The family-owned company has been a staple of the business world since the “Ogg & Sons Rock Demolition Company” started up in prehistoric days. Today, over 35 percent of all corporations are owned by families, including Wal-Mart, Ford, NASCAR, Lowes and Ikea. Yet perhaps the most transparent business model is that of Tony Bennett. At 85, Tony Bennett is still performing between 100 and 200 concert dates per year. He has publicly said that he has no intentions of retiring, and that as a singer, he’s “never worked a day in his life”. Bennett’s vocal quality and stamina are legendary, but his phenomenal success over the last few decades is due to his son, Danny, who became Bennett’s manager after years of barely-adequate representation. Danny had ideas about revitalizing Tony’s career, including marketing him to a younger audience (the “MTV Unplugged” special was famously, Danny’s idea). Now, Tony has several family members who work with him, including his son Dae, a recording engineer who, until recently, ran Bennett Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Tony’s daughter Antonia is a fine singer in her own right, and she is Tony’s opening act at concerts, and Tony’s granddaughter takes all the photos for Tony’s albums.

Obviously, Tony Bennett feels very comfortable having his family involved in his career. But what about family members who work in a “normal” corporation? One thing on which many experts agree is that the incoming family member should have experience with other companies before joining the family business. Not only does this “legitimize” the hiring of a family member, it also gives the family member more substantial experience for their resume, especially if things don’t work out with the family company. Further, the family member with a vision for the family business may be able to use their other experiences to enrich and revitalize the family business. As an example, Danny Bennett does more than manage his father’s career; he is president of RPM Productions, which also manages such diverse artists as Elvis Costello and Jamiroquai.

Another important step when hiring a family member is establishing specific roles for them, and their rules of conduct when representing the company. Every employee deserves to know what is expected of them, and family employees are no different. While there is a certain amount of “everyone chips in where they’re needed”—especially in smaller family businesses, a family employee should know what to expect on a daily basis, and the assurance that they’re not to get the tasks that no one else wants to do. Also, it’s important to emphasize training with a family employee; some companies have ignored it altogether when bringing in family, but there is little more important for such employees so that they can see the importance of the job they will do. It’s vitally important that a family member follows the same work rules and conduct as any other employee. Seeing a family member “play the kin card” and slough off on the job can be very detrimental to the company morale, and obviously affect production. The employee manual should be followed to the letter, and it may be necessary to add a few rules for family members. No matter what level of position a family member holds—entry level to upper management—the rules must remain; in the third-generation family business of NASCAR, the CEO must still adhere to the suggestions of the board of directors.

In the case of the Bennett family, it is clear that Tony is the reason for the company’s existence, and that he is the reason audiences come to concerts and buy recordings. As talented as his family may be, they must know that “this can’t last forever”—one day Tony will stop singing publicly and the family will be forced to find a new way to earn their living. This is a good thing for any family employee to remember. The family business must not be seen as a stopping point. Either the family member will find a new position at another company, or they will find a way to revitalize the family business in the future. In both cases, the family employee can benefit from the mentoring and structure of a family business, but they must always show that they achieved their success through their own efforts. – Thomas Cunniffe

One of my favorite pastimes is to watch old movies and TV shows to see how they predicted the future. I’m still waiting delivery of the personal robot and jet packs that we were all promised, but from the silly (The Jetsons) to the dramatic (Star Trek) to the profound (2001: A Space Odyssey), one thing that was predicted correctly was our use of video for conversations. Here we are, like George Jetson, Captain Kirk and the 2001 astronauts, using our video cameras and computer technology to communicate with people down the street or on the other side of the world. Recruiters have picked up on this technology to lessen their costs and increase their productivity.

