Michele Sloan

Senior Digital and Technology Recruiter

Feb 2019 - Present

• Manage full cycle recruiting for BOTW Technology and Digital Groups
• Establish effective collaborative partnerships with Hiring Managers resulting in 2 hires the first month and 3 hires the second month
• Responsibilities also included salary negotiations, presenting offers and start date confirmations
• Developed strategic partnerships with passive candidates to achieve broader resource pool
• Represented BOTW at numerous Recruiting/Networking events including; WomenHack, HackerX (Twice), BOTW Roundhouse event, AfroTech, BVCF, etc.
• Lead LinkedIn Training webinar for BOTW Recruitment team

Lead Technology Recruiter

Sept 2018 - Feb 2019

• Establish strong collaborative and consultative partnerships with Technology Leadership to define, outline and implement efficient and strategic Recruiting Process
• Manage full cycle recruiting for Product Development team & Software Engineering
• Collaborate with Asurion Marketing team on improving Simplr’s online brand profile and visibility in attracting passive candidates…as well as building out a Simplr’s Career page.
• Roles: Senior Full Stack Engineer, Senior Scalability Engineer, Lead DevOps Engineer, Lead Engineer Machine Learning, Senior Data Scientist

Technology, Sr. Account Manager/Recruiter

September 2017 - Present

• Conduct client meetings to establish and maintain strategic partnerships with senior IT & Engineering executives, hiring managers, team leads and all decision influencers…. ultimate goal to be a trusted resource partner.
• Understand current and projected client hiring needs & requirements thoroughly and effectively communicate with Delivery Managers.
• Proactive communication with consultants to establish POC for any potential issues or challenges and understand project details as well as overall team dynamic.
• Roles: Frontend UI/UX Developers, Backend/Server-side/Platform Developers, QA/QE, Mobile Technology (iOS/

Sr. Technology Recruiter

January 2017 - August 2017

• Manage full cycle recruiting for Accela Software Engineering, Software Delivery & Corporate Finance.
• Establish partnership with candidates to fully understand & identify job search goals to accurately align with hiring needs and requirement priorities.
• Effective collaborative partnerships with Hiring Managers to define and distill job specs, outline strategic candidate sourcing and candidate pipeline generation, establish interview process/timeline/hiring goals, salary negotiations…as well as offers and start date confirmations
• Developed partnerships with multiple HR Business Partners to address and resolve individual team unique/hybrid hiring challenges and requirements
• Proactively implemented successful web sourcing program and engaged internal employee candidate referral program and effectively utilized professional network & social media platforms for strategic recruitment initiatives, brand visibility and passive candidate referral/lead network.

Talent Acquisition - Senior Technology Recruiter

January 2016 - January 2017

• Managed full cycle recruiting process for TriNet Software Engineering, Internal Apps and Cloud technology verticals groups across multiple geographic locations
• Effective collaborative partnerships with CTO, Chief Architect, VP and Director level decision makers & Business Partners
• Strategic partnerships with individual hiring managers…resulting in a confirmed offer within first week 3 out of 4 target offers for SQE Austin, TX recruitment drive 3 weeks
• Utilized multiple social media platforms for strategic recruitment initiatives, brand visibility and passive candidate referral/lead network
• Co-presented “Social Recruiting” session focusing on LinkedIn with PR & Corp Communications for TriNet HR & Recruitment Team…creating slide content/info for recruitment ‘best practices’, strategies, building profile visibility and brand recognition…success stories, effective candidate pipelining strategies and skill/expertise focused passive candidate outreach
• Worked with Comp team for guidance per candidate offer including base, annual percentage bonus, RSU’s, sign on, etc.
• Worked with Marketing and Communications team for recruitment initiative web content and design guidelines

Senior Technology Recruitment Specialist

ManpowerGroup Solutions (RPO)

