Market Shapers Executive Recruiting

We are appending Jeff Altman’s article to our comments.

Market Shapers Comment:

Jeff Altman makes a good point and one that many recruiters have encountered over the last several years. We all use our own networks-business and personal and we all use our networks/networks to secure candidates and often times clients.

The scenario that Jeff outlines has been addressed by Market Shapers in the following manner. It is not for all, but it works for us and for our clients.

When discussing the agreement we agree upfront that any candidate that is in the clients system, and the client is presently working with the candidate for the same position we have been engaged to fill, is the clients. But we must be notified in writing within 16 business hours of presenting the candidate that this is the situation. If it is, we seek other candidates, if not, the candidate is Market Shapers.

Works for us and we have eliminated disputes.

By Dr. John Sullivan, Jul 26, 2010

The quality of those not hired is the most valuable recruiting metric that you have never heard of! It informs you how often your organization is failing to hire the highest quality applicants.

A few years back I was advising a Fortune 100 firm that had a painfully slow and somewhat arrogant hiring process. To demonstrate the negative impact of their process I had to prove to a skeptical senior manager that they were letting top candidates get away. I asked a manager hiring for an important job to rank, in order of quality, 100 applicants who had been sourced for the role. The chosen rank was discretely written on the back of paper copies of the candidate’s resumes. Months after the role had been filled; the manager was asked if they were satisfied with the hire. He was, and felt quite certain that he had successfully hired a “top 5” candidate. After hearing of his satisfaction I had him look at the initial rank he had provided the candidate who was later hired: 75.

 Case Study:                  Indian Outsourcing Provider

 Client: A large Outsourcing Provider with extensive procurement experience required a large number of procurement professionals to staff a recent win.

 Problem: The clients Talent Acquisition group did not have the bandwidth to staff-up the engagement as quickly as required by the client, which was within 90 days of award of contract.  Secondly, all of the candidates must have had both procurement as well as a consulting or consultative background.  Third, the candidates must have lived within a prescribed area and be at "not to exceed" specific compensation levels. Lastly, the name of the provider client and their client could not be discussed by Market Shapers during the initial candidate discussion process.

Case Study:                  Health Care Corporate Client

Client: A large Mid-West Medical and Educational Hospital Group required a replacement for their retiring IT Category Manager.

Problem: The institutions Talent Acquisition (TA) group did not have the experience in IT or procurement talent acquisition, or the expertise in on-boarding of this type of professional. The Health Care clients name had to remain confidential during the first stage of candidate interviews.  The candidates had to have Health Care and strong IT procurement experience. Expertise in working for multiple clients in a matrix environment was also a requirement.

Market Shapers, Best Practices for Candidates

January, 2010

Article II

Our credibility and income rests on our ability to exceed our client’s requirements. This means that we will most likely present more than one candidate to our client, for a specific opportunity. If you are interested in working with us to advance your career or just exploring possibilities, here are some best practices to help you be the most attractive candidate in the competition. 

1) Market Shapers Works for the Client.

Our clients have requirements all over the world. We have worked for them on at least three continents. These clients have specific requirements. It is very difficult for us to market you, but it should be very easy for you to determine if you fit the job requirements we publish. If your qualifications fit the client requirements, do not just send us your resume. Send us your resume along with your qualifications based on the client requirements. Be specific and accurate or you will be wasting both of our time.

If we feel there is a fit, we will call you. However, if you do not hear back from us within 48 hours e-mail us again. We will not present you to a client without several discussions and reference checks and will never present you without your permission. We treat all of our candidate and client files as confidential.

Market Shapers Best Practices for Working with an Executive Recruiting Firm

January, 2010

Article I

This is one of two articles written by Market Shapers regarding Executive Recruiting Firms, Clients and Candidates and their ability to work effectively together. These articles may be found on the Market Shapers web-site: www.marketshaperser.com.

The other article is: “Candidate Best Practices for Working with an Executive Recruiting Firm.”

            This article will discuss our Best Practice technique, experiences, methods and activities in working with clients specifically and tangentially with candidates. First and foremost we work for our clients. Let’s be very clear. We work for our clients and as such we strive to become a Trusted Advisor to them.

Passive Active Candidate Marketing Campaign.pdf

Use of Best Practices for sourcing Passive and Active Candidates.

Client Sourcing Agreements.pdf

Article explores the traditional types of agreements as well as offers a performance based agreement.