expect to see many more in the coming weeks. If you’re a developer you can browse through the published pages on Careers 2.0. And if you’re an employer looking to join the club, Company Pages are completely free to create.

Company culture can be a powerful force. In addition to helping you recruit top talent, your company’s culture can help keep productivity high and turnover rates low. Beyond that, culture is part of the secret sauce that makes your company unique. Once you’ve created a great culture, the challenge becomes maintaining it as your company grows and expands across different physical locations.

We’ve hit that hurdle recently here at Stack Exchange—at the start of 2012, we only had about 30 employees. Now, we’ve upped that number to nearly 100, and we have bigger satellite offices in Denver and London. As the office guru of our Denver locale, I’ve tried to help our team here embrace the culture that is distinctly Stack Exchange while still hanging onto our favorite local pastimes. This, we’ve learned, is easier said than done. But we think we’re starting to get the hang of it, so in case you’re going through a similar expansion, here are a few tips on unifying your company culture across space and time zones.

Identify what’s important.

Accept this: No matter what you do, no two offices will be the same. As a result, your company’s culture may not translate exactly from one location to another. But instead of noticing what’s different, focus on what you have in common. Identify your core values to ensure that they get passed along without having to create a cookie-cutter copy of your HQ in every new space. Once they’re instilled, these values may manifest themselves in different ways based on the unique set of personalities found in a particular office. The key is to focus on the bigger picture without getting bogged down in details.

Let colleagues visit each other.

From time to time, it may be worthwhile to have employees spend time working in a different office. At Stack Exchange, we’ve held company-wide summits, training sessions, and other off-site team-building activities. This opens up lines of communication, establishes new relationships, and gives employees a chance to interact with coworkers in a casual setting outside of work. If you can, plan ahead and set up a few spare workstations in your office to accommodate guests easily and take some of the hassle out of welcoming visitors.

Be consistent.

Competition is inevitable, but if you want to avoid having the “Us versus Them” mentality develop between offices, it’s important to remain consistent with both policies and perks. Hopefully you’ve hired the kind of people who won’t quibble over small distinctions, but you should make it a point to offer the same opportunities across the board. A bit of healthy competition is one thing, but you have to work to make sure members of your team don’t feel like outcasts.

Give freely with your swag.

Never underestimate the power of a free t-shirt. Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Give a man a free t-shirt, and he will totally think you’re awesome forever. Plus, chances are that your company merchandise isn’t available to the general public, so swag is a great way to help employees feel like they’re part of a larger, but still exclusive team. There’s also something to be said about having people recognize your company’s logo at events or even while walking down the street.

Your company culture is an asset, and as such it’s worth the effort to maintain it even during periods of rapid growth. Preserving core values across multiple offices made up of different personalities can be tricky, but the end result is a stronger company overall.

Show off what makes your company unique with a free company page. Set yours up at s.tk/companypage or email us at [email protected] to connect with one of our account executives and get started today.

Lots of companies have growing pains, but startups and tech companies tend to feel them more acutely because the growth is so fast. Going from 5 to 45 employees in just two years brings a unique set of challenges. One of the biggest headaches can be managing the space, and when a company (like Stack Exchange) is headquartered in a city where real estate is at a premium (like New York), space constraints become something you’ll have to deal with sooner rather than later. This leaves you with three options: cram more people into your space than you initially anticipated, plan out an expansion or build-out within your existing space, or move to a whole new space.

We chose option three. Two months ago, we moved to our NYC HQ into a brand-new, beautiful office. The plan for a new office was a year plus in the making, since we completely re-designed, gutted, and did construction of the space, but the actual moving preparations started happening around two months before the big weekend.

Moving offices involves most of the same logistics as moving houses… that is, if your house were a giant mansion with 50 people living in it and you were moving into a castle. Now that we’re on the other side of our big move (and can finally breathe a little), we wanted to pass on a few tips and tricks to make it as seamless as possible for your company—and as painless as possible for you.

Before the Move:

1. Tell your coworkers what’s happening. Our Office Operations team prepped everyone well in advance to explain the logistical elements of our move. We learned that people are much more accommodating and understanding of changes in the office (like why we don’t have their favorite kind of cereal anymore) when they understand the reasoning behind it. We gave updates at our company-wide Town Hall every two weeks (which included letting employees ask questions) so everyone was on the same page.
2. Make lists. We started a Trello board to keep track of everything related to the move—from the construction schedule and our punch list (of all those little to-do’s) to new office procedures and everything in between. We created a completely separate board just for items we needed to buy. (Remember: We moved from a mansion to a castle and had to furnish our new space accordingly!) This helped us keep track of everything and stay accountable to each other for the various tasks we volunteered to take on.