June 2015 - January 2016

• Supported and successfully placed top tier candidates in the following Technology Groups:  Embedded Software Engineer, Firmware Engineer, Systems Test Engineering Manager, Storage Software Engineer, ServerSide Engineer, Product Manager, Program/Project Manager, etc.
• Effective collaborative partnerships with VP and Director level decision makers & Business Partners to ensure accurate info for targeted candidate identification
• Established cross-functional relationships with hiring managers through collaborative/consultative approach…providing recruitment 'best practices'​, interview process guidance & expertise, candidate 'post-interview'​ feedback, strategic review & process analysis to identify bottlenecks & establishing efficient streamlined processes to ensure competitive edge and top-quality candidate experience
• Proactive & creative sourcing strategies & full cycle recruiting fundamentals, focusing on Senior Engineering/Architect Level passive candidates with emphasis on the quality of the "Candidate Experience "through consistent work ethic & effective communication/follow up, passion, drive and integrity

Senior Technical Consultant ManpowerGroup Solutions (RPO)

December 2014 - June 2015

• Responsible for full cycle recruitment for Dev QE&A/UI/FE Engineering…effective collaboration/coordination with both 'On-Shore' & 'Off-Shore' team (successfully manage multiple project resource needs, initiatives, coordinated & facilitated ‘complete interview process lifecycle’)
• Initiated and implemented successful ‘Dev QE&A Recruitment Drive” and “UI Recruitment Drive” resulting in multiple hires for both Technology Verticals...designed all project marketing material
• Managed Sourcing team/Sourcer and 3rd party vendor on req priority & strategic sourcing efforts…results minded approach to creating & implementing innovative recruiting strategies & sourcing techniques to actively identify & engage top talent across multiple technical verticals
• POC for Project Tech/Engineering Leads for Apple Inc., Symantec & Virtual Instruments…proficiently establishing partnerships with Internal & External Clients (providing guidance, expertise, user experience feedback, strategic process review & analysis, streamlining internal reports and proactive engagement of internal Eng. resource & Network connections)
   

Senior Technical Recruiter - Strategic Accounts & Operations

January 2013 - December 2014

• Focused on IT Infrastructure/Software Application Engineering (Web Portal, Platform & Database Architecture, Mobile & Cloud Technologies) & Techno/Functional BA, BSA and PM Technology Professionals.
• Responsible for effectively understanding the Hiring Manager needs and effectively researching, sourcing, mining, identifying and qualifying exceptional talent for submittal and consideration...creative sourcing & candidate pipeline generation for clients (Nike, Inc., Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum, Weatherford Oil & Gas (US & Canada), Beckman Coulter, BlueCross BlueShield (US) and Hospira (US)).
• Effective & strategic partnerships with Hiring Managers on current open requirements, upcoming projects, candidate market trends…establishing partnerships with Tech Certification schools (Computer Systems Institute, Chicago, IL & General Assembly, SF)...as well as full cycle recruiting/sourcing/identifying 'best practices/solutions'.
• Effective listening and understanding the intangible needs and cross referencing it with the requirement details and information of what the market can yield…advising and updating on a consistent basis and establishing realistic goals, market rates and time frames and other considerations through the interview process from beginning to the candidates’ confirmed start date.

Sr. Technical Recruiter

October 2010 - January 2013

• Responsible for full cycle recruiting from sourcing, screening, project references, background checks, salary negotiations, offer stage and on-boarding process for clients (GE, Yahoo!, Force10 Networks, Motorola Mobility, Display Link, VMware, Cisco and NetApp…Kaiser Permanente).
• Extensive candidate sourcing through, internet leads, social & professional networking sites, industry connections/network, associate referrals, direct recruiting, competitor research…established " Candidate referral program - yielding 8 Sr. Java Developers placed on contract at GE within 2 months

• Proactively created and promoted Company page on LinkedIn, Twitter(job postings) & Facebook…effective cross advertising with network connections & Tech Pages/Groups on LinkedIn, Facebook & Branch Out
• Development of effective Candidate Screening/Questionnaires/Project & Technical Skills Grid for each client ensuring top talent identification

Technical Recruitment Manager

February 2007 - March 2010

• Involved in contract/T&C negotiations, Client Meetings and Presentations addressing new client concerns and establishing successful new partnerships
• Worked with Los Angeles team and San Mateo team in achieving headcount and budget requirements
• Responsible for full cycle recruiting from sourcing, screening, project references, background checks, salary negotiations, offer stage, on-boarding process…as well as extensive candidate sourcing and pipeline generation for multiple technical skills & expertise for Originate Labs
• Managed goals and expectation (regarding requirement list, priorities and goals…achieving production expectations) for 2 Sr. Staffing Consultants, 2 Account Executives, and 1 Sourcer, 1Receptionist for Originate Resources Group
• Involved in contract/T&C negotiations, Client Meetings and Presentations…worked closely with Los Angeles and San Mateo team in achieving headcount and budget expectations

