Do you know what you really want in your career?

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Tim Sackett

About ten years ago I came home one day and said to my wife, “I can’t do this anymore”. It doesn’t matter what I was doing, I just couldn’t do that anymore. I knew it. Something had to change.

Steve Jobs is famously quoted as saying, “people don’t know what they want until you show them”, I think Henry Ford said something similar about one hundred years before Jobs. Both were talking about consumers, but in reality, it fits people in almost every aspect of life.

I find it really rings true for people in their careers. We think we know what we want. “I want to be a vice president by the time I’m 35”, I told my wife when I was 25 years old. I thought I knew what I wanted in my career. In reality, I was just title chasing.

I became a vice president and I found out I felt no difference in my career, and I definitely didn’t feel satisfied. So, a title was not what I truly wanted. What I discovered was I wanted to be in control. Success or failure, I wanted that on my shoulders. It didn’t matter what I was actually doing in my career, I needed control.

As a leader, I find probably only about ten percent of those who you support will truly have an idea about what they want out of a career. The other ninety percent, are just like me, they think they know, but they really don’t until they’ve reached whatever goal they’ve set for themselves, then they’ll find out if they actually had any clue, or they were just guessing.

If we start with most employees have no idea what they want in their career, or at best they have an idea, but it’ll be wrong, it’s now up to leaders to help shape this path. It might be the only real thing we can do for those we supervise as leaders are to help guide them on their career path.

Employees don’t know what they want in a career until you show them.

If you believe this is your job as a leader to show those you work with what their career can be, this really helps to crystallize what you do each day.

What I know from my experience is the best people I ever worked for had a vision and path they wanted for their career. That path was usually developed and born from a mentor or boss that took the time to care about this person enough to show them what their career could be.

I can point to four different leaders and mentors in my life who helped shape my path, and by the way, all said I was an idiot for my obsession with a title. I was too young to listen, and thankfully they were too smart to give up on me.

It’s your job as a leader to show your people what they want. Don’t ever assume that your people already know what they want, most don’t. They won’t admit this because admitting it makes you sound like a moron, but it shouldn’t stop you as a leader from showing them the possibilities.

What I find is the more you show them the path, the more they’ll gravitate towards it and raise their performance to meet it.

The Future of Executive Performance Reviews are Here! Are you ready?

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Tim Sackett

A small news story hit this past week and you might have missed it. It was about Facebook hiring a pollster to follow Mark Zuckerburg around to measure what people (all people) thought of him, not Facebook. Here’s a bit from The Verge:

“It was a very unusual role,” McGinn says. “It was my job to do surveys and focus groups globally to understand why people like Mark Zuckerberg, whether they think they can trust him, and whether they’ve even heard of him. That’s especially important outside of the United States.”

McGinn tracked a wide range of questions related to Zuckerberg’s public perception. “Not just him in the abstract, but do people like Mark’s speeches? Do they like his interviews with the press? Do people like his posts on Facebook? It’s a bit like a political campaign, in the sense that you’re constantly measuring how every piece of communication lands. If Mark’s doing a barbecue in his backyard and he hops on Facebook Live, how do people respond to that?”

Facebook worked to develop an understanding of Zuckerberg’s perception that went beyond simple “thumbs-up” or “thumbs-down” metrics, McGinn says. “If Mark gives a speech and he’s talking about immigration and universal health care and access to equal education, it’s looking at all the different topics that Mark mentions and seeing what resonates with different audiences in the United States,” he says. “It’s very advanced research.”

Facebook also conducted similar research on behalf of the company’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. Surveys measured awareness about Sandberg, whether people liked and trusted her, and how they felt about her speeches, interviews, and Facebook posts…The company further measured how Sandberg’s public image compared with Zuckerberg’s. The results were shared directly with Zuckerberg and Sandberg”

Most Executives of very large companies don’t really get performance reviews. The board of directors will do something formally, but it’s all wink, wink, fairly surface level stuff, we’re all in this together, how much of a raise should we give ourselves this year kind of thing.

