Chris Hoyt - RecruiterGuy

My SXSW

2010-03-14T17:02:31Z

Here's the bottom line... If you came to SXSWi just for the presentations then you might likely be missing the point. Were there good panels? Meh. Were there one or two discussions facilitated from a stage that were informational? Sorta'. But was the good conversation that really made you think something that you'd have found on the agenda? Absolutely not.

Well, at least for this RecruiterGuy.

Of course, truth be told - I didn't plan on attending the touted conference in the hopes that a session would rock my world. I was here to bump into the guys that were here to learn something. I showed up to talk to attendees about jobs with my employer. (hey, it's what I do.) I showed up to enjoy the offline conversations that take place at these things late in the night and early in the morning - where the real dialogue happens. And if we're being perfectly honest, while I was hopeful of some nuggets of wisdom in relation to browser hacks and mobile technology, I'm a bit of a free t-shirt whore.

I approached this event with a mobile plan in mind - offering up a keyword and shortcode option for potential job seekers to reach out. The idea here was that job seekers would text a keyword to me and be given a few options related to job categories and the ability to customize alerts around their interests. So that someone looking for an eCommerce job would get an alert when an eCommerce recruiter or manager was at a booth or available to talk. I knew that the plan would generate a little bit of buzz with the potential job seekers - but given this audience I think I might have underestimated 'how' that would happen.

Job seekers were interested - but more in how the plan was put together. Employers were interested in this type of recruiting. Developers were interested in who was on the back-end. It was unanimous that it was the smart thing to do and was certainly unique to this event... but unique and smart on a few levels I really hadn't counted on.

In summary - a success from a recruiting perspective? Yeah, I'm walking out with some prospective candidates. Yeah, I met plenty of folks that, while they're on the hunt for investors now, could be strong candidates in a year (no offense guys, and best of luck!) And yeah, it was exciting to share how mobile can be used for serious recruitment marketing and show returns.

Oh - and I'm leaving out of here with almost a dozen free t-shirts.

#SXSW #SmartPeople #jobs #attSXSW #justsayin #party #fail #win

Converting Leads to Hires w/Social

2010-03-11T14:09:19Z

I've been busy lately. As a result, the paying gig (workin' for the man) takes top priority. But that doesn't mean that I still don't get to do some cool things from time to time. Recently in fact, I was asked to present on a Webinar and talk about Converting Leads to Hires via Social Media. HCI hosted the event with TMP Worldside sponsoring. Was I excited about it? Yeah - after putting metrics in place to track every move the teams at my employer make around Social Recruiting for the last year, I was not only excited... I was ready with some data to share.

For the record, I’m a fan of wisdom and experience. So whenever I can pull out an old dusty guy’s quote you know I’m going to. I enjoyed kicking off the webinar with was Johann Wolfgang VonGoeth's. (No, not the guy that's famous for his culinary skills and rockin' eats!) Johann was the German dude that founded the whole World Literature thing. C'mon kids.... reach way back to your early college classes and realize he's the guy to thank. He said:

"It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise."

The bottom line and tie in? I showed how Mobile Marketing for recruitment is having rockin' results and nailing a Cost Per App that's under $13. I outlined how the teams at my employer can expect to wrap up the year with over 5,000 applications from Twitter efforts after spending less than $200.

I'd encourage you to check out the webinar. You can find the recorded session link over on my Events page. It's less than an hour and I think I'm comfortable guaranteeing that it's not just a dry review of numbers and stats. A few things to remember going in, though...

Recruiting teams and leadership need to remember that we must measure our social networking and social recruiting efforts as closely as possible (sometimes hard, but not impossible!) before we can jump up and down and say we're making a difference. It's not enough to have a single person say that they heard about our jobs or company via a social channel like Twitter or on Facebook. We've got to be able to track and prove anything that will result in what I like to call, "spending decisions."

Deciding what we really want to measure from a staffing/recruiting perspective can be tough, though. It's important to decide 'what' we want to track before heading in full-speed and trying to figure out 'how'. Truth be told I think that the 'how' is almost easier once you get through the philisophical debate around what social recruiting and employment brand really means.

I won't spoil the webinar but I'll make a few posts about the content and blow out a few things that were discussed. But I'm hoping that the biggest takeaways for anyone that is able to catch it or was able to attend are these simple trains of thought...

You can't improve anything if you don't measure it.
There is no social recruiting solution today. Only tools.

Grab the webinar and let me know what you think. After it's run it's course over at HCI, I'll post the presentation on RecruiterGuy.net to share.