During the Move:

1. Reward the people who help so they don’t burn out. We scheduled the bulk of our move to occur during a weekend to make the transition as easy as possible for our employees. Since this meant some of us spent our weekend setting up the new space, we kept everyone sane by having plenty of snacks on-hand and ordering food to all eat together. (Just like during the week!) We also stocked the fridge with drinks and water to keep everyone hydrated, and more importantly…caffeinated.
2. Make it fun, even when it’s not. During the marathon weekend of setting up and unpacking, we played the alt-90s Pandora radio station over our brand-new office speakers nonstop. There’s nothing that gets everyone in a good mood quite like an impromptu sing-along to Green Day or Third Eye Blind while unpacking the millionth box of mugs for the kitchen. (Pro tip: All that stuff you bought isn’t going to unpack itself, so it’s okay to pace yourself and not buy absolutely everything beforehand.)
3. Use good vendors. This is another thing that’s similar to moving your house: Good movers can make your move a thousand times easier. We asked other startups that moved what companies they used and what their experience was with them. Doing that research helped us find spectacular movers so our move was that much more seamless.

After the Move:

1. Make the little things count. We knew that the office wouldn’t be fully set up on day one, but we still wanted to make sure it felt like home when everyone arrived for the first time. We filled our candy jars, brewed fresh coffee, and made welcome goodie bags for everyone, chock-full of new desk toys and a fun floor-plan. (This also meant that nobody cared that we had some furniture missing and hadn’t quite figured out how to use the new dishwasher.)
2. Encourage people to explore the space. In addition to handing out floor maps, we did a lot to help people settle in and start using our larger office. Rather than move with cardboard boxes, we rented plastic crates so everyone had to unpack their personal belongings within the first week. Since we added about 5 new conference rooms to our space, we asked managers to encourage their teams to use them for scheduled meetings and as breakout spaces. (We also hosted a office-warming party for friends and family so that everyone could show it off!)

As with any major change, a move is sure to affect your company dynamic, (we can’t all just shout across the hall to each other anymore!) but it doesn’t need to change the culture. With proper planning, communication, and showing off your true colors with little Easter Egg surprises around the offices, you’ll be able to transition to a new space with only a few papercuts and minimal sleep deprivation.

Looking for more tips on how to keep your employees happy? Check out our employer resources center at careers.stackoverflow.com/resources for best practices and other hiring advice.

When you ask developers how they really feel about getting cold recruitment emails, you’ll get one of two answers: “Where do I begin?” or just simply, “I hate them.” But when you think about what recruiters are trying to offer developers (ideally: a shiny new job), it’s really a shame that these beacons of opportunity come with such a bad rap. As one of our own Stack Exchange devs, Jason Punyon, recently pointed out in his blog post, it’s usually because most recruiters do a terrible job of piquing a developer’s interest or putting time into their pitch. But all hope is not lost—with the large number of passive job-seekers (80% of the programmers in our database are passive candidates), there’s still ample opportunity to land the perfect candidate through emailing. You just need to know what not to do. To give you a head start, we polled our own developer team and asked: “What do you hate the most about recruiter emails?” Below, you’ll find their Top 10 pet peeves—along with a few pointers to steer you away from making the same mistakes.

10. The Gripe: “When they have typos or get my name wrong.”

The Solution: Edit your emails. You have only one chance to make a first impression, so no matter how busy you are, it’s never worth it to potentially mess that up by moving too quickly. Some people go so far as to never hire people with poor grammar, so don’t expect candidates to respond to your sloppiness.

9. The Gripe: “When I get an email about the same job from 3 different recruiters from the same company.”

The Solution: Be conscientious. There’s nothing worse than a bad, cold sales email, and this goes for cold recruiting emails as well. An error like this can eliminate your chance of a successful hire and instead aligns your recruitment efforts with something all developers hate: spam.

8. The Gripe: “When I have to play Whack-a-Mole – even though I keep unsubscribing, new emails still arrive.”

The Solution: Recognize you’re not the only one playing the recruitment game, so respect the time of candidates you approach. An average developer gets pinged by a recruiter as often as once every 40 hours, so be selective and thoughtful. And never sign up someone for a recruitment “hit list” without their consent.