In many ways, a job interview is like a college exam. The candidate comes in knowing to expect a number of different types of questions, but not knowing the exact questions or the way they will be presented. The candidate is under stress, because they know they must “pass” in order to move forward. The interviewer has the same task as the professor, writing and asking the questions in the most concise manner and finding the best way to present the questions to obtain the information they desire. Ideally, interviews should have the same structure as a test, with short answer or multiple choice questions up front when dealing with the job specifics, and an essay section where the candidate can expound on their knowledge using real-life situations from their past employment. The job interview equivalent to the essay question is the behavioral question.

Behavioral questions take the form of “tell me about a time when such-and-such happened and how you responded”. The answers can reveal how the candidate acts in specific situations. When creating behavioral questions, it’s important to ask about situations that can happen in any work environment, but are common with the available position. Candidates can come from a variety of workplace situations and an inappropriately phrased question may confuse the candidate and lead you in the wrong direction regarding their appropriateness for the job. It is always wise to have alternative (albeit similar) questions so that you can tailor the question to fit the candidate’s individual experiences. Also, be sure that you make the questions behavioral and not hypothetical. “Tell me about a time when you had an irate customer and how you resolved the issue” is much better than “We have our share of irate callers. How would you handle them?” The first version lets the candidate be specific about a particular situation; the second is so open-ended that is nearly useless (Why are they irate? Do we have a specific protocol to follow for these situations? How am I expected to answer this question?)

There is a well-known formula for the expected answers to behavioral questions, and it is alternately known as STAR or SAR. The acronym refers to “Situation—Task—Action—Response”. The formula is very useful for ensuring that all the important details are covered. Obviously, it would be ideal if the candidate were to answer following the exact steps of the model above, but there’s no need to insist on that formality. Listen carefully and take notes as the candidate tells their story and be prepared to ask for details if any aspects of the story are confusing. You can also tell about the candidate’s personality and communication skills in the way that they relate the story. A good communicator can be an excellent ambassador for your company.  Happy Hunting!  -Tom Cunniffe

Earlier on FeeTrader’s Blog,  Travis Scott, our guest blogger and Talent Sourcer for Microsoft, discussed how to use Google to perform an X-Ray search of LinkedIn.  Now we want to take that one step further using something called a “proximity operator.”  Travis explains below how to use this search operator for more targeted search results within LinkedIn public profiles.  Enjoy!

A Boolean proximity operator is a great tool to keep in your arsenal if LinkedIn’s premier subscription is outside of your budget- like it is for many companies.

According to Bing, a Proximity  Operator is a Boolean Operator separating words or phrases in a text search that directs the search engine to locate pages in which the words are near one another in any direction, the acceptable distance varying among search engines. Simply put, it allows you to be more specific in what you would like to see in your search results.

This week we will discuss using Bing and Boolean operators to return more targeted results when performing an x-ray search of LinkedIn.

Using the search method discussed a couple of weeks ago, it would be difficult to drill down to things like current job title.  By using Boolean operators, we can now do that.

Let’s say I’m looking for someone that is currently a .NET Software Engineer with experience in C#, Azure and Silverlight and is located in the Seattle area.

Here’s the Boolean search string I would use:

site:linkedin.com “greater seattle area” current near:6 “software engineer” azure C# Silverlight

Here are the results…

Here’s how it works:

• “site:linkedin.com” — Tells Bing to only search the website linkedin.com
• “greater seattle area” — When searching a specific geographic area, you must phrase it exactly as LinkedIn does.

Now for the kicker….

• current near:6 “software engineer” — If you look at someone’s public profile, you will notice that the person current title is shown toward the top of the page (see below).  This tells Bing that I want to see results in which the phrase “software engineer” is located within six words of the term “current.”

Why did I choose six?  Just to be safe.  Believe it or not, the dot in between “Current” and their title is viewed in search results as a word.  So that automatically forces me to at least use “near:2”.  Then you have to consider the different variations of someone’s title.  They could be a Sr .NET Engineer or a Sr .NET Software Engineer or a host of other titles.  I would suggest using a different number and checking out the results that are returned to you.

In closing, you may be asking yourself, what is the benefit of this if I get the same or more results by doing a similar search within LinkedIn?  The answer is that you probably have a pretty robust network or have a premium subscription.