Can you imagine how your C-suite would respond to having themselves polled at every turn on an ongoing basis kind of performance feedback! I’ll tell you, most would lose their minds!

When I first read this, I thought, oh, this is just Mark looking into Presidency options, but when Sheryl was also put into the mix, and they were compared, that changes the dynamic. If you think about the impact of the C-suite in the largest companies in the world in terms of performance of stock price, earnings, revenue, etc., you’re talking billions of dollars to the positive or negative.

Look at what Uber’s CEO did to their brand! Can you imagine how that might have played out differently from the start if he was constantly being polled on his behaviors? Can you imagine how most executives would be if they knew they were constantly being polled on their behaviors!?

I’m not sure we need or want constant polling of executives. Bad things can happen with that as well. They become politicians bowing to the whims of the masses, and that might not be what’s right for the organization. But I do believe this Facebook experiment gives us some foreshadowing of how we might start tracking and measuring the performance of our most senior executives in the future.

Internal 360 feedback has always been a great tool to use to get feedback on our senior leaders. This kind of surveying takes it one step further in taking it outside of the organization as well.

If you want to see how this kind of constant feedback loop could go really wrong, check out Netflix’s Black Mirror Season 3, Episode 1 – Nosedive, that looks at our constant need for social reinforcement with “likes”! (Reader alert – Black Mirror as a series is super Alfred Hitchcock meets 2050 weird – don’t judge me for watching!).

Life is Better With Rivals!

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Tim Sackett

I like it all! The winning, the competition, the energy, and yes, even the losing. Without losing you stop caring about trying to win.

Not everyone thinks this way. In fact, many don’t think this way. There is a belief in the world we don’t need rivals. We should all get along and “rival” is a concept that is no longer relevant.

Can’t we all just get along?

I have a belief that true rival competition brings out of us a level we did not believe we are capable of. Without this “rival”, we would never reach our upper limits of performance.

The problem with rivals in work is that it can quickly become negative and destructive if left unchecked. This is one reason that some people will say the concept of having rivals isn’t really needed in society.

A rivalry is not channeled properly, especially in the work environment, can kill a culture faster than almost any single factor. It becomes a her vs. her event, or a us vs. them event when the ‘them’ is really just another part of us!

Rivalries, though, give leaders a great motivation element that can take individuals and teams to very high levels of performance. It’s great when that rival is an outside rival. When it’s about kicking the competition’s ass! We love those rivalries.

Internal rivals can also be super motivating, in fact, sometimes more motivating because the rival is real. Your rival is someone you know very well or at least more than you probably know someone at your competition.

This relationship with an internal rival is where the energy comes from, both positive and negative. Our hope is internally these rivalries will drive both sides to greatness, but that’s not how it usually works out.

Usually, those internal rivals end up trying to beat each other, when what we truly want is both to reach great levels of performance and then celebrate each other. I used to think this wasn’t possible when I was a young leader.

One side won. One side lost. That’s a rivalry.

I’ve learned over time that the best leaders actually find ways for healthy rivalries, and get all those participating to support each other and their success. The concept of plenty. There’s plenty here for all of us. As you find success, and your co-workers find success, that wave of success will carry us all higher.

The first time I witnessed this was on the athletic field with college athletics and a kid taught me. This college kid was fighting his butt off each and every day to win a starting position, and keep that starting position, against teammates who were desperately trying to take that position for themselves.

I asked this kid how does your coach get you to fight each other so hard for playing time, but then at the game time you support each other with such passion and love?

He looked at me and said, “We have one common goal, to win. To win, we have to be pushed to be our very best. We owe it to each other to push each other in practice. Once we get to the game we only have each other to rely on to reach our goal of winning. It’s about the team.”

The coach, the leader, if they’re good, teach this concept. We push each other as rivals when it’s beneficial for us to be rivals to reach the best we can be. Also, we support each other to reach our ultimate ‘team’ goal. It’s not one or the other, it’s both.