Sr. Account Manager/Technical Recruiter

October 2006 - July 2007

• Development of new client leads through referrals, network including vertical sales within clients such as Wells Fargo, Restoration Hardware, Barclays Global, and Yahoo, Inc.
• Full cycle Account Management, project delivery/management, consultant QA, client feedback(Projects in pipeline) and on going client maintenance
• Created Consultant network referral program (onsite Influencer program)
• Extensive candidate sourcing, screening, reviewing with Resource Managers, phone sales, on-site client presentations.

Branch Manager

March 2005 - August 2006

• Re-opened San Francisco Technology Recruitment Branch - Responsible for identifying and hiring "Sales and Recruitment Teams" as well as building/establishing an initial "Book of Business"

• Identify goals for Sales and Recruitment teams and map out strategy to achieve goals and incentives to motivate team…including Corporate Requirements for candidate connects, interviews, leads generation & placement metrics

• Sales profitability through New Business Development, Vertical Sales with existing clients through cross-partnerships and collaborations with other Act-1 teams.

• Promoted and encouraged team ideas that affected productivity and increased morale…mentored, trained and conducted team building activities and championed financial support from Corporate successfully.

• Develop West Coast “Book of Business” partnerships with National Account Managers Full-Cycle recruiting to ensure branch profitability.

• Team Management: 1 Recruiting Manager, 2 Recruiters, 2 Account Executives, and 1 Office Coordinator/Receptionist

Account Manager/Senior Technical Recruiter

April 2004 - March 2005

• Full cycle recruiting which included extensive candidate sourcing through , internet leads, social & professional networking sites, industry connections/network, associate referrals, direct recruiting, competitor research

• Sales lead generation, partnerships with Corporate and National Accounts  & Development of Transactional/Retail Accounts

• Recognized and received award in “Sales and Placement Achievement” for sales/placements in Technology for Adecco's North West Territory

• Review submittals with recruiters from initial candidate identification through offer phase, conduct phone sales, on-site client presentations, cold calls

Sr. Staffing Consultant

Feb 2000 - Apr 2003

• Established collaborative/consultative relationships with hiring managers…providing recruitment 'best practices', interview process guidance & expertise, candidate 'post-interview' feedback, strategic review & process analysis to identify bottlenecks & establishing efficient streamlined processes to ensure competitive edge and top-quality candidate experience.
• Responsible for US and International full cycle recruiting including sourcing, screening, project references, background checks, salary/offer negotiations for Software Engineering, IT, QA/QE Teams
• Attended and assisted with coordinating recruitment events for COMDEX, Intel Developers Forum, GDC, Siggraph and Santa Clara Convention Job Fair… (Project Manager for Alice@97.3 “On Tech Road Show” and mentioned on Alice@97.3 website for creative booth and most hits from attendees)

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Designed & created content for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter Java Software Engineering recruitment initiative.

Master Vendor, Managed Resource Solutions, Professional IT Services, Contract/Contract to Hire/FTE Placements, SOW, Executive Placement, Technology & Project Consulting.

Company history and product profile document created as information & marketing tool for potential candidates

Company history and product profile document created as information & marketing tool for potential candidates

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS:

Successful launch of Employee Referral Program.  Actively reached out and engaged internal employee network to participate in referring qualified passive candidates.  Sent email inquiries to Associates at Key Client projects...resulting in multiple offers from the event

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS:

Successful launch of Recruitment Drive with extensively screened candidates scheduled for onsite interviews at Cognizant, San Ramon with Tech Leads and Project Managers.  Responsibilities included creative, strategic, logistics, travel and schedule coordination for candidate and interview panelists. Created, Designed & Implemented eFlyers for Cognizant Web posting…results from event were multiple hires!

BAY AREA TECHWORKERS:

After taking on GE San Ramon as a client and being tasked to hire 500 Engineers within a very aggressive timeline.  I created a referral campaign to encourage and engage current and previous candidates/associates to refer passive and qualified leads.  After the first month of launching the program I was able to generate enough leads which then turned into multiple placements of highly skilled Engineers at GE San Ramon.

