Jim Stroud's "The Digability Blog"

ANNOUNCING - Jim Stroud 2.0

2006-01-31T01:53:00.000-05:00

Effectively immediately, "The Digability Blog" will be discontinued and after this week, no new content will be posted there. In its place is "Jim Stroud 2.0," a new blog that will continue its focus on innovative sourcing strategies. It will also broaden its scope to include Jim Stroud's rants on the recruiting industry and business development tips for Search Firms. Furthermore, Jim Stroud 2.0 will provide commentary on Web 2.0, innovations in business and market strategy. All of the blog posts cited on the original Digability blog are still freely available for review on Jim Stroud 2.0 under the "Digability-Sourcing Strategies" category.

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

Ooohh... new internet toys from Microsoft are pending...

2006-01-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

What else can a sourcer do?

2006-01-26T07:56:00.000-05:00

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

Dumbfounded: A chat with Chris Seline, CEO of Dumbfind

2006-01-26T00:18:00.000-05:00

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

How to source like a patriot...

2006-01-25T18:50:00.000-05:00

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

(Web 2.0) Sourcing with 43 Things

2006-01-25T00:55:00.000-05:00

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

Hmmm.. sounds like a new version of Riya to me.

2006-01-24T17:34:00.000-05:00

Here is an explanation of what you will find in each category of Jim Stroud 2.0.

BizDev 101 *Offers business development tips for search firms

Bizzy *Dicusses innovations in business and market strategy

Digability *Offers innovative sourcing strategies for recruiters.

Life With Bill *Personal posts discussing Jim Stroud's experiences as a (happy)Microsoft employee

Manifestos *Calls to action

Recruiting Rants *Discussions on what is wrong (and sometimes right) about the recruiting industry

Shameless Self-promotion * Announcements citing Jim Stroud in the media

Web 2.0 *Discussing the new wave of dot-coms hitting the market

Visit Jim Stroud 2.0 now and subscribe: http://www.blogcharm.com/jimstroud

From the dark side of sourcing...

2006-01-24T07:15:00.000-05:00

Did you know that SOME sourcers cross the line in gathering intelligence on a company? Well, technically the technique hinted on in the article below is not illegal (not yet anyways), but it is a bit creepy. Sourcers in the dark - beware!

---snip-snip---

The influential chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee promised Thursday to introduce legislation outlawing the sale of telephone call logs, a practice that some privacy groups and lawmakers have denounced.

Representative Joe Barton, the committee chairman, is one of the first Republicans getting involved in the privacy issue. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) first filed a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about the practice in July, and the privacy advocacy organization says it has identified 40 Web sites that sell telephone records, particularly incoming or outgoing calls from mobile phones, and other personal information without the owners' consent.

"The principle behind all this is simple and straightforward: Our private lives belong to us, not to either the telephone company or the con artists," Barton said in a statement.

Barton, from Texas, said he plans to offer a bill that would make it illegal to impersonate a customer in an effort to gain access to telephone records. The practice, called pretexting, is illegal when used to gain financial records, but not when going after phone records, Barton said in a statement.

"I mean to make it very illegal," Barton added. "It is also possible because telephone companies may not be doing enough to protect consumer privacy, and I will make it clear that companies owe their customers a duty to privacy and need to devise new ways to foil pretexters."

Several telephone carriers have supported enforcement actions against companies that sell phone records. But some carriers have opposed regulations that would require them to improve security standards, EPIC said. For example, SBC -- now called AT&T Inc. -- filed comments with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) saying it has an extensive internal security policy, but it opposed a government mandate. A mandate would become obsolete quickly, AT&T said.

"Mandated security measures ... are not the solution," AT&T said in its FCC filing. "Fraudsters are inventive and always try to stay one step ahead. As soon as the carriers implement mandated security measures, these fraudsters will immediately try to figure out a way around them."

In July, Verizon Wireless Inc. filed a lawsuit against a group of companies it accused of selling mobile phone records.

READ: Chairman promises bill prohibiting sale of phone logs

How to give a spammer the finger

2006-01-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

Are you suffering more than you would like to over spam? Probably so... Are you getting too much from one spammer in particular and enough is enough? If so, well... it may be time to hit that spammer where it hurts. Simply track the email to the server it came from and report them to the proper authorities.

"But Jim," you say, "Sounds a bit too techie for me. Can you walk me through it?"

"Sure," I reply, "At least part of the ways anyway."

The first step required to tracing an email is finding out the headers of the email. What are headers? Email headers are lines added at the top of an email message that are used by servers as the email goes on route to get delivered. Generally email clients only show the standard To, From, and Subject headers, but there are more.

Here is how you do it in Hotmail.

Step 1: Once logged in, click on the "Options" link in the upper navigation bar.

Step 2: Now click on the "Mail Display Settings" link.

Step 3: Change the "Message Headers" option to "Full" and click ok.

Step 4: Go to your inbox and open any one of your email. You emails show now contain additional headers.

Want more? Click here for the rest of the story!

Big thank-you to Onimoto for posting this out to the blogosphere.

Dialing For Dollars Cheatsheet

2006-01-23T17:30:00.000-05:00

Imagine that you are dialing into a company for intelligence retrieval. You have your script and your goals set and no matter how stonefaced the receptionist is, you are determined to strike information gold. So you dial, you hear the phone ring and AAAAHHHH!!!! A recording... Press 1 for this and press 2 for that, how aggravating. Fortunately, there is a way to bypass all of this.

Now, I rarely blog about how to leverage intel from the phone. Ummm... okay, I never blog about it, but after coming across this online gem, I just had to. Paul English's Cheatsheet is something I thought was only urban legend and whispered about in quiet recruiting circles. Imagine my surprise to discover that (unlike Bigfoot?) it is a true document. Yes!

Here is a peek at what it looks like.

I HIGHLY suggest that you visit Mr. English's website and download a copy as quickly as you can. If after reviewing it you see a company missing that (in your opinion) should be listed, then click here to update it.

Digability rating: Go, download now! Highest recommendation.

P.S. Here is a link to the United Kingdom version of The IVR Cheatsheet.

Elementary, my dear Watson!

2006-01-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Here is a new cool tool alert from the good folks over at Intellext - Watson. To quote from ther website... "(Watson) transcends the boundaries of contemporary search and information access. The product of research conducted by Intellext co-founders Dr. Jay Budzik and Dr. Kristian Hammond at Northwestern University, Watson removes the burden of search from the shoulders of computer users. By reading and understanding what people are working on, and using that knowledge to proactively find and deliver relevant information to the user, Watson is able to find information the user didn't know existed - in places they otherwise might not have looked. Which we think is pretty sweet. Our users think so, too." Well, it certainly sounds good, but what (and how) does it do what it do? In a nutshell, Watson is a proactive search technology that looks at the context of what you’re working on and then searches the Internet looking at news sites, blogs, web sites, shopping sites and your desktop.

For the curious, here are a few screenshots on Watson in action.

Interesting concept!

Digability rating: One to watch

How Microsoft could recruit the future

2006-01-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

This is posted on another blog, but I thought it was appropriate here as well. Afterall, it is a cutting-edge sourcing strategy, yes? (I ask in all modesty.)- Jim

I have a problem, actually all of HR has a problem, no make that the entire United States of America has a problem and its... you. Yes, you the jobseeker. The problem is that there is not enough of you to go around. This may sound like a ridiculous statement to the unemployed, but in time you will come to agree with me. Consider these statistics...

By 2008 the number of young adult workers, from 25 to 40 year olds, will DECLINE by 1.7 million. That's 1.7 million less workers to replace the nearly 77 million baby boomers who will be eligible for retirement. Simply put, there will be fewer people available for the top management slots and high-performance executive jobs. Over the next 15 years, there will be a 15 percent decline in the number of 35 to 44 year-olds. By 2010 we will have 167,754,000 skilled jobs to fill in the United States, but only 157,721,000 people in the workforce to fill those jobs. (Do the math!) Assuming that 5% of the workforce holds two jobs, we still will have approximately 2.2 million jobs unfilled.

Source: The Perfect labor Storm (http://www.perfectlaborstorm.com/facts.html)

So with all this being said, how is a recruiter of the not-so-distant future supposed to cope? Well, fortunately I have an idea that would (quite possibly) resolve this issue for Microsoft now and for generations to come.

I was turning on my computer the other day when I had an epiphany. What is something all workers (well, most workers) have in common? Answer: Computers. (I guess that goes without saying.) If people do not use computers at work, then most likely they will have one at home. Am I right? (I will assume that I am and go forward.) Next question, What do all future workers have in common? Answer: Please refer to previous answer. Now this had me thinking.

While there are certainly exceptions, most of these computers are running a Windows OS. I think Microsoft should place (asap) a permanent desktop icon called "Jobs@MS." (Just like the "My Computer" and "Recycle Bin" icons.) Here is a peek at how it could look. (See the arrow pointing to it?)

What happens when you click the icon? One of two things: Either it directs you to the career section of Microsoft's website, or a much better option. You click the icon and it pops open a video presenting the benefits of working for Microsoft. Here is a peek of how it could look"

What would happen if this shipped with say... Windows Vista later on this year? Hmmm... let me think on the good, the bad and the ugly of this. (Anybody remember that movie?) THE GOOD In a perfect world the "JOBS@MS" icon is placed on all computers that are sold to homes and academic institutions. In this way, Microsoft's (subtle) recruiting message would reach students on multiple levels, teleworkers and those workers dissatisifed with their present career (who surf the web at home). Perhaps when a jobseeker visits Monster.com or some other career portal, a translucent window appears and suggests that they consider Microsoft. So as not to become a nuisance, this window would appear only once per session and can be turned off at the user's discretion. THE BAD Hackers distribute a virus (or malware) of some sort that either erases the "Jobs@MS" icon or hijacks the icon. If the "Jobs@MS" icon is hijancked, clicking the icon would redirect you to a pornography website or play some sort of propoganda video. Someone would make a video "exposing" what happens when you click the "Jobs@MS" icon and it would be broadcast for giggles all across the blogosphere. THE UGLY As this strategy is revolutionary, I suspect that there would be naysayers who would raise a fuss. Why? Some companies would feel threatened and say that Microsoft has a monopoly on recruiting in this manner. Some would label it as an unfair use of our product and demand that we allow recruiting icons from our competitors on our desktop. They would lawyer up and we would lawyer up and in the end, it would be much ado about nothing. Afterall, Microsoft does not have the only operating system in the world and Microsoft does not restrict people from loading programs or desktop icons on their computer. Such is the sole discretion of the user. So I guess with all things considered, would adding the icon bring more good or bad to Microsoft? At this point, I am undecided and curious. Of course, I am not suggesting that this is a feature due out later this year in Windows Vista but, ummm... If I were, what would be your reaction to it?

Very curious as to your comments. Jim

Krispy Kreme kicks Dunkin' Donuts in the booty

2006-01-09T19:59:00.000-05:00

It may be "time to make the donuts" for some people, but maybe that should change to "time to make the searches." I stumbled across this utility on MSN today - MSN Search Insider. On this site one can see the top 200 searches on MSN, Top Movers in Music and check out who is winning in "search duels." When I compared people who searched MSN for Krispy Kreme vs Dunkin Donuts, it was my favorite guilty pleasure by a landslide. Yummy!

Click here to see for yourself.

Sourcing with MSN

2006-01-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

How many recruiters/sourcers are on the look out for Microsoft Certified Personnel? Right away you may be thinking of search strings you can use to source those "perfect" candidates, but if you are limiting your discovery to websites only... Well, you are missing out - a lot - on some good leads. Let me show you what I mean. Let's hop over to MSN and do a quick search for a "Microsoft Certified Engineer." However, instead of doing a web search for a resume, let's click the "Images" link. (see below)

MSN seach results brings back pictures, lots of pictures actually, of Microsoft Certification logos. (see below) Hmmm... who would post a logo of this type on their website? Well, duhh... engineers. Let's take a closer look at one of these results. By using the scientific method of eenie-meenie-minee-moe, I choose the second result.

Hmmm... MSN has two links of immediate interest to me. The first link is to the website hosting the image and the second link is to the image itself. My first instinct is to click the link to the website the image is hosted on, but then I notice the "back to Personal Record" link. (see below) So I click it.

And voila! I am taken to a portion of somebody's resume who is (among other things) a Microsoft Certified Professional. (See below)

If you think this is a groovy trick for finding resumes under the radar, well... it is and it is about to get better. What if you wanted to find a particular type of Microsoft Certified Professional? Not a problem... I typed in MCSE on MSN's Image Search and 16,000+ results were returned. (see below)

Now will all of these leads to resumes? Nope! There are quite a few companies promoting themselves as partners of Microsoft, companies who mention how qualified their people are by displaying the certifications they earned and others. Still, this too snazzy a trick to ignore. And while we are on the subject, try these terms for giggles...

MCT MCAD MCDBA MCSA MCSE (Plus, any other Microsoft certification you are in need of.) Can you dig it?!

I am one with The Matrix...

2005-12-29T01:25:00.000-05:00

Someone asked me how I do what I do, well the answer is simple... I am one with The Matrix (as shown in the picture below). Sure, the technology is not on par with what Neo and Morpheus use, but give me time. (I understand that Shally, Glenn and Brett all use similar hardware to enhance their performance as well.) For now, excuse me for a few days while I free my mind to more possibilities.

See you in '06 with lots more Digability!!!

The web's new "Jook" joint

2005-12-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

Here is a head's up on a new tool but, is it cool? Peep the hype from their website.

What is Jookster?

Jookster is a powerful search engine that ranks results based on sites you and your network finds of value. With Jookster, you are able to search the web and find relevant results based on jooked sites by you and your network of friends. In return when you see a great site, you can jook and instantly share it with your network.

What does it mean to "jook"?

Jooking is the process of identifying and marking valuable websites on the Internet. Using the Jookster Toolbar or Links Button everytime you find a valuable site, you jook it. After marking these sites, you and your network can search and retrieve information from them anytime. The more valuable sites you and your network jooks the better your future search results will become.

How does Jookster work?

Create an account at our registration page.
After activating your account, get a Jookster tool at our setup page.
Browse the web as usual and anytime you find a valuable site, jook it with your Jookster tool.
Invite friends with with similar interests to join your Jookster network at out invite page.
From now on anytime you search with Jookster, it will rank your and your network's jooked sites first giving you more targeted search results.

What browsers and operating systems does Jookster support?

Jookster has been tested to support Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater browsers. Jookster supports Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Unix operating systems.

Why would I want to use Jookster over other search engines?

Today searching for information on the Internet can be a hit or miss process. This happens because sites do not have any information about you and what you are interested in. Jookster allows you and like-minded people to identify or "jook" the most valuable content on the web. This results in less time spent looking at irrelevant content and more time finding information that is helpful to you.

The idea behind Jookster is that people who you share common interests with can help each other filter the web’s content. For instance if you and your friends are video game fans and you search on the term “Halo” you will get content specific to the popular Xbox game because your friends from your Jookster network will have likely jooked video gaming sites. On the other hand if you and your friends are divinity students and you search on the word “Halo” then you will get very different search results because your friends will have likely jooked divinity sites. The people in your personal Jookster network help give meaning to specific results because they know you and share common interests with you.

***

Digability rating: It is what it is.

Community web search seems to be a growing trend (see Eurekster for another example), but no one has done it well enough to get me really excited. I guess because for it to really, really work it has to depend on how well your network of community searchers are willing to contribute. If you have a few co-workers working with you, will it really make a dent in your long-term initiatives?

Think of it this way, how many sourcers across the country will be willing to search together for resumes and share the results when (in all probability) they will be in competition with each other.

Still, for non-recruiters, I could see how this could prove interesting, so I will not poo-poo it. I will simply bring it to your attention.

Do libraries still matter?

2005-12-27T14:15:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of snippets from a very interesting White Paper I came across called, "Do Libraries Still Matter?" Check out these snippets...

...

