StlRecruiting

OCI Joins The YouTube Revolution

Okay, this is pretty funny, and if you're a developer, then it's really, really funny.

OCI, a provider of Java and OOD services, and well-known in St Louis for training classes, has started a YouTube Channel to help in instruction.  It's silly, but it's also informative, and it works for the developers looking to learn.

More companies in St Louis need to start looking at ways to connect with candidates, and this is a good start.  Something to keep in mind - if as a company, you are not involved online, someone is going to come along and fill that niche, and then you'll be paying them for access to the candidate pool.

Good job Kristen. 

Structural Negotiation In Recruiting Sales

I'm reading a book on negotiation, and it covers the importance of negotiating with decision makers.  The example given is that of a car dealer, where the salesperson actually has no authority to make the decision on a deal.

If you've ever been annoyed when a car salesman leaves to go speak to the sales manager, it's helpful to remember that the salesperson isn't actually the decision maker.  The process is set up so any negotiations have to be "run up the flag pole for approval."

In the book, the correct negotiating tactic in these situations is to do an end run to the decision maker, which got me thinking about the way that recruiters tend to make an end run around Human Resources to get to the hiring manager.

Clearly, HR isn't the final decision maker on hiring a candidate. The manager is. But the manager is in a weaker negotiating position, as they need the candidate, and thus may be open to price manipulation as they value the candidate for their impact.  Human Resources in this instant is a shield put up to protect the company from high pressure tactics.  The implicit promise of company-wide business, and the threat of gaining no business (or breaking the deal) puts the company in a better overall negotiating position, as Human Resources doesn't feel the personal pressure to hire a particular candidate.

The war between outside recruiters and Human Resources is sometimes seen as unnecessary, but it's clearly a structural barrier put in place by corporations to blunt recruiting salespeople.  Going around HR is a good tactic, but a risky one, as it's flagrantly pitting internal divisions (line managers versus HR) against each other. 

The truly interesting piece is that the success rates of the strategy have little to do with the efficacy of the salesperson, and everything to do with the comparative internal position of the hiring manager versus the human resources employee.  And in a further note of irony, the more successful the strategy, the more likely that the balance of power shifts to human resources over time, as the hiring manager is always in a weaker negotiating position, and thus is open to less economic candidate choices.

The Effect Of The Anheuser-Busch Merger On The St Louis Staffing Market

InBev did it.  They came in and merged with the All American brewery, amidst the beating of breasts and rending of garments from St Louis loyalists.  It's a fact of globalization, but it's a tough blow for a city that keeps losing household names to global mergers.

Do the household names matter?  St Louis has a lot more here than the Fortune 500 headquarters.  We have a stable, loyal, conservative workforce, decent housing prices and transportation, and a reasonably relaxed state and local government.

So we'll be okay, but there will be changes, and one of those changes is the local information technology staffing business.  AB-MSG is the umbrella organization for all of the IT at AB.  They started swallowing up smaller divisions like the brewery, the theme parks, packaging several years ago, and employed at their peak, some 500 contractors to add to their 500-700 employees.  That's a lot of contractors, and the result was a vendor list of the top staffing firms in St Louis.

The problem?  Working with AB is a bit like working for Walmart.  They bring you a lot of revenue, but once you're in, you're terrified of losing their business, and scramble to put your best people on the account.  You've heard of the 80/20 rule?  80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients?  With AB, for several firms in St Louis, 80% might be a bit low.  One Client shops aren't that strange in the recruiting world.  When an account manager has a good client, you want to work with them as much as possible, and there was definitely a ego piece to working with AB.  Contractors liked it, and so did you friends and family.  Anheuser-Busch was the holy grail of employment in St. Louis.  That was true for a long time for both full time employees and contractors.  It wasn't just the two cases of free beer.   

So what happens now? Patrick Thibodeau of Computer World writes about the possible impact of the merger.

The future for Anheuser-Busch's IT may be in outsourcing. In 2005, InBev outsourced its IT functions, including its data center, to IBM and its global communications infrastructure to BT Global Services. More than 160 InBev IT employees were transferred to IBM. InBev followed that move a year later with further consolidations as it moved to shared services.

InBev's decision three years ago to outsource its IT department fits with a general trend of companies deploying IT outsourcing to help prepare for mergers and acquisitions, said Linda Cohen, an analyst at Gartner Inc. "It just makes the deal easier," she said. And unless an acquiring company is experiencing problems with its current outsourcing relationship, merging firms will often extend their outsourcing arrangements to the acquisition. "Once you start outsourcing, you tend to do more of it," she said.