I want to wildly successful. I want you to be wildly successful. I want us to be wildly successful. Me being successful without you being successful pains me, because you are part of my team.

As leaders, when you look to create internal rivals, understand that concept of plenty and together. It’s about me, until it’s about we. The leader, often has to show us where that line is.

Career Confessions from GenZ: How Does GenZ Want You to Communicate With Them?

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Tim Sackett

Career Confessions from GenZ is a weekly series authored by Cameron Sackett, a Sophomore at the Univesity of Michigan majoring in Communications and Advertising. Make sure you connect with him on LinkedIn:

One of the things that my generation is most notorious for is our cell phone usage. According to The Washington Post, current teens are spending over 1/3 of the day on their phones. Now, I’m going to be upfront and say that I’m an avid phone and social media user, and I understand the potential dangers of spending too much time on your phone. On the other hand, I don’t foresee my cell phone usage habits or my generation’s changing significantly any time soon.

Due to this, companies are looking at changing how they recruit their candidates. As I am just dipping my toes into the workforce, I am starting to see how the interview process may be changing in the age of cell phones.

The majority of my communication with potential employers for all jobs that I’ve had has been e-mail. This is something that I’m all about. E-mail is like a more formal version of a text, where you don’t have the pressures to respond immediately and you can spend time thinking of a more formulated response.

Personally, I think that e-mail should stay as the main form of communication for communicating with candidates. I’ve heard that some companies are trying to implement texting or text messaging like platforms into their hiring process. Here’s the way I see it: when I text someone, I’m usually typing in an informal way and I typically respond ASAP. Also, a lot of errors occur in texting, like typos or texting the wrong person. These are easily fixed when you’re talking with your friends but not necessarily a potential employer.

I’m totally open to texting in the interview process, but I have my concerns.

Now when it comes to the more direct form of communication, let me dispel a common myth about Gen-Z: we don’t hate talking on the phone, we hate calling people on the phone. There is a HUGE difference between answering a phone call and calling someone and personally, I would much rather answer the phone than call someone. In addition, I think most of my generation does better in a face-to-face style of an interview because it allows for more of a personal connection. This may scare many people, but when a relaxed environment is created in an interview, I think that many of us would come to prefer in-person interviews.

Lastly, I don’t want to see recruiters messaging me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat or any other social media platform. This isn’t because my social media profiles are inappropriate, thankfully I have some monitors on my profiles to keep them nice and clean (I see you Mom and Dad), but it’s because I see social media as a place that I can use for fun and enjoyment. I don’t want to have to constantly worry about messaging potential employers back on these platforms when I just want to use them to share/follow people and things I like.

Now, I am on the older side of Gen-Z (my 14-year-old brother is in Gen-Z too, how crazy!), so my opinions might not hold for the kids currently in middle and high school. I can say this: I (and most other college students) check our emails just about as much as you do, so that’s a good place to start!

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HR and TA Pros – have a question you would like to ask directly to a GenZ? Ask us in the comments and I’ll have Cameron respond in an upcoming blog post right here on the project. Have some feedback for Cameron? Again, please share in the comments and/or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Besides being a Dad with a network, I thought the best way to get my son some ‘real-world’ experience would be to put himself out there as a writer! Let him know what you think and let us hear what you would like to learn about the next big generation entering our workforce!

Your Weekly Dose of HR Tech: @MintMesh Crowd Sourced Referrals and Recruitment CRM

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Tim Sackett

Today on the Weekly Dose I review the TA technology, MintMesh! Mint what? Sounds like a strange combination of refreshing gum and a media device I’ll get sued over! MintMesh is, in fact, a platform for crowdsourcing referrals from your trusted networks to solve your most pressing hiring needs.

With MintMesh users can actively engage with their network to provide referrals and be rewarded for those referrals through the MintMesh platform. I know you’ve seen and heard of employee referral automation, and MintMesh can easily do all of that.

BUT, Wait! There’s More!