The library’s information provider crown is slipping. Justifiably or not, today libraries are increasingly viewed as outdated, with modern, Internet-based services, such as Amazon and Google, looking set to inherit the throne. Even so, at Talis, we believe that there is plenty of life left in the library yet. This survival demands change though. Inevitably, as the world advances, the library must also evolve and begin to deliver its services in the ways that its modern users expect. Library 2.0 is a concept of a very different library service that operates according to the expectations of today’s library users. In this vision, the library makes information available wherever and whenever the user requires it.

...snip-snip...

Library 2.0 is about working with partners and suppliers to increase the availability of information, challenging presumptions about the restrictions currently placed upon use and reuse. A big question for libraries should be why there isn’t a single global (and free) library catalogue, not as an end in itself, but as a basis for a host of improved or totally new service offerings? There is a plethora of local, regional, national and even international systems run on a variety of different platforms. This is a huge cost in duplication, and none of them are sufficiently ubiquitous to offer any meaningful service to a population of end users. Yet, using the kind of scalable distributed technology that Google, Amazon and others deploy, we could create a genuine world catalogue with many views; local, regional, national, linguistic. Libraries should be at the heart of the “democratisation of information” - helping to bring down the walls that surround it and enabling greater participation. A major step forward, and a foundation upon which to build, is to bring down the walls around our own systems and our own information.

READ: http://www.talis.com/downloads/white_papers/DoLibrariesMatter.pdf

Santa brought me SNARF...

2005-12-27T00:14:00.000-05:00

Vacation’s over. You’ve had a grand time: intriguing locales, fun events, delicious food, memorable moments. You’re relaxed, your batteries recharged. Life is good.

You get home and fire up your laptop to see how things have been going at work while you were gone. That’s when you’re accosted by grim reality: hundreds upon hundreds of e-mails, each demanding your attention, your action, your time. How can you even begin to sort through this informational assault? Panic and dread set in. Vacation’s really over.

Unless you have SNARF, that is.

SNARF, the Social Network and Relationship Finder, developed by Microsoft Research and available for download, is designed to help computer users cope with precisely such scenarios. SNARF, a complement to e-mail programs such as Outlook, filters and sorts e-mail based on the type of message and the user’s history with an e-mail correspondent. The result: a collection of alternative views of your e-mail that can help you make sense of the deluge.

Read: Too Many E-Mails? SNARF Them Up!

Happy Holidays

2005-12-22T12:32:00.000-05:00

Happy (fill-in-the-blank) Holiday and have a Merry New Year! (or something like that.) Plus, a big congrats to my fellow bloggers who walked away with the prestigious Best Blog Awards from Recruiting.com. (I am just happy to have been nominated.)

Special Kudos to Shally and my co-bloggers: Gretchen, Jenna and Julie. See you all at Starbucks!

Bigfoot Recruiting: Sourcing what does not exist!

2005-12-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

It is sometimes a comedy of errors to observe the (sometimes) disconnect from reality between recruiters and well-meaning hiring managers.

A recent article in VOIP Magazine discussed how a certain HR manager of a certain cable broadband provider contacted a certain expert for assistance in finding experienced IP communications people. It seems that this certain company had made a decision to deploy Voice over IP next year to round out a consumer package. What this certain HR manager wanted specifically, was a Director Of VoIP Operations. Since Director Of VoIP is a brand spanking-new position, involving a new technology, and a new service model for the company, whomever landed that gig would need an excellent understanding of emerging technologies and a crystal clear view of the impact that this service would have on this cable broadband provider's business model. The writer of the article was not wholly optimistic of the HR manager's success. Why? Long story short, there are not many people around that fit the job description the HR manager described. And this had me thinking.

"Self," I said to myself, "How would you go about recruiting Bigfoot candidates?"

"Bigfoot candidates?"

"Yes," I continue to say to... ummm... myself. "Bigfoot candidates are those candidates that some people believe exist, but most folks accept them as general myth."

Bigfoot citings are not uncommon in HR, as they usually occur whenever new technologies become popular. Case in point, when the JAVA programming language was released in 1995 (or was it 1996?), it was not uncommon to see job postings for Java developers with 5 years (or more) experience. This was laughable on one level and frustrating in every other sense for both recruiters and hiring managers alike. How was a recruiter going to find the perfect candidate when (overall) they did not exist as the technology itself was barely a few months old?

I ran into this when I was recruiting Executive and Technical personnel for startup companies in the 90's. So what happenned back then? Well, some businesses changed their mind on how they chose to proceed on certain projects, delayed their initiatives (until the dotcom bubble burst), or dropped them alltogether. If I could go back in time, I would rattle off a list of what they could do (or I could have done) to find Bigfoot candidates skilled in Java or any other hot new emerging technology. Alas, I can not go back in time; but perhaps you dear reader can benefit from these finite pearls of wisdom.

When you are asked to find a candidate with years of experience in a technology that is only a few months old, do one (or all) of the following:

1. Look for the best of the best in last year's technology.

Ask yourself this, "What technology out there is like (fill-in-the-blank) technology?" If (fill-in-the-blank) technology does the same thing as (last year's technology), but faster, perhaps I can find a potential hire from someone who is really good with (last year's technology) and potentially could take it to the next level? I should focus on those candidates that innovated (last year's technology) and really stretched it in different ways.

2. Convince the business to add training time into its development cycle.

Explain to your client that experts in (fill-in-the-blank) technology are in short supply and that it would be infinitely easier, more productive and cost effective to train the engineers already on the payroll in (fill-in-the-blank) technology and factor their training with the development cycle of the new product.

3. Consider the source

Every technology, has a creator, so consider recruiting the people who invented the (fill-in-the-blank) technology (or buying the company they started).

4. Forget about Beta, go Alpha!

Get a working prototype online ASAP and post it online for people to kick around. Pay close attention to those who give the best technical feedback and recruit them.

5. Use your Lego building blocks

Look for technology that can perform a portion of what the (fill-in-the-blank) technology can do and then find another and then another. Imagine putting these technologies together (like a Lego set) as a means of competing against the (fill-in-the-blank) technology. Once you have all of the parts together, search the patents behind each piece of technology. Every artist signs his work, so find out who was good at making these pieces and then recruit them as well.

6. Spill the beans

This is a risky play and worth it in the end, but I advise doing this ONLY with the full approval of the company (especially the tech department). Leak reports on what you are doing to the blogosphere and study the reactions. I speculate that you will find:

A. People who will debunk it as heresay. B. Who will be impressed and speculate on the final product. C. People who will not be impressed and cite other companies who are doing similar things and doing it better (at least, in their opinion).

You want to pay closest attention to "C." Why? Elementary my dear Watson, they are providing you information on companies and/or technology that you might not have been aware of. This is intelligence you can use to find more potential hires. Its a sneaky play, but works VERY well if executed correctly. Ummm... At least, I have heard that it works well (wink).

When confronted with a Bigfoot search, convince your customer of the time wasted in finding what does not exist (or is extremely rare at best) and steer them in the direction of training the developers they have in the latest technical fashion trend. Afterall, it is easier to build a "Bigfoot" than to waste time looking for one. Still, I am reminded of all those explorers who refuse to believe what is most likely true and pursue a mythical beast that has been seen (only) with a shaky camera. For those recruiters who service clients with similar folktale faith, you have my pity.

Click to vote for Digability!

Fish Tales

2005-12-21T01:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this idea is not all that original but what can I say? I am a softy for the classics (just so long as they work - wink). For you young whippersnappers, let me walk you through.

One

How much does lunch for say... 2 people cost? I am going to say twenty bucks with a bit of change left over. You agree? Read on...

Two

This is a fishbowl. Fishbowls like this typically range $10.00-$20.00 on average. Still with me?

Three

Go to restaurants and coffee houses that are near to and (popular with) the employees of the company you want to target. Drop off a fishbowl near the front of the restaurant with a sign that says, "Free Lunch! Drop your business card for a chance to win lunch for two."

Four

Collect the biz cards at the end of the week and award a free lunch to someone you may want to recruit or leverage for more leads.

In case you are skeptical as to if this will work or not, ask yourself how many times have you dropped a biz card in a box, tray or fishbowl to win some prize? Too many times to count? Yeah... It is a good idea, isn't it? (Wish I thought of it first - wink.)

Click to vote for Digability!

The race is on...

2005-12-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Best Blog Awards sponsored by Recruiting.com are in full effect and your vote is required. When I looked at the competition for the "Best Recruiting Research Blog" (Cybersleuthing, Advanced Online Recruiting Techniques and others) I felt honored just to be mentioned. In a lot of ways, its like watching a race of champions speeding to the finish line. Sort of like... Flash, Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales racing. You know they are all fast, but which one would win? Well, that's for you (the voter) to decide. Click the picture above (or here) for some voting inspiration.

Click to vote for Digability!

I will do it for... One Million Rupees!!!

2005-12-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

In case you are sourcing for international candidates in a particular salary range, here is a cool tool for you.

XE.com's Universal Currency Converter ®This free Web-based service is the world's most popular currency tool! (At least, accoring to them.) It enables you to quickly and easily calculate how much any amount of one currency is worth in another currency.

Digability rating: Add it to your arsenal.

Click to vote for Digability!

Razzle-Dazzle (or how to source with billboards.)

2005-12-19T00:10:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when sourcing talent you have to use unconventional methods to get the attention of your target audience. A certain dog lover told me of a time when they posted jobs on a billboard across the street from a major competitor. The result? Competition complained (to no effect) and quite a few hires were made by said dog lover. Nice!

In case this bit of Razzle-Dazzle has captured your imagination, let me direct you to two very good resources: Windows Local Live and Billboards-Ads.

Billboard-Ads is (according to them) "The ONLY source you will ever needfor Outdoor Advertising." On their website, is information on billboard advertising rates (on average), a search form to help you target local markets by demographics, budget and campaign length (among others). Once you have narrowed your Billboard advertising to several options, you would want to engage Windows Local Live. How? Simply type in the address of where the billboards are located in Windows Local Live and research the area to see which location gives you the most bang for your buck.

Imagine if you will that you are looking to buy a Billboard at a particular intersection in a major market, say - Hotlanta. From the convenience of your desktop, you can get a bird's eye view of the area and mark on your map (using virtual pushpins) such relevant factors as nearby competitors, restaurants where the employees of my competitor might dash out for a quick snack and nearby companies that my competitor is rumored to be acquiring. Below is a snapshot of this example fleshed out on Windows Local Live. (Click the picture to see it, umm... live.)

Oh! While you are at this, you may want to check out MSN's Traffic Reports. Its a great way of monitoring how many traffic jams occur at the location you are considering.

Digability rating: Any excuse to use a Microsoft tool is a good one. (But of course, I am bias - wink.) Add this to your bag of tricks.

Click to vote for Digability!

My name is Furl.

2005-12-16T00:23:00.000-05:00

Here is a cool tool alert - Furl. And by the way, Furl holds no relation to the TV show - "My name is Earl." (From Furl's website...) "Furl is a free service that saves a personal copy of any page you find on the Web, and lets you find it again instantly by searching your archive of pages. It's your Personal Web.

Furl offers the best ways to share the content you find on the Web, and recommends new Web pages that may interest you. You can also search Furl to find the best sites that other people are saving."

So how does it work? You add a bookmarlet link to your browser and when you come across a website you want to store in your "virtual file cabinet" (so to speak), simply click the bookmarklet and up pops a small window. (See below) From that window you can tag the website with keywords, rate the information, classify the info, cut and paste a portion of the page (even save a duplicate copy of the page) and email the results to a peer. Once the data is collected, it is instantly searchable.

I have been using Furl for awhile, long before it was acquired by Looksmart and it has always worked flawlessly.

Digability rating: Highly recommended.

Click to vote for Digability!

Introducing... MSGoogle?

2005-12-15T06:37:00.001-05:00

Hmmm... I wonder what kinds of new search technology, online gadgets and web advances will come out of this? The possibilities are staggering, yes? Read below...

Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. are setting aside their bitter animosity to back a new Internet research laboratory aimed at helping entrepreneurs introduce more groundbreaking ideas to a mass audience.

Sun Microsystems Inc. also is joining the $7.5 million project at the University of California, Berkeley. The Reliable, Adaptive and Distributed Systems, or RAD, lab was scheduled to open Thursday and will dole out $1.5 million annually over five years, with each company contributing equally. Staffed initially by six UC Berkeley faculty members and 10 computer science graduates, the lab plans to develop an array of Web-based software services that will be given away to anyone who wants it.

Conceivably, the lab's services could help launch another revolutionary company like online auctioneer eBay Inc. or even Google, which has emerged as one of the world's most valuable companies just seven years after its inception in a Silicon Valley garage.

"It's interesting to have Google as one of the founding investors because one of the big questions (the RAD lab is trying to address) is, 'How do you get the next Google out there?'" said Greg Papadopoulos, Sun's chief technology officer.

The lab already has created something highly unusual - a bond between Google, the maker of the Internet's most popular search engine, and Microsoft, the world's largest software maker.

READ: Google, Microsoft to fund new Internet lab

Click to vote for Digability!

If its banned by Google, its Gada.be good?

2005-12-15T00:31:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting snippet from an article I read today...

"An unusual metasearch service named Gada.be launched its public beta on the Web in October. By November, its novel approach to search got it banned from Google's listings."

Read: Gada.be Illustrates Search Engine Ups and Downs

So, what is Gada.be? (pronounced "gotta-be") Gada.be is a metasearch engine for RSS feeds. You can search for feeds on a topic dear to you and have them delivered to your desktop or mobile device. Which incidentally, is what got them in trouble with the Google. (Go figure...)

So after reading about them, I decided to look them over and see what kind of value I can glean out of it. (Tip: Check out Windows Live for managing your blog collection.)

Hmm... Gada.be searches blogs... hmmm... How can I use that info to my advantage. I know! I will see who (if anybody) is laying people off and then position myself to scoop up the talent the target company could not afford to keep on. But who? Hmmm... since this is all hypothetical (and since there is a newspaper next to me with appliance ads) I will pick Whirlpool to pick on.

Now one thing, a somewhat "cool" thing about Gada.be is that you don't gotta-be (pun intended) at their website to use their service. You just have to know their special syntax. For example, take a gander at this:

http://whirpool-layoffs.gada.be

By adding that URL into your browser, you are asking Gada.be to search multiple RSS feeds (blogs) for mentions of the terms "whirlpool" and "layoffs" in the same posting. By default it will check feeds on such engines as MSN, Icerocket, Yahoo and Google (among several others). You may notice that I used a dash (-) between the terms "whirlpool" and "layoffs." This was intentional as it tells Gada.be that you are searching for two different terms.

Now let's say that you wanted to search for a particular phrase or phrases in conjunction with certain keywords. Not a problem! To designate phrases, just use a period between each word of the phrase and a dash to sepeparate the phrase or phrases (and keywords) for each other. In case you just said, "Huh?" Let me give you another example.

http://whirlpool-layoffs-arkansas.plant.gada.be

With this example, you are asking Gada.be to search RSS feeds (blogs-again) for blogpostings that discuss "whirlpool", "layoffs" and the phrase "arkansas plant." I did not notice any word limitations on the search, so this could work as well...

http://whirlpool-layoffs-arkansas.plant-economy.gada.be

Although by now you understand what I am doing, I will explain anyway. With the above URL you are searching multiple blogs for the terms "whirlpool," "layoffs," "economy" and the phrase "arkansas plant."

Of course, you could bypass all of this and go to the homepage and type in your terms that way. However, if you are out and about and you are itching to search blogs on your mobile device, then Gada.be might come in handy. It is (afterall) ideally designed for mobile devices. Check out this quote from their "About" page.

Why gada.be?

It was borne out of several frustrations. If you've ever tried to visit a Web site over a mobile device, you know it's a pain in the knuckle. The domain had to be simple to key-in from anywhere. gada.be is 4232.2233 on most cell phones and PSPs. Normally, when you want to find something online, you have to choose a Web site (wait for the page to load) enter the query (wait for the second page to load) then see results from that provider. With "gada.be," you insert the query *AS* the subdomain!

Then, there's having to visit several sites just to get the results you want. Often, this isn't feasible when you're on-the-go. Even when you're sitting with a laptop or chained to a desktop, it's still a time-consuming process. We all love the individual search services, so why not bring 'em together? Okay, that's what we did.