InBev likes to use managed outsourcing, which could mean IBM, Accenture, EDS, or another company coming in and running the show.  Anyone who has been through a merger like that knows it doesn't work out for the staffing firm.  Margins have to be squeezed to accomodate the new managed service, and when margins are tight (which they are), the only recourse is to cut the contractor or drop off the vendor list.

Experienced Recruiter/Branch Manager/Sales Manager Hits St Louis Market

Got a note from an experienced recruiter that he's on the market.  If you want someone to run your office and manage a team, especially if you don't have a team and need to build one he's your guy.

Experienced in Information Technology Staffing, Executive Search, Sales, and Operations.

Drop me a note if you want to know who it is.

I put this up on Twitter too - we'll see which is faster for responses.  To follow me http://twitter.com/smheadhunter

Speaking At The MAPSS Event March 19th

I'll be speaking at the morning meeting of the local St Louis chapter of MAPSS on March 19th.  It's a closed meeting, but if you're a local member in St Louis, it will be worth your time to join us.

The topic will be Utilizing Social Media In Recruiting, but I prefer the title, How Staffing Firms Can Use The Internet To Make Money.  We'll cover websites, blogs, LinkedIn, MySpace, Video, and basic strategies to improve your company's and your personal online profile.

The speech will be focused on third party staffing firms, and it will be an executive overview.  I strongly suggest that local regional managers and public staffing firms come join us.  (ed.If you don't, the people there are going to learn how to eat your lunch).  Seating is limited, and the event is over by Olive and Mason in Creve Coeur.

Hope to see you there.  Cost is $30 for members and $50 for non-members.   Sign up at the MAPSS site.

Account Manager Opening

A local staffing recruiter (to St Louis) has an account manager position to fill.  His description:

Selling staffing services can be very lucrative if you have the good fortune to be in a true performance based compensation plan. Many Account Managers work 55-60 hours a week and barely earn 60k-70k per year. This is the equivalent of earning 40k per year with overtime. Aren't you worth more than that?

In my years of staffing recruiting, I have seen the very best to the very worst of compensation plans. Working for a company with a true performance based compensation plan can be the difference between earning 70k per year or 130k per year without increasing your sales effort. If you are interested in hearing about opportunities to earn substantially more by working smarter and not harder, contact me. I would love to discuss in detail.

If interested - shoot me an e-mail or resume or LinkedIn profile, and I'll pass you along to the recruiter.

Comsys Recruiter: Interview with Stephanie Grimshaw

COMSYS St Louis is the December sponsor for StlRecruiting, and today we publish an interview with Stephanie Grimshaw, a COMSYS recruiter.

What is your specialty at Comsys?  What is your strongest area of expertise?

No specialty; but, being able to match personalities, skills, and candidate requirements to open positions.   Being able to find a win win for everyone.  A candidate might not be the perfect match for one particular opening but through networking and building relationships I can then market that person to another company and hopefully find that perfect match.

Using no marketing speak, why should a candidate choose you and Comsys over another recruiter?
A comprehensive benefits package, opportunity to work for top clients such as Anheuser Busch, Emerson, Express Scripts, Monsanto, Edward Jones, MasterCard just to name a few.  Having a huge support system, attention to detail, along with a great team at the branch office.  We have been here in St. Louis close to 20 years and placing people with some of the largest companies in the St. Louis marketplace.

ies for the various positions.

COMSYS Recruiter Interview: Tera Hockaday

COMSYS is a sponsor of the StlRecruiting Weblog, and so I thought it appropriate to introduce some COMSYS recruiters to you, in the hopes that candidates finding their way to this blog looking for technical or IT recruiters in St Louis will call them and see if they have positions that fit your skills.

What is your specialty at Comsys?  Placement Manager/Recruiting

What is your strongest area of expertise?

Java, SAP, COBOL, Testers, Project Managers. Good knowledge of COMSYS benefits, history of the company and excellent understanding of the market and career growth opportunities. My background includes a good understanding of immigrations including visa transfers and green card processing.

Using no marketing speak, why should a candidate choose you and COMSYS over another recruiter? I have been working for COMSYS for the past 13 years in multiple roles including Human Resources, Consultant Liaison and Recruiting. I have a unique perspective that allows me to understand the candidate's needs and communicate them effectively to COMSYS and the client. My knowledge of the industry and the trends allows me to help job seekers understand the market and increase their marketability.

Interview With COMSYS Recruiter, Suzanne Williams

COMSYS is a sponsor of the StlRecruiting Weblog, and so I thought it appropriate to introduce some COMSYS recruiters to you, in the hopes that candidates finding their way to this blog looking for technical or IT recruiters in St Louis will call them and see if they have positions that fit your skills.