Stand Down, Tiger

2010-02-19T12:42:23Z

This morning at 10am, Tiger Woods will hold a press conference from that beautiful course that is TPC Sawgrass. (have I mentioned I'm a huge golf fan?) I frequent his official website from time to time and while it's not the best athlete/celebrity fan site, it does serve to motivate me now and again in both my personal and professional endeavors. Let's face it... Tiger turns people on and keeps them motivated. [insert joke about countless affairs here] Or at least he did until recently when his personal life hit the news.

So if you're one of those fans that are devastated by his recent infidelities or that think you'll feel better when he does his public apology today (because we know that's what's coming) then I have this to say to you:
Get a freakin' life and mind your own business.

But I want to back up a bit and talk about focus. You see, it's Tiger's focus that everyone marveled. In countless conversations I've had about Tiger Woods the athlete, Tiger Woods the icon or even Tiger Woods the man - they were always about his skill on the golf course or his razor sharp focus that took him to the top of his field. His drive and determination to be the best at what he did were what blew us away from the time he hit the golf scene to his most recent round of play. Witnessing his skills on the fairway were what his fans paid to see. Many have even flown around the world just to be there in person when he'd make an impossible shot and pump his fist in victory. His skill and focus were all that mattered.

After all, what Tiger did is between himself and his family. At best it might involve his friends. But it doesn't have a darned thing to do with you (unless you're part of that parade of ladies coming forward, I suppose.) And if you're one of the people that think he's no longer worth your adoration or dollars then that's fine. But I'd be willing to bet that before his little holiday auto-accident that 99.9% of his fans never raved about him because they thought he was monogamous. Nope - his fan base was primarily, if not all, about his focus and dedication to his craft.

It's a struggle for me to watch people completely dismiss someone and their skills because of a private issue or personal opinion that has gone public. It's so easy to do this to celebrities that we likely take for granted that we can bully them into an apology - or that they, as celebs, have the luxury curse of knowing exactly what their public feels. This leads me to ask the question: Do we do the same for people around us? Do we make the same snap decisions about job seekers because we don't like something that we discover in their personal life? Does it result in boycotting them? (because I know no one asks for an apology!)

Who hasn't heard of snap decisions being made about job seekers because of something a Recruiter or Hiring Manager spotted on a Facebook page? Hey, I'm not saying that the posting of 1/2 naked pictures from Passion Beach is the smartest thing for a job seeker to do, but I'm willing to bet that the same people that have ripped up their Tiger Woods fan club cards are the same ones making snap judgements about job seekers who may have a less than hardcore party pic or curse word sitting in the public eye.

To those Recruiters and Staffing personnel that decide to dismiss job seekers because of something they discover from snooping around on social networks I have this to say to you: Get a freakin' life and mind your own business. Make selections based on the basics - Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. (You remember these, right?) And unless you find something that truly puts your company at risk, you're out of line in making decisions around politics, off-color humor, personal updates or marital fidelity discovered via social.

The real kick in the head to the average job seeker is that he or she won't likely get that second chance that the celebrities get by holding a press conference, looking sad and issuing a scripted apology. Yup, you heard me... Tiger will be back - just like Michael Irvin, Michael Phelps, Koby Bryant - the list goes on.

Truth be told... I'd have even more respect for Tiger if he chimed in today with something along the lines of telling the public (and sponsors) that he is working through the issue with his family and everyone else should just take a hike.

Buzz Off!.. No, On. Uhm, Off.

2010-02-16T13:23:55Z

Okay, so we've had Google Buzz for what boils down to a week now. And we've heard phrases like "what Wave should have been" or "the Twitter killer" or "the best thing in my Inbox." But on day 7 I think I'm going to assign my own analogy to Google Buzz. To me - it's like drinking 'social' from a fire hydrant. Yeah - I said it. And While I think there are some incredible possibilities here it's another example of how Google has shoved something to the masses to see how they'll react. The only thing that really surprised me about this move by Google was that Google Buzz doesn't have "beta" stamped all over it.

So here's where I think I come out on this latest social frenzy - and yeah, it's a bit of a mixed review...

What Google's trying to do is great. The thought behind being able to simply "CC" the world on something is a bit overwhelming at first glance, however. In fact, right out of the box I find the stream of dialogue to be much more than I can manage. Of course, that's likely because I'm used to quick snippets that are currently found in my Twitterstream and Facebook page - but is that a bad thing? After all, with sorting and filtering features that are in Facebook and Twitter I can control the flow of information a bit - filter it, if you will. What Google Buzz seems to be missing the most is the ability to group users.

