Lessons from a Recruiter Honeypot

LESSONS FROMA RECRUITING HONEYPOT

Elaine Wherry

Thursday, August 23, 12

OVERVIEW1. The recruiting crisis2. Tips & tricks3. The future


INTRODUCTIONElaine Wherry, Co-founder & CXO, Meebo


2009 CRISIS

goal !2010 PLAN

hirebuild


GUERILLA


GUERILLA

surprise!surprise!surprise!


HONEYPOT


HONEYPOT

1. Pete is based upon a real person2. Pete is a static presence3. I’d own it fully4. Not make anyone look bad5. Share the results

HONEYPOT RULES


HONEYPOT


SINCE THEN...


SINCE THEN...• 514 emails

• 382 recruiters

• 172 organizations

• 7 iPad incentives

• 1 Xbox incentive

• 1 MacBook Air incentive

• 5 $1k referral cash incentives

• 2 $10k referral cash incentive

• 8 coffees

• 7 phone calls

• 6 lunches


15 TIPS & TRICKS

• Tips 1-6: Hiring manager tips

• Tips 7-15: How to help your recruiting team


TIP #1. GO GUERILLA


TIP #1. STARTUPS

13%PersonalEmail

53%Linked-In

Only34%Both

64%Linked-In

Total Emails


2%Both

79%Linked-In

Only

19%PersonalEmail

TIP #1. ESTABLISHED COMPANIES

79%Linked-In

Total Emails


How Meebo Found

JavaScript Engineers

8 Guerilla Techniques

6 Networking & Referrals

4 External Recruiters

1 LinkedIn

2 Campus recruiting

2 [email protected]

TIP #1. GO GUERILLA


secretjobs@meebo+inc.com/

Google/AdWords/

Stanford/finals/tee+shirts/

JavaScript/blog/puzzlers/

JavaScript/community/map/

JavaScript/meetups/

Resume/spider/engine/

JavaScript/bingo/

Speaking/events/

Stanford/CS/parDcipaDon/

Boolean/searches/

AcquisiDon/calendars/

Student/newspapers/

Jobs/page/chat/widget/

TwiIer/keywords/

University/classifieds/

Open/source/repositories/

Meetups/

Blog%comments%

Conference%speakers%

Referral%program%

Professor%recommenda5ons%

Google%Summer%of%Code%

Alumni%groups%

Widget%referrer%

Front%door%signs%

TIP #1. GO GUERILLA


• LinkedIn is incredibly competitive

• LinkedIn is easy to filter

• Most engineers have greater activities in other forums, engineering groups, or other networks

TIP #1. GO GUERILLA


TIP #2. HELLO EVIL TWIN!


15%Top

companies

85%Start-upsand othercompanies



“We’ve assembled a world class team. Our monthly uniques have already exceeded [###] million and continue to

trend higher at a rapid pace. We’ve reached an inflection point where we’re looking to scale, and with your background I wanted to speak with you about our engineering hiring.” - Startup in Mountain View

“There are a variety of interesting technical challenges in front of us including scaling for millions of users, developing applications, building a sophisticated data platform, securing user data and, most importantly, ensuring

an incredible experience for our users. Aside from our plethora of awesome technical projects, this is also a great place to work. Everyone on the team benefits from free meals and tremendous organizational transparency

(weekly all hands, daily stand ups, etc.)” - Startup in San Francisco

“... I am part of Engineering Staffing currently supporting the North America Engineering at <Company>. I saw

your profile on LinkedIn and I wanted to reach out to you to find out if you would be interested in exploring various engineering positions at <Company>. <Company> has some of the best brains working on leading technologies to

design the world’s largest computer infrastructure and design/build the next creative software application. We are looking to hire additional software engineers to help us accomplish this mission...” - Major company in Bay Area



• Avoid generalities: “awesome team,” “world-class,” “good culture”

• Paint specifics: your teammate is a leader in

SproutCore, first to launch real-time API, demo days each Friday



TIP #2. HELLO SAND HILL!


Recruiter Activity2010-2012

ewherry.com

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Q12010

Q22010

Q32010

Q42010

Q12011

Q22011

Q32011

Q42011

Q12012

Q2*2012

Top Companies

Anonymous

Start-ups

VCs

75%

100%

50%

25%

15%

26%

56%

3%



Peter,

I’m with the VC Firm <name> and my charter is to build out their talent services capabilities. What that means is we are looking for high caliber individuals that would be interested in potentially exploring opportunities with our portfolio companies.