• Taleo

• Maxhire

• Bullhorn

• Sendout

• Salesforce.com

• Open Applicant

• WinSearch

• Access database

• Smart-Search

• BullhornReach

• Workforce Logic (Yahoo!)
• Emptoris (Motorola)
• Provade (Moto Mobility)
• Fieldglass (VMware, GE)
• WAND (Nike, Inc.)
• IQN (Beckman Coulter
• PeopleFluent (Weatherford Oil & Gas)

Software Engineering - Frontend UI/UX Developers, Backend/Server-side/Platform Developers, QA/QE & Automation/Configuration Engineers, Mobile Technology (iOS/Android), Storage/Database Engineers/Developers/Architects, Security/Network & Systems Engineers, IT PM, BA, BSA & Systems Analysts

IT – UNIX/LINUX and Windows Systems Administrators, Helpdesk and Desktop Support, NOC & Datacenter Technologists

Certified/Non-Certified Project Managers, Product Managers & Program Managers – IT, Operations, Manufacturing, Application Software and Business Organizations

Master Vendor, Managed Resource Solutions, Professional IT Services, Contract/Contract to Hire/FTE Placements, SOW, Executive Placement, Technology & Project Consulting.

Thank you for the opportunity to write a recommendation and for the wonderful experience working with you during the interview process at TriNet.

I am sure you and the Talent Team at TriNet are busy everyday interviewing lot of prospective candidates and bringing them inboard the team. However during my interview process I always felt like I was the only candidate being interviewed at TriNet. I look forward to working with you and thank you for the great experience and your readiness to help me out with any follow up questions in the process.

Michele is fantastic to work with , a recruiter who honestly worked to understand us, our requirements and our business culture and standards. I have dealt with many recruiters and she demonstrates an ongoing capacity to find the right people. She is thorough in her due diligence and never walks away from the hard assignments.

A lot of people are passionate and motivated about their job but Michele goes beyond. She cares about the people she works with and does really want to help. In her line of work, this is what separates her from others. I had the please to work with her recently. And I highly recommend her.

Michele did an excellent job representing Trinet…she was able to explain what the Company did and had a lot of information to share. She has a great understanding of the teams she works with and was able to outline the requirements details and how they match my professional skills. Michele made the whole process smooth and able to provide quick turnaround and feedback. She confirmed my phone interview the following day within 5 hours and gave me feedback results a couple hours after the phone interview and called to confirm my onsite with the team…24 hours later I had my offer and was confirming my start date!

Michele is very detail oriented, she demonstrates high level HR E2E process, experience quality, professionalism, efficiency, industry knowledge, company culture and pride in her work. Michele was like a partner throughout the process, communication was never a problem and I could always connect with her and talk about questions and concerns. 

Michele discussed an opportunity at Pelco with me. She was an absolutely positive face for the company. The care and passion in her approach to discussing opportunities shows a highly personable and engaged employee

who understands that the most important asset a company can have are its people.

Michele was very methodical and thorough in her interactions with me.  She addressed all of my questions and concerns. She demonstrated a good understanding of the company, it's business and industry. She has done things that expresses pride in her company by doing things like write a "Welcome to Pelco" type article that eloquently gives a 1,000 foot summary of the company in a compelling, layman's way.

In my numerous voice, email, and text communications with Michele, she
has consistently gone above and beyond her role as a Sr. Technology Recruiter Specialist. Evidence of this was that she made sure that travel arrangements which were done on very short notice and lacked a strong confirmation, were redone to address confusion and give comfort.

Michele is an outstanding Recruiter - one that would serve any company well. In my opinion, we need more Recruiters with the passion, care, consideration, and thoughtfulness that she demonstrated. She tastefully balances that by being a good agent/representative of the company,
showing them in a very good light.

Michele consistently goes beyond the normal scope of an HR specialist to dive into the motivations of a candidate to accurately match long term needs of some of the most technical and successful employers on the market.

Throughout my time with her I never sensed her rushing or forcing me into a decision. Rather, she brought a calming conversational tone which introduced levity to a potentially stressful experience. As a result, I felt well informed and confident in my final decisions.

It is not surprising that she has a network of successful companies and world class professionals that continues to grow.

I would welcome a chance to work with her again in the future.