Gada.be searches all of its categories by default. To focus your search to a particular niche, you have to visit the site. Here is a list of the categories you can use to further target what you are looking for.

amazon blogs default entertainment geeky health jobs multimedia news photos random research shopping social

If you are turned on by this and want to keep closer tabs on them, check out their updates blog.

Digability rating: Add this to your bag of tricks.

Click to vote for Digability!

UPDATE - 12-19-05!

I just received a psychic update from Glenn "The Great One" Gutmacher who points out that "Gada.be" has changed a few things since I initially blogged about it.

Using the Gada.be syntax in the way I mentioned above, for example: http://internet.recruiting-gutmacher.gada.be is no longer working. (Bummer!)

However, flipping the search this way will: http://gada.be/d/internet.recruiting-gutmacher

Thank you Great One!

Birth of a sourcer? (My little rant...)

2005-12-15T00:15:00.000-05:00

When I was young, I had always loved libraries, even before I could walk. As I got older, I liked to go to libraries and ask to look at their library cards. Later, in June of 1999, I was given my first library card by the Anacortes Public Library in Anacortes, Washington. This library card sent off a amazing journey for me that included endless hours on the computer, sending emails to libraries or addressing envelopes to send to libraries (can you believe the cost of stamps)! Today, the collection grows almost every day, as a steady flow of library cards finds it way into my mailbox. It has grown to an enormous rate of over 1,000 cards! I hope to grow it into the greatest collection of library cards in the world!

Hmmm... he loves to research (even if it is for library cards), I wonder if I am witnessing the birth of a Sourcer? Click here to read his The Great Library Card Collection.

I noticed recently, well, not just recently, that many companies see Sourcers only as Junior recruiters. (Hey, start off as a sourcer and then move up to Recruiter 1st Class!) Whenever I see that I immediately recognize how the skill of Recruitment Research is undervalued. (Fortunately for me, Microsoft is not one of those companies -Yay!)

You know what would impress me? If I see a staffing firm (searchfirm, whatever) seeking a sourcer without the carrot that it is a way in to better things. (Not to undervalue recruiting!)

I would be impressed if they required something more than just a certification (from a certain company) and actually tested them on their searching skills. (I mean, how do you know that the person with the certification did not just "show up" and stayed awake long enough to get a piece of paper?)

Hey, it would even knock my socks off to see a searchirm require someone with a background (or degree) in Library Sciences and pay them something more than $35,000.00. And in case you are such a firm, let me give you a clue. Hire a Junior Recuiter OR a Sourcer, but do not try to force two jobs on one person (especially without doubling the salary as well). And oh yeah, stop thinking that online research is irrelevant to phone research and recognize the value in both.

Sorry for the rant... A buddy of mine was insulted and I had to vent. (blush - excuse me!)

Click to vote for Digability!

How to source like big brother...

2005-12-14T00:18:00.000-05:00

A little birdie told me about RIYA, a company whose face-recognition technology automatically tags people in photos so you can search for just the photo you want. And here is the Wow! factor, you can search for these photos in your photo album, your friend's photo album and ON THE WEB! Oooh...

What am I oohing about? Imagine you are looking for a lost love from highschool and all you have to go on is a highschool yearbook picture. Scan your picture, upload it to Riya and it searches its system and then the world wide web for that person's face! Oh, lookee there, your long lost love's picture on the cover of a "Girl's Gone Wild!" video. (Gee, aren't you really sad now that you lost touch with her?)

Howzabout this scenario... Say you are looking for SATCOM engineers and are getting nowhere with your usual methods, but you discover the homepage of Joe Schmo from CoCoMo. Joe is a SatCom guy without a resume linked to his homepage (sad face). He does however, have pictures of himself at a SATCOM seminar/tradeshow along with co-workers and people passing by in the crowd. Hmmm... Why not take that picture, upload it to Riya and track the attendees of the seminar/tradeshow to their homepages and offer them your wonderful opportunity?

Or... License this puppy out to Homeland Security (or Jack Bauer) and scan the internet for no-goodniks who cheesed for the camera or, were in the background of a family photo and did not realize it. How cool would that be? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Riya also recognizes text in a picture. Why care about that? Well, what if you wanted to verify when a picture was taken? For example, you could use Riya to take a closer look at the headline of a newspaper someone was holding in the background. (Dewey for President? This photo was not taken yesterday. It is a fake!)

"Wow!" you say, "Can Riya really do all of that?!" Umm... to some degree, yes. Click here to check out all they have to offer and by the way folks, their service is FREE (and in Alpha stage).

Digability rating: WoW!

Click to vote for Digability!

Alexa Web Search Platform Beta

2005-12-13T08:16:00.000-05:00

Here are some highlights from a recent WSJ article.

An Amazon.com Inc. unit plans to allow software and Web developers to request customized data searches when it scans the Web to seek new information, something that other commercial search engines generally don't allow.

Alexa Chief Executive Bruce Gilliat said its new service will give developers access to specialized content, let them create more exciting applications and, in some cases, alleviate potential work for start-up companies.

For instance, someone who wanted to build a podcasting search engine could use Alexa's tools and computers to request specialized audio files that were newly available on the Web. That would allow the entrepreneur to spend more time coming up with a way to search for relevant podcasts, Mr. Gilliat said.

Rainer Typke, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student in the Netherlands, developed a search engine that lets Internet users identify music knowing only the melody and has already been using Alexa's new service. With it, he has been able to significantly expand the number of melodies on his Web site, musipedia.org, to 1,000 with very little labor, Mr. Typke said. People who use his Web site to identify certain songs will find keywords so they can name that tune and, if interested, follow links to buy relevant music CDs on Amazon's Web site. Mr. Typke receives a commission when a visitor to his Web site makes a purchase on Amazon's.

Check out: Amazon Revs Its Search Engine

Why does this matter? With Amazon's Beta, anybody can create new search services without having to invest millions of dollars in crawl, storage, processing, search and server technology. End result? Expect lots more searchengine apps on the horizon for '06.

Digability rating: Alexa Web Search Platform Beta is something I will keep an eye on.

Click to vote for Digability!

Sourcing new clients (with Kung Fu!) Haaiii-yah!!!!

2005-12-13T00:39:00.000-05:00

So let’s imagine that you are a Staffing Agency or Search Firm (to-may-toe/ toe mot-toe) struggling to get along or just getting started in the marketplace. The competition is fierce and the clients seem few and far between but fortunately, you are reading this clever blogpost of business development tips.

(Insert the theme to the 70’s TV show, “Kung Fu” and imagine a bald-headed, Kung Fu fighting Shaolin monk imparting sacred knowledge to you.) “In order to have a prosperous recruiting business grasshopper, you must sell your services to those that are willing to buy.”

“And how do I find potential clients open to retaining my services, old wise master?” you ask. “And how can I get ahead of my competition that is feverishly trying to find the clients I am so diligently seeking?”

Although I am not a Shaolin Monk (nor do I play one on TV), I will attempt to answer this question with my own bit of wisdom.

Research is the short answer but, here is the extended reply:

For argument’s sake, I will assume that you are an IT recruiter - pretty tricky since a huge chunk of technical projects are being shipped overseas. Tough break if you have X number of consultants on the bench. Maybe its time to quit recruiting altogether… and maybe not?

Consider this…

Information Technology was all the rave during the Dot-Com era, but it is a new day now (or is it? Helloooo Web 2.0) and for some, recruiting nurses is the buzz. However, that is not the only game in town. Or is it? For the answer to that, let’s trot down to the Department of Labor (DOL) and put your hard earned tax dollars to work. Besides administrating unemployment benefits, the DOL monitors the labor market nationwide, statewide and locally. Why not do a bit of poking around to see what industry is the most viable in your neighborhood and beyond.

Ah! I sense that some of your eyes are glazing over, so let me give an example for clarity’s sake. I am in Atlanta, GA, so I visit the Ga. Department of Labor’s website in search of business.

This is what I see:

Right away I notice a link that says “Workforce Professionals.” (See the arrow?) I click it.

Right away I notice that there is a lot of good info to exploit. However, my eye zooms in on the #1 most frequently asked question: “What are the fastest growing occupations in Georgia?” So of course, I click that too.

I skim through a quick paragraph of info and see, “Six of the 20 fastest growing jobs are related to health services and five are related to computer technology.” I click the “Georgia Occupational Trends In Brief” link and a nice little report pops up with data substantiating their claim. How nice of Uncle Sam to do such due dilligence for me (and you - wink).

Should I rest satisfied with only this knowledge? Nope! I also want to check out the “Georgia Economic Indicators, Monthly Report” to see which industries have the money to pay me now and “Georgia Regional Occupational Trends” to see where in the state my services are most needed.

Let’s say I read all of this information and figure that the WIRELESS industry is going to explode in the coming months. Knowing this, I can position myself as a supplier of talent to the Wireless industry. I better get started right away before everyone else catches on (wink).

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The Department of Labor is a good beginning, but it’s not the only spot for this kind of thing. Have you ever heard of “The Dismal Scientist?” Bookmark this website! It’s a keeper. http://www.economy.com/dismal/

Visit the Census Bureau Economic Programs which monitors what sectors are hot and which are not. http://www.census.gov/econ/www/

Check out the Economics Statistics Briefing Room! This is what the President reads when he considers the state of the union! http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/employment.html

The friendly folks at Briefing.com will keep you current with their live market analysis. http://www.briefing.com/FreeServices/

Okay, what if you are feeling a bit too antsy? What if after reading all of that you say to yourself, “Self, you are just too lazy to do all of that research, act on it and stay current on all of that stuff.” To that I would say, there are any number of tools designed to motivate you. Anything that helps you put the hours in to make the best strategic move might prove very worthwhile. However, if you were still unwilling, I would bring to your attention Plan B.

Plan B is to conduct a survey of old clients (if you have any) and those you would love to be your clients to gather data more directly. I can imagine the bewilderment in some of your eyes, so let me give you a play-by-play.

Scenario #1 – No clients at all

1. There are plenty of websites in cyberspace to which writers may submit their work. They are called “Free Content” sites and they generally operate as a place where online magazines can get free articles for publishing. (Take a peek at this link for example: http://www.ideamarketers.com//). Whether or not you are a great writer is irrelevant to utilizing this technique.

2. Contact the Gatekeepers and explain that you are writing an article (which you are) on industry trends. Ask Gatekeeper if you could forward a questionnaire for the purpose of routing it to specific workers/management (see the example at the end of this post).

3. Hopefully the gatekeeper will forward the questionnaire. Make sure that your questionnaire requests that all answers be emailed to you. (This of course creates a link for future contact that will enable you to follow-up after your article is completed. Who knows what can happen then?)

Scenario #2 – Old Clients

This is easy. Just call your old contacts, see where they are, ask them for their forecasts for the next quarter and begin preparing now. No gimmick needed when you already have an “in” to exploit.

SAMPLE SURVEY

Name: Job Title: What are your job functions? Do you anticipate hiring in the next quarter? If yes, in what areas? What do you think will be the future of your industry in the coming months?

Thank you for your answers! Your response will be added to a survey of employers that serve your industry. By submitting your opinion, you will automatically receive notification of this survey’s results. Please send your comments to: John Q. via email to: Recruiter@recruitersrus.com

You like? Happy Hunting...

Pagebites is sourcing with cold-hard cash...

2005-12-12T06:43:00.000-05:00

Check out this sourcing method Pagebites just implemented.

We will pay you for your time: PageBites is hiring, and we are willing to pay you $100 to interview with us.

Who we are looking for: Smart and hard-working programmers who want to help us improve PageBites. We want someone who can join our team immediately. You must have (or be working towards) a degree in Computer Science. We are located in downtown Palo Alto, CA, so you need to be in the Bay Area.

What you need to do: Upload your resume to PageBites. You can sign up for an account here.Send us an email at jobs@pagebites.com with a link to your resume and the subject line: "I want to work at PageBites."We will select qualified candidates for a phone screen. If you pass the phone screen, will bring you in for an interview and pay you $100.

***

Well, I must say that this is a clever ploy because it works on so many levels. Let me count the ways...

1. It is something different! It breaks through the clutter of the everyday jobposting.

Geeks have been emailed and phoned ad nauseum for gigs ever since the first computer crashed. As a result, many flat out ignore the siren song of better opportunity and regard recruiters as a nuisance (which is why many of your blind emails and cold calls go unanswered). But since Pagebites is flashing C-notes as an incentive to just talk, then a geek may very well try her/his luck at the roulette wheel of career chance. Afterall, who else is tossing (potential) greenbacks just to chat? (Hmm... How many geeks will think about all the other phone interviews they have given for free?)

2. This is buzzworthy!

If I could do the stuff Pagebites was advertising for, I would turn my resume in and tell my buds.

"Dude," I would say, "Try your luck over at Pagebites. Whomever wins, buys the beer."

(And then we would chuckle like Beavis and Butthead as we continued playing my XBox 360.)

The flipside about this is that Pagebites will attract geeks who have NO intention whatsoever in joining them as they only want the money (for the weekend, or maybe the holidays). Not neccessarily a bad thing as a requirement to playing Pagebites' job lottery is to upload your resume into their system. This serves (of course) to increase their inventory, making them a more attractive offering to their customers. More resumes translates into more traffic from recruiters and with more traffic, the potential to make more money increases as well. (Ka-ching!)

Pagebites has a win-win plan here. I would be very curious to see how it all pans out. (And how many people take them up on their offer.)

Click to vote for Digability!

Go-go Gadget - Browster!

2005-12-09T07:06:00.000-05:00

I've always been a gadget kind of guy. If it was a by-product of my being a James Bond fanatic, a devoted Quester or simply the result of too much Inspector Gadget at a tender age. Whatever the reason, I like gizmos and especially gizmos that can improve how I do things.

Someone pointed out to me a browser plugin called Browster. (Somewhat reminded me of a product called Etour, but I digress.) It is designed to make your searching faster, so of course I checked it out.

Here is a blow-by-blow of how it do what it do.

1. Instant View of Webpage

(After placing some lightning bolt icons beside the search reults of a searchengine. ) Browster instantly shows you the page. Saves Back button clicks, removes page load delays. Saves time, simplifies your browsing.

2. Navigate and browse

Browster shows you the full web page, not a thumbnail. Click links or read the page. It's also easy to close - just mouse out!

3. Jump to next result

Use your mouse wheel to automatically jump from result to result. Click the Next and Previous buttons on the Browster toolbar. Also use the PgDn and PgUp keys or your arrow up and down keys.

4. Prefetch your favorite sites. To set prefetching on any site, right-click the link on the list, then choose "Browster preload on/off".

5. Browster installs easily into Internet Explorer. Runs automatically the next time you browse. Browster is a small plugin (717K) to Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Takes 15 seconds to install. Easy to uninstall, no spyware. Does not take space on your Internet Explorer toolbar.

Digability rating: Interesting concept, but the jury is still out on this one.

Click to vote for Digability!

Cool Tool Alert!

2005-12-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

Usually its my friend Eric Jaquith who is the one introducing me to cool tools that can be tweaked to make my recruiting life easier, but here is one gizmo he may be unaware of. If you have ever ran late for an interview, meeting with a client or just plain forgot an appointment because your Outlook was at the office and you missed the reminder, well have I got a free cool tool for you. Blue Lake Technologies has created a "Reminder Forwarding" plug-in for Microsoft Outlook that will send your reminders to your mobile phone or email when you are away from your desk.

Check out these special features:

No Monthly Fees
No per-message Fee
Installs in less than one minute with a few mouse clicks!
Easy to change reminder timeout time (default of 60 seconds)
Easy to change your mobile phone number
Integrates directly with Outlook (no additional steps for you to do)
Can forward reminders to your mobile phone, pager, PDA, or email
No need to set "Out of Office" rule in order to get your reminders forwarded!
Check out this play-by-play I snatched from their website.

Microsoft Outlook reminder messages are an extremely helpful way to remember the important things in your busy life. However, we are not always at our desks to receive these reminders.

