1.
Words of wisdom from the recruiting front lines

2.
We asked recruiters and recruiting leaders around the world to
share their top priorities, biggest mistakes, and best career advice.
Here’s what they said.

3.
What’s your top
talent acquisition priority
in 2015?

4.
Cracking the passive pool and
hiring the best sales people and developers.
Matthew Jeffery
Head of Global Sourcing & Employment Branding, SAP

5.
Being seen, being found and gaining share. I want to grow
our employer brand and really bring to life the Diageo culture
externally to attract the best talent. I want to create a source
of competitive advantage for my organisation through the
work we do. I want my team to be proud of their contribution
to the success of Diageo and ultimately I want them to love
what they do.
Claire Macintyre
VP, Global Resourcing, Diageo

6.
Talent Branding initiatives are my top priority this year. We are
crafting strategies around providing the outside world an
inside glimpse on who we are as a company, our culture and
why we are an employer of choice. We are especially excited
about our career video project which should be completed
this summer.
Tara De Jonge
Global Talent Acquisition Manager, 2020

7.
What excites you most
about your job?

8.
We spend all day talking to candidates and future
employees…helping people find the roles and environments
where they can thrive and do the best work.
Claire Macintyre
VP, Global Resourcing, Diageo

9.
I love to work in a position that has a deep impact upon the
organization as well as in the life of individuals…you can
change someone’s life by changing their job.
Daniela Dall'Acqua
Head of Talent Acquisition, Pfizer
9

10.
The most exciting part of my job is the challenge of the hunt.
When I get a new position to work on, I’m chomping at the bit to
start screening profiles and get on the phone.
Dylan White
HR Recruitment Consultant, SAP
10

11.
Industry knowledge that I learn and pick up on a daily basis
through research and interviews.
Stacy Zeller
Recruiter, BP
11

12.
Seeing the professional growth of those I have been able to
work with and helping to connect people to their next
opportunity of a lifetime is definitely something that keeps me
passionate about recruiting.
Matt Tague
Global Talent Market Strategist & Principal Recruiter, LinkedIn
12

13.
Stretch assignments that push you out of your comfort zone
are excellent ways to add tools in your tool box and further
expand on your growth and development.
Tara De Jonge
Global Talent Acquisition Manager, 20-20 Technologies

14.
What are your tips for
closing candidates faster & getting
a better candidate acceptance rate?

15.
Many recruiters often have the compensation discussion at the
beginning of the recruiting lifecycle and do not revisit the topic
until much later in the process…Be overly persistent about
keeping up with the candidate’s other interview activity and
potential offers. A candidate’s target salary can be extremely
fluid throughout an end-to-end cycle, and it’s important to
remain current on what it will take to get the deal done.
Dylan White
HR Recruitment Consultant, SAP

16.
I believe that when candidates do not accept offers it usually
comes down to the recruiter focusing more on the me rather
than the we...Always ask why. This will help you understand
what your candidate is really thinking.
Matt Tague
Global Talent Market Strategist & Principal Recruiter, LinkedIn

17.
If you are thorough on the front end and address all of the
candidate needs, provide them with accurate information,
positive experience, then you shouldn’t have a difficult time
closing on the back end.
Stacy Zeller
Recruiter, BP

18.
Who & what do you turn to as
resources for doing your job better?

19.
I always ask my team for ideas on how can we do our job
better. We conduct hundreds of recruiting processes every year,
and my team always has ideas about how to improve the
process and make it more efficient. I also constantly learn from
the candidates. During the interview, you learn a lot not only
about the candidate but about the market as well…Finally,
consistent feedback is very important not only to the candidate
but also for us as recruiters. We send satisfaction surveys to
candidates and clients to get ideas about how we can improve.
Daniela Dall'Acqua
Head of Talent Acquisition, Pfizer

20.
I rely on hiring managers, organizational leadership, networking
and research. Connecting and learning with hiring managers is a
greatly undervalued tool in recruiting…Organizational leadership
is also key to becoming a great recruiter in the sense that they
have a vast background of experiences to share with you and
have a lot of hacks to offer in your daily routines. In terms of
networking, I never pass up the opportunity to attend a relevant
technology or recruiting conference and I try to make as much
time to attend Technology User Groups or MeetUp.com events.
Dylan White
HR Recruitment Consultant, SAP

21.
Joining relevant groups on LinkedIn is also a great way to get
a pulse on what is of interest to your area of focus.
Matt Tague
Global Talent Market Strategist & Principal Recruiter, LinkedIn