I also feel that the Gmail integration is both a blessing and a curse. Seeing (27) new Buzz items causes me to click with an expectation of manageable content - only to be hit in the mouth a stream of consciousness that can be a bit... overwhelming. The interface of the UI definitely needs some work before it's going to be considered any type of contender with the likes of Twitter or Facebook.

It may have also been a bit presumptuous of Google to assume that I wanted my Contacts included or followed at all in such a public forum - or that I'd want the content sorted or delivered by people as opposed to the conversations. Again - more of a need for filtering/grouping as well as display options. Being able to comment on a Buzz in a hierarchical fashion as opposed to linear might be much easier to follow - and isn't that what the ultimate goal of conversation is supposed to be?

While I suspect that Google Wave integration is already in progress I'd like to see more blog and website plug-n-play features. Ultimately something along the lines of widgets or application modules for popular blogging platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Blogger, etc. Having just typed this it comes to mind that perhaps an open API is in order - or will at least become a demand from more savvy users or developers. I would envision something similar to the many bots we see now in Google Wave - doing translations, copies, follows, etc.

Additionally, I'm a Google App paying customer. This means that I have the Google platform functioning as my private domain's email management solution. As such, I'm unable to set up Google Buzz on my RecruiterGuy.net domain - but am forced to run it through my basic Gmail account. This I can appreciate as I suspect Google is fast at work on security settings, user management, and account filtering for starters. So at present I have the minor inconvenience of having a second tab open to get my Buzz. Not a complaint, mind you - just an observation.

Of course if we're going to talk about how we need to view Google Buzz then we can't leave out the mobile delivery. So far the mobile view seems to be the most manageable and well integrated. I especially love the ability to see the Buzz that's near me based on my location and being able to fire up a Buzz Map. Hey, you never know who or what you'll see - this is the real world, baby.

Having said this... I'll be watching Google Buzz closely for updates and filters. In the meantime people should heed a gentle reminder that it never hurts to have a current (or at least complete) Google profile.

There's no sipping from this fountain at present. So here's to you, fellow fire hydrant drinkers. It's either quietly sitting unused or blasting social down your throat at 750 gallons per minute. So while you decide, I'm going to head out and make myself a new social icon for my blog to sit next to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the rest.

Oh wait... would that just be redundant?

Mobile Job Seekers

2010-02-09T12:11:04Z

So let's talk mobile applications for employment. Why? Well quite simply because I'm tired of hearing people say that job seekers aren't ready to apply for jobs via their mobile. And I think I'm to the point where I just have to call it out and say, "that's crap." If done right, I can't think of a single reason a job seeker wouldn't want to submit interest for a job via their mobile device. After all, we're being honest and talking about what the job seeker wants and not the limitation of a system or the unwillingness or inability to accommodate this by the employer or a vendor... right?

Let's talk about just a few of the bigger and more obvious challenges... No one wants to build a resume on their mobile; The vast majority of people don't have the ability to upload/carry documents (resumes) on their mobile; Many ATS or job boards just aren't mobile friendly. These are valid for sure. But for well over a year now I've had a solution swimming around in my head - and I think it's time that I let it out and touched lightly on how, in a perfect world, these might be addressed.

Let me walk you through how I see it working - and then I hope you'll weigh in.

In the spirit of staying mobile let's start with a mobile app that I'm pretty friendly with and enjoy using - and that frankly is ideal for this article. The LinkedIn application for the iPhone is terrific. The app ties together many of the features we see on the LinkedIn website such as Inbox, Updates, Connections, Invitations, Discussion Boards and yes - now even themes for us to pick our favorite colors from. Of course the reason the application is so popular is because everything we see within the app is tied to our online account.

So I don't think I'm off-base or out of this world when I say that I'd gladly trade the "Themes" button for a "Jobs" button. (No offence, LinkedIn - you guys know I love ya'.) A button that would show me a few jobs that LinkedIn thinks I might be interested in just like the website does now. Heck, maybe someone would get a little crazy and provide a field that would let me search for basic keywords or browse the latest openings. After all - the application is web-based, not static content in the phone. Pulling job listings should be no more difficult than pulling the latest discussions or content from my Inbox. (Do I really need to reference an employment application that already pulls job listings right from an ATS via XML?)