7. The Gripe: “When they have no idea about your expertise and the salary they offer is offensively low.”

The Solution: Do your homework so you know what to look for in a developer who’s over- or under-qualified for the role. If it doesn’t seem like a good fit, don’t reach out. You won’t do yourself any favors by offending your potential candidate from the first message.

6. The Gripe: “When they play keyword bingo – they just throw a bunch of tech terms at you and see if they stick.”

The Solution: Realize that programmers switch jobs for a lot more than the technologies they use. Instead of throwing out any possible language that the candidate can use, focus on those nice intangibles of your company culture that set you apart.

5. The Gripe: “When it’s just a blanket form letter—then it’s just spam.”

The Solution: Never send the same recruitment email twice. Many developers interpret any type of unsolicited email as spam, so don’t add to the junk by copying and pasting mass emails. If you don’t make an effort to distinguish one candidate from the next, they’ll have no reason to give you the time of day.

4. The Gripe: “When they try to solicit names of the hiring manager or names of other programmers off me.”

The Solution: Don’t ask for referrals until you’ve built up a relationship with the candidate. At best, asking too early can come across as impersonal and flippant; at worst, it can be seen as a desperate attempt to fill a role that no one should really want in the first place.

3. The Gripe: “When they don’t disclose the name of the company or how much money is offered.”

The Solution: Be honest about the role and its benefits and provide a complete picture from the start. If you don’t put in the time to describe the offer and its benefits, don’t expect anyone to respond.

2. The Gripe: “When a recruiter gets the job title and the job description wrong. It just shows they know nothing about tech.”

The Solution: Make sure your technical recruiters (whether in- or out-of-house) know the in’s and out’s of the jobs they need to fill. It’s even better if they come from a technical background, which adds credibility to your job opening and company.

1. The Gripe: “When they don’t reference anything about me. They clearly just don’t care.”

The Solution: A lack of personalization is by far the cardinal sin of all recruitment emails, so put in the time and do your due diligence and build a relationship. Even though they aren’t looking for new jobs (or so we hope!), almost all of our devs admitted that it’s still quite flattering to receive a note that’s truly tailored. So respond to each candidate individually.

For more tips on how to snag the perfect programmer for your company, email us at [email protected] or call us at +1-877-782-2577 to speak to one of our account executives.

Last week, some of our Careers 2.0 team flew out to San Diego to attend the annual ERE Recruiting Conference & Expo. While there, we soaked up all the latest news and trends in the HR and recruiting space—not to mention hosted a pretty snazzy wine-and-cheese reception for attendees. But just in case you weren’t able to make it (or weren’t following their hashtag), we’ve pulled together the five biggest themes that dominated this year’s conference.

1.     Your recruitment strategy needs to embrace the “nowism” of our time.

In this volatile market, your company’s hiring needs can change at the drop of a hat—and when they do, everything will have to be recorded in real time online. As a result, recruiting is going social in a way we haven’t previously experienced. From your employees’ Facebook and LinkedIn accounts to whatever you have written about your work environment on Glass Door or your @ mentions on Twitter, the hiring process is no longer a shot in the dark for candidates. Any candidate in your pipeline can reach out to a former employee on LinkedIn and within 5 minutes learn all the gritty details of why they left. Rather than ignore or deny this inevitability, embrace it. In Ron Mester’s keynote address, he encouraged recruiters to “turn the lights on” by showing candidates where you are and what you do. Make transparency part of your hiring strategy so your recruiters carry your company’s message to your candidates—be it good, bad, or something in between.

2.     The role of a recruiter is changing.

Long gone are the days of simple, “transactional recruiting”—especially when it comes to hiring programmers and developers. In an era of social and community-based sourcing, “relationship recruiting” is quickly becoming the new norm. As a result of this added personal investment, recruiters need to assume an increasing amount of accountability for the basic company culture and other environmental factors of the workplace. It’s not enough to sell what’s there; recruiters need to take part in sculpting what that all means. But this shift must first occur from within the organization itself—a Corporate Executive Board report found only 35% of hiring managers currently believe that recruiting effectively influences business decisions. Our advice? Step up to the plate and lean in.