Because LinkedIn limits your access to the full names of 3^rd degree contacts and those outside of your network, you would only be limited to those results.  However, most people’s profiles are publicly searchable.  This means, by using Bing or Google to do a x-ray search of the site, you now have access to those people – at least until LinkedIn decides to cut this access off to people.

One of the oldest Hollywood stories involves a young Method actor and a veteran director. The actor asks the director, “What is my motivation for this scene?” and the director replies, “Your paycheck.” While the veteran director may not agree, motivation is an important element in making life-changing decisions. Discovering a candidate’s motivation is also a key to successfully placing a candidate.

The entire concept of candidate control is rather controversial. Some advocate a frank attitude where the recruiter tells the candidate that they’ve already been paid, they don’t care whether or not the candidate takes the position! Others have realized that a pushy, arrogant attitude equates recruiters with used-car salesmen. These experts recommend a nuanced, soft-sell approach built on a strong foundation of trust and empathy. The latter approach uses one of the salesman’s best tools: the probing question.

As noted in earlier editions of this blog, candidates can have any number of reasons for changing positions. Chances are that they have created their own mental list of irritants in their current position, and it is your job as a recruiter to identify those problems and provide solutions. Further, they may also have a list of requirements that a new job must fulfill, or they will just stay put. By showing empathy, developing trust and asking questions that address potential issues, you have the best opportunity to create a strong relationship with the candidate.

People love to talk about themselves, and it’s important for the interviewer to let them do so! A good open-ended question can get the candidate talking, and if the interview listens intently to what the candidate has to say, they can learn multitudes about the candidate’s motivations and their needs. The answers should lead to more focused questions which should in turn lead to a targeted solution. It’s hard to tell just when you’ve found enough motivations to move forward, but if the candidate shows second thoughts during the overall process, it’s time to probe some more. Keep in mind that some candidates may have deeply hidden reasons for not accepting a position. In one case, an excellent candidate called the recruiter to pull out of a promising new position. It was only from close listening that the recruiter discerned that there was a previously undisclosed family situation that made the candidate uneasy about relocation. The client had been suitably impressed with the candidate and adjusted their offer upward to make the transition easier.

So, in the long run, candidate control is about helping your candidates make the best decision for their career path, rather than forcing them into a position by pressuring them with tired lines about impatient clients who won’t hesitate to hire someone else. While such situations do exist, the skilled recruiter will find the way to resolve any candidate objections without making the candidate feel like they are being pushed into a decision. – Thomas Cunniffe

It is one of the clichés of classic movie comedies: Whenever there are multiple telephones in someone’s office, eventually they will all ring at the same time, causing massive frustration for the office’s occupant. Of course, we don’t have that problem today—it’s just your cell phone that keeps buzzing with e-mails, texts, Facebook notifications and tweets! It’s important for recruiters to stay on top of the latest technology, but it’s equally important to remember the most basic of all communication devices, the telephone.

To understand why the phone is still a necessary component in recruiting, we need to realize the phone’s best virtue. Of all the communication methods mentioned above, the telephone alone allows simultaneous two-way communication. There is simply no substitute for conversation. It is the easiest way to build rapport and develop a relationship. The intimacy and flexibility of a phone conversation allows us to use a wide range of emotional degrees, all through changes in voice timbre. The voice timbres we hear on the other end of the line can help us discern how our ideas are being received, and allow us to make changes when necessary to keep the other party with us. And no matter how quickly you can send off a series of e-mail exchanges, there’s no quicker way for two parties to arrive at a mutual decision than by talking on the phone.