My company had the need for a deep technical expert in a specialized media software niche. Prior to engaging Michele, we were working with two other search firms for over six months with disappointing results.

Within a week, Michele had an outstanding candidate. She is extremely understanding of the cost of time wasted -- which is essential for my company.

Michele's energy and unrelenting pursuit of meeting our business requirements goes above and beyond industry standards.

Michele stands apart from any other recruiters I've used and exemplifies the platinum standard of the recruiting industry.

She is a star who I highly recommend to anyone entering or upgrading their career.

Michele is awesome! Her positivity is infectious and her "can-do attitude" does not know the meaning of "can't". She's extremely helpful
and giving of her time and anyone lucky enough to work with her as a candidate, client or co-worker will undoubtedly be struck with the
Michele Charm!

Michele has been an effective recruiter for our software development contractor needs.

I’m well known for my ‘strong’ views on recruitment agencies and recruiters; however Michele is one of those gems out there that proves that there are technical recruiters out there that are truly honest, great communicators and know what they are doing! Michele has added great value to our difficult and remote resourcing work, and I would call on Michele every time we need to resource staff in the Bay Area.

I've had the pleasure of working with Michele on a few occasions both as a candidate & job hunter. She is extremely relationship focused and really goes the extra mile to create a personal experience. Her attention to detail and follow-up have proved to be incredibly helpful. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable about hi-tech requirements, but she also has excellent negotiating skills. Great recruiters stand out, plain and simple. She is an asset to any job hunter or recruiting team.

Michele and I worked together on several projects. She exemplifies leadership, and professionalism. She played an integral part of completing our assignments in a timely manner.

Michele was of great help during my job search. She was very detailed and thorough. She is passionate about her job and it comes through when you talk to her. Her willingness to help the candidate was what struck me in her interactions with her. Her knowledge and expertise in her role is an added bonus. I loved working with her.

I was recommended to Michele Sloan by a previous colleague as a resources for my next opportunity. Michele was able to locate the ideal opportunity for me and match my requirements to eMeter's requirements. I thoroughly enjoyed working with her, her tenacity and determination and through work ethic helped to seal the deal. I have recommended Michele to other colleagues and had utilized her as a resource when I went to Zip Realty Inc. for a Sr. UNIX System Administrator.

Michele was a very personable and communicative contact during my application process, doing her best to facilitate the screening and interview process. She was unique in that she spent time getting to know the applicant and what they needed in addition to what the company needed from an applicant.

Michele is a terrific recruiter to work with. Throughout my recent interview process, I found her to be incredibly professional, responsive, and genuinely interested in my success. I would highly recommend her to any employer or candidate seeking the very best.

Michele is a top notch recruiter whose enthusiasm and attention to process while matching company and candidate shines through. She's conscientious in follow-through with both sides of the process and keeps
all well informed.

Working with Michele is a high quality experience throughout the requirement, sourcing, interview, negotiation and on-boarding steps of the hiring process.

I've had the pleasure of working with Michele at Bay Area Techworkers. Michele’s deep knowledge of the industry segment and client’s environment helps her a great deal in finding the right candidate for the right position. I was most impressed by her level of professionalism, and attention to detail. I’m looking forward to working with her again in the future.

Michele values time. She has a wonderful knack of organizing meetings and appointments effectively, at a real fast pace. It is pleasure interacting with Michele. Thanks a lot.

Michele provided great insight into her job as a Recruiter during a time when we needed this information for a research project. I found her knowledge and expertise of her job role especially helpful and would speak with her again if and when the need arises.

Michele Sloan moves swiftly with a cheerful demeanor to move the hiring process along, working with both candidates and clients. She is aggressive without being pushy and always on top of things. Her strong human relations skills make people feel comfortable whether dealing on the phone or in person. They trust her as a professional over the years and some have become her long-time friends. I can talk on and on about how wonderful Michele is, but don’t only take my word for it, ask the many candidates she’s helped over her recruiting tenure who will also attest to her aptitude in this field.

It takes a great personality, fine attention to detail, and excellent follow through to be a top recruitment manager. Michele exhibits these attributes and then some in her current role at Originate Resources. I truly appreciate her thoroughness and her professional demeanor. She is someone I hope to be associated with again in the future.