Reminder Forwarding is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that automatically forwards your reminders to your mobile phone when you are away from your desk. This add-in is extremely easy to use and installs in less than a minute with just a few clicks.

How it works:

1. When any of your Outlook reminders pop up, Reminder Forwarding will wait for you to click Snooze, Dismiss, or Open the item.

2. If you do not click on the reminder within 60 seconds (you may customize this duration), your reminder will instantly be sent to your mobile phone, pager, PDA, email, or other device of your choice. The forwarded reminder will contain all of the original information such as the start time, location, notes, etc.

Let me know if you find this kind of thing useful and I will post more. -Jim

Click to vote for Digability!

You like me! You really like me!!!

2005-12-06T22:45:00.000-05:00

The Digability Blog and (my other blog) Jobseeker's Revenge were both nominated for a "Best Blog Award" by Recruiting.com!!! (Big yay!)

Voting on the Best Blog stops on December 21, 2005 and will be announced on December 26th. Since my blogs were nominated, its now up to a panel of judges to make the final decision. (Keep your fingers crossed for me and my fellow bloggers - especially Gretchen Ledgard, the "first lady of Corporate Recruiting Blogs!" (Don't let anyone else tell you different. SHE is the woman.)

Click here to check out the other nominees!!!

Is there a doctor in the house?

2005-12-04T21:37:00.001-05:00

Here is a heads up on a great resource in the event that you find yourself on the hunt for Docs.

DoctorFinder provides you with basic professional information on virtually every licensed physician in the United States. This includes more than 690,000 doctors. These listings also offer (to AMA member physicians)an expanded listing that contains additional information such as office hours, accepted insurance providers, educational history and other helpful information.

Digability rating: Add to your bag of tricks

###

RESOURCES FOR RECRUITERS

ADV: WEDDLE'S Directory of Employment-Related Internet Sites ADV: WEDDLE'S Guide to Association Web Sites ADV: Advanced Strategies for Recruiters (Audio CD)

###

Click to vote for Digability!

Okay, who's impressed with Google base?

2005-12-03T15:06:00.000-05:00

I have been hearing about Google's product du jour - Google Base. For those who don't know, Google Base appears to be Google's attempt to conquer the classifieds market (or Craigs List?). When I think classifieds, I think of used cars, collectibles and personals ads. I never think of resumes, but hmmm... I wonder.

I do a search for resumes based on keywords and Google syntax and I keep getting scores of job postings. (Not what I wanted.) Hmm...

I browse through the results a bit more and see that many of the links are pointing outside of the realm of Google Base. For example, I type in "software engineer" and I see links to Careerbuilder jobs only. Grrr...

I was about to give up on this and walk away, but my digability-sense (not to be confused with "spider-sense") began tingling. So I knew there were leads to be found. Long story short, I found them.

Most of the links on Google Base point to web pages somewhere on the web, but not ALL of the links. Google Base allows users to add/upload text to Google Base like a stand-alone webpage. Okay, I see your eyes glazing over, so let me just show you what I did.

Check out this "G' String" (which is what I call a Google Search String). Click is to see it in action.

(intitle:resume intitle:my=resume intitle:resume=of) inurl:base intext:engineer

"Hey Jim," you say, "What is this G' String saying?"

To which I reply, "It is saying, Google Base, please look in the title of your documents for "Resume, My Resume or Resume Of" and those results that have "base" in the URL and while you are it, check for any text that says - "engineer." At this writing there are only 9 and if you remove the request for "intext:engineer" your results bump up to 40.

So what is the final analysis on using Google Base for finding resumes?

Digability rating: Yawn! (Try something else.)

###

RESOURCES FOR RECRUITERS

ADV: WEDDLE'S Directory of Employment-Related Internet Sites ADV: WEDDLE'S Guide to Association Web Sites ADV: Advanced Strategies for Recruiters (Audio CD)

###

Click to vote for Digability!

Tis The Season for sourcing retail help

2005-12-02T07:39:00.000-05:00

If you are on the hunt for retail help (and who isn't during this time of the year?), I suggest checking out this list of links I found on About: Retail Job Search Boards and Retail Recruiters

This is SCARY brilliant!

2005-11-30T01:06:00.000-05:00

If I am a fanatic of anything, it is imagination and strategic thought. I suppose this is why I flipped over backwards when I read this post. It discusses Social Networks as a whole, discusses what they are doing wrong and cites related tools. Very good job! I LOVE THIS MAP! (see below)

Here is a snippet...

In preparation for one of my presentations in San Jose, I've been trying to define the boundaries of Social Networking, rather than simply (and less usefully) trying to define the term. The best way I found to do so is to list the various functionalities (applications) of Social Software by objective, rather than listing the tools themselves by type of content (as Judith Meskill does with her wonderful omnibus directory of current Social Software) or by audience. Most Social Software serves more than one function and has more than one objective, but that doesn't invalidate this as a useful taxonomy for Social Networking -- in fact, by deconstructing the functionality of various Social Software tools we might actually get some insight into what combinations of functionality, when well designed and integrated, make a good product.

What emerged from this effort is a 'Landscape' diagram of Social Networking, shown above. The eight major objectives are:

Finding people (discovering, rediscovering, or locating them)
Building directories, network maps and social networks
Inviting people to join your networks
Managing access to your networks ("permissioning")
Connecting with people in your networks (using various media)
Managing relationships across media (e.g. making the jarring transition from e-mail or weblog-based relationships to voice-to-voice or face-to-face)
Collaborating with people in your networks...

Click here to read the entire article...

###

RESOURCES FOR RECRUITERS

ADV: WEDDLE'S Directory of Employment-Related Internet Sites
ADV: WEDDLE'S Guide to Association Web Sites
ADV: Advanced Strategies for Recruiters (Audio CD)

###

Have time for a quickie?

2005-11-29T06:01:00.000-05:00

Here is a neato trick that will save you time on your resume sourcing. Instead of visiting your favorite searchengine, type in your keywords into the address bar. If you are using Internet Explorer, chances are MSN Search is your default searchengine. By typing your terms in the address bar (shown above), your keywords are taken to a results page featuring your terms. For example, typing in resume software engineer in the address bar, will most likely take you to some interesting results. (Click here to see what I mean.)

Now in some cases, typing in these terms make take you to another searchengine like Yahoo or Google. If so, most likely you have a toolbar from one of those companies and have elected to make these websites your default search engine.

Happy Hunting!

###

RESOURCES FOR RECRUITERS

ADV: WEDDLE'S Directory of Employment-Related Internet Sites ADV: WEDDLE'S Guide to Association Web Sites ADV: Advanced Strategies for Recruiters (Audio CD)

###

Come on, everybody loves a polka!

2005-11-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Who remembers how it used to be when Napster was the #1 (and only one) file swapping service out there? Umm... not saying that I engaged in illegal downloading of music files (umm... that would be bad), but I have heard that it was quite the wild, wild west. Imagine having a music collection as big as the internet itself. Nowadays we have MSN Music, Itunes, Rhapsody and a host of other services on the web allowing you to legally share and purchase all the music you desire. Yes sir, illegal file swapping is done, finish, kaput! (Yeah, right!)

There are services out there that allow free file sharing like Bit Torrent and Kazaa, but it seems companies like that are always in the news for violations of one sort or another. What is an anti-capitalist anachist to do? Well, probably the same thing hackers have been doing on the down-low since Napster went under the legal gun. I call it, the poor man's peer-to-peer system.

I found this link while skimming through some blogs on the MSN Spaces network. Ironicly, it is a post entitled, "google advanced search technique" and it demonstrates with search strings how to find free music (among other things) by skimming the indexes of web users everywhere. Here is a sample string (go ahead and click it):

-inurl:htm -inurl:html -inurl:php -inurl:asp intitle:"index of" (mp3wma)

At this writing I get more random samples of music than I care to review. Hmm... What if I could limit the results down to a particular artist like... Lawrence Welk! (And why not? Everybody loves a polka!) So I add in Lawrence Welk using the equal sign between his name rather than using double quotes (like this "Lawrence Welk") because it seems to work better. Or maybe that's just me. Anyways, here is my new and improved search string.

-inurl:htm -inurl:html -inurl:php -inurl:asp intitle:"index of" (mp3wma) lawrence=welk

Not many results for Lawrence Welk out there, but I did have luck with the very first search result. By clicking the link Index of /bgm and scrolling through the results, I find the classic tune Lawrence Welk - Yellow Bird.wma.

What else is there to say but, "Rock on!"

RESOURCES FOR RECRUITERS

ADV: WEDDLE'S Directory of Employment-Related Internet Sites
ADV: WEDDLE'S Guide to Association Web Sites
ADV: Advanced Strategies for Recruiters (Audio CD)

###

Jeepers! I MADE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE WALLSTREET JOURNAL

2005-11-23T13:29:00.000-05:00

From PAGE ONE of today's THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Talent Search Google's Growth Helps Ignite Silicon Valley Hiring Frenzy

Here is a snippet...

To compete against its larger rivals, Google beefed up its recruiting effort, retaining veterans like Shally Steckerl, a contract recruiter who runs a consulting firm called JobMachine, and Eric Jaquith, a free-lance recruiter who runs Recruiting Choices. Both began working as in-house consultants for Google in September 2004, when the company had more than 80 full-time and contract recruiters in-house, says Mr. Jaquith.

Messrs. Steckerl and Jaquith say they were instructed to diversify Google's engineering pool by hiring more female engineers. They called their team "Zion," after the underground city of humans in "The Matrix" movies. Mr. Jaquith says he was assigned to track down all women from the top 50 universities world-wide who had graduated after 1980 with Ph.D.s or master's degrees in physics, math or computer science. By last December, the end of his stint at Google, he had made thousands of phone calls to female engineers, he says.

Jim Stroud, a contract recruiter involved in the effort between December 2004 and June, says he unearthed several hundred names of female engineers. He estimates that fewer than 10 of those were hired during his tenure. Google's job-interview process is "like a Senate committee hearing," says Mr. Stroud. "You have to get approved by 14 people at least before you get hired."

Mr. Steckerl says the Zion group hired more than 45 engineers during the last quarter of 2004, and increased the total to more than 100 in the first quarter of 2005. Google declines to comment on Messrs. Steckerl, Stroud and Jaquith or the percentage of engineers who are female. Google says it doesn't have 300 recruiters, but declined to elaborate.

'They Went After Us'

Other tech companies have made runs at Google employees. Mr. Steckerl says Microsoft approached him earlier this year. In April, he joined Microsoft as a full-time employee. Within weeks, he says, Microsoft had hired away three other Google contract recruiters from the Zion team, including Mr. Stroud. "They knew who they wanted and they went after us," says Mr. Steckerl.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

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

2005-11-21T00:38:00.000-05:00

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!!!

When I grow up, I want to be a Searchologist

2005-11-18T19:19:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been to a "Career Day" at your kids school? For the uninitiated, that is when you sit in a classroom of your child's peers and try to make your vocation the best thing since "Harry Potter" and thereby incentivize young minds to study hard so they can be just like you when they grow up. When this happens to you, try not to follow a Policeman, Soldier or (groan...) a Fireman with a bright red truck parked in front of the school. I had the recent fortune (or misfortune) of being in that position and although I would like to believe that I "dazzled" as I compared sourcing candidates to playing hide-and-seek, my street-cred was shot the moment the siren rang on the engine outside. At the end of the day, all kiddies present wanted to be something else other than a "Searchologist." Sigh...

I imagine that such is the case for any other parent out there who has to explain what they do when what they do is recruiting or recruiting related. I mean, come on... How many kids do you know say, "When I grow up, I want to source the internet fro candidates? Or, I want to recruit people for companies all over the world. Or... nevermind."

I think one of the reasons why young people in elementary school (or college for that matter) rarely consider HR as a career of choice. Why? My thoughts is that it is not "cool" to the public at large and whose fault is that? Quite frankly, its yours...

If you are a sourcer, how much pride do you have in what you do? How often do you mentor others (via a blog for example) on "the craft?" Or, is it all just a job?

Well, color me naive, but I hope to change the mindset of Sourcing (and recruiting in general). How? With baby steps...

Baby Step #1: Make being a Sourcer "Hip"

Wear a t-shirt, hat, something or other that tells the world that what you do is cool.

Baby Step #2: Champion your skills internally.

Market every success vigorously and gain the respect of the hire-ups so that they see the value of what you do and how it affects the bottom line.

Baby Step #3: Get people talking

Share what you know, challenge what you have already learned and push, push, push innovation at every turn. If the methodologies of sourcing stagnate, so does the value of sourcing overall.

I LOVE what I do and am fortunate to work with people who see the value in what I do. If this is not the situation you operate in, begin with babystep #1. Remember, its not only for you, but the next generation of Searchologists as well.

###

FREE: ZoomInfo Recruiting Webinar Series

2005-11-18T00:10:00.000-05:00

ZoomInfo Recruiting Webinar Series: Thursday, December 1, 2005 12 p.m. Eastern / 9 a.m. Pacific Presented by Shally Steckerl Lead Researcher Microsoft Central Sourcing and Founder of Jobmachine.net

Effective communication techniques are critical to a successful recruiting practice. Shally Steckerl, an authority on Internet search and a pioneer in recruitment intelligence, offers compelling strategies for communicating with candidates that will help you get noticed.

Click here for more information

The Business Card As Fine Art

2005-11-17T23:56:00.000-05:00

AEA invited me to hang out with them the other day during their forum on "Technology Redefines the Role of Marketing." I had a good time and met some cool people, among them Lauren and Mo of "Goods For You."

What stood out to me about Lauren and Mo was not their impeccable manners, approachable nature or even their contribution to the discussion (for the record, these guys are pretty savvy). No, what kept them in my mind (now, days later) and compelled me to write about them was their business card. (See below)

What do I like about these cards so much? Ahh... Let me count the ways...

1. The baby pictures (and yes, these are their actual baby pictures) 2. The offbeat colors and ever so subtle psychedelic design. 3. The rounded upper right corner.

Put all these factors together and Goods For You is telling me a story. Ahem, (clearing my throat) the story goes like this...

"Hi! My name is Lauren (or Mo') and I have imagination. I know how to take risks. Most of all, I know how to bring attention to myself. Surely, I can do this for your business. And hey, even if you don't call me right away, I am (even now) using my hypnotic marketing powers to compel you to show this card to someone else. Afterall, who can refuse a peek at a cute baby picture? Am I right?"

To this I say in a zombie-like voice, "Yes Lauren. I hear and I obey..."

Everytime I glance at the Goods For You buiness card (its on my desk now, next to my Geek coffee cup) I say to to myself, "Self, these guys are thinking."

And this of course had me thinking, how come business cards could not be art pieces? What is stopping someone from finding all the cool and interesting business cards in the world and blowing them up into 3x5 framed masterpieces? Maybe its me, but I think that would be somewhat amusing. So I begin to dig and find something almost as good.

Are you hip to Cardbroswer?

Cardbroswer does a very interesting thing. They go to trade shows (and similar events), collect cards and then add them to an online database. As a subscriber to their service, you are able to get contacts that are not (neccessarily) on the web and (I like this) you also get access to their cellphone numbers. At least those cellphone numbers that are posted on their cards.

Okay, so its not an an exclusive gallery of business card artistry. It is however, a clever resource for sourcing the elusive passive candidate.

Digability rating: Nice one! Call in for a free trial now!!!

ADV: Where in the world is your next hire?

###

Sourcing Candidates with Feng Shui

2005-11-16T00:25:00.000-05:00

What would happen if you allowed the workers to design their own workspaces? Would you get more comfortable motivated workers who refuse to go home? Would you get a tidal wave of applicants who want to work there simply because the environment was so (expletive) cool!!!! Could be... Just ask the guys at Pixar who flat out refused to allow cubicles to confine their creative imaginaries. Ain't it Cool News toured the Pixar facilities and (among other things) posted pictures of their workspaces. Below is a clip from an AICN blogpost. Ahhh... feel the envy.