3.     Recruiting is going mobile.

With more than 1 billion smartphones in use, it’s little surprise that more and more candidates are turning to their mobile phones as part of their job search. In fact, the number of people who search for jobs on their smartphones has more than doubled in the past year—more than 6 million people in the U.S. conducted mobile job searches this February. This “mobile message” poked out its head in numerous ways at ERE—through a presentation on mobile recruiting led by Walmart’s Director of Recruiting Operations and Strategy to event sponsors like Jibe and CareerBuilder who broadcasted figures on the state of mobile recruiting. The moral of this story: Even if you don’t have a separate mobile app for your company yet, at least make sure your company’s site is optimized for mobile.

4.     If you’re still wondering how technology will have a place in recruiting, you’re too late.

If there was one can’t-miss takeaway at the ERE Expo this year, it’s that new technologies are overtaking the recruiting space. From the talk on recruiting robotics to the prevalence of vendors who offered video-interviewing products to employers, even those so-called larger “dinosaur” companies are adopting new technologies to their recruitment strategies. So if you’re still hanging out in left field wondering if you should create a Twitter account for your company, kick the online game into high gear. At the very least, don’t take anything for granted. If mass job boards aren’t working for you, check out niche boards by specialty. If you don’t like your ATS, check out newer models—or better yet, make your own. Oh, and give your developers a chance to update your systems from those “legacy languages” to something a bit fresher.

5.     You have to do something different to get attention.     

At one point during the conference, a couple of t-shirts were thrown into the crowd to wake up the audience a bit and break up the monotony. Sure, this may have been just a clever marketing trick from one of the sponsors looking to get a little extra attention, but the same goes for recruiting. Recruiting is selling, so do something to make your company truly stand out. Whether that’s a recruitment-based YouTube series, a mobile app that lets you apply to any job with just a few clicks or an interview process that’s actually fun, find some way to set yourself apart. (Though we don’t necessarily suggesting throwing t-shirts at candidates…)

P.S. Here’s a bonus tip that we really liked: Any time you’re on the phone with a candidate, before you let them hang up, ask them for a referral for another employee in a non-competitive role. 

Talent communities are springing up as the best new way to find and source qualified candidates online. So what’s the buzz about and what makes these different from other sourcing tactics?

First, a clarification on the definition: Unlike a social network or a candidate database, a “talent community” refers to a group of people with shared skills who work together to help each other grow professionally. (Think about the type of offline interactions you experience with any professional organization.) In an ideal online talent community, you’ll find a diverse group of engaged users with a variety of skills and career goals—essentially, a passive candidate goldmine.

As a hiring manager, talent communities give you a unique opportunity to peek at interactions taking place among peers, offering insights about candidates before their resumes arrive in your inbox. You can observe how each candidate is perceived among their peers, a concept Rachel Botsman addressed in detail during last year’s TED talk on “reputation capital.”

But keep in mind that not all “talent pools” are “talent communities.” You’ll recognize a site as a true talent community if it lends itself to two-way interactions between employers and candidates. (Think about how you connect with peers on LinkedIn who endorse you while still allowing employers to approach you with new opportunities.)

Once you identify these communities, you can leverage that audience for your recruitment needs by filling in the blanks about potential candidates. Here are the 5 key questions talent communities let you answer about candidates (that resumes don’t):

Do they know their stuff? While resumes are completely self-selected (and arguably biased), talent communities let you view actual user interactions. You don’t have to determine whether that candidate appears to be credible—you just have to read how other users have responded. If they have generally positive feedback from their peers, you’re on the right track.

Are they a thought leader or follower? When you read over a candidate’s profile or contributions, take note of the complexity of questions or concepts they introduce to the community. You can identify the stand-out talent from the second-tier users, who may simply chime in to existing conversations.

Are they engaged? This is an easy one—are they leading or moderating discussions or do they rarely contribute? The level of user engagement among their peers may also indicate their interest in collaboration and team building.

Can they communicate effectively? It’s one thing to be able to take on and execute difficult tasks at work, but it’s equally important to offer an explanation to others. By reading the contributions, blog posts, discussion topics, and writing samples of that candidate, you can determine whether their communication skills are up to par.

How passionate are they about their work? The number one thing that’s often eclipsed from a resume review is the ability to assess passion. For programmers, passion often manifests itself through open source projects or blog posts on the subject matter. Chances are, if someone is still thinking about their work on their time off, they must really like what they do, and that’s probably the kind of employee you’d want to hire.

While developing your recruitment strategy for this year, you can (and should) participate in niched talent communities to help you make better hiring decisions. You’ll save yourself time and money by answering these key candidate questions upfront, rather than stages into the interview process.