Of course, we all learned to speak before we learned to write. Every day, we speak many more words than we write. Consequently, the quality of our writing suffers in comparison to our speech. Unless you make part of your living as a writer, you’re not likely to examine every sentence you write for clarity. This is precisely why e-mail communication can be a problem. It is very easy for an e-mail message to be misunderstood. An incorrectly placed word or a poorly-worded sentence can cause the recipient to not get the proper meaning, or misunderstand your concept. In the worst case, it can be a deal breaker; in the best case, it leads to more e-mails trying to clarify the original one. And in the end, you might have to call the person anyway just to explain the point!

Finally, don’t forget the extra benefits you can get with a phone conversation. If there are lingering questions about a candidate’s experience or qualifications, you can get an immediate reaction by phone. Need referrals (and who doesn’t)? Ask during your phone call. It’s usually more convenient for the recipient to give referrals to you over the phone than trying to remember to tack them on to an e-mail. And unless you get a voicemail, you’ll get instant answers to your questions and concerns rather than waiting for a reply.

So remember your old friend, the telephone, and make those deals in the most efficient way possible! Happy hunting!

It happens to all of us nearly every day, in both our personal and professional lives. We need to ask someone a question or offer up our services. We dial the phone, and after a few rings, we hear Hi! This is _________. I’m so sorry I can’t take your call…. At this point, the calmest person among us can instantly turn into Yosemite Sam: Rasta-friggin-tarnation-consar-ned voicemail! Now, if you let your anger and frustration rule you, your instant reaction is to hang up and try again later—that is, if you remember. In a business situation, there’s just too much going on to maintain a constant hit-and (mostly) miss method of reaching people. It’s been estimated that 80% of all incoming business calls wind up in voice mail. Unless you’re confident that the people you’ve called will diligently search and call back numbers in their caller ID, you have little choice but to leave a message.

So, how do you make the best out of a voicemail message? The first thing to realize is—no matter your initial reason for your call—as soon as the outgoing message picks up, your goal has instantly changed to one thing: getting a call back. So, start with the obvious: your name and number (repeated at the beginning and end of the message) and an e-mail address as an alternative method of reaching you. If you know the times that you’ll be in the office and available to take their call, include that information.

Ideally, contact details should take up half of your message, meaning that you shouldn’t weigh down the rest of the message with a mountain of information about why you called (unless the caller can respond with a straight-forward, non-negotiable answer and doesn’t need to speak to you directly). Instead, leave a hook. It can be as simple as “I need to talk to you about such-and-such”, but you’ll have a better chance for a call back if you make it sound important (has anyone ever felt compelled to call someone who was “just checking in”?) and you make it sound personal (because we all just love being considered another number on the calling list). Now, if you’re calling a client to ask about doing new placements, or calling up an applicant to offer them an opportunity, this should be simple—you have a working relationship and you draw from that experience. But you can use the same approach when calling someone whom hasn’t spoken to your company in a few years. Simply reference the name of your employee who made the last contact with them (even if that person is no longer with the company) and explain that you’re now following up because you have an opportunity that is a good fit for them (and don’t just say “a good fit”—be specific!)

Most of the voicemails you leave will fall under a few general categories, so you should have a basic script for each type of call. Writing it out will help you focus your message, and reading it will lead to less hesitation and vocal filler (um, ah, and the like). Finally, make a conscious effort to speak slower. We all have a tendency to rush saying something we know verbatim, but a speedy talker will turn off a recipient rather than make them want to call you back.

Of course, there are no absolutes here. Deleting a message is a one-button maneuver, and the slightest misstep can trigger that one-finger reflex. Don’t expect a call back from every call, but be hopeful that a professional, concise and important message will elicit a prompt call back. Done properly, it will lead to success. Happy Hunting. – Thomas Cunniffe

In the past few years, LinkedIn has become an important tool in finding candidates. Many recruiters use LinkedIn as a primary searching resource, and while candidates can get their resumes to recruiters without using LinkedIn, a recruiter may look unfavorably at professionals that do not have a complete LinkedIn profile. There is little doubt that professionals have an opportunity to present themselves in the best possible light on all social media (especially LinkedIn), but the recruiter should also take care to update his professional profile, so to attract candidates to his page. Sell yourself and your service! Share your company’s latest news, your newest job openings, and tell about your services. And if you haven’t done so already, create a custom URL for your page to replace the random number/letter sequence that LinkedIn provides (The option is in the Public Profile section of the Edit Profile page).  Insert this custom URL in your signature for your email correspondences and consider adding the phrase “Connect with me on Linkedin!”