This is the first in a series of interviews for the COMSYS team, and we'll start with Suzanne Williams.

Suzanne, what is your specialty at Comsys?  What is your strongest area of expertise?

We don't have specialties, but my strongest area of expertise would be Infrastructure/Network/System Admins followed by Project Managers, then Analysts.

Using no marketing speak, why should a candidate choose you and COMSYS over
another recruiter?

We have a pretty comprehensive benefits package, pay a lot of attention to detail, and we have a great team at the branch office.  We have been here in St. Louis close to 20 years, placing people with some of the largest companies in the St. Louis marketplace.

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Checkout Austin jobs at itzbig.

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Comsys St Louis Sponsors StlRecruiting.com

Comsys is one of the largest staffing firms in the country.  Their St Louis office, located in Chesterfield, has agreed to become the sponsor for StlRecruiting for the next three months.

What this means is they'll be headlining the advertising there to the left, and they'll have a landing page at http://comsys.stlrecruiting.com, and you'll see some of their jobs posted as in-text ads over the course of their sponsorship.

The objectivity of StlRecruiting will of course remain the same, namely my thoughts and opinions - but if you like the site, and you're looking for an IT position as a contractor or a permanent employee, you should consider clicking on the logo to the left and giving them a call.  They're smart enough to read and advertise on blogs - certainly that shows a better understanding of your world then the recruiter living off the internet job boards.

We'll do some posts, interview of the Comsys recruiters, and on their landing page, they'll post technical expertise from their contractors.  It's a brave new world.    

Compiling A List Of Recruiters

Using various and sundry methods, I've been compiling a list of local St Louis area recruiters for, well, I haven't thought through yet what I'm doing it for - but the first step will be contacting each one and letting them know StlRecruiting.com is actually here for their reading pleasure.

The goal is to try to knit St Louis staffing together and serve as a connection point for all recruiters.  If you'd like to help, or have thoughts on the matter (like a website to promote or if you are a regular reader, but haven't left a comment before, please do so now and I'll add you to the list).

-Jim

Local Staffing Firm Raises Compensation Stakes: Paying Overtime

Elite IT Services, an IT staffing firm, just raised the bar in the search for local recruiting talent. In an announcement on their blog, Elite IT says they are now paying full-time employees overtime for their work, above and beyond the required amounts by law.

They're also announcing therir medical package, life insurance, and the paid holiday schedule.

Why is this important?  Because it's information that job-seekers crave.  Trying to determine if a three paragraph job description is a good fit it a poor way to find a job.  The more information you have, the more likely you are to follow up on the job posting.

I'd like to see more of this from recruiters - especially those who have concrete information about what they can pay, and what the benefits are.  Candidates crave information and fear lack of detail.

But EliteIT has something else in their arsenal.  In addition to a blog, I noticed from their site stats that a large number of theri vistiors go directly to the Elite IT Services blog from the Indeed.com vertical search engine.  What that means is that without paying for job posting, EliteIT is tapping into a new candidate pool.  As knowledge of vertical search increases, they will have less need for large, generic search boards with high fees and a swarm of unqualified resumes.

What are you doing to make your staffing firm more competitive?

Financial Analyst Looking For A Job

A young lady moving to St Louis to go to med school at Wash U emailed me asking about opportunities for her financial analyst boyfriend.

He is a smart guy from Stanford working his first-year as a financial analyst at a small company in New York that deals with mergers and acquisitions, and he's not sure what St Louis has.

I suggested AG Edwards, Edward Jones, the Citibank and Wells Fargo Trading Desks, ScottTrade and Stifel Nicolaus.   Does anyone else have any thoughts about where he might look?

Koppen Group Welcomes Kevin Wheeler

Well, I've had the pleasure of listening to two of Kevin Wheeler's speeches this month, and both got thumbs up.  If you have the opportunity, Professor Wheeler gives an informative and thought-provoking address on the the future of recruiting trends, and his answers to questions on how to use social networks and blog to actively recruit are 100% spot on.

Now when was the last time you heard me praise a columnist like that?  Seriously - Kevin gives a good speech, and I imagine his management consulting services at Global Learning Resources are much in demand.

They certainly are for the Koppen Group, who invited Kevin to St Louis to speak to staff, clients, and friends as part of their rebranding efforts.  The Koppen Group is an executive search firm run by Kristen Koppen, a 14 year practice she built in Clayton.

I met Kristin at the ERExpo, and thought her enthusiasm for recruiting was contagious.  Little did I know.

Kevin Wheeler Coming To St Louis

Kevin Wheeler, the noted sage we read so often on ERE.net is coming to St Louis this Thurdsay to speak at a function for Koppen Group, a local executive search firm.

