The Candidates

Module 3: Identifying, Sourcing, and Selecting Candidates

This section considers possible ways to identify candidates for your clients. There are multiple methods you could use to locate the best candidates for openings, but knowing where to look just isn't enough. Before you'll be ready to present candidates to a client's opening, you need to develop the ability to identify and evaluate them technically and personally.

The Multigent Applicant Tracking application gives you the ability to store and retrieve information relevant to sourcing and selecting candidates for client openings.  The application provides a complete online suite of contact management and database software to support your recruiting practice. If you have an alternative database already in place, or if you are considering the purchase of one, you should be thorough in your evaluation process. The applications you choose to support your recruiting efforts are extremely important to your success

Basic Strategies

• Be thorough and focus on your objective;
• Represent your client�s organization and their opportunities with pride and enthusiasm;
• Identify a potential candidate, secure their Career Portfolio information and resume. Immediately upon receipt, consult your candidate in reference to their resume. If needed, recommend a reformat or re-write of the resume;
• Adjusting the resume to meet the opportunity.

Searching Externally

The following is a suggested procedure for searching externally for candidates. There are many methods to seek out candidates externally. Going direct into companies to recruit candidates for your position is one of the most traditional methods. There are multiple (pay for search) candidate sites throughout the Internet. There are also multiple free Associations and Network Groups available for acquiring candidates as well. When searching for candidates externally, keep these things in mind.

• Targeting industries
• Targeting companies
• Targeting locations

Targeting Industries

Select business segments and business operations within targeted industries and companies where the right candidates might be located. Begin by examining your existing database to determine which general business operations, such as finance, high technology, corporate management, etc. could provide you with the best potential prospects.

If you don't have an existing database to farm, locate business information through the considerable resources available to you via the Internet; such as free job boards with similar job postings, industry list books, newspapers and other media. Most importantly, get referrals from all of your existing contacts', clients' and candidates'.

Targeting Companies

Once you have identified the target industries and companies, you are ready to begin. Be sure to focus on companies and industries with activities that would make them more likely to net the desired results.

Start by developing relative Department Tier Structures within these targeted companies. Make your marketing presentations to the pertinent hiring authorities who could most likely assist you. Focus on building lasting rapport during all your marketing and recruiting presentations.

Targeting Locations

Develop a targeted approach.

• Market in specific geographic regions where your best prospects are located;
• Study any past placement data, as in the state, the city, the zip code, and addresses of your candidates, hiring authorities and or companies;
• Find and build information on businesses and people located in these specific geographic areas creating candidate and company profiles as you progress.
• Refer to past jobs with similarity that could have potential candidates attached.

If you don't have past data to analyze, use the Internet. There is a wealth of information relating to companies and individuals to be found there. There are great sites with management, financial and other specific information about industries and companies throughout the Internet.

You will need information to get the job done, so you will need to either purchase it, or do the research required to obtain it.

Developing Companies and Contacts

There are several ways to develop company lists and contacts within the companies. These include

• By Industry
• By Geographic area
• By Size
• By Company Type or Site
• By Personnel Description
• By Change in Business

Selecting by Industry

You can use the Industry Classification established by the U.S. Government to pinpoint specific lines of business where specialized candidates may work that possess the skills your clients may desire. Conducting a search using this method will help you to isolate and analyze any type of company and or industry where targeted contacts within the companies are likely to be.

Selecting by Geographic Area

To penetrate different markets within any geographic region, identify and select the specific locations desired. Geographic searches can narrow your target area and provide information about regional hiring trends, skills within a regional force, or what type of talent a client may look for in each local market. Your process should allow you to search by specific geographic location. Here are some simple geographic components.

• City
• State
• Region
• Country
• Telephone Area Codes
• Zip Codes

Selecting by Size

Selecting companies by their size is very important. Many jobs require experience and sills developed within a certain size of company. If you need to find a candidate who has worked in a company of a particular size, you need the ability to search and select targeted companies based on this type of information. Set up your system to allow you to search by size.

• Annual sales volume
• Number of divisions and the locations of each
• Number of employees at each location
• Total number of employees

Selecting by Company Type or Site

Requirements may direct your efforts toward specific company types or sites. These may include business types or sites such as

• corporate headquarters
• branches
• subsidiaries
• manufacturing divisions
• single-location companies
• new startups.

Having the ability to search by any of these when targeting new companies and potential candidates within them is essential. Set up your system to identify the specific type or size of the company.

Selecting by Personal Description

When searching for candidates and hiring authorities, you need the ability to search for them by their exact personal business profile. Set up your system to allow you to store and search by the following

• Functional departmental (Finance/Accounting)
• Job Title (Financial Reporting Manager)
• Education (MBA)
• Certification (CPA)

Selecting by Change in Business

Companies in the process of change or restructuring can provide definite possibilities to identify candidates and it may also be an excellent way to cultivate new job openings created due to the change or restructuring. If the company's stock is traded publicly, the market news will generally cover these events.

Reading the business section of the newspaper or researching the business sites online will provide you with up to date information on change within local and national companies. Seek out companies which are in the change mode.

For example: XYZ has recently hired a new CEO. This could mean tremendous change within this company. If you are interested in becoming part of their changing situation, find out more.

Gathering and Storing Business Information

Gathering and storing business information is a critical element of finding candidates. You need to keep accurate records of your research and how you achieve results�doing this will help you repeat your success again and again.

The Database

One of the most important resources for a recruiter is their database. The database is a place where the recruiter can establish and store information on public, private, and international organizations, and the people within them. It should contain

• Company structure
• Financial information (i.e., viability)
• Sales information
• Employee information
• Ownership information

This information is very important when a recruiter wants to market their services to decision makers within the company. It is also vital when the recruiter is preparing a candidate for an interview with the company. In addition, it is the warehouse where they can store and extract all their candidate information. Without a place to store and extract information on companies and candidates, a recruiter is severely limited.