Michele Sloan was my primary corporate recruiter and helped me secure a job in software engineering at Leap Frog, Inc. (LF), an educational toy manufacturer. Her communication, both by phone and email, was accurate and punctual, and her negotiations with my prospective employer were level-headed (a plus for me as there is enough drama in job searches). On my first day of in-person interviews at LF, she drove an hour to greet me in the lobby. Also, she is a joy to work with. I knew Michele from a previous employer (nVidia) where she worked in corporate recruiting for several years. I will call her first during my next job search.

Michele is a critical member of the Originate Resources team and is constantly being praised for her hard work, diligence and commitment to company success. Constantly, Michele is learning new skills and techniques and leading through example, making her the top recruiter in her organization.

Michele is one of the finest Recruiters I have worked with. She is truly passionate and driven about her role as a Recruiting Partner and drives the hiring process from start to finish. Her strengths are partnering with both clients and candidates to ensure a smooth and informed process and is very results driven. She is organized, proactive, with great communication skills, and She does not hesitate to go the extra mile.

Michele was a bright spot for me in what was otherwise a long and painful job search. She got one well-known company in my industry to do what dozens of others would not do, which was to offer me a job. She showed hustle, persistence, and a great attitude throughout the whole process.
 

Michele is a true professional and was instrumental in helping me land my most recent job at Backbase. I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Michele's passion for helping job seekers is evident in the high quality and quantity of work she produces every day.She is so prompt in follow up with people.She always stays ready to responding to questions thoroughly. Michele is extremely enthusiastic about her work which is infectious. She is so polite and laugh a lot. I like her laugh.I am fortunate to be able to work wit her

Working with Michele was great, she's very on the ball and isn't afraid of the hard questions or of taking the lead.

Michele is an extremely effective, conscientious recruiter who responds quickly to inquiries and provides excellent customer service with a positive 'can do' attitude.

For Michele, few things popped into my mind immediately: trustworthy, effective, people-oriented, high-energy and just a bundle of pleasure to work with...and the list goes on… She was one of the many recruiters contacted me and yet her natural ability to connect with genuine interest in a candidate differentiated her from the rest. Besides being very responsive, Michele worked diligently with me through the entire interviewing-hiring process, making the whole ride a very pleasant one. I would work with Michele again and again and highly recommend her to any employer or any candidate who needs a personable high-power recruiting Muse.

My original contact with Michelle was in September 2010 with the main goal to locate me a suitable project/contract or a full time position to best suit my skills and qualifications. As a senior recruiter, Michelle took the time to review my skills in details and listened to what I am exactly looking for. With a week she brought me several available opportunities to review and decide on. Michelle always followed up with me regarding the positions i have applied for and the customer status. She actually helped in preparing me for the interview by stressing what the client is looking for. Michelle's interest was aligned with mine that is find the right match for my technical knowledge and more important, projects I like to be involved with. Michelle did that exactly and more ! Due to Michelle's search, I was able to be placed in a contract with a local company that i really like. The work and environment is great and I will be able to keep up with my latest technology. Michelle's work did not end there. She continue to support me and respond to my needs when requested.

Unlike the 90% of the recruiters i have worked with in the past 15 years, i have found Michelle as one of the very few recruiters who simply don't push resumes in and out just for the quick buck ! She really care about the client and the consultant. I Highly recommend her for any consultant or a high tech professional who is looking for an opportunity in the current job market.

Working with Michele has been a unique and pleasant experience. Ultimately, I went elsewhere, but that was my choice based on the opportunity match, and I regretted missing the chance to join the company she represented.

It started with an email. Since I started looking, I had received many email solicitations from recruiters who had found my resume on the web, but all of the rest were freelancers. She was the first and only
recruiter working inside of a company who had gone the extra mile to locate qualified candidates and attract them to her company. I was impressed and I applied. She guided me through the company overhead
overhead making it easy for my to look my best. If I have to go looking again, I will find her first.

Thanks, Michele. In many years of work and several trips to the slaughter to find a new and better job, you're the best.

Many years ago I received a phone call from a company owner who had heard me speak at a business leader's conference about Hiring and Getting Hired. He was clearly desperate. He implored me to remind him of the two questions I had argued would fully assess a candidate's competency for any position. He was looking for vice president of operations and I was happy to help, but before proceeding I had to ask, "So, what's the big rush?"