If you've ever applied for a job on LinkedIn you know that it typically consists of 2 pages. The first asks for a cover letter, contact information and the option to upload a resume while the second page is your chance to review your submission and send it on its way. So here is where it's fun... This is LinkedIn, folks - for the most part our work history is our profile - and if we're job hunting it's going to ideally be pretty current and detailed. So in most instances a job seeker would have no need to upload an additional resume or could at least have the option to let their profile speak for itself.

This transaction would be no more complicated than taking an online survey, submitting an email, or taking part in a discussion board. And if we're keeping this thought stream completely honest I think we can admit that it certainly doesn't have to be limited to LinkedIn. Major boards could pull off the same thing with a bit of a massage to the process here and there. In fact, as sexy as a mobile application can make certain activity seem we should keep in mind that many times we're simply talking about a skinned and branded browser letting us do 'stuff' on the web.

So think about it:

Online profiles/resumes created/uploaded from PC's can include cover letters
Job boards and Applicant Tracking Systems provide mobile friendly lists of jobs
Job seekers simply "login" and "opt-in" for consideration
All user profile/resume data is tied to the "requisition" based on the users profile

I know what you're thinking... Hey, what about pre-screening questions? Let's be honest... For the most part, if you've more than 6-8 questions so specific to a job posting that they aren't handled in a basic profile creation process then you're likely suffering from poorly written job descriptions or a pathetic attempt to "test" where you should be screening. Need to test them? Pull them in or send them a link to a real online testing process - but don't bastardize an application process by adding sloppy form to the equation.

This topic came up because at a social event last week I was constantly told that job seekers just aren't ready to apply for jobs via their mobile devices or that the technology just isn't ready. So here I am, folks... standing by my opinion that it isn't the job seekers that aren't ready, but rather vendors that don't see a big enough profit to really dig in and make it a reality just yet. I'm not saying this is wrong - but let's call it like it is and stop blaming job seekers as the entire reason this isn't happening.

Can you really tell me that if you had the option, that you wouldn't suffer through a few clicks and a short online survey to nominate for a job that interested you (while at lunch, your commuter ride, between meetings, etc.)? Yeah... me either.

Fistful of Ranked Bloggers

2010-02-05T14:27:43Z

Feeling flattered, surprised, and some cool facter - hey, I'm not gonna' lie. For the most part this is what happens when our names make a list - well, depending on the list, I suppose. I remember this one time in the 5th grade where my name was put on a list for... okay - I digress.

Regardless... Making the FOT/HRCapitalist Talent Management Blog Power Rankings Top 10 again is certainly something that invoked the aforementioned feelings. But what I really take away from the total listing is more than just the obvious cool part of being listed. What I really walk away with is a list of blogs I should be checking out - if they're not already on my radar. The true take away from this for everyone should be a listing of other people in the recruiting or [HR] marketing industry that seem to know their stuff - or are damned good at delivering it.

So here it is... and congrats to every single person involved - they each deserve a spot in your feed reader regardless of your industry.

Straight from FoT:
So, welcome to 2010 and here you have this decade's first go-round of FOT's top 25 blogs. Congrats to our winners - and thanks for always generating such fantastic content. We appreciate it.

Ranking/Blog Name (Power Rating, Last Poll Ranking)

1. Steve Boese's HR Technology (power index rating - 78 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

2. HR Bartender (power index rating - 75 | 1st place votes - 1 | v. 5.0 ranking - #5)

3. Seth Godin (power index rating - 58 | 1st place votes - 1 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

4. Know HR (power index rating - 55 | v. 5.0 ranking - #10)

5. The View from Harvard Business (power index rating - 47 | 1st place votes - 1 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

6. The Business of Management (power index rating - 46 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

7. Trizle (power index rating - 41 | 1st Place Votes - 2 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

HR Observations (power index rating - 41 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

The Recruiter Guy (power index rating - 41 | v. 5.0 ranking - #8)

10. John Sumser's Two Color Hat (power index rating - 40 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

11. Compensation Force (power index rating - 39 | v. 5.0 ranking - #7)

Rehaul (formerly Your HR Guy) (power index rating - 39 | v. 5.0 ranking #10)

Punk Rock HR (power index rating - 39 | v. 5.0 ranking - #4)

14. Simply Lisa (formerly HR Thoughts) (power index rating - 36 | v. 5.0 ranking - #16)

15. Jon Ingham's Strategic HCM (power index rating - 34 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

16. Compensation Cafe (power index rating - 31 | v. 5.0 ranking - #27)

17. HR Gumbo (power index rating - 28 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

18. All Things Workplace (power index rating - 27 | v. 5.0 ranking - #3)

19. Renegade HR (power index rating - 25 | v. 5.0 ranking - #23)

20. Upstart HR (power index rating - 24 | 1st Place Votes - 1 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

21. Marketing Headhunter (power index rating - 22 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

Welcome to the Occupation (power index rating - 22 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