Your experience is exceptional and you have the type of background that should be apart of the network. If you are interested in learning more I would love the opportunity to speak with you in more detail. What we are looking to establish is a “go to” network of top notch individuals that would be a value add to our portfolio of companies. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,

<name & contact info>

Talent Services<vc firm>#### Sand Hill RoadMenlo Park, CA 94025



TIP #3. DOES IT WORK?

?

RECRUITINGKIT


Top companies

Start-ups

Internal vs. ExternalRecruiting Team Composition

0 20 40 60 80 100

64% 36%Internal External

ewherry.com

89% 11%Internal External




= Top Companies

= Start-ups

ewherry.com

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

49% 42%

20% 37%

44% 67%

RoleDescription

Personalized CompanyDescription

Big vs. Small Teams


= Top Companies

= Start-ups

+3.4

-.02 -.14 +.14

+1.4+.88

RoleDescription


ewherry.com

+2

+3

+1

External Recruiting Comparison



TIP #4. BE CAREFUL...


May$13th,$2:20$pm$


May$13th,$2:35$pm$


Hi Peter,

My name is <Lee> and I am the recruiter for site.com, the world’s !rst <description>. With close to 100 million worldwide users, revenues of $2 million per month and increasing by 50% monthly, in just 2.5 years site.com is establishing itself as a cutting-edge technology company with a strong business model.

We are looking for a JavaScript Developer to join our growing team. Your pro!le is very impressive and I was wondering if you might have an interest in joining a fun, creative team who are revolutionizing this space. If so, I’d love to share details with you.

All the best, <Lee>


NOT REALLY A TIP


Big$company:$“…I$was$referred$to$you$as$a$possible$source$for$a$posi:on$I$am$working$on$

here…”$

One$internal$start?up:$“…I$previously$worked$with$Tod$Sacerdo:$&$Dru$Nelson$and$have$heard$

great$things$about$you$and$feel$you'd$be$a$great$fit$for$<company>…”$

One$internal$start?up:$“I$understand$that$you$may$not$be$ac:vely$looking$at$this$point,$but$we$

have$heard$that$you$are$very$good$and$wanted$to$see$if$you$might$consider$looking$into$a$

posi:on$with$<company>…”$

One$internal$start?up:$“…<Company>$is$growing$like$gangbusters!$My$name$is$<name>$and$

I'm$the$Recruiter.$You$were$referred$to$me…”$

I HEARD....


TIP #5. TIME FOR HOODIES


TIP #5. TIME FOR HOODIES

ewherry.com

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Q1*2010

Q22010

Q32010

Q42010

Q12011

Q22011

Q32011

Q42011

Q12012

Q2*2012

San Francisco

San Mateo

Redwood City

Menlo Park

Palo Alto

Mountain View

Sunnyvale

Cupertino

San Jose

Los Gatos

16 16 26 2627 50 42 50 4552

Silicon Valley Recruiting Geography2010-2012 50

10

30


TIP #6. DON’T DO WHAT I DID...


• Go after inactive candidates

• Hire managers with networks

• Know your funnel

• Look for 12-20% response rate

• Hire a wider skill range

TIP #6. DON’T DO WHAT I DID...


15 TIPS & TRICKS

• Tips 1-6: Hiring manager tips

• Tips 7-15: How to help your recruiting team


TIP #7. BEAT THE MANAGER


0

20

40

60

80

100

You




= Top Company Recruiters

= Start-up Recruiters

= Managers

49% 42% 67%

20% 37% 37%

44% 67% 79%

RoleDescription


Recruiters vs. Managers


TIP #7. EMAILS - BOTTOM 40%


TIP #7. MANAGERS - TOP 40%


TIP #7. THE BEST - TOP 1%


SCORING SYSTEM1. Company Information

• Mission, growth, funding

2. Role Details

• Teams, libraries, technologies

3. Personalized

• Detail from resume or blog


SCORING SYSTEM

0


SCORING SYSTEM

1


SCORING SYSTEM

2


SCORING SYSTEM

3


SCORING SYSTEM

?


TIP #8. PARAGRAPH BOMBS


• People skim, not read

• Drawn to the left

• One sentence per paragraph



TIP #8. READABILITY


TIP #9. START ON THE RIGHT FOOT

Hello my name is ...

and I am a recruiter...Hello my name is ...


and I am a recruiter...











35%“Hi, my

name is...”

36%Other

22%“I was impressed

with your profile...”

7%“Sorry for

the email...”

TIP #9. START ON THE RIGHT FOOT


TIP #9. 35% - HI MY NAME IS...


TIP #9. 22% - FOUND YOUR PROFILE


TIP #9. 7% - SORRY...


“I’m reaching out to you given your strong front-‐end development experience, particularly with Javascript.”