"The candidate is in the waiting room," he quietly confessed.

After getting briefed on his business and the position he was trying to fill, I told the owner to follow the following steps without exception:

1. Do not meet the candidate in the office. Take him for a tour of your manufacturing facility, instead.

2. As part of the tour, stop at each area experiencing a big operational problem the VP would have to address right away. In this case, these turned out to be a poor factory layout, too much scrap, and outdated process-control measures.

3. After describing each problem for a few minutes, ask the candidate, "If you were to get this job, how would you fix it?" Then have a 10-15 minute give-and-take discussion around his ideas. Based on this, evaluate the candidate on his insight, the quality of the questions, and his approach for implementing a solution.

4. Next, ask the candidate to describe something he's already accomplished that's most comparable to the problem that needs fixing. Spend another 10-15 minutes on getting specific details about this including the results and the specific changes made.

5. Ask the same two questions and follow-up the same way for the other operational problems.

6. It should take at least 90 minutes to complete the tour. When done, tell the person you're impressed with his background, and will get back to him in few days after seeing some other candidates.

A few hours later, the owner called to thank me. His insight was profound. He told me the candidate was assertive, insightful, and clearly understood the problems that needed to be solved. However, the owner said the candidate's answers to the comparable accomplishment questions were vague, shallow, and short.

He concluded the candidate was probably a great consultant or staff person, but one who couldn't be left alone in a factory. This was pretty amazing when you consider he only had a 10-minute course in interviewing under his belt.

Moral: If you know what you need done, it only takes two questions to figure out if a candidate is competent and motivated to do it. If you don't know what you need done, take a tour of the factory, and call me in the morning.

LOU ADLER is the CEO of The Adler Group, a consulting firm helping companies implement performance-based hiring. His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench, 2013), covers the performance-based process described in this article in more depth. Lou is one of LinkedIn’s top 20 Influencers, has appeared on Fox News and is frequently quoted in Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal and recruiting industry trade publications around the world.
@LouA

Marcus Lemonis, host of CNBC's The Profit, says that what truly motivates people is the chance to do great things.

Top talent slips through the gaps in most companies’ recruitment strategies. Generic job adverts and careers pages fail to engage the best candidates, and companies often fail to connect on a human level. ‘Out-of-the-box’, creative recruitment campaigns have helped some companies interact in a unique way with candidates and send their application processes viral.

These are 13 of our favourite creative recruitment campaigns, all great ideas that will appeal to your innovative side:

Hidden Messages 

Hidden job descriptions and messages help companies approach candidates in unexpected situations. They’re a good way to connect if your target market is employed elsewhere, and they tend to be very cost effective: 

1 – Ikea Australia: Secret job description

The Swedish Giant cleverly concealed job descriptions inside every pack of furniture sold. The campaign cost nothing – customers literally delivered career information to themselves, and it resulted in 4285 applications and 280 new hires.  Simple yet so effective.
 

2 – Volkswagen: Hidden advert

In need of skilled new mechanics Volkswagen distributed damaged vehicles to repair shops across Germany, leaving a job advert on the undercarriage of each. It helped the company bring in a number of talented workers and establish themselves as an innovative recruiting brand. 

3 –  Red 5 Studios: Personalized iPod

Competing with larger software companies for the same pool of talented candidates, Red 5 had to think outside the box. They selected 100 ‘dream’ candidates (all employed elsewhere), used social media to research them extensively and sent each a personalized iPod complete with a message recorded from CEO Mark Kerr covering the candidate’s previous work and inviting them to apply. 90 out of 100 recipients responded and 3 left their jobs to join the Red 5 team. A big win. 

Puzzles

Complex puzzles that uniquely apply to a companies ‘ideal’ applicant can spark interest and effectively filter out unsuitable applicants:

4 –  Quixey: 60 second challenge

Silicon valley startup Quixey, competing with the likes of Facebook and Google for top talent, challenged engineers to solve a 60-second programming puzzle, offering a $100 dollar reward every day for a month. A win-win scenario, the best walked away with cash in their hand and Quixey got exclusive access to great candidates – a number of whom they’ve successfully brought on board.