Instead of cubicles, each of the animators has a customized space. There was one guy who had this groovy corner office that was open on two sides, and he had no chair at all. He had the entire office set up so that he could work standing, like so:

That was a pretty extreme example of what someone could do with their space. A lot of the animators decided early on that they didn’t want cubicles, so instead, Pixar found these groovy little cottages that they bought for them. Walking through the animation department is like walking through a neighborhood for dwarves. Lots of little houses laid out along “streets,” each one with an address on the door.

The animators also have lounges set up so they can congregate and relax, including a jungle-themed lounge with piñatas hanging overhead.

Want more? Click here...

HOT JOB: Microsoft Technical Central Sourcing is looking for a Primary Sourcing Expert.

###

Sourcing Candidates From The Ghetto

2005-11-15T06:45:00.000-05:00

I came across an intersting post today on Searchengine Low Down called Searching the Gheto: New Engine Delivers Surprising Results. Being overwhelmed with curiosity, I check out the searchengine mentioned in the article and discover "GhetoSearch" (and yes, I and the searchengine company are aware that "Gheto" is misspelled).

In case you are wondering the signifigance of the name, Ghetosearch reversed their search algorithm so that the least relevant results appear first and the most relevant results are last. Why do it that way? (Actually, its pretty brilliant.) If you search one of the major searchengines like Yahoo, Google or Ask Jeeves, you will get the best 1,000 results out of say... thousands of possibilities. By flipping the algorithm as Ghetosearch has, you are looking at those results that are at the bottom of the barrel (the Gheto, if you would). The advantage of this is that you may stumble across websites and resources that most would ignore or probably would never find otherwise. Ohhh.. the possibilities! Intrigued, I jump right in and begin adding in search strings to find resumes of all sorts and get... nothing. Hmmm... maybe I am doing something wrong? I consult the help menu and play with (all of its) advanced features and... nothing. I was so dissapointed because it had such an intuitive interface, gimmicks on its advanced page uncommon to the majors. Alas for me, I could not manipulate it well enough to find resumes that I could easily source elsewhere. Grrrr... Ghetosearch, why do you tease me so? Digability rating: Not so Dy-no-mite for resume searching, but I will keep my eye on them. Afterall, they did have some interesting features.

ADV: Do you know the art of Shakespeare Recruiting?.

###

Sourcing Desperate Housewives

2005-11-14T00:16:00.000-05:00

What do you think about real-life housewives? Think they have it made? I found this article online "Myth vs. Reality: What Are At-home Moms Really Like?" and thought it would prove quite a revelation to some so I thought I would share it. Here is a snippet...

At-home mothers, as portrayed on television, are stuck in the 1950s mold of small-minded housewives. They may not wear aprons and pearls anymore, but they are usually presented as women who are more concerned with lavishing attention on their houses then on caring for their children. Modern mothers who have left successful, established careers to nurture their children find it very hard to see anything of themselves in this picture. What are at-home mothers really like? Results from our survey of 300 women across the country reveal that they are neither idle and pampered nor perfect Betty Crockers of the home front. They do work hard -- 42.2 percent said that they care for children fourteen hours or more per day -- and they're on call twenty four hours a day. Almost one-fifth said that they don't get time off during the work week. Things are only a little better on the weekend, as more than 36 percent of the respondents reported that they don't get any time off then, either. The image of the decorative country club wife is also very far from the truth. While the economic profile of these families is solidly middle class, they definitely are not rich: half of them are supporting three, four or five people on less than $40,000 a year and are constantly searching for new ways to economize. Most mothers at home are neither youngsters, inexperienced, nor unskilled. They are not at home because they have failed to make a go of it in the business world and have no other career options. Half of them have undergraduate degrees, and nearly 40 percent have advanced graduate, professional or technical educations. More than two-thirds fall into the thirty-to four-year-old age bracket. Click here to read the full article Why do I share this information? Well, besides being interesting to me, I think it speaks to an untapped resource for sourcers. Somewhere out there are hard-working, diligent and resourceful women with undergraduate and advanced college degrees. Now ask yourself? What effort is your company making to attract these types of candidates? (And when I say these types of candidates, I am referring to housewives looking to rejoin the workforce.) If you are charged with sourcing diversity candidates, or if you just want an additional resource to turn to, you might want to add the following strategy to your bag of tricks.

Trot over to the butler (Ask Jeeves) and ask him to bring you the resumes of houswives that are (potentially) looking to re-enter the workforce. To insure that you get the same results I did, input the following searchstring:

resume "domestic engineer" -jobs

And before you can say, "Your candidate is served," Jeeves plops down 141 resumes (more or less) matching your request. Pretty nifty huh?

Until next time, happy hunting...

###

Awww shucks!! Thank you Maureen...

2005-11-12T00:18:00.000-05:00

Someone forwarded me a comment citing (the legendary Names Sourcer) Maureen Sharib's flattering statements about me and my teammates. Well, I blushed three shades of red which is a good trick once you consider my complexion. (wink) Thank you for the kind words Maureen! For the curious, here is a snippet...

That's not to say that the internet search experts out there, like Shally, and Glen, and Jim, don't actually work real magic with their threads and see things the likes of which you and I may never glimpse. I've heard it said they do and I've also heard it said that watching them is like watching poetry in motion - "amazing" is a comment I've heard more than once. But they're the exceptions and all of them, I'm sure, either have teams of phone sourcers who take what they give them, or they themselves, work the phones to produce really exceptional sourcing results.

Click here for the full article.

For every sourcer with an "Uncle Lucious"

2005-11-11T22:58:00.000-05:00

The holidays are coming and I am looking forward to eating turkey with my family, chasing kids around the house and passing out in front of a stack of DVDs. One thing I am ("somewhat") looking forward to is spending time with my Uncle Lucious. That's pronounced "loo-shush" to friends and family and "lush-shus" to all the ladies. (But you have to hear him say that to get the full effect.)

Anyway, Uncle Lucious is what some would call "a visionary on the path to riches." There are others in the family who label him a deadbeat with a different get-rich scheme for every day of the week. If you ask me, I can see both sides of the equation, but I like to encourage people whenever I can.

"Nephew, you know what the world needs?" My Uncle asked me over the phone.

"No," I replied.

"The world needs fun at funerals."

"Fun at funerals?"

"Yeah, see I recently acquired a set of caskets in Las Vegas (Don't ask, I didn't!) and I was wondering how I could parlay them into a profitable enterprise."

Mm-hmm...

"And then I had this idea of creating funerals around themes, you know, "Star Wars" funerals where people dress up like characters in the movie or a Bob Marley send-off where everyone dresses like they are in the islands and we play reggae music..."

"And serve Jerk Chicken with Beans and Rice!" (Sorry, couldn't help it-smile.)

"And then I had this idea of creating a theme park around death."

"Say what?" I said and blinked at the phone as if it were my Uncle.

"Yeah, you know how everybody has diffrent ideas about what Heaven is like right? "

"Yeah..."

"Well, I could create different set ups of what Heaven is like. Say... like... What would a Football Player's idea of Heaven be like? I could have women dressed like cheerleaders and wearing angel wings and..."

"How can I help you Uncle Lucious?" I interrupted. When Uncle Lucious gets into an idea it consumes him and I was running low on the monthly minutes of my cellphone.

"I hear you know your way around the computer and internet and all that..."

"I get around."

"I want you to find me someone I can brainstorm with on this idea and maybe someone who can help me sell these caskets if my idea is too far ahead of its time, if you know what I mean."

Sigh... (rolling my eyes)

"Uncle Lucious," I began, " I usually recruit technical people and don't normally seek out casket salesmen who might be ummm.. open-minded enough to receive your idea. Not that I want to discourage you in your dream, but I am a bit swamped these days with..."

Aunt Minnie just made a fresh batch of "Sugar Cakes."

"Really?!" I said, as I caught myself licking my lips.

You would have to be in my family to know about "Sugar Cakes." You would also have to taste one to know that my Aunt Minnie's Sugar Cakes are not truly of this world because no desert on earth compares to its crunchy toppings, fluffy center and sweet (or is tangy?) memories it leaves in your mouth moments after its in your stomach. My Uncle Lucious had several options to choose from when he decided to get married (let him tell it), but it was Sugar Cakes that edged my Aunt Minnie above the rest. If you were to taste one, you would not think that such an outrageous claim.

"Bring some over tonight and I will try to have a resume for you."

"And that's why you're my faaavvvooooorite nephew!" he cackled as he hung up the phone.

(As Scooby Doo is to Scooby Snacks, so am I to Aunt Minnie's "Sugar Cakes." I think I may need professional help.)

Once I hung up the phone, I realized that I had to deliver on my promise. More than a dozen ways to find someone for this requirement flashed through my head in a milisecond and after 3 seconds I was prepared to try them all, but lucked up (Big time!) with the first thing I tried. This is what I did. (See below)

I visited spaces.msn.com because I hoped to find someone blogging about a weird funeral. Once I found that, I figured I would track down what company produced the funeral and from that, track people who work there and hopefully - a casket salesman who may be open to listening (or tolerating) a conversation with my Uncle. And then at the last moment, I switched gears and thought, "Why not try a resume search first?" So I entered the following criteria: resume "casket sales" (see below).

Once I input that query I hit the big blue search button and it brought back one result. May I add however that it was a "perfect result?" (see below)

Okay, so there are not hundreds of casket salesmen on the blogs. No matter, I found the PERFECT resume for my Uncle to review and it only took seconds. Not only does he have contacts in the industry, he seems (very much) like someone who "thinks outside the box!" (No pun intended - wink.)

Curiously enough, I tried a similar search on Google and got nothing. Interesting...

So what is the moral of the story? Simply put, do what it takes to get some of my Aunt Minnie's Sugar Cakes. (And use MSN Search to save yourself some time.)

###

This is why I work for Microsoft!

2005-11-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

When I saw the above ad I laughed hysterically out loud and even now, its all I can do not to chuckle when viewing the above advertisement. I very much enjoy my side projects (Can you dig it?), but when I see an ad like this, I know I made the right choice in accepting an offer with Microsoft.

Tell me, how many risks has your company taken to recruit/source candidates via non-traditional means? If your company was looking for a sourcer, what most likely would they do? Place an ad somewhere and hope for the best? Of course they would! Why? It is safe. It is how you have always done it. And (groan...) no one has the daring to stick their neck out and do something quirky in HR to get tongues wagging and candidates applying.

As evident by the above (and things like it) Microsoft is doing something different and doing it right. Glad to be on board.

Diggin' On Windows Live

2005-11-08T00:05:00.000-05:00

I just posted this on my Jobseeker's Revenge blog and thought that the info would be just as relevant here as well. Just substitute the jobs feeds cited on Pagebites with the resume feeds that are also offered on Pagebites. It works either way. Enjoy!

We (Microsoft) recently launched a new (awesome) product called “Windows Live” and if you didn’t know, now you know. Windows Live is a big deal in consideration of all the things it will do, but let me help you grasp the possibilities by showing you one trick that you can immediately use. Presently, we do not have our jobs available in RSS (disappointed sigh…), but never fear… Thanks to Windows Live I have a hack that works great. Let’s go through it step-by-step.

Below is a screenshot of Windows Live in its simplistic splendor. You can make cosmetic changes like adding more columns and hiding categories and such, but I will let you discover that on your own as you play with it.

The first thing I want you to do is “Sign in” which means you have to create an account. No worries, its all free.

Once you are signed in, you can add the name of your favorite blog into the search box. In this example, I am using my other blog “Jobseeker’s Revenge.” Once I entered the title of the blog I hit the search button. (See arrow)

The search results returned are specific blog posts from the web. Nice to see, but not what we want. We want to click the Feeds button (see arrow).

Now the search results reveal blogs titled “Jobseekers Revenge” and blogs that mention Jobseeker’s Revenge. After reviewing the results, it’s the first link I have an interest in so I click “Subscribe.” (see arrow)

And like magic (abracadabra), it appears under “My Web.” Please, hold the applause.

Now the next time I come back to my “Windows Live” homepage, I can choose to read the “Jobseeker’s Revenge” blog from the menu. (See arrow)

This is how it looks once you do. You see the most recent post in all its glory. You also have the option to read only the headlines (by clicking collapse all) or reading all the post by making one long page of blog entries (expand all). You can do these things from the links just under the blog title. (see arrow)

Now this is where the hack comes in I was telling you about earlier. Leave Windows Live for a moment and visit Pagebites. Pagebites is a careersite that aggregates (among other things) jobs from multiple careersites (Careerbuilder, HotJobs, etc.) Click the Jobs link (so that the word Jobs turns black) and enter in criteria relevant to your background. In this example, I am adding “Microsoft, Sales” for the keywords and Redmond for the city I am interested in working in.

Pagebites brings back over lots of results for Microsoft jobs where the keyword Sales is mentioned. Groovy! Now notice the orange RSS button? (see arrow) Click on it!

What pops up is an XML file on the results you just found in Pagebites. No need to make sense of it, all you have to do is copy the web address of this information. Click on the address until it is highlighted, on your keyboard hit CONTROL (the CTRL button) and “C” (also on your keyboard) to copy it. Once done, head back to the Windows Live page.

Now that you are back on the homepage, click the Advanced Options. (see arrow)

The first slot under Advanced Options says “Subscribe to a specific feed by entering the URL below.” This is where you enter the address in you just copied over at Pagebites. (Simply click inside the slot and on your keyboard hit CONTROL (the CTRL button) and “V” (also on your keyboard) at the same time and that will paste the info in.)

And Abracadabra! There is a link to the Pagebites’ job search results page, just under the link to the news feed for Jobseeker’s Revenge. Let’s take a look at it.

I click the Pagebites link and (as before with my blog example) I see the first result in the news feed and headlines for all of the other results.

Now this is VERY groovy! Why? By using Windows Live in this way, you can keep a close eye on all Microsoft job opportunities as they are posted to the multiple careersites in REAL TIME! Imagine a job being posted at 9:15am, you see it on Windows Live at 9:16am and reply at 9:17am ahead of your jobseeking competition who rely on job alerts that go out at a certain time or check only one or two careersites infrequently. When job searching, every bit helps, right?

Good luck!

-Jim

When will careersites innovate?

2005-11-06T19:35:00.000-05:00

Tivo - yawn. Microsoft Media Center - BIG YAY!!! (See the screenshot above?) If you do not know the difference between the two then you have not experienced the MMC (Microsoft Media Center). I have a Tivo at home, but after hanging out with a pal of mine and seeing his MMC set-up at home, I turned 7 shades of green with envy. Ooohhh.. I want one - bad. Later that same evening I returned home to my Tivo and thought "MMC does this, but Tivo doesn't, Tivo does this, but MMC does it cooler and has all of these great features and..." Sigh... I am such a gadget geek. (Hmmm.. maybe I can get an employee discount?)

Feeling somewhat depressed with my TV set-up, I flip through my assortment of must-see TV and guilty pleasures. Just in case you are wondering, I'll run through a few: Alias, Lost, 24, Smallville, The Apprentice and Desperate Housewives (again - guilty pleasure) and Samurai Champloo. Somewhere between watching Mugin and Jin carve bad guys with their swords (Samurai Champloo) and Bree creating the perfect family meal (Desperate Housewives) I get this idea. What would it take to become my favorite TV character? The more I thought about it the more I realized how career sites and the recruiting industry as a whole were missing out on a golden opportunity.

Riddle me this Batman. When was the last time you saw something truly innovative erupt from one of the major career sites? And when I say innovative, I am not referring to a "me too." (Oh look, Monster has a blog now! Yawn...) If you are like me then you can not think of anything earth-shattering either. If I may, allow me to make a suggestion to every career site in the world. After clearing my throat I say, "Do something different!!!"

Why not divide your jobs up in other ways than industry and company? Consider these suggestions...

1. Have a section of your site dedicated to specific television shows and/or popular movie characters. Create resumes for these characters that link to current opportunities and specific schools. For example, (Smallville fans will appreciate this) have a biography page on Clark Kent. It would include Clark's yearbook picture, a mention of his interests in astronomy and his intention to either pursue a career as a mild-mannered reporter or, major in Agriculture and assist with the family business. Clicking on astronomy, reporter or agriculture would link to relevant job openings and perhaps college websites that offer programs in those areas.