23. HR Ringleader (power index rating - 21 | v. 5.0 ranking - n/a)

24. How We Work (power index rating - 19 | v. 2.0 ranking - n/a)

HR Fishbowl (power index rating - 19 | v. 2.0 ranking - n/a)

As with past rankings, you can check out the original poll methodology here (but note we looked at more blogs this time around - more than 160 - and the lineup of folks ranking the blogs has changed slightly too). Cheers to our newest winners!

Talking Brand...

2010-02-04T20:27:31Z

Today I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with a pretty smart bunch here in Dallas. The New Media Training Institute asked me to speak at a local event and discuss how companies are using Social Media and engaging customers through the seemingly limitless channels. One of the items that I was asked to really dig into was how teams can make the most of their time and avoid the Social Media Time Suck we're all afraid of.

My approach? I created ~15 high to mid-level slides and took an un-conference approach to presenting with a focus on Twitter and Facebook. My instict was that this audience would be savvy enough to appreciate an avoidance of basic "how-to" items and the freedom to chime in and share both successes and failures along the way - as opposed to my dictating opinion and reciting a presentation. Was I right? Yeah - I was dead on.

The dialogue was good and the information was great. What follows is simply the ppt deck that I used to spark the conversation with this sharp group of activists. (normally I don't post presentations that I've done on behalf of my employer but this deck will be available publicly on the event website soon anyhow.)

Give it some love on RecruiterGuy's Video Page

Wordle Wednesday

2010-02-03T13:37:09Z

Update 2/7/10: Clicking each image will reveal the answer within the frame.
It's Wednesday so let's have a little something to push us through the middle of the week that might be fun.

I enjoy puzzles and riddles and games - so I thought it might be fun to use a slick little tool called Wordle that runs on a Google App Engine. To put it plainly, users can simply paste a number of words into the field provided and the application will generate and artistic rendition of those words. Alternately, a website address can also be used where the RSS feed of that address will be pulled in to do the dirty work. Either way, the result is a rather cool looking image where people can copy or print the content for their own websites, tee-shirts, coffee mugs or whatever. One of the cooler things the app offers up are additional options that let you select how many words are used various colors or layouts and fonts, etc. You could literally play on the Wordle site for hours and accomplish absolutely nothing. It's fantastic!

What I decided to do was push through 9 blogs and websites that I use and set Wordle to only use 10 words. Outside of setting the 10 word limitation the results you see below were completely random. Can you guess which of the images belong to which popular blogs in the Recruiting/Staffing industry?

In looking at these (and all fun aside) I wonder what our guesses say for our impression of the blogs... the keywords we associate with them versus the keywords delivered above... where else keyword optimization or use might be ideal and deserving of additional focus...

In the interest of making this less than impossible... here are a list of the sites used - in no particular order, of course.

Listening Is A Form Of Flattery

2010-02-01T12:32:05Z

"Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery." - Joyce Brothers

This quote (I love quotes) came to mind when I started writing this article. And while not I'm not a big Joyce Brothers fan per se, I think there's more truth here than not. After all, none of us really likes being copied - but we love when someone shuts the heck up and lets us talk, right?

So why wouldn't our approach to social media (even for recruitment!) be the same - at least at its base? Why wouldn't we start by ensuring that every single soul we pull in to talk about social engagement or ambassadorships understand the importance of listening to our industry or "customers" and how it should be a priority over broadcasting to them? I think this is important - and sometimes gets missed in the rush (or pressure) to get on board and ride the social media wave. Besides - we'll have a much better feel for who is talking about us and their perception of our [employment] brand if we'll listen and monitor what's being said already.

In a previous article titled Making Friends on Facebook vs Teams at Work I mentioned a few departments that might be ideal to have involved on a de-centralized Social Media team. It was actually a follow-up article from my intial ask of the readers here to Whisper about What's Broken where I received some solid feedback about team building around social teams. So this is another quick chapter to touch on what might conceptually come next in an ideal world... Teaching our teams to listen and monitor the conversation that's already going on.

