THE PRODUCT IS YOU!

I couldn’t resist sharing this excerpt by Lou Adler in his article, “The top 10 list of ramblings and rumblings from ERE’s Fall Expo 2006.” Adler says he uncovered fresh ideas for recruiting … particularly in light of the fact that finding top talent is becoming more challenging for companies … complicated by a dwindling supply of A–players and a saturated, commodity–driven Internet candidate pool.

<<Recruiting is marketing. Seth Godin’s keynote speech set the tone — if you want to hire top people, your jobs must stand out from the crowd, they must offer a compelling value proposition, and they must be designed to draw people in, not weed them out. If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, you don’t stand a chance of hiring the top 10% to 15%. So the key is to be different. I guess the real point here is that great sourcing starts with great advertising. If you’re not now seeing enough top people, this could be your problem.>> [emphasis added]

Let me turn this around on you. It is simply not possible to position yourself as top talent when you are relying on things you did (the responsibilities of your job) that sound like everyone else (your competition) who has been on the same career path. Unfortunately, these candidates are relegated to mere commodity status with no market value.

As a top–notch player, you must offer a compelling value proposition that is unique and differentiating from others seeking the same positions; employ competitive, value–oriented marketing documents that encourage a reader to take action; create a visible presence so you can shift the paradigm to becoming the “hunted” rather than the “hunter,” and launch a search strategy that is proactive and well–balanced.