Truly, this isn’t an infomercial! They really have way more!

MintMesh is actually a full-blown talent acquisition CRM. MintMesh allows you to build talent networks and create talent pools (as many as you want, in whatever way you want), and from the system, you can begin to reach out and nurture those pipelines of talent.

MintMesh also gives you access to within minutes build position related “Microsites” for targeted recruiting of referrals that can be shared with your employee’s and hiring manager networks. When a candidate visits these sites they can show interest without a resume, and the built-in Artificial Intelligence will reach back out to them to finish the process.

What I like about MintMesh:

– Referrals get their own ‘portal’ access where they can message alumni to ask questions, network with hiring managers and employees of the department they are interested in, all controlled by recruiters who decide which groups they should have access to.

– From within the platform, you can easily create a Microsite featuring a specific job, then go to your talent networks and invite the entire network to go to the microsite and apply, refer or just get more information on what you have.

– Oh, yeah, it’s also full-blown employee referral automation with a rewards system, you control. Want to reward for just referring, and not hiring? You can do that. Want to refer to both? You control it. Cash or a point-based system.

– Employees can also share feedback on a referral from within the system, that only you and the hiring manager will see.

– For referrals that don’t match a currently opening, MintMesh’s A.I. will continue to match, so when an opening is put into the system that matches the previous referral, the system will automatically reach out to them to apply.

Like I said, this is way more than employee referral automation! It’s really a full CRM that is built on an employee referral automation hiring process. Because it’s a full-fledged CRM, you can do so much with it.

So, why does MintMesh sell itself as Employee Referral Automation? Because we (talent acquisition pros and leaders) understand employee referrals and the process. Most of us still don’t really understand CRM and it’s capabilities, so MintMesh built something powerful that we could understand and use.

Who needs this? Really any organization that needs to hire consistently, and is having a hard time doing it efficiently. Well worth a demo, as the system costs $1/employee per month. 500 employee company? That’s $6,000 for full employee referral automation and CRM! You can not beat that price, and this is actually really good tech that is easy to use.

The Weekly Dose – is a weekly series here at The Project to educate and inform everyone who stops by on a daily/weekly basis on some great recruiting and sourcing technologies that are on the market. None of the companies who I highlight are paying me for this promotion. There are so many really cool things going on in the tech space and I wanted to educate myself and share what I find. If you want to be on The Weekly Dose – just send me a note – timsackett@comcast.net

#BlackBlogsMatter Challenge 2018 – Are you reading this? You should!

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Tim Sackett

So, Sarah Morgan, @BuzzonHR on the Twitters, started a blog series called #BlackBlogsMatter in 2017 on her blog The Buzz on HR. If you can’t tell from her blog title, Sarah is an HR Leader based out of Raliegh, NC. The series is a way to celebrate Black History Month and bring awareness to Black Bloggers who are writing about many issues facing black people and your black employees in America.

In 2018, Sarah not only continued #BlackBlogsMatter, but threw out the challenge to other black bloggers to not just write in February, but to write for 15 weeks straight!

The first black “HR” blogger (okay, the first black blogger) I ever met was Victorio Millian. A group of HR bloggers actually recognized Victorio for Tim Sackett Day back in 2012. He sent me a note last week and asked the blogging community to help bring awareness to the #BlackBlogMatters movement.

I like Victorio. He’s always been super nice and supportive of me, even when I might write or say stupid stuff he doesn’t agree with. He’ll reach out to me privately, or just roll his eyes, he knows my personality, I think. I think he knows I mean more good than harm, even when I screw up. I don’t know him well, but I know him to be someone of the highest character, so when he asks me for help, I will, because I know he would do the same for me.

Besides Sarah, there are a number of black bloggers who predominately write about HR related topics. I apologize if I missed someone, I surely don’t know all, but some you should check out are: Chris Fields, Torin Ellis, Rachel Harriet, Keirsten Greggs,Jazmine Wilkes, and Janine Truitt.