Kevin's talk preceded the blogger panel at the ERExpo, and I had the chance to listen in for 30-40 minutes as he described the use of social networks and how they will affect recruiting in the future. 

Kevin is in town to give a lecture on The Future of Recruiting, and Kristen Koppen, the owner of Koppen Group, sent me an invitation after we met in San Diego.

Should be fun.   

Trisha Minor Moves To Comsys

Trisha Minor, a recruiter we interviewed when she was at The Newberry Group, has accepted a position with Comsys as a technical recruiter.  We wish her the best of luck, and if you know Trisha, you can contact her at her new address which is her firstnamelastname at Comsys.com

And if you are a recruiter looking for work, looking to get your name out onto the web, or looking to promote your company because you do something unique for St Louis candidates, feel free to send me an e-mail.

Interviews are free, and considering that most candidates go home and google your name, don't you want a nice post to pop up on the search results?

Express Personnel

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with David Burlis, the owner of an Express Personnel franchise here in St Louis.

Express Personnel focuses on the light industrial and office staffing, but David is using his considerable experience to expand that presence into retail, management, and technology.

The website I have is from the franchise page, but if you are a business owner checking the net for references on David Burlis - well, he's a solid guy in my book - creative, intelligent, and approaching staffing with decades of experience as a senior executive. But of course, you probably already knew that.

Interview With Trisha Minor Of The Newberry Group

The following is an e-mail interview with a St Louis Recruiter.  Here are your Ten Questions with Trisha Minor of the Newberry Group.   

1.  What is your role at the Newberry Group?  How long have you been there?

I am currently a Sr. CTG Recruiter/Mentor; I have been with the Newberry Group for a little over 6 months – I was previously with PDS Technical Services for over 3 years – I started PDS as a Jr. recruiter and moved into a Sr. It recruiting role…

2.  Every company says they are different in the way they recruit. We can't all be the best, so what makes you unique to the client?  And for this question, you're not allowed to use marketing speak.

Our recruiters get involved in the community.  The Newberry Group encourages us to participate in community functions and get involved in user groups to develop a stronger candidate base.  Probably one of the biggest separating factors between our group and the competition is the true sense of teamwork and commitment we feel to our candidates.  We honestly believe that operating as a team will ultimately result in a win, win, win situation.... A win for the candidate, a win for our team, and a win for The Newberry Group.  In other words, teamwork is our distinguishing factor, and our candidates can sense it, which elevates their commitment to us.

The Value Of An Interview On This Site

1) Go to Google.

2) Search these terms.

Elite IT Services St Louis
Preferred Resources St Louis
TekSystems St Louis
ChameleonIS St Louis
iBridge Solutions St Louis
Net Effects St Louis

3) The one common thread you have in all those searches?  A post from the StlRecruiting blog is on the first page of all of these search results.

We know that companies google candidates before making job offers.  Some studies peg those numbers as high as 70%.  But you do know that Candidates also google the companies they meet with, right?  Google your name and if you don't show up in the first page, send me an e-mail for an interview.

Recruiter Interviews

I've started e-mailing through my LinkedIn list, and will soon add my recruiter list to my e-mail campaign.  I'm working on getting as many people in St Louis as possible to be aware of this blog and the free job postings.  Passing on that word to both internal and external recruiters would be helpful.

You know - if you like the blog that is.  For my outside St Louis readers - Much love - keep coming and I'll keep commenting.  The blog is about St Louis, but I'm won't abandon the rest of you - too much good information out there.

E-mail Me if you are a recruiter in St Louis and want to be interviewed (so your name will be on the first page of Google Results).  There's a button over there on the right that say contact me, right next to the ad that says Buy AdSpace on StlRecruiting.

iBridge Solutions Interview: Jasen Morisaki

Jasen Morisaki of iBridge Solutions agreed to an e-mail interview for StlRecruiting.  iBridge Solutions is a St Louis-based staffing firm located in Creve Coeur.   Read further for juicy tidbits - this is not your typical interview.   There's also a job description  at the bottom that will be loaded into St Louis Recruiting Jobs.

Ten Questions with Jasen Morisaki of iBridge Solutions

1.  What is your role at iBridge Solutions?  How long have you been there?

My current title is ‘Director of Recruiting’ and my role includes maintaining a full-recruiting load, in addition to mentoring / training junior and new Recruiters, general team direction, assistance with Account Management, etc.  I’ve known the owners, Craig and John, since I first got into this industry in ’99 and have worked here at iBridge for the better part of the last 6 years. 

2.  Every company says they are different in the way they recruit. We can't all be the best, so what makes you unique to the client?  And for this question, you're not allowed to use marketing speak.