Or better yet for the CSI fans... After watching a 6-hour marathon of Gil breaking down crime scenes, you think that you can do that (or you would at least would like too). So the next time you are job searching for a dream job, you see Gil's picture and say I want to do that gig. How do I even get started? Who would hire me? So you click on the CSI Jobs section and you see something like this (from the official CSI website)

(Doesn't looking at the picture put the TV theme in your mind? Hum with me... Ooooohhhh aaaaahhh...)

Inside of this fictional profile would be links to schools he attended and the jobs this character is qualified for. I think it would be worth a few bucks to advertise a position to qualified forensic scientists that are CSI fanatics. Why? People passionate about their work make better hires!!! (Jim Stroud's Tip of the day.)

2. Although this is not recruiting related, well.. maybe it is. Howzabout a cross-promotional bringing awareness to the latest box-office bonanza? For example, Nicholas Cage has a movie out now called "The Weatherman." Why not approach movie producers with the idea that a career site can market a movie directly to people looking for jobs in meteorology? Who better to generate buzz about "The Weatherman" than people passionate about the science of weather?

Furthermore, careersites could have a message board where people could discuss what was wrong with the science of "The Weatherman." For example, I can EASILY imagine someone saying that "...the Doppler radar used in the first scene was not the best radar to use because that model was based on a technology two years out of date. They should have used the new Doppler 3000. Blah, blah, blah..." Okay, you may roll your eyes at someone who nitpicks over details like that but guess what? This is THE person that you would want to hire. Why? Please refer to earlier point ( People passionate about their work make better hires!!!)

Am I am being a bit naive in thinking that this is possible? Maybe career sites are perfectly satisfied with business as usual? Maybe they have already considered approaching this strategy and turned it down? Maybe recruiting and entertainment are two entities that are best kept separate?

Maybe. But I doubt it...

400,000 free resumes

2005-11-02T00:38:00.000-05:00

Jobvertise now boasts the world's largest FREE resume database! (At this writing, 400,000 and counting.) All of the resumes are entered directly on the Jobvertise web site by active job-seekers. To quote, "We do not import stale resumes from other sites to artificially inflate our numbers. These are resumes you won't easily find elsewhere..."

Worth a peek: Click here to see for yourself

Cool Tool Alert!

2005-11-01T00:56:00.000-05:00

Advanced Searchbar enables you to search more than 99 search engines and databases with this customizable search toolbar for Internet Explorer. It eliminates pop-ups, adds home page protection, and provides a screen saver launcher, file shredder, 78 free games, automatic form filler and RSS news feed ticker. Includes Web page translation for 12 languages, 69 news providers, 38 mail providers, browser tracks remover for cleaning cookies, cache, auto-fill, history, temporary directory, typed URLs, MRU file list, recycle bin and clipboard. Zoom in and out of Web pages, and auto-highlight search terms. Also includes driving directions, weather lookup, movie times, MyYahoo! links and access to blog hosts

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD: Advanced Searchbar - Advanced Toolbar with more features than the Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, MSN toolbar combined

Wow! You can buy anything on Ebay!!!

2005-10-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

Did you know that you can buy searchengines on EBay? The winning bid on an Award-Winning Metasearch Searchengine -Jux2 was US $101,100.00 !!! Wow! I wonder who the confidential bidder was? I wonder if we can expect big things from Jux2. I have played around with Jux2 in the past and although I was somewhat wowed, it managed to slip from my attention (until now). I think I will poke around a bit with it now and see what goodies I can find. Oh! For those who are not hip to Jux2, here is a snippet from their Ebay page describing some of the more intriguing features of their engine. Go to www.jux2.com to see all of the functionality. Some things we’ll highlight here are as follows: Combines data from Google, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves to determine the best overall search results. You can configure jux2 to sort results however you want to. Right now it sorts search result URLs according to the sum of rankings from the three engines. (For example, a URL ranked #2 by Google, Yahoo, and Jeeves would have a total score of 6 and would show up in jux2’s results before a URL ranked #4 by Google and Yahoo but #1 by Jeeves). You’ll find it easy to add MSN to the mix. Instructions on how to do this are included in the “how to maintain jux2” guide. We’ve already developed a four engine UI. Allows you to see what your usual search engine is missing or has that others don’t. This is a very cool feature of great value to power searchers, and most better known meta search engines still don’t offer it. Select your “usual engine” on the home page, and run a Jux2 query. You’ll see a toolbar on the results page that allows you to view: (1) what your usual search engine is missing, (2) what only your usual search engine found, and (3) only the results of your usual search engine. Uses clever grouping algorithms to keep duplicate URLs from cluttering results. One tricky problem in meta search is getting your engine to recognize that Craigslist.com and Craigslist.org point to the same site. That’s a simple example. Many more complex ones abound. Anyway, try several searches to see how we’ve solved this for you. Has a browser toolbar button that operates in two modes: “normal” and “extra cool.” In “normal” mode when you click on the browser button a dialog box opens allowing you to launch a search on jux2. In “extra cool” mode, when you click the button from, say, a Google search results page, jux2 will show you results for that search that are found on Yahoo and Ask Jeeves but not on Google. Try this to see how cool it is.

###

Googling blog searches

2005-10-31T00:25:00.000-05:00

I have been talking about blogs a lot this month, so why stop now? Here is another tip for getting the most out of blogs. Are you familiar with Google's Blog Search tool? If not, check this out...

Say I wanted to find a lead for a C++ developer and I figure that someone who blogs about C++ is someone I want to talk to. Sooooo I hop over to Google's Blog Search and type in C++. This is what I get (see below).

I get a list of blogs focused on C++ specificly (and results where C++ is mentioned somewhere in a blog post across several blogs. Cute and a decent return of results, but I want more. Undaunted I use my Digability skills, experiment and come up with the following notes on how to make my searches in Google's blogsearch better. Ladies and gentleman, this be the secret sauce...

inposttitle:algorithm This command searches the titles of every blogpost Google has indexed for a particular keyword. (In this case, algorithm.)

inurl:java This command searches blog addresses for a particular keyword. (In this case “Java”)

inpostauthor:jimstroud This command searches for blog entries written by a particular writer. (In this case, me!)

blogurl:jobseekersrevenge.blogspot.com This command searches for all blog entries cited on a particular blog. (In this case, my blog - “Jobseekers Revenge.”)

inblogtitle:jobs This command searches the blog titles of every blog Google has indexed - but you figured that out already. (In this case, blogs with the word “jobs” in their titlle.)

NOTE: I noticed that some of the commands do not play well together. For example, using the “inblogtitle” and “inpostauthor” commands together did not seem to work (at this writing). However, using “inpostuthor” and “inblogtitle” or “inblogtitle” with “inurl” presented no problems.

Let’s play with a few strings, shall we?

inpostauthor:java blogurl:java *This brings back blogs written by people who have “java” in their screen name and list “java” in the address of the blog.

inblogtitle:engineer inurl:engineering *This brought back blogs with enginnering in the title of the blog and in the adress. At this writing, most of the results were engineering jobs.

inpostauthor:jim stroud *This brought back 186 of my most recent blogposts. Wow! I did not know I was so busy.

yahoo inpostauthor:jeremy *This brings back mentions of the term “Yahoo” written by (any) blogger named Jeremy. Hope this helps you with your sourcing!

###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for! Check out: Digability: The Recruiter's Guide to the Internet]

Everybody's doing it...

2005-10-29T12:20:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of companies that are blogging. Wish I could take credit for the compilation, but I found it here.

**Fortune 500 Companies that blog**
GM Sun Microsystems Microsoft Google Yahoo! Boeing CitiGroup IBM HP Time Warner Dell, Inc. Lockheed Wells Fargo Intel Delphi Merril Lynch Disney (hugely, internally) Motorola FedEx Mitsubishi	Cisco Raytheon Haliburton Kimberly-Clark UAL Delta Winn-Dixie MBNA Toys R Us Nike Pepsi Texas Instruments Oracle Avon Apple Computer Shell McGraw-Hill Radio Shack Starbucks New York Times

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for! Check out: Digability: The Recruiter's Guide to the Internet]

I want my Dig' TV!!!!

2005-10-27T22:25:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to any and all interested! I am adding a nifty little bonus to all who join my mailing list. Starting today, all who subscribe to my e-list get a copy of what I call Dig' TV, which is a video of my demonstrating how to use Yahoo to source resumes. Curious? Of course you are! (Well, I at least hope you are - wink.)

Join now! Send a blank email to digability_ebook-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and further instructions will arrive in email. **(I respect your privacy and will not sell your email address to an outside vendor.)

The Forgotten Children of Search

2005-10-27T19:32:00.000-04:00

When you think of an internet address, you think blah, blah, blah… dot com. Am I right? Maybe you would think dot net (i.e. whatever.net) or even dot org if it is a non-profit organization? However, how many of you would consider (what I call) the forgotten children of search? To be more specific, I am speaking about the less-popular internet domains. For example, websites that end in .CC, .BIZ, .INFO and so on. I rarely hear of a website being advertised that ended in something other than .com, .net or .org, but there are many websites that do. And guess what? Said websites have information (namely resumes) you can use in your sourcing efforts.

Click the links below to see examples of what I mean.

Pretty interesting huh? The resumes found on these URL extensions are just as valid as resumes you find on the dot com extensions, maybe even better. Why? If for no other reason, they are being ignored by the majority of researchers out there. (Well, at least prior to my writing this blog post – wink.)

Here are a list of additional domain extensions you may want to consider targeting when sourcing candidates.

.cc .biz .info .name .us .ws

Happy hunting!

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for! Check out: Digability: The Recruiter's Guide to the Internet]

How To Make Every Search Ladies Night

2005-10-26T00:43:00.000-04:00

A certain Harvard professor unleashed a tidal wave of flack when he suggested (in so many words) that innate differences between the sexes could help explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers. Wow! I think in retrospect, he may have thought about his statement, slapped himself on the head and gave a Homer Simpson’ “D’oh!” sound. (Click here to see for yourself)

As much as I disagreed with so asinine a suggestion, it made me wonder how many women actually are in the IT profession. So, I decided to do my own non-scientific survey.

~women computer.science inanchor:resume

I got back 10,400 results. (For those unfamiliar with the "~" command, check out one of my earlier posts - "Kooky Google Trick #1") Hmm… Interesting, but not an overwhelming number, especially when I remove ~women from the equation. (176,000 results comeback... ummm... more or less, but that's a different story)

Not that this is scientific or anything, but I think it does reflect that IT is a male-dominated area. Okay, now I am even more curious and a question comes to mind. If I wanted to hunt female geeks specifically, how would I go about it? Hmmm… I know! I will find high-profile women in technology and find out what associations they belong to. So I do it and discover several, among them: SWE, WITI and AWC. (Curious? Look them up.) While I am doing this, I notice that a certain name keeps popping up: Grace Hopper. Grace Hopper was a pioneer computer scientist and a revered role model for women in technology. There are programs held in her honor all over the country and scholarships in her name. Hmmm… I wonder.

~cv grace=hopper software=engineer

This brought back 172 results. Were they all resumes? No, but quite a few were and guess what? All the resumes cited scholarships, programs or conferences that were in honor of Grace Hopper. So what does this teach us? Finding women in computer science is tricky in a male-dominated field. Also, we have learned that I am prone to tangents that are not always significant, but hopefully helpful in improving your digability.

###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for! Check out: Digability: The Recruiter's Guide to the Internet]

Want to know a secret?

2005-10-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Are you on my Digability mailing list? If not (and you like what I blog about), then you need to be. I plan on revealing some interesting information in the coming weeks, but only to those on my list. Oh what could it be? Well, that would be telling, yes? (wink)

And just for subscribing (now) to my Digability Announcement Mailing List and I will send you:. *A list of Yahoo's Secret Search Commands to help you get the most out of your Yahoo searches.

*Advanced notification of Digability Products. *Special offers and unadvertised specials that will only be announced on my mailing list. Join now! Send a blank email to digability_ebook-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and further instructions will arrive in email. **(I respect your privacy and will not sell your email address to an outside vendor.)

A big list of blog searchengines

2005-10-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

Name: 2RSS URL: http://www.2rss.com

Name: Bligz URL: http://www.blizg.com

Name: Blogarama URL: http://www.blogarama.com

Name: Blogdex URL: http://www.blogdex.net

Name: Blogdigger URL: http://www.blogdigger.com

Name: Bloghop URL: http://www.bloghop.com/

Name: Bloglines URL: http://www.bloglines.com **HIGHLY Recommended

Name: Blogmatrix URL: http://www.blogmatrix.com

Name: Blogrunner URL: http://www.blogrunner.com

Name: Blogsearchengine URL: http://www.blogsearchengine.com

Name: Blogstreet URL: http://www.blogstreet.com

Name: Blogtastic URL: http://www.blogstreet.com

Name: Blogvision URL: http://www.blogvision.com

Name: Blogwise URL: http://www.blogwise.com

Name: Bloogz URL: http://www.bloogz.com

Name: Boogieplay URL: http://www.boogieplay.com

Name: Daypop URL: http://www.daypop.com **Recommended

Name: Eatonweb URL: http://portal.eatonweb.com

Name: Fastbuzz URL: http://www.fastbuzz.com

Name: Feedster URL: http://www.feedster.com **HIGHLY Recommended

Name: Get Linked URL: http://fried-spaghetti.com

Name: Globeofblogs URL: http://www.globeofblogs.com

Name: Icerocket URL: http://www.licerocket.com **HIGHLY Recommended

NEW! Name: Memigo URL: http://www.memigo.com

Name: Pepys URL: http://pepys.akacooties.com

Name: Popdex URL: http://www.popdex.com

Name: Read A Blog URL: http://www.readablog.com

Name: Search4Blogs URL: http://www.search4blogs.com

Name: Search4RSS URL: http://www.search4rss.com

Name: Sindic8 URL: http://www.syndic8.com

Name: Technorati URL: http://www.technorati.com **HIGHLY Recommended

Name: Waypath URL: http://www.waypath.com

NEW! Name: Zopto URL: http://www.zopto.com

[If you like what I give away for free, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide to the Internet.]

Read Diane Propsner's Sourcing Success

2005-10-21T20:12:00.000-04:00

I recently subscribed to an interesting newsletter published by Recruiter-Guru Diane Propsner. Here is a snippet from issue #1.

Recently, I’ve noticed much talk (on-line within various recruiting forums) amongst corporate recruiters seeking to understand two, relatively new, corporate recruitment sourcing techniques, e-sourcing and phone-sourcing. In the first issue of Sourcing Success! I’ll define these techniques...

Read (and subscribe to): Sourcing Success

###

Podcasting Killed The Video Star

2005-10-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

On an earlier post - "Sourcing Candidates With A TV Guide", I mentioned how you can use Video Searchengines and Podcasts to find leads on technical candidates. (Actually any type of candidate, I just chose technical candidates as an example.) Well if you have tried it, liked it, and thought "Wowzers, what a neat-o trick!" Here are a few more resources that you might enjoy.

MSN Video http://video.msn.com Google Video http://video.google.com Podcast http://podcast.net PodSpider http://podspider.com Odeo http://www.odeo.com *(Thanks Ritesh! I did not know about this one. Singingfish http://singingfish.com Yahoo Audio Search http://audio.yahoo.search Yahoo Podcast Search http://podcasts.yahoo.com Tv Eyes http://www.tveyes.com Podscope http://podscope.com Alta Vista Video http://www.altavista.com/video/default The Open Video Project http://www.open-video.org All The Web - Video Search http://www.alltheweb.com/ *For those who don't understand the title of my post, it is a take-off of a popular 80's new wave tune "Video Killed The Radio Star." Click here for a link to the lyrics. If you want to hear the song, look it up on one fo the aforementioned searchengines. Be warned however, that the tune is hard to get out of your head once in. (wink) ###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out: "Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet"]

SOURCING SOUTH AFRICA

2005-10-21T07:43:00.000-04:00

Maybe its just me, but I dig Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Their accapella crooning speaks to something down deep into my soul. Maybe it was Joseph Shabala' singing or perhaps it was the melody of the music (more than likely it was the email somebody sent me), but something was calling me to South Africa. Specifically, I was being summoned to an African searchengine and (WoW!) so glad I did. Dear readers, it is my pleasure to introduce you to a nifty little engine you (probably) have never heard about - Funnel.