I’m sure there are more – if you follow the hashtag #BlackBlogsMatter on Twitter you will get the links to find some great content and some writers in HR you probably weren’t aware of.

I have to be very honest and transparent. Some of the #BlackBlogsMatter stuff makes me uncomfortable. I just don’t get some of it, because I’m a white dude that has never had to experience it. Some of the #BlackBlogsMatter writers have treated me like shit and we don’t like each other (I have hope that will one day change). They’ll say it’s my privilege and they’re probably right, but just saying that doesn’t help me learn or connect. It actually makes me want to disengage even more. This is the crap white dudes like me need to work through.

This doesn’t make the message and the content less valuable, it makes it more valuable. I don’t learn anything from people who just think like I do. It’s sure nice to hang out with those folks and it’s really comfortable, but no real learning takes place.

For the first time in the history of United States, it’s not very comfortable to be a white dude (can you hear that privilege!). If you’re not super liberal or completely out as a super-liberal white dude, you’re immediately put in the Trump camp. So, many of these writers, not all, see me as Trump, or at least a really great replacement of Trump they can pound on. At least, that’s how it feels. I know. I know. My privilege. Chris Fields will say something like being put on an equal footing for the first time as a white dude feels oppressive. I hear you.

So, I’m flawed. I like to think I’m really good at Talent Acquisition. I can get by and be dangerous in HR. I’m a great dad and a good husband. I’m not very good when it comes to really understanding the struggle that my black HR peers go through, and as such, I’ve been pretty shitty at being empathetic to their cause.

My challenge to you is to leave my blog and go find some other black HR bloggers and follow the #BlackBlogsMatter Challenge. If you only read me, you get one voice on our world, and that voice sees the world in one way. When you read Sarah and the others, you begin to expand what we all really need to know in HR. D&I has never been more important in our workforces and in our country.

What ‘Aging’ Millennials Really Care About When it Comes to Their Benefits!

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Tim Sackett

In a world where 15 minutes of fame has become 15 seconds, our greatest generation, the Millennials, are now preparing for retirement! Yep, that’s right kids, the Millennials are aging!

Pentegra recently released there 2018 Millennial Benefit Report (because isn’t that what every Benefit Analyst/Mgr needs in their HR shop a report that only focuses on one part of your workforce!) and they found the Millennials are concerned with some things I don’t think most of us would expect:

– 401K and retirement savings were the #1 benefit concern amongst Millennials! (Did you expect that?)

– #2 concern? Health Insurance (expected) tied with Pensions (Um, what!? What Millennial is expecting a pension?)

– HR Pros ranked Telecommuting and Flex-time as important benefits for Millennials, even though, those didn’t make the top 5 for what Millennials actually ranked as important benefits. (Disconnect alert!)

HR pros also believe Millennials are basically idiots when it comes to understanding their health insurance benefits. News alert! We are all idiots when it comes to understanding our health insurance benefits because insurance companies make it extremely complex in hopes we won’t actually pay attention when they bill us for stuff they shouldn’t.

So, I’m on a rampage to get executives to stop calling young people “Millennials”. Millennials are old people now! They only care about their 401K, a pension plan, and if their health insurance will cover their hip replacements!

By the way, how can “Pension” be the #2 concern of Millennials? Of really anyone under the age of 70 at this point in our society!? Almost no organizations are giving out pensions anymore. In fact, I would bet that if you asked 100 Millennials to define “Pension” less than 10% could do it. I bet 100% of GenZ couldn’t do it!

I question any study that says it’s about Millenials and Benefits and lists pensions as a concern!

This brings up a really good point about the studies we keep wanting to show to our executive teams as valid data to make decisions. Most ‘studies’ you are getting from a vendor, aren’t really validated studies, but simple marketing materials designed to get you interested in the products and services they are pimping.

I don’t even know what Pentegra sells, but if I had to bet one of my kids on it, I’m guessing they’re selling retirement products to organizations. Without even knowing anything about them! Was I right?! Of course, I was!