“Your unique mix of front-‐end and back-‐end knowledge and experience really caught the attention of our current Web Developer manager.”

“I see that you have experience with large scale software development involving distributed systems that lines up nicely with the work being done in our Cloud Technology Team”

TIP #9. PRO INTRO


TIP #10. INTRO CHEAT


TIP #11. PERSONALIZATION CHEAT



= Managers

49% 42% 67%

20% 37% 37%

44% 67% 79%

RoleDescription


Recruiters vs. Managers


TIP #11. PERSONALIZATION CHEAT


TIP #12. CHATTY FIRMS

let me explain why you should like me and want totalk to me .. blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah


TIP #12. CHATTY FIRMS


TIP #13. FOLLOW-UP, DON’T SPAM


44%First-timeoutreach

44%Missed

follow-upopportunities

12%Follow-up

rate



• Maintain conversation & history

• Longer history = stronger relationship

• Ignored history implies that candidate isn’t worth remembering

• Outreach reads less sincere - becomes spam



TIP #14. YOU, YOUR, YOURS



I me we



“From what I gather, you’re a JavaScript and front-end expert, having worked on web applications that scale to millions. I also noted, however, that your skills go beyond front-end work, demonstrated by your experience at Plaxo in C/C++ (and even violin!). What I take from this is that you are really an engineering generalist, although maybe having some obvious strengths and likes, with a clear understanding of the web. I thought I would get in touch with you in hopes of learning about your situation and sharing some info from my end.”

“…I am extremely impressed with the experience you’ve gained from Meebo, Plaxo and Disney … but primarily your passion of “scaling applications to millions, and pushing the bounds of what’s possible on the Web” … Well, I’d love to learn some more about you and your interests and am curious if you’d be open to having a chat with us here at <company? either tomorrow or Wednesday…”


• Storyteller instead of salesman

• Show, don’t tell

• Personal approach



TIP #15. PERSONAL REFERENCE


FINAL INSIGHT


IT’S ALL MESSED UP


3 REASONS EMPLOYEES LEAVE

1. Manager2. Role3. Company


IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MANAGER

1. Manager2. Role 3. Company

described bythe manager


IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MANAGER


MGR TRUMPS ORG


BENEFITS

• Stop looking for warm bodies

• Developing personal network

• Invest in longterm skills of employee

• Stop selling a particular role and company

• Have greater empathy


THANK YOU!

http://www.ewherry.com/[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]






APPENDIX


SUMMARY• Aim for top 40%

• Don’t paragraph bomb

• Go guerilla

• Don’t say sorry

• Follow-up, don’t spam

• Watch out for your evil twin

• You, your, yours

• Keep the spotlight on the candidate - not your firm

• Network to candidates

• Triage - not all candidates are equal


TODAY1. Organizations control the purse strings2. Allow low barrier-to-entry in the field3. In-house recruiters are at a networking

disadvantage4. Current recruiting websites either

disguise themselves as a social network or face disadvantage with candidates who don’t want to say they are active


IN THE FUTURE1. VCs are poised to disrupt the space2. Startup could too - think OKCupid for

recruiting3. More emphasis on tools for manager and

finding longer-term fits


#1. GUERILLA


LINKEDIN WORDCOUNT

= Personal Emails= LinkedIn

128

256


LINKEDIN METRICS

= Personal Emails= LinkedIn

59%

43%

31%

68%

46%

37%

RoleDescription

PersonalizedCompanyDescription


GUERILLA TECHNIQUES

secretjobs@meebo+inc.com/

Google/AdWords/

Stanford/finals/tee+shirts/

JavaScript/blog/puzzlers/

JavaScript/community/map/

JavaScript/meetups/

Resume/spider/engine/

JavaScript/bingo/

Speaking/events/

Stanford/CS/parDcipaDon/

Boolean/searches/

AcquisiDon/calendars/

Student/newspapers/

Jobs/page/chat/widget/

TwiIer/keywords/

University/classifieds/

Open/source/repositories/

Meetups/

Blog%comments%

Conference%speakers%

Referral%program%

Professor%recommenda5ons%

Google%Summer%of%Code%

Alumni%groups%

Widget%referrer%

Front%door%signs%


#1. GUERILLALinkedIn is highly competitive and easy to filter


LESSONS• Highest scores

• Better than Manager

• Better than Top Five

• Outliers


FINAL INSIGHT


Relationship with Manager >

Relationship with Company


MANAGERS



= Managers

64%

79%

68%


HONEYPOT


Lessons from a Recruiter Honeypot

Business

Transcript of Lessons from a Recruiter Honeypot