Funnel proudly searched (at this writing) 4,138,772 pages and documents from South African web pages and it does it right! Not sure how many of you are into international searches for talent, but if you are looking for candidates in South Africa, you must check Funnel out for yourself. I performed an elementary search for resumes using this search string: vitae "computer science" and 96 results came back.

Not impressed? I was when I saw how relevant the results were. On the first page 8 out of 10 results were just what I wanted to find. On the second page 6 of the 10 results were what I wanted with 4 being close, but not quite pefection. I wondered how I could tweak my results to get even more relevant search results. So I looked cover their help menu and took notes.

NOTES

1. "and" is assumed, so no need to add it in your search strings 2. Funnel ignores marks like "http" and ".co.za", as well as some numbers and letters, if they do not help in the search process. 3. Use quotes when searching for phrases. 4. Use the minus sign (-) to exclude words. 5. Use { } when creating a boolean "OR" command 6. You can perform complex boolean searches by manipulating the brackets { } and parenthesis ( ) symbols. 7. You can use the asterix (*) as a wildcard. 8. Capital letters are not important

Okay, so now that I have a bit of intel on Funnel's processes my searching should be a bit easier. I go at it again with increasingly better results.

Click a link to see for yourself.

{vitae cv "curriculum vitae" resume} "computer science" {vitae cv "curriculum vitae" resume} "computer science" -jobs {vitae cv "curriculum vitae" resume} "computer science" -jobs +university

It is also important to mention that in the Advanced Search of Funnel that you can limit your results to specific file formats, search specific domains and includ related keywords in your search. For example, a search for "cars" with the related keyword search tells Funnel to seek out car, cars, cara and others. (Hmmm... Is "Cara" another way of saying cars over there? I'm more than a little week in Afrikaans.) I think that Funnel does this automatically so you may have to opt out of it if you are trying to be specific. I say that because I tried a search for resumes but limited my query to Word documents only and noticed that above the search results (see screenshot below) were derivatives of Vitae, CV and computer. Certainly not a bad thing to automatically add associated keywords to you query (just ask Google).

So what is my opinion? In a nutshell... "Wow! This engine can search! It is easy to navigate and even offers an interactive map of South Africa. As more pages are indexed into its system, this good engine will only get better.

Digability Rating: Sourcers Dream (if you are recruiting in South Africa)

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

Sourcing with a library card...

2005-10-19T07:30:00.000-04:00

Check out this new website I found the other day! If you are a booklover then you will love the concept of this site. If you are a sourcer, you will grow to love it even more. Here is a snippet from their website to let you know what they are all about...

About ConnectViaBooks.com

It is ConnectViaBook's vision to be the favourite destination for booklovers. We want to provide an environment where readers can share their excitement from having read a great book and where everyone, through a passionate exchange of ideas, information and knowledge, can question, learn, grow and emerge not only wiser but also having made new friends from around the world. We believe that we can only achieve our vision if we provide the very best environment for readers to connect, discuss and share their excitement and passion for their books.

I read a little further to see what it is they have to offer their patrons.

Create multiple booklists
Publish your booklists on your website or in your blog
Link to your booklists
Get book recommendations from members who like the same type of books as you

Ooohh... My sourcer-sense started tingling after reading that! (Its sort of like a spider-sense, but without the spandex and webshooters.) So, I figure I would join up and see what I could see.

First of all, signing up was easy enough with 4 major steps. The first step was login, password, yadda-yadda... Second step was creating a booklist. (See below)

The default to name the Booklist was "My First Booklist." Okay easy enough as well, but I wanted to do something clever. Instead of going with the default, I chose to title it "TechReader1" and then I added "C++" in the keywords slot. Why? "Elementary my dear Watson," I say to... umm.. nobody, but I digress.

Connect via books is set up to bring booklovers together. As I am (with this example) trying to find some software developers skilled in C++, I begin looking for books on C++ that I may find booklovers who read C++ books. Presumably these C++ book readers are software developers who code in C++. (Who else would be reading these books?")

Okay, so once my criteria was entered, I get back a list of books covering C++ technology. Connect Via Books (heretofore referred to as "CVB") wants me to create a booklist, so I choose 4 books at random. Once these 4 books are chosen, a purple booklist appears on the right side of the screen. (See arrow below)

Once I have my booklist, I go to step 3 where I enter in profile information such as my location, a few words about my background, et cetera. I scan to the bottom of the page and notice something I liked. Like the social networking site "Linked In," I have the choice of setting parameters on who can contact me and why. Among the choices are:

I would like to be contacted by people who:

[ ] Who want to give me a job [ ] Who want to offer me consulting work

Very cool! (See below) I start to get excited about the possibilities.

On this last step they ask for a mug shot. (see below) Since I am only experimenting, I decline the invitation.

Now with all that business done, I decide to do a bit of searching. After getting my account validated by clicking a link found in the email CVB sent me, I was ready for action. I go back to CVB and my automatic homepage is waiting on me. I was pleasantly surprised that as soon as I arrived, CVB had read my profile (someone in Atlanta who reads C++ books) and introduced me to another person in Atlanta (or at least mentions Atlanta in their profile) who reads C++ books. Neato!

Well, I am encouraged a bit now, so I decide to go for it. I click the "Search" tab (under the CVB logo) and leave my search parameters as wide as I can. I set my options to find people anywhere in the world, who are open to receiving job offers, consultancy work and (for good measure) open to relevant ventures.

I get back 3 results. Not a landlslide, but valuable nonetheless. I began to wonder if my results were limited to the C++ book readers who happenned to read the books I chose in my list. I also wondered if these three CVB members appeared in the results because of their proximity to me. Not sure, something to check at a later date.

Anyways, I click the first link and find the following profile. (See below) Let's say that after reading his profile that I want to contact him and that he has indicated that he is open to recieving a recruiter call. I click the "send message" link and hope to land a potential hire.

Drat! Looks like I have to pay to play. (see below) No worries... Everyone has to eat. To contact this person I would have to get a premium membership which is (roughly) $7.27 a month. (CVB is located in the UK)

So is CVB a good tool for sourcing? I think it has serious potential. Mostly because it reminds me so much of "Linked In" in its earlier stages. I like its basic functionality and the fact that you can save profiles of different members in a folder.

Digability rating: One to watch

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

Ummm... What does PHP mean?

2005-10-18T21:56:00.000-04:00

Okay, imagine that you are a 3rd party recruiter and anxious to please your potential client. You ask them what they need and they say that they want a PHP Guru. You say "sure," but secretly you are clueless as to what PHP is. Sure you could search on the acronym, but what about those geeks who spell out the unabbreviated term on their resume? My advice, leave no stone unturned. This is when you should consult Acronmya.

Acronyma is an online dictionary with a Google like interface. (And is there any other type interface out there? If there is, I can't tell.) Just punch in the acronym and before you can say "contingency fee," you have the answer. Actually you will have several answers. In our example (below), I am searching for the true meaning of the acronym "PHP." This is what I got.

Professional Hypertext Preprocessor is the answer I was looking for. (I have the arrow pointing to it.) But did you know PHP also means "Page Home Page," "Personal Home Page" and "Parents Helping Parents?" Okay, I did not know either, however I do see a good use for this tool. Enjoy!

Thank you Ritesh!

2005-10-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

Ritesh over at Sourcing-Recruiting Sourcing Secrets gave me a heads up on Yahoo's new "Site Explorer" product and demonstrated it by finding 560 resumes from the Hotjobs domain and 51 resumes from nurse-recruiter.com. Not bad.

Check it out at: Sourcing - Recruiting Sources Secrets: Site Explorer From Yahoo

Rollyo - Searchengine Taste Test #2

2005-10-17T08:29:00.000-04:00

I love my family. I remind myself of that often during roadtrips that extend over the length of the average DVD. My patience, just as with every American Dad is tested every summer on America's highways. Random bathroom breaks, fighting in the backseats and the inevitable, "Are we there yet?" are occurences I can depend on. Experience has taught me effective countermeasures for these happenings, but there is one event that still challenges me. I hate asking for directions.

My wife is convinced that it is a deficiency in the Y chromosone, if she is correct I can not say. What is certain however is that when I am making really good time, more often than not I am off course. Usually my wife is the first to notice this (Mrs. Stroud has a spider-sense for such things.), but there are times when she has slipped off to sleep and I am alone in my awareness of how lost we are. Being a slave to male pride, I begin plotting on ways to secure direction without alerting my wife and a storm of sarcasm beginning with, "I told you so." Usually I pretend to get thirsty, or stop for gas and dash into a gas station. As nonchalantly as I can, I ask the clerk for the quickest way to our destination. That is when another problem arises, can I trust who I ask to give the information I need?

I sometimes find this an issue online. For example, let's say I am looking into the actions of a certain company and I want to keep a close eye on what they are doing now and (hopefully) what they are planning next. How do I distinguish reliable intel from rumors, lies and innuendo? Answer: Rollyo

Rollyo is a searchengine with a twist. Your search options are to choose a "trusted guide" who has created a series of weblinks that they feel are trustworthy. Now when you do a search for intel against their list of aggregated websites, you are getting (presumably) a higher grade of information.

Let me show you an example of what I mean. Let's visit www.Rollyo.com. (Below is a screenshot of their homepage. )

Let's say I want to keep an eye on Google. I start off by checking to see if there are any blogrolls already created on the subject. I do this by clicking the "Explore searchrolls" link. (See the arrow below?)

That link takes us to a searchpage where I enter in my search term - "Google" and then I hit the "Go" button. (But you knew that already didn't you?)

My search results bring up quite a few searchrolls and not all of them are stellar. For example, I check and see that some rolls only have a link to the Google homepage. Others had a link to things totally unrelated to Google and there were some that I found quite interesting. Let me show you what I mean by comparing two different types of searchrollers: Badrinath Srinath and Kenneth Clayton. (In the screenshot below I am pointing them out in the search results.)

Badrinath's Searchroll is called "All About Google" interesting enough. I click that link and a small window opens up revealing the websites Badrinath has chosen as being authoritative on the subject. (See below)

Not bad! I see links to news sources that cover the entire search industry and blogs that focus on rumors concerning Google. I then click Kenneth Clayton's "Blogging Google" searchroll and find that among his links were Google employees with a blog as well as a few rumor blogs about Google. (No screenshot - sorry.)

So what do I do with this? I have to decide if I want to search on Google according to news and rumors (Badrinath's Searchroll) or rumors and insight from Google employees (Kenneth's Searchroll). Let's say I flip a coin and decide to go with Kenneth's Searchroll. I enter "podcast" because I am curious as to what Google is doing in that area. Soooo... I click Kenneth's "Blogging Google" link and enter podcast as a search term. (See the arrow below?)

The search results come back and after scrolling through the sources I find information to a deal with Real Networks and a story on a pending Google media device (see arrow). Just what I wanted to know! And just like that, instead of searching through tons of sources, I have restricted my search to only the best sources (according to Kenneth Clayton that is).

I like Rollyo for the reason cited above and also because it helps me identify experts in diverse fields. Let's say that I am looking for a developer proficient in... umm... javascript. Yeah, let's go with that. I head back to the "Explore Searchrolls" link at the top of the page and do a search for "javascript." Among the results, I see the searchroll - "JavaScript rolled by Garret Dimon." I click on "Garret Dimon" and look at the information he added to his profile. Not much, but at first glance I see all I need, a link to his homepage. (See arrow below)

I go over his website and find this quote, "I’m an Information Architect with Bright Corner where I focus on usability, accessiblity, and application interface design" and his business card with his email and phone number. Kind of groovy, yes?

So what is my final verdict?

Rollyo is a cool tool in the making for mining competitive intel and finding leads to potential candidates. Since Rollyo is just out of the gate the results are somewhat limiting. Be that as it may, I recommend giving Rollyo a peek and rolling a search of your own. Digability rating: One to watch

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

The Art of Shakespeare Recruiting

2005-10-14T22:16:00.000-04:00

Many thanks for the kind words on my 2nd Digability ebook. (You know who you are - wink.) Per the suggestion of a "fan" I am posting notification of my ebook here as well.

Its incredible but true, recruiters often overlook the most obvious (and more excellent) candidates in search of neatly formatted resumes. Don't let that happen to you! Why focus solely on "possibilities" when you can recruit emerging leaders and industry experts?

One of the best-kept secrets among internet sourcers is revealed with "The Art of Shakespeare Recruiting." This simple, yet powerful technique will teach you:

How to find leading authorities through authors, online publishers and aspiring writers.
How to leverage published authors for additional referrals
How to source even more candidate leads from online publishers
How to use a list of rare finds and lesser-known resources to help you excel in this technique

And more...

Download your ebook now!

Are you skeptical?

Consider this quote from a recent article..

“Companies are finding it more difficult to recruit the professionals they need. They are engaged in a war for talent.” SOURCE: The Star

If the candidates you are presenting do not excite your client and you find yourself growing frustrated, do something different! Give them the best of the best and save yourself time and aggravation.

Download your ebook now!

"The Art Of Shakespeare Recruiting" is available as an ebook only. Get your e-book for $19.95. Each purchase is processed by Clickbank on a secure server.

The Searchengine Taste Test

2005-10-14T08:05:00.000-04:00

You ever see those commercials where two drinks are compared by a consumer? I'm thinking of those Folgers coffee commercials when the narrator says, "These people don't know it yet but we replaced the gourmet coffee normally served here with Folgers brand coffee. Will they notice a difference? Let's take a look."

You know what happens next? Of course you do, the customers can't tell the difference. (Some even comment on how great the taste is.) Once it is revealed the true identity of the branded coffee, some say (more or less) I am going to drink Folgers from now on.

This got me to thinking, "What if we could do this with search engines?"

Most folks know about MSN, Google and Yahoo for searching the internet. However, how many know about the hundreds (maybe even thousands) of other search engines out there all vying for a shot at the title #1 Searchengine? (Or at least those aspiring to get in the searchengine ballpark?)

From time to time I will conduct my own taste tests on lesser-known search engines. My analysis will be from a recruiter's perspective and focus on the amount and quality of resumes and leads found. It will also include a coolness factor that says, even if I don't like the results I gotta give props to a feature or function it offers. Such was the case with an interesting product (referenced on Researchbuzz) called "DUMBFIND."

What I like about Dumbfind is the way they set up their searches for relevance. How? There are 2 parameters for searching, the ever-popular keyword search and also topic search. Check out these examples:

The following 3 searches help illustrate the difference between Dumbfind and other search engines:

'opera' on Google

'opera' and 'music' on Google

keyword 'opera' with topic 'music' on Dumbfind

Dumbfind is in Beta, so its unfair to expect perfection. Be that as it may, I experimented with many variations for diverse requirements and had better results when I ignored the Topic function entirely and performed searches along these lines.

java C++ unix resume.html

engineer semiconductor resume.html

hospitality resume.html

What I found consistently was that the better results came when I used one or two keywords with the term "resume.html." Also of interest, at this writing there were no special syntax commands I could cite. The "and" command is automatic and quotes (for example, "keyword phrase") are allowed as well.

As far as using Dumbfind for resume sourcing, it could be a lot better. Yet, it did produce a few results that I did not see in the big three. (Yahoo, MSN, Google)

Suggestions:

Dumbfind, add a list of Topics (like "music") on your website that I can search against.
Add Resumes, Career or HR Topics to your listing

Digability rating: Honorable Mention

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

I RECOMMEND: PageBites

2005-10-12T14:00:00.000-04:00

A buddy of mine asked me today if I was familiar with Pagebites. Here is a reprint of an interview posted on my Jobseekers Revenge blog back in August. Enjoy...

I had the good fortune of interviewing Ralph Harik, CEO and Founder of PageBites, Inc. In my opinion, this is a company that recruiters and job seekers will want to keep a close eye on. Expect more from these trailblazers in the near future.