So, what do you think? Are Millennials really concerned with 401Ks and Pensions? My guess is they’re probably more concerned with buying a house and raising their kids. That will lead to concerns about based pay, health insurance, and college savings. Does retirement come up, eventually? Sure it does. But, for most, it’s not #1.

Welcome to Strugglesville: Population 1 (and that “1” is you!)

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Tim Sackett

Have you been struggling lately?

It seems like I go through bits of struggle here and there. The day starts off awesome, I’m getting stuff done, and then life happens and the struggle begins. Could be the boss gave some super-critical feedback on something you poured your soul into. Might be something outside of work (might? okay, probably something outside of work!). Maybe today just isn’t your day.

I know I’ve got a choice. Do I continue the struggle and take it home or pull others into my struggle, or do I pull myself out of the struggle and get back on track. I. Know. That. Is. A. Choice. And still, I struggle with that choice! Do you feel me?

The struggle is real, for all of us. Sure someone else probably has more of a struggle than you, but when you’re in full struggle mode you don’t want to hear that shit. Your struggle at that moment is for real, real!

So, how do I pull myself out of the struggle?

I’ve got a number of tactics I use to pull myself out of the struggle may be one of these will help you in your struggle:

– Find a small win! I’m not looking to save the world, I just need to get one small win under my belt! Maybe that’s not eating Taco Bell for lunch and having a salad (small win for me, yay!). Maybe it’s clearing my inbox (a little bigger win!). Maybe it’s finally having that one difficult conversation I’ve been putting off (small win with a big stress relief). It all starts with one small win, then find another, and build on those.

– Conversation with a positive ear! I’ve got some friends, peers, co-workers that I know are almost always really positive. I make that conversation happen, and the topic is not about my struggle, the topic is about something that needs to get done, or I need to make better, etc. After those conversations, I feel uplifted and energized to do something, and walk away from the struggles.

– Do something I’m good at or enjoy, that isn’t destructive. Okay, I might be a genius at ordering the perfect Taco Bell meal, but that’s not the good I’m talking about! I’m good at writing. It relaxes me. If I’m in full struggle mode, I start writing. I enjoy listening to music. It helps turn my mood around given the right playlist.

– Helping someone else. Nothing pulls me out of a struggle like being helpful to someone else. I get a positive boost. They get some help. I can return to my previously scheduled programming without the struggles!

I’ll pull myself into one of these three things mid-day if needed, because me working while struggling doesn’t help anyone, including myself.

I would love to hear how you pull yourself out of your struggle. We all visit Strugglesville, how we get home is pretty unique for each of us!

Career Confessions from GenZ! What Does GenZ Think About Your Candidate Experience?

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Tim Sackett

When my Dad approached me with the idea of doing this series, I was skeptical because I don’t know a lot about business! I’m only in my 2nd year of college with almost no experience in the business world. Through this process, I’m learning a lot about business (I see what you did here Dad) and I’m able to start to form some opinions about business practices.

For example, let’s talk about candidate experience. I had never really considered how vital this was until I was applying for internships. Again and again, I would find myself getting the same automated email response after I applied saying “Thank you so much for applying! We can’t wait to get to know you better”. The same age-old response, time and time again. But, after weeks and weeks of waiting, I still hear nothing. Not even a rejection!

Now, I understand some of these companies are getting thousands of applications for these internships, and it’s probably overwhelming to contact every single applicant. On the other hand, I’m taking time to apply for this job that you’re offering and you should let me know whether you want me or not! Another thing that I understand is many times, the odds that I’ll even get an interview for a job are slim to none. Although I know these things, that still doesn’t stop me from forming an opinion about your company through this application experience.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I applied for a marketing internship at the T-Mobile headquarters. I got the same automated response and after months, I’ve heard nothing. This isn’t unexpected; I knew that this internship was probably highly sought after. What T-Mobile is forgetting in this process, is that many college students, just like me, will soon be on the market for cell phone coverage. Currently, I’m under my parent’s cellular plan, but once I graduate, I will have the ability to switch networks if I choose. Even a simple and concise “thanks but no thanks” note from T-Mobile would have helped me to form more favorable views of their company, but they didn’t even do that!