22.
I’m always looking for ways to learn, grow and elevate my team
to be great. I attend relevant webinars, read white pages and
participate in recruitment specific conferences such as Talent
Connect, as much as I can. Using these mediums to learn from
other likeminded professionals who share my passion is a
great way to gain insight on recruitment best practices. Just
because something is working well doesn’t mean you can’t
learn new ways of making it even better.
Tara De Jonge
Global Talent Acquisition Manager, 20-20 Technologies

23.
What are your tips for becoming
a better sourcer or recruiter?

24.
The number one complaint is the lack of proper feedback. My
team and I try to minimize this by tracking the applicants and
making sure that they receive timely feedback and have open
channels of communication with us.
Daniela Dall'Acqua
Head of Talent Acquisition, Pfizer
24

25.
Research is key…Look up acronyms, try to find informational
YouTube videos, and don’t be afraid to ask candidates to
explain concepts or complex ideas about their discipline that
you might not fully understand.
Dylan White
HR Recruitment Consultant, SAP
25

26.
Research and pay attention to the market. I spend quite a bit of
time following competition and financial markets to pick up on
potential challenges and opportunities.
Stacy Zeller
Recruiter, BP
26

27.
Lead with data. LinkedIn allows you to understand so much
about any talent pool you might be interested it. Using this data
to influence and advise is becoming a must have skill for
sourcers and recruiters.
Matt Tague
Global Talent Market Strategist & Principal Recruiter, LinkedIn
27

28.
What was a mistake or
difficult situation you learned from?

29.
I learnt a great deal when implementing our new talent
engagement framework. Leading a team of people through
change is very different than coaching them through. I learnt
the importance of good communication — don’t assume it is
happening how you planned it to or that people fully
understand it…you need to over invest in this area.
Stacy Zeller
Recruiter, BP

30.
A difficult situation I learned a lot from was coming to the
realization that I belonged in recruiting, not sales. Although
they both share a lot in common in the sense that you are
selling someone on something, they are very different…It took
me a while to realize that instead of cold calling and selling
staffing services, my passion was working directly with the
candidates to improve their careers and job satisfaction.
Dylan White
HR Recruitment Consultant, SAP

31.
Falling for the seductive words of the armchair consultants in
this industry. Those people with self promoted brands and
egos bigger than their list of achievements. You know the
people. Never enacted what they preach. Like driving
instructors who can't drive!!! Classic armchair football
managers. Social Media and the conference circuit has
allowed the rise of the 'Power Egos.' Research wisely who you
trust to advise you.
Matthew Jeffery
Head of Global Sourcing & Employment Branding, SAP

32.
Prioritizing all of the information and technology available,
sticking to a few, and using them really well. You can search
endlessly with the technologies available, but having a
strategy and prioritizing your efforts helps tremendously, is
still something I struggle with.
Stacy Zeller
Recruiter, BP

33.
When I first started my career in recruiting and was eager to
show results, I can think back to several placements that were
not the right match for the person who took the role or the
company that hired them. Understanding that just because I
could place someone into a particular role doesn’t mean that it
is the right thing to do for that person’s future success is an
important lesson I have never forgotten.
Matt Tague
Global Talent Market Strategist & Principal Recruiter, LinkedIn

34.
How does LinkedIn help you?

35.
I use LinkedIn for sourcing, social media, and self-admittedly, to
keep tabs on who has looked at my profile…I would estimate that
I spend an average of 20 hours a week in LinkedIn recruiter to
source talent and 5 hours a week utilizing LinkedIn as a social
network — sharing articles, making connections, and mining
through my newsfeed. I find the intellectual content shared on
LinkedIn to be a breath of fresh air from some of the superfluous
stuff you see on Facebook.
Dylan White
HR Recruitment Consultant, SAP

36.
I check LinkedIn daily, and usually several times throughout
the day. Use it to search, market, and follow industry and
recruiter related news.
Stacy Zeller
Recruiter, BP

37.
Both Linkedin.com and LinkedIn Recruiter are fully integrated
throughout most of my workday. Without these tools, I literally
could not do my job. One of my favorite quotes is: ‘If I
recruited for a company and they took away LinkedIn, I would
quit.’ Although there is little chance of that happening at
LinkedIn, that is how strongly I feel about the platform when it
comes to my work as a recruiter.
Matt Tague
Global Talent Market Strategist & Principal Recruiter, LinkedIn

38.
LinkedIn isn’t an option in my view, it’s a necessity. Through
search and InMail features, LinkedIn gives unprecedented
access to both the active and passive workforce, tools I didn’t
have access to in my early recruitment days. Recruitment
trends today revolve around everything social media related.
Businesses need to leverage sites like LinkedIn and invest in
good Talent Branding strategies in order to remain
competitive and attract the new generation of job seeker.
Tara De Jonge
Global Talent Acquisition Manager, 20-20 Technologies

39.
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