Company Information

There are many aspects of a company to be stored in your database.

General Information

Research and store subsidiary and parent company information, such as

• company name
• address
• telephone and fax numbers
• email and Internet addresses
• company status (private, public, or international)
• finances
• personnel
• services
• geographical location
• state of incorporation
• ticker/stock exchange symbol
• company's outside venders and service providers
• IT solutions providers
• Auditors
• outside consultants
• outsource partners
• bankers
• insurance carriers
• legal firms
• pension managers
• transfer agents.

Infrastructure

Identifying the infrastructures, such as headquarters, divisions, plant operations, and all other related components within a given company is very important. Many companies have complex structural designs and they are always in a constant state of change. Understanding this information is vital.

To effectively consult your candidates you need to be aware of the structural information about the companies you deal with. When you know how the companies are structured, it gives you a better understanding of the marketplace and the opportunities.

The company information in your database should give you the ability to identify the parent company and all related operations. Create linkage within your database to provide all the locations associated with a larger corporation or parent company. This information clarifies the corporate reporting structure and enables you to better understand the responsibilities and reporting structures of all management personnel.

Corporate and Subsidiaries

Research and store detailed corporate data such as

• company founders
• year founded
• business descriptions
• ownership percentage
• revenues
• business interests
• product brands
• Industry
• fund raising information
• computer systems
• software applications
• names of such key personnel such as

• board of directors
• CEOs
• financial officers
• operations officers
• sales and marketing officers
• technology officers
• human resources officers
• all hiring authorities and managers.

Financial

Research and store financial data such as

• fiscal year-ends
• general assets and liabilities
• pension assets
• net income/earnings
• net worth
• sales
• annual revenues
• banking relationships
• insurance companies
• venture capital partners.

Associations

Associations have a tremendous influence on both industry and government. Research and store information on the business affiliations of elected officers, committee chairmen, and governing board members of all the leading professional and trade associations across the country. You can access these names by using search criteria such as

• association names
• annual budgets
• number of members and employees
• acronyms
• geographical locations
• activities.

Other accessible data on associations includes

• publications
• mailing list contacts
• tax status
• name changes
• mergers.

Company Searches

Your company information should be structured so it can be searched by categories. It is best if you have the capability to use these criteria either individually or simultaneously. The following is an example of a database structured into specific search categories for a given company. When a command associated with the category is entered, the system would then direct the user to deeper subcategorizes where they could further specify their search:

Company Name	City/State/Zip	Year Founded
Company Number	Area Code	Owned by Parent
Outside Service Name	Fiscal Month	Ticker Symbol
Product Type	Personal Name	Classification/Type
Number of Employees	Country/Zone	Job Title/Function
Keyword	Industry	State of Incorporation
Computer Hardware	Text	Database
Liabilities	Assets	Net Worth
Outside Classification Type	Sales/Revenue/Billings	Earnings

User Friendly Search Features

There are a number of ways to easily search your database. These include

• word fragments
• Industry Classification

Using Word Fragments and Combinations

It is helpful if you have the ability to conduct searches using word fragments and to combine terms and/or concepts ( by "and," "or," and "and not") using Boolean logic capabilities.

SIC Codes

SIC descriptions and codes are standardized and defined by the U.S. Government Office of Management and Budget). If your business is located in the United States of America, and you intend to do your primary business in the U.S., it is advisable to designate the types of companies within your database environment, and the corresponding company search capabilities within, by using SIC codes.

Data Formats

Data formatting enables you to customize data according to your individual requirements. You could also attach other options such as save, display, and print options:

• Brief Format
• Company Mailing Label Format
• Detailed Format
• Dynamic Custom Format
• Hierarchical Format
• Pre-Set Custom Format
• Standard Format

Simplify Searches

Make your search process more efficient by creating indexes containing information usable for generalized queries. Users at all levels of systems expertise can achieve successful and positive results when the system is designed properly:

• Easy Menu System
• Online Help
• Detailed Screen Prompts
• Common Language-Based Search Terms

Import/Export Features

Downloading into any ASCII-compatible word processing application and importing comma-delimited ASCII documents into database management programs or spreadsheets like Excel can be a useful tool. The delimited format exports the file with quotes around text, a carriage return between records, commas between fields, and records the first line of each file as a header record.

Mailing Labels

A very useful tool is the ability to generate mailing labels, as well as mail-merge letters to any or all contact in your database.

Updates

Update your database regularly with all the most recent corporate and company developments, including financial, ownership, and structural personnel changes.

Gathering and Storing Systems Information

When assessing organizations for your candidates, or when trying to fill jobs for companies, gaining knowledge of their company-wide systems configuration and capabilities is essential.

Find out what type of (computer hardware, LAN/WAN, financial applications and system software, communications, peripherals, telephone services, telephone equipment, Internet hosting providers, and all other IT related products) they are using. With this data, you can develop a better overall picture of the needs of any organization.

Most professional talent will be required to have specific software and computer knowledge to perform key job functions. By storing and using specific technology information you retrieve and store on your clients' you can recruit, market much more effectively. Multigent's Applicant Tracking application can provide you with tools to store and search detailed hardware, software, telecommunications systems, and all other internal services information on all your client companies.

Contacts

When surveying systems environments and capabilities there are thousands of IT systems personnel who can assist you and your candidates in learning more about how unique company systems work in much greater detail. Identifying the key players is essential when placing candidates within the IT world.

Many positions outside the realm of IT require skills with certain systems and applications as well. Researching and storing IT information relative to your companies and contacts, is extremely valuable to your recruiting practice.