1.
telatn gemtnaaem

2.
Talent Management

3.
gihh incamatenen
*clue – two words often used to
describe Hiring Managers

4.
High Maintenance

5.
upplre riqrelsu

6.
Purple Squirrel

7.
​Melissa & Michele Thompson
​Global Executive Director, Talent Acquisition, Citrix
​Client Delivery Manager – Sourcing, Diversity & Veteran Recruiting, Randstad Sourceright
The Five Step Guide:
Finding the Purple Squirrel

8.
Today’s
agenda
 Defining the Hunt
 Are you in the Right Forest?
 Seeing the Forest for the Trees
 Stocking the Toolshed
 It takes a Village, People
 Put a Bow on it
 Takeaways
 Q & A

9.
​ Purple Squirrel
​ ˈpər-pəl ˈskwə-rəl, noun
​ From the mythicus difficultus animal family
​ Defined as a rare yet highly
coveted being. Possessing
legendary skills, epic experience
and encyclopedic industry know-
how. This guru is absolutely
essential for prosperity, success
(and the sanity of talent acquisition
staff) in companies large and small.
Looking for me?

10.
Last Purple Squirrel Sightings
It’s Monday, your recruiter needs 17 purple squirrels who rollerskate backwards, speak Leprechaun and program for both Android and
iOS hired for the Dayton, Ohio by next month. There are six known in the world. (Only 2 have US visas)
HAPPY HUNTING!

11.
Define the hunt:
Recruiting v Sourcing

12.
Creating Synergy
Feedback
Recruiting
Sourcing
If you don’t have a dedicated
sourcing team, your recruiters
must be skilled in sourcing
methodologies to attract and
engage purple squirrels.

13.
Partnership
Recruiting Funnel
- Recruiter provides
manager feedback
- Sourcer provides
market intelligence
- Feedback loop drives
successful hire
Intake
Calibration
Market
Intel
Candidate
Experience
Successful
Hire

14.
Are you even in the right forest?

15.
If you have no idea where you are going,
the truth is – any road will get you there.
Start with a plan.
​Melissa Thompson
​(who does not believe in chaos as a talent acquisition strategy)
Variation on Lewis Carroll quote

16.
Recruiting case study
4
7
11
6
7
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Southeast Southwest Northeast Northwest Central
Networking Sales Project -
Americas
 Hire 35 Networking Sales
Specialists
• Marketing – develop the value
proposition for this role
• Objections – identify and be
prepared to combat objections
• Process – weekly executive
updates
• Sourcing – job boards, ERP,
research
• Result – 34/35 hired in 60 days

17.
Sourcing Case Study
35%
29%
11%
10%
8%
Not in Market Comp not in range EVP unclear Competitor Near Interview Process
• Solving for 30 Javascript Engineers in
Richmond, VA
• Wrong Forest
• Wrong Bait (attraction strategy)
• Other Hunters after the same Squirrel
• Result – 27 hires out of 2 events in 6
months

18.
Seeing the forest for the trees

19.
If recruiting is like fishing with a net,
then sourcing is choosing the correct
bait and knowing where to drop a line.
​Michele Thompson
​(because the talent acquisition end game is to catch a fish)

20.
Pipeline Management and Growth
 Recruiters regularly review the system for new applicants
 Sourcers pipeline continuously even without active reqs

21.
Active vs. Passive
 Recruiter
 Career Website
 Job Boards
 Employee Referrals
 Internal Movement
 Silver Medalists
 Sourcer
 Email Campaigns
 Social Media
 CRM Management
 Creative Search Methodology
 Keep Warm Campaigns

22.
​Tip: For purples squirrels, stay warm and fuzzy, keep the generic email templates to a
minimum.
 17% response to “Hey, I saw your resume
today.”
 54% response to “Here’s what’s new at XYZ
company, join our network if interested.”
Source: Michele Thompson, 2014 – 2016 Randstad Sourceright client data

23.
Stocking the Toolshed
1. Candidate Outreach
2. Two case studies
3. Tools to deploy while sleeping
(not this kind)
(this kind)

