Super-Recruiter Man and The Keyword-O-Matic 3000

Okay, say you just landed a client in the Health industry and they ask you, “Can you supply us with Pharmaceutical Sales Reps for our offices across the country?”

In a flash you consider your background in Information Technology and Retail and realize that you have nooooo experience staffing this type of requirement. So with a firm handshake and steady eye contact, you smile and say, “Of course I can.”

Hey, we’ve all been there. (Can I get an Amen from all the Headhunters out there?) Well, back to the story...

So you rush back to your office and start digging on your favorite searchengine for leads. What do you use for keywords? (Remember you are clueless on this industry.) Umm... I suppose you try “pharmaceutical sales” or just “pharmaceutical” and hope to get lucky. Maybe you do get lucky and find a few, but what about the resumes you are missing out on because you don’t know what keywords to use? In frustration, you yell out “Hellllp!”

(Insert the sound of royal trumpets)

Suddenly bursting through your roof in a dark grey business suit, a white button down shirt, and briefcase is...

“Who are you?” you ask.

“I am Super-Recruiter Man!” he replies.

“Super-who?”

Super-Recuiter Man!” he says with a smile and a sparkle on his teeth. “I help recruiters by giving them tips on how to source resumes.”

“Oh, like Jim Stroud.”

“Who?”

“Nevermind.”

(Super-Recruiter Man continues to save the day.)

“I noticed you were having a dickens of a time coming up with keywords for your latest requirement.”

“Why yes,” you say, “that’s true.”

“Well fear no longer fellow recruiter, I have just what you need.”

And from the inside of his blazer, Super-Recruiter Man whips out a strange computer-like device.

“What is that?” you ask in wide-eyed wonder.

“This fellow recruiter is The Keyword-O-Matic 3000!"

“What does it do?”

“Glad you asked,” Super-Recruiter Man says with a smile and the Dentyne gleam sparkles again.

“The Keyword-O-Matic 3000 is a device that polls searchengines for keywords and phrases that are associated with whatever keyword or phrase you enter in and then it ranks those results based on popularity.”

“Ummm... That’s nice, but how does that help me?”

“Let’s put in the term pharmaceutical sales and see what we get.”

“Hmmm...” Super-Recruiter-Man says, “People who searched on MSN, Yahoo, Alta Vista, Lycos, Ask Jeeves and Wanadoo last month for the term “pharmaceutical sales,” also searched for Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, National Association of Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives, Medical Pharmaceutical Sales, Military Officer Pharmaceutical Sales, Jo Pharmaceutical Sales, Pfizer Pharmaceutical Sales, Animal Pharmaceutical Sales and so on... The count in the right column (see arrow above) shows you how many times a word or phrase has been searched upon.”

“Interesting,” you say. “But I have other open positions too. Will it work for other industries?”

“Ha-ha-ha,” Super-Recruiter-Man chuckles. “Sure it will. Check out these examples...”

People who searched for “Semiconductor” also searched for:

compund semiconductor rfid semiconductor Lattice semiconductor

People who searched for Ajax, also searched for:

ajax asynchronopus java yuks yuks ajax ajax cold fusion

Once you have found these new keywords, simply add them to your keyword searches for results you might have overlooked. And oh! Here is a neat-o trick, by searching intitle (in conjunction with your keywords), you can spy on search strings other sourcers have been using. For example searching intitle resume engineer brings back results from sourcers who (judging by these results) were looking for satellite communication engineers. (Anybody else looking for these guys?)

Other search terms like “inurl” caused The Keyword-O-Matic 3000 to refuse the request. (Sorry!) However, pretty much searching the word “resume” along with your keyword of choice should do the trick nicely.

“Wow! I see how The Keyword-O-Matic 3000 can help me in this and other requirements. How can I get a copy? Is it expensive?”

Super-Recruiter Man laughs.

“No price for you or any recruiter,” Super-Recruiter Man says. “All you have to do is subscribe to The Digability Mailing List. By subscribing to this list you get a copy of your very own “Keyword-O-Matic 3000.”

“Oohh...”

“But not only that, you also get a copy of a video explaining how to use Yahoo to find free resumes online, a list of secret Yahoo search commands, discounts on Digability products and special surprises not mentioned anywhere else. Simply send a blank email to this email address and further instructions will arrive in email. (Note: The address is hidden to block spam. Simply click the "this email address" link and when your email program pops up, send it as is.) Further instructions will arrive in email. And by the way, Digability respects your privacy and will not sell your email address to an outside vendor."

“Wow! Thank you Super-Recruiter Man.”

“Ha-ha-ha, my work here is done...” he laughs and then leaps through the roof, up into the sky and then to parts unknown.

“My hero,” you say and then frown at the sky. “Hey, who’s going to pay to repair my roof?!”

###

Why wait? Join now! Send a blank email to this email address. (The address is hidden to block spam. Simply click the "this email address" link and when your email program pops up, send it as is.) Further instructions will arrive in email. Digability respects your privacy and will not sell your email address to an outside vendor.)

Special note: Its a holiday week, so blogging will be slow to nil over the next few days. In the meantime (and for your holiday pleasure), you might want to read something else I wrote called "The Happy, Sad Tale of Tom The Turkey." For the uninitiated, Tom is the unoffical mascot for our Atlanta-based Microsoft office. Gobble-Gobble!!!