There are lots of ways to monitor what's being said about a company or brand that will enable your or team members to actively reach out and take part in conversations. SocialMention.com, Google Alerts and Searches managed through RSS feeds are just a few. And while there are several options out there that can be purchased and customized, I've always been a fan of free tools like NetVibes that can function as an aggregator of sorts. Of course if you're serious (and have a budget) you'll want to give some solid consideration to commercial options that will provide not just notifications but also analytics, reporting and even delegation of tasks.

Need some help with NetVibes? No worries! Check out this quick video on how to set up a page with some of the basics. (okay, it's not terribly quick - but it's good!)
Once you've gone through it I think you'll see easily enough how to incorporate various blog, Twitter, or major engine searches. NetVibes is just one way to help manage your time and stay aware of what's going on around your brand while avoiding that Social Media Time Suck.

Enough importance can't be put on digging in and finding out what people are saying about your product or company. Once you understand what's being said it's that much easier to craft your approach or decide how you'll engage the influencers out there. I think that ideally there are subject matter experts or "point" people that are primarily responsible for listening and (gasp!) reporting on what's found online. But they shouldn't be expected to shoulder the entire listening portion of the project alone.

If a person in HR were to stumble on a message board where people were gathering to complain about an interview process or continually ask the same question about pay and benefits it would be nothing less of irresponsible to not pass along to a Recruiter (if not their "social recruiting" team) a link to the conversation. The same would be said of the Recruiter that while sourcing for retail applicants came accross a website dedicated to complaining about a particular product.

It's everyone's job to listen first.

My Office Affair

2010-01-29T18:46:18Z

It's true. She's driven me crazy for years and keeps me up at night. I've stayed out late with her and have woken up beside her in more hotels than I can count. I've even had talks with leadership and peers alike where I adamantly denied that she was as important to me as I realize now that she is. I've been in denial for months about how much she's on my mind when I'm away from the office.

So after a lengthy conversation with my wife and my friends and a few that I trust... I've decided to just finally come clean and admit it. Publicly. And part of being completely honest about this love affair includes talking a little bit about how it got so embedded into my lifestyle... how it became such a part of my life that while I wasn't losing focus on my family per say, I was moving personal things around to keep my mistress happy. And most of all... why I won't be breaking it off.

First, some history...
I fell into the Recruiting industry through necessity. Right out of the Army I found a retail job where I was quickly moved into management and expected to be responsible for staffing my own store. Over the next few years one store turned into several stores - each staffed with sales teams that were blowing previous year's sales out of the sky. When leadership approached me and asked how it was done I was a bit naive (or full of pre-mature and snarky wisdom) in my response: "I enjoy finding people that love this stuff."

So I started training people to find potential employees while at the same time teaching basic sales principles and techniques. And anyone that's done either knows that Recruiting and Sales go hand-in-hand more often than they don't. Fast forward through the discovery of internet newsgroups, email lists and several years - and I was suddenly a certified PHR working consulting gigs with a focus on sourcing, recruiting and (gasp!) process improvement. Every bit of which had a unique signature of "internet" and "collaborative tech" as my signature.

I exited consulting in 2000 for a change - I went corporate... and in a big way by jumping on board with a FORTUNE 9 company. In starting as a Recruiter responsible for just a single city I worked with peers and leadership (while not always as patiently as I should have) to help evolve recruiting strategies to incorporate more technology and collaboration. And with the support of amazing teams and colleagues my responsibilities evolved from a single city to a state. To a Region. To multiple Regions. To the US. And ultimately where I am today - Leading interactive strategies and initiatives for Talent Attraction with my employer - and the most amazing teams I've had the pleasure to ever meet.

My mistress? Change.
And I'm passionate about her - but not for the simple sake of her existence. What I mean to say is that I'm in love her because I stay up late at night listening to how she thinks she can help Recruiters be more effective; how she speculates that job seekers might find postings more quickly; how she thinks hiring managers could better track ROI. And while all of her thoughts don't always seem logical or likely at first... she's patient with me. Often more than I am with her, to be honest.

When I...
...attend a conference I'm not looking for vendors tell me how great their product is - I'm looking for them to tell me why it's different.

...talk with peers or meet at events I'm not looking to boast about great accomplishments - I'm hoping to share work that's been done that will spark new ideas or conversation.

...push an idea to my team I'm not telling them this is the solution - I'm showing them this is "a" solution, and hoping they'll improve on it.

She goes with me everywhere. And yes, I do wake up some mornings holding my iPhone because I fell asleep taking notes or reading the blogs of friends and articles within my industry. And while my family and friends know that she's my love affair - they're okay with it.

Do you have a love affair? Are you passionate? What's driving you?