With as many opportunities as there are for Recruiters to make placements in St. Louis today, its pretty easy to just get into the habit of pushing paper and becoming a ‘resume pimp’.  One of the things I think we do extremely well for our clients that extends beyond the typical screening process, is we deliver them qualified AND ‘closed’ candidates.  We have had very, very few offers extended over the past several years that were not accepted.  According to a number of our clients, that has been a huge problem for them over the last few years.

Chameleon Integrated Services

Mike Tiffany is the general manager of Chameleon IS, a St Louis staffing firm with a heavy focus on government contracts.  You've seen him in the pages of this blog before, as I profiled him earlier in the year when he worked for another company.

Mike now works for Chameleon, and because he is a fellow recruiter blogger, we're going to talk about his company.  They are getting free search engine juice because they have a blogger on staff.  Go figure.

The description of Chameleon is below the fold, but I can tell you that Mike is an excellent trainer with a forward thinking grasp of recruiting.  You'd do well to get to know him, even if he is a competitor.

Contract Recruiter Pay Rates

Contract Recruiting is hot again, as companies look for recruiters who can come in, hit the phones, place some candidates, and, uh, the companies get to try before they buy (otherwise known as the worst recruiting spiel of all time).

Doug Franklin, who writes the Contract Recruiting blog for ERE, says they see rates from $45-$75 in most places, with rates up to $100 in the big cities.

In St Louis - experience will get you up to $45 an hour, if that experience is a good track record, but expect most staffing firms to pay you $25-35 an hour if they are placing you.

Why should you consider contract staffing?

1) You left your staffing firm job, and your non-compete prevents you from recruiting for another firm.
2) You left your job and have no clear idea what you want to do.
3) You left your job because you weren't making any money.

Contract recruiting fixes all of those problems, but you should be prepared for a different kind of world. 

1) You're not working for a fee anymore, which means more work for less pay (but guaranteed pay).
2) You get paid by the hour, so you have to produce by the hour, which means less time for experimentation.
3) Payed by the hour = "heavy phone work."  If you can't make 60-80 calls a day, you may want to reconsider.
4) Managers don't have to play nice with you - you're a temp.  Better brush up on your corporate politics!

All said, contract recruiting is great work if you can get it.  It is true that you get to sample companies before you decide to stick around, and if you decide to take a permanent job with that same company, chances are you're going to know whether or not you like it.

About that noncompete.  I'll write more about it later, but before you sign any non-compete or non-solicit, you should have your lawyer look at it.  If you don't have a lawyer, I'd suggest having Tim Willoughby look at it.  He'll charge you a consultation fee, but if you're signing documents without thinking, you're restricting your future employment.

Tim has some great advice about employment law in Missouri on his website, but he can't get you out of a non-compete just because you want out.  This isn't California.

For more information on contract recruiter rates, check out the Indeed Salary Calculator, or go to Salary.com.

How to Get A Job As A Recruiting Salesperson

You're a hot shot account manager looking to move up in the world.  Maybe you're new in town, or your non-compete just ran out, or your recruiters all bailed for reasons beyond your control.  Whatever the reason, you're in the market looking for a job selling staffing.

How do you go about it?

Method #1:  The Sheep approach.

1) log-on to Monster. Look for jobs marked recruiting sales
2) log-on to Dice.  Look for jobs marked recruiting sales.
3) Fix your resume up, and apply online.
4) Make a huge list of everyone owner you know and recruiters you know from past jobs.  Call two people on the list, telling them you are looking.  Put the list away in a drawer, because you're done with your "networking"
5) Get a response from your application online.  Yes!  It's the perfect job for you!  Prepare to interview, confident that this job won't be any different than the last one.

6) Get the job.  Turns out it was not what you wanted. Repeat steps one-five, but with another non-compete to worry about.

or

6) Don't get the job.  Grumble about how you were perfect for it.  Repeat steps 1-5, worried that your current boss (and everyone else in the market) will find out you interviewed with another company because we all know recruiters are notorious gossips.

Does that sound about right?

Sandra Hubert quoted in Forbes

Sandra Hubert, the president of Elite IT Services here in St Louis, is quoted in Forbes magazine on the importance of business attire during interviews.

But that's not what  Sandy Hubert, president of  Elite IT Services in St. Louis, says. "It is essential for job candidates to wear a business suit here," she says. "First impressions are everything."

That was generally my experience, too.  Even when companies adopted a business casual dress, prospective employees were expected to dress in an suit for the interview.

Personally, I believe it's the shoes that make the difference.  There's just something about hard soled, shiny dress shoes that bring out the best in my business presentations.  Maybe that's just me, but wheneverI have something important to do - I make sure I have the proper footwear.