Here’s what I’m saying: if companies are so concerned with “candidate experience”, they should follow through the entire process, not just the beginning of it. Many of these companies are selling products that their candidates might purchase, and if they want their candidates to have favorable views of their company, they should treat them like the potential and valued customer that they are!

And yes, I know I’m a white male college student that has never worked in the business world and doesn’t know how things really are. But, I’m not claiming to be an expert! I’m just out here, trying to gain some experience and hoping to give some insight from an up and coming generation. Really, I’m just out here hustlin’ like everyone else (Now that’s a Tim Sackett phrase if I’ve ever said one. Next time, maybe I’ll include something about rap lyrics or hugging).

Okay – this is Tim back talking – So, TA Pros, are you surprised by what Cameron says above? Hit us in the comments with what you think!

Your Weekly Dose of HR Tech: @CrowdedWork mine the gold in your ATS!

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Tim Sackett

This week on the Weekly Dose I review the TA technology Crowded. Crowded is a platform that fixes what’s wrong with most ATSs! What’s wrong with most ATSs? Let me explain.

A typical ATS does one thing really well. It posts jobs to your career site and collects applicants from those jobs posted. From there it basically allows you to digitally move applicants through your hiring process. That’s a normal ATS. Heck, that’s about 90% of the ATSs on the market.

What big issue then becomes what do you do with that huge database of applicants that you have? This is why Crowded was built. You spend a ton of money and resources filling your ATS with talent. If you are like most organizations in the world, that talent then sits in your ATS and dies (figuratively). Once most applicants apply for a job and enter your ATS they are never heard from again. This is a major problem!

Just because you didn’t hire this talent the first time they applied, doesn’t mean they might not be your next great hire, or a great hire a year or two down the road. Crowded is a technology that integrates with your ATS, pulls out your jobs and your applicant database and re-matches them on a constant basis. Crowded then allows you to reach out to these ‘newly’ found candidates and engage them with your current jobs.

Not only does Crowded do this matching, but Crowded also updates each candidate in your database. So, that entry-level engineer who applied two years ago, but you didn’t have anything, now becomes that Engineer with two years of experience working at your competition that is no super valuable and someone you desperately want to hire! That is why this technology is so powerful and needed by most organizations!

What I like about Crowded:

– Can be used by both staffing, RPO, and Corporate. We all use ATSs, and we all face the same issue using ATSs.

– Bi-directional data exchange, which basically means all the cool stuff Crowded is doing, ends up back in your ATS (system of record) for compliance sake.

– Crowded allows your recruiters to communicate via email and text through their platform with each exchange being captured and uploaded back into the candidate ATS profile.

– Crowded has some built-in intelligent automation that will actually allow the system to automatically reach out to candidates that match your jobs at a certain level, so your recruiters don’t have to. Funny thing – almost no corporate TA shops use this, but staffing and RPO do! Why? You tell me! This is a brilliant use of technology and efficiency, everyone should use it.

– Data analysis from Crowded will help you make more strategic talent decisions. Crowded’s technology will show you data on what schools, companies, etc. you’re hiring from, and which ones are getting interviews, etc. This way you can be more strategic about where your team is spending its time and resources. The system will also show you apply vs. hired skills gaps.

You are sitting on a gold mine of talent in your ATS database, but you don’t ever mine it! Why? Because most ATSs suck at search, and most TA shops suck at searching our ATSs and then believing anyone in there has talent! The Crowded platform automates this process and bubbles up great talent that your team has been ignoring forever! Every single company has great hires in their ATS database waiting to be hired, but most of us never will. With Crowded, you’ll start to see these hires happen almost instantly.

The Tim Sackett Project

TA & HR Expert, Dad, Backup Point Guard on my over 40 men's team