Expert Interview with Andy Greenberg About Recruiting and Hiring

Andy Greenberg, CEO and president of The Recruiting Division, took the time to talk with us about his company, recruiting and hiring trends. With 17 years of experience in the field of recruiting, Andy has valuable, insightful information to offer. Heading The Recruiting Division, Andy works closely with clients and candidates to consistently find the best for the best. Here he shares a bit about that process. What's different about The Recruiting Division that makes it so successful? We extend the capabilities of a contract recruiter with a unique solution that is team-based and on-demand. The result is a more flexible, scalable and cost-effective way of engaging a contract recruiter. What are three attributes that employers want to see in a job candidate?

• Intellectual curiosity
• Passion
• Flexibility

How about three qualities they'd rather not see?

• Inflexibility
• Arrogance
• Inability or unwillingness to bring something extra to the role

What do you look for in a job candidate?

• Ability to self-assess, meaning that they are able to understand and articulate their strengths, weaknesses, boundaries and their own internal brand
• Passion!
• Ability to convincingly articulate why and how their background, skills and experience will translate into success for the position

Why is it key for companies to have good relationships with recruiters like you to find the best team? Contract recruiters like those here at The Recruiting Division are able to act as a fully accountable, seamless extension of a client's team, since we are not motivated or paid by placement fees or commissions, nor are we bound by the typical contingency-based agency model that necessitates alignment with candidates as opposed to HR and hiring managers. Are you seeing any particular hiring trends lately? If so, please tell us a bit about them. Although the economy has certainly improved, employers are still very cautious in their hiring and are willing to wait for candidates that meet all of the criteria on their list. There is still strong demand for information technology and sales professionals, and we are also seeing an increase in temporary hiring as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Another interesting trend is a growing number of companies that are bringing jobs back to the United States after frustrations with offshoring. From a recruiting perspective, we are seeing a huge interest in social recruiting. Besides LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, there are a host of social aggregation and deep web mining tools that recruiters are flocking to, including SwoopTalent, Gild, TalentBin, Talenthook and HiringSolved. Why is timeliness so important in the hiring process? That's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there is a cost associated with a company not being able to achieve its goals due to a lack of manpower. But on the other hand, there is also a cost associated with rushing the hiring process and hiring sub-par employees. We are all doing our best in the search for the holy grail of hiring top talent as quickly as possible. How do you go about finding the top talent to place? For starters, make sure that your recruiters themselves are top talent. Think about it - it takes top talent to be able recognize top talent. Those who know me know that I love to arm my recruiters to the teeth with lots of cool tools like the ones mentioned above. That said, I am the first to admit that a great recruiter can work their magic simply by using LinkedIn and nothing else. The key to LinkedIn is learning how to target the right people and then message them softly and professionally. Your goal should be to achieve a response rate of at least 30%. And anything less than 20% means that you are spamming and not doing relationship-sourcing. Also make sure that you know your company's brand and can articulate it effectively throughout the entire sourcing and vetting process. Candidates that are in demand know that they have choices, and they are looking for employers with a compatible brand, mission and values. Along with company branding, do your best to provide a great candidate experience. Candidates are sharing their interview experiences on social media sites like Glassdoor and Vault, and your ability to attract top talent can be either enhanced or stymied by your reputation on social media.