And  felt that way before I married this woman

Independent Recruiter: Ken Jenkins

Ken Jenkins is an headhunter's headhunter based in St Louis, MO.  His job is to find local recruiters and place them at his clients, in the same manner that we usually find candidates for our clients.

I asked Ken to write a little about his experiences and what he looks for in recruiter candidates, and here is what he put down.

On Ken's experience: 

I have been in the recruiting business since 1989, and specialize in the staffing industry. Recruiting recruiters and account managers comes naturally because I understand what it takes to be successful in the business. I enjoy being a conduit of information for other people in the industry and pride myself on being abreast of industry trends and local corporate movement. I constantly recruit for passive and active candidates because opportunities become available daily. Most of the top positions are passive openings that are never advertised or promoted. I am particulary adept at finding those passive openings that most would never hear about. I spend my day having business conversations via email or phone, identifying industry movement.

On Current Openings for Recruiting Management:

I would love to connect with staffing experts who are looking to get to the Director level. I need someone who has been very successful in the industry, but hasn't had the opportunity to move up to the executive level positions. You know you have the skill set, but you need the opportunity. You have performed at a level consistently above quota. You have earned six figures plus with the majority being commission. Now you are ready for the six figure base salary plus incentive package.

On Current Junior Positions:

I am currently looking to identify a couple of Jr. recruiters who want to be compensated like a Sr. Most companies penalize recruiters for lack of experience. I am looking for the talented recruiter without the experience who believes they should be compensated more. Why should you be penalized for experience when you are a better recruiter that some of your more experienced counterparts? If you feel this way and are sure of your abilities, contact me. We need to have a conversation. The target earnings is in the 75k plus range with a base salary in the middle 40's.

Ken is well known around St Louis, and can provide excellent references.  He's also a confidential search.  To contact him, call him at 314-831-2258, or e-mail him at omegasearch@gmail.com

The Yoh Recruiter

I mentioned this on Recruiting.com already, but did you know that another large staffing firm has a blog out?

H.L. Yoh, which goes by Yoh Company, YOH IT, and YOH Engineering, and YOH Aviation here in St Louis, has started their blog called, The Recruiter.

The blog is based somewhere else, possibly Philadelphia (The HQ), but it's a sign that more recruiting companies are getting involved.

So now Spherion, Volt, and YOH have blogs.  When will Kforce, Robert Half, Modis, Sapphire, Teksystems and the others catch up?

More important, which one of the new companies is going to be smart enough to start local recruiting blogs aimed at hiring candidates, instead of advice columns that while better than nothing, aren't taking advantage of the medium to make money?

It's a difficult task, starting a recruiting blog in a large company. The expectations of success are not realistic, as in the first year, you'll probably get less than a  half-dozen candidates you can place.  At the same time, a half-dozen candidates equals about $100,000 in Gross Profit Margin.

That means a lot more to the independent recruiter than to the large company.  Doesn't it?

St Louis Recruiter Interviews

I'll be conducting e-mail interviews of St Louis recruiters over the course of the next couple months.  If you're interested send me an e-mail at jdurbin@durbinmedia.com.

200 people read this blog every day -get your name in front of them, both to bring in targeted candidates and to make sure you're sufficiently networked in case you need a recruiting job.

Also - NetEffects in Chesterfield s looking for a sourcer.  Make sure you tell them I sent you if you read about it here first.

St Louis Staffing Job Postings (Free)

I'm looking for ways to improve the value of StlRecruiting.com to the local area.  Free job postings are one way, but I'm also looking into providing a place for recruiters to search and post staffing related jobs.  Rather than charge a fee for posting, I was thinking of trying a contingency-based posting plan.

If you are a company looking for a recruiter, account manager, or staffing-related position, I'll post your job in a designated section of the StlRecruiting.com site.  There is no fee for the job posting.

If you hire someone that contacts you after referencing the site, the fee is $500.   That's about standard for a referral fee.  Here's the best part.  There's no paperwork, no contract, and if you don't want to pay  me, well, you'll have to live with the guilt.  This is a trust-based endeavor, not a business plan.

The contingency fee only applies to staffing positions (other job postings are free), and I won't actually be doing the recruiting.  I'll make that section this week and send out a note.

Software Plus now into Staffing

An interesting development - a local technology company, known for selling software and with revenues of $245 million is now venturing into staffing. 

Software Plus, profiled by Rachel Melcher in the St Louis Post Dispatch.

The company, based in Olivette, is morphing into an information technology general contractor. It wants to be a "trusted adviser" to clients, doing more than just issuing software licenses to corporations for a variety of products, said owner and Chief Executive Patty

Software Plus purchased Lexiter, which is the technology contractor that is offering consulting.