LinkedIn is all about networking, so reach out by joining groups in your industry that share your specialties. These connections can help you keep abreast of the latest developments in your field, and they may be able to help you with a difficult placement. Take time to participate in group discussions, and consider including the open networker icon on your profile so that your network continues to grow. You can learn a lot by studying your competitors. There’s no copyright on techniques and ideas, so examine the groups that other companies use, and watch their approaches to posting open positions. You can be sure that the competition is watching you, too.

When searching on LinkedIn, use more than the basic keywords from the job description. Find words that truly describe the position and make it stand out. Be sure to use Boolean terms like “OR” or “NOT” to filter your results (In our experience, the Boolean terms don’t always work perfectly in LinkedIn, but your mileage may vary). You may still get a lot of responses, but that’s when you can start digging into the search results, including the all-important “Contact For” section. Your perfect candidate may have included something there that could help you make your decision. When you try to reach these candidates, read and respect their instructions in Contact Settings. Use your finite resources for InMails wisely by avoiding the standard form letter (which candidates can spot a mile away) and writing a short, professional note that shows that you’ve researched their profile, which is why you’re contacting them for this position. And when you run out of InMails for the month, don’t blast out introduction requests from unknown recipients for potential prospects. In essence, that’s spam, and no one wants to read it or reply to it. The same applies to job openings sent to everyone in your network, regardless of their specialties.

Naturally, these techniques may require a little more of your time, but LinkedIn has a very good reputation for connecting candidates and recruiters, and you owe it to yourself to use its many features to get the best candidates available. Happy Hunting!

You’ve heard it since Day 1: “Referrals are golden!” Yet, most of us just blithely ask that generic question, “Do you know anyone else that’s looking” and the response is usually “Not off the top of my head”. Get that answer enough times and you’re likely to write off asking for referrals altogether.

But referrals ARE golden, provided that you ask for them in the right way. You may have called someone regarding a specific job, but doubtlessly, you have several hot jobs on your desk waiting to be filled. So, probe a little. Start with the basic “we’re always looking for good referrals; who do you know that might be interested in exploring this position?” If you get the “no one off the top of my head” answer, keep going! “We have some other opportunities here. Do you know anyone who works in the ________ business?” Now that you’re getting specific, you have a better chance of triggering memories of potential referrals. Don’t give up—you can run through several fields in a minute or so, and you don’t have to give job specifics unless the person you’re talking to says “Wait a minute! I think I could do that job!”

This method is particularly good with people in management and executive positions. Most of the time, they are excluded from the referral programs at their companies, so they don’t think about offering referrals unless someone has directly asked them about positions at their company. Once again, probing is the key to jogging the memory. There is no question that managers and executives have a large network of friends and colleagues. All you have to do is ask the right questions and you’ll tap into that network.

Once the names start flowing, let the referrer take the reigns. Ask them to e-mail or call the person that they’re referring, and tell them that you might have a position in their field. You can offer to send a generic e-mail template that the referrer can adapt into his own words. Call back the referrer in a few days to be sure that they contacted the referral, and then give the referral a few days to get back with you before trying to call them. People are more likely to try something new if they think it’s their idea. If someone calls you to ask about a position, you’ll have a better chance of success than if you’re just another recruiter calling from an unknown number. Remember, if they don’t answer the phone, they don’t know that you’re calling on a referral.

In short, taking time to ask about referrals, and then taking time to follow up can result in quality long-lasting relationships with potential candidates. Of course, your new referrals can refer their friends and colleagues to you. And a good reputation is as golden as a good referral. – Thomas Cunniffe