Q: What was the inspiration behind PageBites?

We wanted to create a product that would improve the lives of our siblings, our relatives and our friends. After considering many ideas, we decided that matching people to jobs is a difficult and challenging problem that needs to be addressed.

Q: How long has it been in existence?

We have been thinking about semi-structured search for some time now, but we have been working on this specific project for only a few months.

Q: What is your vision for PageBites?

PageBites offers both resume and job search. We are a destination for both employers and job seekers.

For employers, PageBites offers a single website to search for qualified candidates. Employers can also contact us to have their job openings included in our job index.

For job seekers, PageBites offers high exposure for their resumes (we do not charge employers any fees to use our site). PageBites also offers job seekers the ability to search for job openings that are aggregated from a variety of job boards.

PageBites is a vertical search company. Our goal is to build products that will improve people's lives. At the moment we are concentrating on job and resume search because it is a problem that is important to many people.

Q: PageBites seems to be funded by advertising so far. Will it always be free?

Searching for resumes and for jobs on PageBites will always be free. Posting your resume will also always be free.

The current business model, where employers must pay to search for resumes, is broken. There is no reason why employers should be paying hundreds of dollars to access a database of people who are looking for work. Smaller companies might not have the resources to pay these expensive fees. Free access to qualified candidates should be available to all employers.

Q: What is the advantage of using PageBites as a recruiter?

Unlike many other career sites, our service is free. We do not charge recruiters any money to search for resumes, and we do not require users to login before searching the site.

In addition, PageBites enables recruiters to easily find the candidates that best match the requirements of a job opening. A recruiter can restrict the resume search results to a particular location. Recruiters can also restrict search results to a specific skill or a particular degree. For example, you can search for people who attended Stanford and know C++ by typing "skills:C++ education:Stanford".

Q: What are the advantages to a job seeker for using PageBites?

PageBites aggregates job listings from a number of boards. Job seekers can, with one search, find a greater number of job openings.

We also allow job seekers to post their resume on PageBites. Each user is given a directory on PageBites with 10 MB of space to post resumes, cover letters, portfolios, etc.

Posting is made easy through the use of a rich text editor. This provides users with a familiar interface to input their resumes. The rich text editor also offers users the freedom to design and format their resumes without needing to know any HTML. In addition, users that already have a resume online are able to submit the URL of their online resume to PageBites.

Q: Is your website still in beta? When can users expect a big promotional push?

PageBites is still in Beta. We will be releasing more useful features in the coming months. We are continuously improving the site and we are always testing out new ideas.

Q: What have you not told me about PageBites?

We are really interested in receiving feedback from users. We would love to hear from both recruiters and job seekers.

###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

Recruiting With Fonzie

2005-10-10T08:02:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'll admit it, once upon a time I wanted to be Arthur Fonzerelli. And I bet somewhere inside every male recruiter is that same innate desire. Consider this, what was "The Fonze" most known for? Yes, it was being "cool." And what did he do with his cool?

Attract women.

Lots of women.

And once he had them, he was able to whisper sweet nothings in their receptive ears. Very cool-a-mundo...

Now in a previous life, I worked in a searchfirm sourcing tech and exec talent for start-ups. (Some called it "The Dot-Com Era;" I remember it more as "The Age of Acquarius.") Part of my gig was to "dial-for-dollars" where I would call into a company and recruit key personnel or drum up business. I must admit however, working the phone was not my most favorite thing. I preferred shmoozing in person and surfing the web for intel and I was very good at that, but somehow I knew something was missing from my recruiting strategy. It was not until I was flipping the channels one late night that I found the solution in slick hair, leather jacket and a slight tap no jukebox could refuse. Nickelodeon was playing a marathon of the vintage Happy Days comedy series and each episode focused on Fonzie.

I noticed something about Fonzie. He never chased after women. They always came to him and once they arrived (Ayyy...) it was an opportunity to spend time with Mr. Cool himself. Maybe it was because I was half-asleep or maybe it was the cold pizza and chicken I just ate, but Fonzie shouted something through the television.

"Ay-yo Jim!" Fonzie said.

"Hey Fonzie, Ayyy!!!"I replied with my thumbs up.

"Don't do that."

"Sorry."

"You know what Jim?" Fonzie said as he pushed back his hair with a thin comb. "You should recruit like I do."

"Ummm... okay. How do I do that?"

"Don't chase after talent, but get the talent to chase after you."

"Ummm... okay. How do I do that?"

Well, he told me and after I repeated it back to him for clarity, he replied with "Exact-a-mundo."

"Thanks Fonzie," I said. "I will."

And then he faded back into the screen, a faint "Ayyy!" echoed in the room. Or maybe it was te reurn on tv. Either way, I had a new strategy to play out back then and now one to share with you as well.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Look through your rolodex, resume database or network of contacts and find three experts in the same field. It does not matter what industry they serve, just as long as it is a field you recruit for. Ask them to participate in a forum discussion. Explain that by presenting their expertise, they are both promoting themselves and increasing their perceived market value. In this way, you may be able to secure their assistance for free.

2. Set up a conference call with your three experts and plan on discussing a controversial topic related to the industry they serve. Plan on managing the forum by playing the friendly host that keeps the chatter alive.

3. Promote your conference call to people in your database, rolodex and network. (Ask them to spread the word to their peers.) Send notice to Association leaders who operate in the industry being discussed. Explain to all concerned that they will be listening to experts pontificate ad nauseum and that they will be able to forward questions in advance to the conference.

4. Create a webform that collects contact information and some relevant data such as: Employer, Job Title, Industry Interests, Etc.

5. Have the call for say... umm... an hour (Not too long, not too short, just right.) and maybe 15 minutes more for Q &A. Oh! Be sure to record the conference call as well.

6. Follow-up after the call with an email and/or phone call. Let them know that there is a link available for downloading the conference call in its entirety. Keep the link active for a short time, maybe 3 days or so. Afterwards, announce its availability on your website but grant access only to those who fill out a form. Of course, you will follow-up on each one.

So how is this recruiting like Fonzie?

By creating relevant content that people want to hear, you are attractiing talent to you. Of course, once you have them, you have a receptive audience that you can whisper sweet nothings too. For example, "What do you think of the call? We are planning new calls in the future, what topics would interest you the most? By the way, I happen to be recruiting for people who operate in this space. Can you refer someone to me?"

"Sounds intriguing Jim," you say, "and a bit expensive."

"Not at all," I reply. "Let's do the numbers."

Expense #1: Conference Call set-up Cost: Free **With Free Conference you can manage a call for up to 100 people for 3 hours for free.

Expense #2: Recording the Conference Call. Cost: $38.94 with Teletool 2000 **Simply connect this tool to your phone and computer and record away. Easy installation.

Expense #3: Web form for collecting data. Cost: $19.95 (monthly); 1st 30 days are free with List Builder

TOTAL: Approximately $60.00

So if the price is right, what's stopping you from trying this idea out? As far as recruiting and/or business development goes, this strategy could very well be the route to some "Happy Days" of your own.

P.S. If you really like this type of thing, do yourself a favor and pick up Seth Godin's Permission Marketing. You'll be glad you did! ###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

Sourcing Candidates With A TV Guide

2005-10-06T08:03:00.000-04:00

Hmmm... I thought this was an interesting article.

New Video Search Sites Offer Glimpse of Future TV

Here is a snippet...

The most recent version of this customized Internet TV idea comes from Blinkx, a San Francisco online search company that plans to activate MyBlinkx TV today at www.blinkxTV.com. The site is supposed to work much like a standard search engine, prompting users to type words or phrases into a search box.

But when the user types in, say, "big wave surfing," instead of displaying links to Web pages, the site starts rolling a string of video clips most relevant to that topic. Users can fast-forward, rewind, pause the video and click a button to save the channel. When they return to it, the technology refreshes the channel with newer, more relevant clips.

Blinkx, which last month was the subject of rumors, so far unsubstantiated, that it was on the verge of being acquired by the News Corporation, operates an Internet search engine that is particularly facile with audio and video. Like Yahoo, Google and other search engines, Blinkx relies on text descriptions of video or audio clips to determine whether, say, a cooking show segment is a good match for someone's search for "chicken soup."

But Blinkx also scans clips from sites all over the Web, using speech recognition software to index all the words in each clips. The result, Blinkx argues, is more precise matches to a user's search.

Really? Did I read that correctly?! Not only can Blinkx search video via text descriptions, but also catalogs audio clips? (Pardon me a moment)

This is how I look when I get **a new sourcing idea.** Go figure...

Think about this. How many technology tv shows are out there? Or rather, how many news shows report on technology? (A bunch!) Now, how many podcasts and/or online radio shows are there focusing on technology. (A whole bunch more!) Well if Blinkx searches television content, video content from the web and audio content from the web. It could be that I now have access to TONS of passive candidates that I have not had access to before. Let me show you what I mean.

(Insert the first few notes of the Star Trek theme here)

1. Let's go to the Blinkx Video website! Now in the screenshot below we see the Blinkx homepage and an arow pointing to the search box. For giggles, I enter the terms: java "software engineer"

2. Below is a screenshot of what the search results look like. I have also pointed out a couple of things to fine tune your results a bit more. Arow #1 points to a slide bar. On one end of the bar is "Date" and on the other is "Relevance." I slide the bar all the way to the right because I am least interested in when the content aired. Arrow #2 is the "Safe Filter" to keep naughty things away. I suggest switching that off in your searches because if I am looking for technical terms (ie C++) it is highly unlikely porno will pop up. Also, I want to be able to judge for myself what appropriate verses what Blinkx things is appropriate. (Would Blinkx block sites that mention Magna Cum Laude?)

3. Let's zoom in one of the results shall we? The arrow is pointing to a Podcast called "InfoTalk and in this particular episode, InfoTalk interviews "Amr Awadallah - Sr. Engineer and Phd Student at Stanford." Wow! He may be someone that I might want to track down and pitch an opportunity to. Maybe I will click the link and listen tosome of what he has to say? It could be that I will learn something that will make it easier for me to recruit him.

4. Oh! I almost forgot. Blinkx has RSS feeds attached to their search results. Cool! Now I can add this search to my newsreader and get updates when new material comes in. Groovy!

Well that's it for now! Hope you like it and happy hunting. - Jim Stroud

###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

Sourcing by shout-outs

2005-09-19T12:06:00.000-04:00

If you are like me, you are always on the hunt for techie talent. I came across this neat little trick just the other day.

Check out this resume I found on the web. Looks just like of a ba-zillion resumes online right? That's what I thought until I scrolled down to the bottom of the page.

I noticed the phrase "Site powered by Apache." Looks like this guy Garrick was giving some someone a shout-out. But who or what is "Apache?" I figured it was a server of some sort, but wanted to be sure, so I clicked the "Site powered by Apache" link and was taken to the Apache Software Foundation. (See below)

After reviewing the welcome message, I learned that the Apache Software Foundation provides support for a community of open-source software projects. Hmm... What if I was looking for techies with a background in open source? Let me hop over to MSN Search and experiment abit.

I input the following search string

(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by apache"

This string tells MSN Search to check the title of web documents in your index for the word "resume" and check the url of web documents in your index for the word resume. And while you're at it MSN Search, check to see if the phrase "powered by apache" is anywhere to be found on the web documents you find that happen to have "resume" in the URL or title. These are the results I was served.

Not bad, 48 results (mostly resumes) with the term "powered by apache" in them. Now this had me wondering something else. What are some other ways I can leverage this strategy to fine tune my sourcing? I usually see the term "powered by" as indicative of the type of server being used. Forexample, "Powered by MySQL." Hmmm... Let's try something...

I input the following search string:

(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by mysql"

I get a few bites which is enough to keep me interested. If I was looking for someone with a background in MySQL, who better than someone who hosts their resume on a MySQL server? Jeepers, I think I am on to something. If you think I am too, you might want to try some of these strings:

(intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by Windows" (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by zope" (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by python" (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by debian" (intitle:resume OR inurl:resume) "powered by linux" If you come across any others that may prove useful to your fellow recruiters, please leave me a comment and I will add them to a master list that I will ditribute later.

Happy Hunting!

###

[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]

Recruiting genius, or just dumb luck? You decide...

2005-09-17T21:00:00.000-04:00

Although this article is pretty dated, I was still able to get some valuable insight... "Bungie recruiting for Halo 3?" http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=58158

Here is a clip…

"A report from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this week claims that Bungie is gearing up for development of a third installment in the Halo first-person shooter series with a serious recruitment drive. Drawing attention to job adverts on the developer's website - including openings for an AI engineer, art production manager and lead character animator - the Seattle P-I claims that the Redmond-based studio is actually seeking to nearly double its staff, recruiting for a total of 60 positions. Microsoft today declined to comment, sticking to the company line that it does not comment on "rumours or speculation"…

There is so much power in rumors, speculation and educated guesses (as anyone who works in the tabloid press can attest) that often goes untapped when it comes to recruiting. Consider the rumor of Halo #3. Is it true? Is it false? The correct answer is… it does not matter. Once I read this I immediately thought that it would A) spark sales of Halo 1 & Halo 2 and B) Get Game developers salivating for the chance to code Halo 3. I wonder how many gamers read this same article, or heard the (I’m sure) resulting tidal wave of word-of-mouth, and rushed to apply or buzz their contacts inside the company to ask about it. (And if someone calls in to ask about a position, surely they can be convinced to take a closer look?)

You know what the best part of this is? Game Developers do not grow on trees and to find really good ones, well, it’s an art form. Yet, with one rumor, the entire gaming community is buzzing and among them game developers. How much did this cost Bungie? I speculate, not much, if anything at all. A whisper to a blogger here, a sly comment in a forum and ka-boom!!! Instant buzz and queries from qualified (or semi-qualified developers) chomping at the bit (resumes in hand) over an unverified rumor. And get this; spam did not get them to come. Cold-calling into the company did not sway them. All who came (and I speak in speculation), applied on their own without a recruiter’s seduction.

Like I said, recruiting genius!!! Or, dumb luck? You decide…

Recruiting as entertainment...

2005-09-17T17:52:00.000-04:00

Are you hip to The Daughters of Freya? Its a mystery novel that is delivered to your email in short spurts everyday. Its a very cool concept that had me thinking. How cool would it be to merge recruiting with entertainment? What if someone wrote an email mystery about a junior, but talented programmer who uncovered irregularities in some computer code or network drive? The programmer would post his/her observations on their blog and ask for help in discerning what could be happenning. As the mystery continues the technical clues become more elaborate and only the sharpest geeks can provide the answers. Sound too fantastic to work? I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I can point to a few noteworthy examples of combining entertainment with recruiting.

1. The US Army: Downloadable games, reality shows, online chat, user-friendly interface... Kudos to the masterminds behind this one. After cruising through this website I almost signed up (wink!)

2. Rob's Dog: A simple (or was it?) challenge was given by Microsoft's Central Sourcing Manager to online researchers and curiosity seekers.

"My name is Rob McIntosh. What is the name of my old dog in Australia?.....See if you can find it and tell me how you got there."

How many diehard researchers could ignore it? Many tried, many failed, but the end result was a tidal wave of publicity for Microsoft's recruiting department and the names of several online sourcers who met the challenge. Pretty slick Rob...

3. Google billboards challenging any and all geeks to resolve a riddle that only engineers could crack.

Each of these ways were effective means of recruiting because it spoke directly to the intended audience, intrigued the intended audience into action and as a result, the intended audience not only repsonded but discussed the events with their peers. A wonderful thing as it increased the impact of the recruiting strategy.

Now despite the effectiveness of these techniques, they have yet to become an industry standard. This kind of innovative thinking seems to be an anomaly in the world of HR and I (really) wish it was not. Where is it written that recruiting has to be boring? Where is it written that the only way to advertise a job is with Monster? I would like to pose two rhetorical questions to my fellow recruiters. Forget about Monster for a minute, jobfairs and even employee referrals and consider, "What is the most creative thing you can do to recruit candidates by non-traditional means?" And my second question is, "Why haven't you done it?"