So Software Plus, which had approximately $245 million in 2005 sales and a work force of about 135 people, is working more closely with sister company Lexiter Technologies, a full-service IT consulting firm located next door.

What does this mean for staffing in St Louis?  Not a lot.  Software Plus is a Microsoft Software Reseller with clients in 13 states.  More important, the type of work they are contracting for isn't where more traditional staffing firms are making their money these days.

The days of help desk, desktop support, and even server support as a major portion of staffing revenue is over.  The margins are just too thin for the big boys to compete.  At the same time, the large pool of techs with A+ and MCSE certfications continues to depress wages for non-software entry-level IT workers.

Still, it's interesting that more and more companies are adding a staffing component to their consulting services.  Long-term, will bundled staffing with technology become the hybrid consulting firm of the future? 

In the meantime, I wonder who is using Lexiter for staffing?

Elite IT Coaching Services

Elite IT is a third party staffing firm in St Louis.  I interviewed with them a couple of years ago and was impressed with their take on how to find and place consultants.

They have a new service for IT consultants - career coaching.  I think it's a great step towards building a talent pool for Elite's clients, at the same time that it brings real value to the consultants.  Execution is of course not the same thing as creating an idea, but it will be interesting to watch.

Here is some of what they promise on the Elite IT website.

Are you satisfied with your IT career? Are you content with your current salary? Do you want more responsibility? Does your current position offer you opportunities to grow and advance? Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated? Are you looking for a way to exponentially increase your value? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the Personal Coaching Program for IT Professionals has been designed specifically for you.

They provide an actual phone number.  That's a good sign.

Check it out.

(I have not used these services and have not been paid for this endorsement).

Still Looking for Technical Recruiters

It wasn't long ago - maybe four months, when "technical recruiter" positions for St Louis were posted all over the net.

That number has slipped quite a bit.  A quick search of indeed.com and monster.com show a marked decrease in open positions.

Indeed lists:  Ajilon, CDI, ISSG, Data Tech, Edge Tech and OCI.
It's interesting to note the Ajilon is using text ads on Indeed to boost their rankings. 

Monster:  Modis, Comsys, Company Confidential (It's Robert Half), Spherion, and Quilogy.

11 companies looking for technical recruiters, and all of them are staffing firms.  That's strange, as companies look to hire recruiters also...let's change the search terms just to recruiter. - ah, that adds companies like Reuters, Express-Scripts, BJC, and Ingersoll-Rand into the mix.

So my attempt to provide a comprehensive list of technical recruiting positions for St Louis would seem to require a bit more work.  Nifty bit of advice for staffing recruiters.

And I wonder if the Ajilon ad campaign is working. 

HR Resume: Generalist

I received a resume from a HR generalist in St Louis this morning - if anyone is looking to hire, I'll forward it to them.  If you're the person who sent the resume, you might think about writing me a note in the e-mail letting me know what you're looking for and why.

Sending out blind resumes rarely brings results. 

I actually get a lot of these - jobseekers shooting a resume to me in hopes I can do something for them.   Your chances of me tapping my network of contacts goes from zero to likely if you engage me in conversation and ask for my help.  Blind resumes don't tell me what you are looking for.

-Jim Durbin

St Louis Staffing Blogs

Blogging hasn't yet reached into the St Louis staffing community, but I've been doing my best to spread the world to the recruiters I know on how to use, not just blogs, but LinkedIn contacts to find candidates.

If you are a St Louis area recruiter or Sales Manager, and you want a quick rundown on how to use LinkedIn, send me a note at jim@recruiting.com. 

I'll send you an invitation and show you how to get things started.

Alternately, you could go to the site and start yourself. www.linkedin.com

Website Evaluation: Preferred Resources

(This is a series of evaluations of St Louis Technical Staffing Websites.  Editorial policy is here.  Comments are the responsbility of their owners, but will be edited or deleted if they use profanity or are anonymous.  We're attempting to provide a spot for open, honest dialog and suggest improvements to the local sites).

Today's Website will be Preferred Resources.

1) Design and Configuration:  The website initally struck me as heavily text-based, an explanatory version of a website heavy on words and offering no chance for interaction.  That initial impression is a but unfair, as the site is exportable to a PDF, which serves as a brochure for clients.  I have to give that props, even if it does make the site like like an online brochure.

The layout is simple - the front page far too simple.  I wouldn't encourage a Flash piece, but the front landing page has always struck me as foolish.  The links allow good navigation of the page - that's a plus.  Specific information is also provided on health plans and dental, which is a positive step that allows for comparison.  That's important for candidates, and many companies just list that health insurance is available, without mentioning that it's high-deductible. 