24.
Outreach Objective: Candidate Response
Candidate
Outreach
Recruitment
Advertising
Enhanced
Recruitment
Advertising
Social
Media
Career
Microsites
Employee
Referrals
Events
(Meetups,
Hiring Days)
Current
CRM/ATS
Associations
/ Business
Networks

25.
The problem:
• Reqs aging over 90 days
• Recruiters challenged to find time to
source
• Lack of dedicated sourcing support
• Recruiters not finding the purple squirrels
at a speed that meets business needs
• Ruby on Rails example – 25 candidates in
30 minutes
About that jam…
Recruiter
with Req
RecruitersSourcers
Project
Folder

26.
About that hour…
Buy-in & Train
Outreach
Pre-Qualification/Interview
Hire or Disposition
Keep Warm!
 Goal: Hire 8
Management
Level Product
Marketing
professionals in
30 days
 How: Go Digital!
Host Invitation
Only Virtual
Hiring Event
 Agree: We get
what we get and
call it a win and
a learning
opportunity

27.
While you were sleeping:
Sponsored email
campaigns on
LinkedIn
Mobile Pop-Up ads
Web Crawlers
through CRM
Branded Scheduled
Email Blasts
Word of Mouth*

28.
It takes a village, people
Not these guys. Much better.

29.
​Tip:
Engage the Hiring Manager early and
often. Deploy your inner Jerry Maguire:
“Help me help you.”
Source: LinkedIn Talent Blog- 2015

30.
Everyone’s a talent scout.
​Melissa Thompson
​(Because hunting purple squirrels is a team sport.)

31.
Everything’s an opportunity to attract or
repel the purple squirrel.
​Michele Thompson
​(Because you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.)

32.
Candidate Experience – What’s the impact?
25% of
candidates
reported a bad
experience
when applying
for a job.1
42% of
candidates who
had a bad
experience
would never
seek
employment at
that company
again.2
22% of
candidates who
had a bad
experience
would tell their
friends and
peers to never
seek
employment at
that company.3
1. Blogging For Jobs – 2015
2. Social Talent, Candidate Experience – 2015
3. CareerBuilder, Infoshare - 2015

33.
Candidate Experience – Where we lose them
56% of candidates said query email
“sucked”.1
40% of candidates drop when site is not
mobile-friendly.2 72% use mobile device to
research and apply. 3
48% drop at ATS. “Too much drama” or
“Application too long” 4
33% cite “terrible” interview with hiring
manager or hiring team. 5
74% of candidates drop because of poor
communication with hiring team. “Not
knowing what’s going on”.6
1. GoInfor.com– 2015
2. Smart Recruiters – 2015
3. Smart Recruiters – 2015
4. BLS.gov News Release – 2015
5. The Hiring Site, CareerBuilder
Employers’ Talent Pipeline – 2015
6. RA Human Capital Management,
Aberdeen.com - 2015

34.
​Tip: Candidate feedback is as vital to driving excellence from post to close.
From a 2015 survey: only 50% of
companies are measuring impact of poor
candidate experience.
Source: Talent Leaders Connect, London 2015

35.
Put a bow on it

36.
Sometimes just moving the needle is a win.
And I’ll take all the wins I can get. And then
I’ll declare my victory again and again. Until
as far as you know, all I do is win.
​Michele Thompson
​(who loves to win)

37.
Win v. Fail
From a Win
• Where/How did we find the
hire?
• What was the cycle time?
• Can we make this win
repeatable?
From a Fail
• Where did we go wrong (which
step)?
• What can do better?
• Can we take a grey squirrel and
train it to be purple?

38.
Takeaways
Synergy–togetheristheonlyway
• Recruiting and
sourcing must
be in lockstep
• They both
feed each
other, so they
both grow
strong
together
Useyourtools
• Let your
systems work
for you
• Data is your
friend
• Know what
you are
looking for
before you
start
• Analyze your
pipeline
EffectivePartnerships
• Hiring
Manager
engagement –
early and often
• Candidate
engagement
from brand to
offer letter
• Everyone
recruits
• Everything’s
an opportunity
for talent
attraction.
LessonsLearned
• What do you
learn from a
win or a fail?
• Find a win
even if it’s a
small one
• Measure your
ROI
consistently