5 - Google’s Cryptic Billboard

A confusing 2004 Silicon valley billboard presented a mathematical puzzle to onlookers, directing anyone clever enough to solve it to www.7427466391.com where they were faced with another challenge. On completion they were met with the below message:

“Nice work. Well done. Mazel tov. You’ve made it to Google Labs and we’re glad you’re here. One thing we learned while building Google is that it’s easier to find what you’re looking for if it comes looking for you. What we’re looking for are the best engineers in the world. And here you are.”

Generating discussions on Mathematical and Engineering forums even before the architect of the message become clear, Google filtered potential applicants to a small group of enthusiastic ‘problem solvers’ – a trait that the company values highly.

Competitions

Companies can arouse enthusiasm for roles by appealing to the competitive nature of candidates. If the proposition is interesting these contests can quickly go viral:

6 - MGM Grand: Iron Chef

The MGM Grand looked internally for a new head chef for one of their restaurants, running its own version of popular reality show ‘Iron Chef’. Teams from each of the casino’s 16 eateries, ranging from top chefs right down to cooks from the employee diner, were given a secret ingredient and instructed to put together a 4 course meal in under 1 hour. The victor, a 23 year old sous chef from a 24 hour coffee shop, has increased sales at the upscale Japanese restaurant by 400%!

7 - OgilvyOne: The world’s greatest sales person

To add quality talent to their sales team advertising agency OgilvyOne launched a clever recruitment campaign to find ‘The World’s Greatest Salesperson’. Using a dedicated YouTube channel and targeted social media campaign they invited applicants to sell them a brick! The top contestants were given a chance to pitch at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and the winner received a 3 month paid fellowship with the agency.

8 - Mastercard Canada: Internship social media challenge

Using the hashtag #internswanted, Mastercard Canada gave college students the chance to compete for an internship on social media. Applicants each submitted an idea for a product, app, or technique to help the company move towards creating a cashless future. Contestants were judged on the amount of ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ their ideas got. They received 532 qualified candidates, and expanded their program to hire an additional intern due to the talent quality.

 Guerilla Recruiting

‘Off-the-wall’ campaigns that approach a talent acquisition problem from a unique way have strong social currency. They lend themselves to being widely shared, and are good ways to approach candidates that the company might struggle to reach with a different solution:

 9 – Uncle Grey: Fortress 2

Struggling to find Front-End Developers through standard channels, Danish agency Uncle Grey, aware of it’s target market, turned to popular online game ‘Fortress 2′. They struck a sponsorship deal with top players who represented the company as ambassadors within the game, distributing posters and promoting the recruitment page url. Within a week Uncle Grey had more than 50 applications and had sourced their ideal candidate.

10 - Swedish Armed Forces: Who Cares?

The Swedish army used a 4-day live streamed social experiment to raise their profile and bring in a wave of new recruits. An anonymous black box was placed in central Stockholm to much confusion. Then, every hour someone entered the box through a controlled airlock. Left with no instructions or information the room was streamed to a campaign page widely shared on social media. They could only leave the box if a total stranger was willing to exchange places. The campaign received widespread national attention with 74 total participants. The army had targeted 4300 applicants for 1430 positions, they ended up being inundated with 9930 applications!

11 – Jung von Matt: Lorem Ipsum

German advertising agency Jung von Matt repurposed the layouts familiar to designers to recruit creative directors. Creatives using the ‘Lorem Ipsum’ generator were presented with a job description including a link to the company’s website. 200,000 copied the announcement into their designs, and the campaign generated 14,000 visits to the careers website and significant social media buzz. 

12 – Royal Marine Commandos: 99.99% need not apply

The Marines focused on the determination, athleticism and focus required to be a Royal Marine with their 99% need not apply advert campaign. Only a small proportion of recruits generally complete the Commando training, and the campaign was an effective challenge to potential applicants with the appropriate mettle to succeed. The provoking adverts have won a number of awards and helped them attract suitable candidates.

13 – Atlassian: ‘We’re coming to steal your geeks’

To deal with the shortage of Australian engineers, software company Atlassian launched a campaign to hire and relocate 15 European developers and relocate them to Sydney. Decking out a bus and hosting meetups and interviews all over Europe, potential candidates could track the bus’ progress and apply for a chance to move to Australia’s ‘Silicon Beach’.

About the author -

Ben Slater

Sales & Marketing Director at Seed.Jobs.

"I like playing with words and helping companies hire better." Wannabe athlete and keen traveler.