2) Negatives:  The website is a placeholder, and does little to inspire confidence.  Testimonials from  pseudononymous candidates don't mean anything.  Too many people know these are made up.  There's also no sense of personality.  The biggest negative is this is a "blah" site.

3) Resume Submittal: The resume submittal form had some thought go into, but it lacks a compelling reason to use.  What will happen when a candidate submits their resume?  Can they expect a call?  Are they sure it went through?  Why should they submit a resume when they don't know anything about the company? 

4) Jobs: Job orders are generic - requiring no upkeep, but not giving any real information.

5) Client Information: The company lists their clients, which isn't a bad tactic to let candidates know who they work with.  Do they have permission to use the names of these companies on their website?  I'll give 10:1 odds the answer is no.

6) Personal Touch: They list the direct names of people to contact on the Contact Us page.  That's a big positive.  At least candidates have a name, a real person to connect to.   The copywriting is also more authentic than on many sites - it's not perfect grammar or corporate speak, which is to say it seems like a regular person telling candidates and clients why they should work together.  The question is whether it was intentional, or just bad copywriting.  They often sound the same.

7) Other services:  No information is provided to help a candidate.  No user groups, no news, no website links - just another place to send a resume if you're not particular about who you send it to. 

Grade:  D+

The site looks like generic website put in place because everyone is supposed to have a website.  Several small touches help liven that impression, namely the health insurance and the contact info.  The lack of up-to-date job info is a bad sign, and one is left wondering if the website actually drives any traffic to the company.   

Website Evalution: Teksystems

(This is a series of evaluations of St Louis Technical Staffing Websites.  Editorial policy is here.  Comments are the responsbility of their owners, but will be edited or deleted if they use profanity or are anonymous.  We're attempting to provide a spot for open, honest dialog and suggest improvements to the local sites).

Today's Website will be Teksystems.

1) Design and Configuration:  The website has the look and feel of something from the 90's, but it has all of the correct information on it.  Made from a template, but an effective one, this has the look of a functional site.  The map is a nice touch, and the contact information is prevalent everywhere.  The jobs are available on the front page without going to another page, which is a nice touch, and the corporate information on the left side is enough to let you know this is a national company with national resources.

2) Negatives:  This site looks like it was designed by web developers with limited access to recruiters in the field.  This clearly is a catch-all site not intended to drive significant numbers of the high-quality talent to the local recruiting team. 

3) Resume Submittal: There is a line at the bottom of the jobs that allows you to submit resumes to thingamajob.com.  What this means is you enter information blindly into a national database and hope someone calls you in the search. 

4) Jobs: Job orders for St Louis are located at the bottom of the page, which allows for contraction and expansion based on volume and is probably an automated function from their ATS.  The recruiter enters a job, and the job pops up on the site.  Convenient to enter, but it's dependent on job descriptions that can easily be found at Monster, Careerbuilder and other sites.  What's the benefit of applying to the web system instead of applying through a job board?  None.

5) Client Information: There is a contact form and plenty of marketing speak, but no thought was put into why the local St Louis office should be contacted. 

6) Personal Touch: There is an online chat function, which is curious, because it doesn't connect to a local recruiter.  This actually isn't a bad idea - and if it gave you live access to a real recruiter it would be a real boon.  The problem is there is no personal information or a sense that the local office is involved in the local community. 

7) Other services:  No information is provided to help a candidate.  No user groups, no news, no website links - just another place to send a resume if you're not particular about who you send it to.  A salary calculator and a labor cost calculator are linked under services, but both calculator require you to forward a lot of personal information to Teksystems. It's actually a form, not a calculator.   That's not driving business

Grade:  D. 

The site does what it is supposed to do, which is provide a local website that announces the presence of Teksystems in St Louis and lets candidates submit resumes.  Nothing is provided in the way of alternate information or a reason to use this site as opposed to another. 

Local Website Evaluation: A new Category

How are you being served?  Technical staffing agencies exist to place Information Technology professionals with their clients.  They sort, filter, interview and judge your resumes in order to find the right people for their clients.

Do they understand who they are working with?  I'm starting a new category called St Louis Staffing Agencies where I will analyze the website of a local firm and make comments based entirely on what the website presents.  In other words, I won't be bringing my experience of a particular firm into review.

Feel free to make constructive suggestions in the comments, but idle gossip or anonymous comments will be deleted or edited.  If you truly want to leave a comment about a review office, leaving a traceable name and e-mail will keep your comment up (no profanity, please).  Hopefully, the company will contact if you if you have a valid complaint.  I'll be e-mailing them the results.