The symbiotic relationship between the employee and the employer is essential but it seems that, with the myriad effects of globalization, one of the first things to suffer is this essential relationship. International human resources is a complex paradigm or even a web of interconnected relationships. It’s difficult to manage or ascertain the needs of a worker from making a phone call or a reverse phone lookup. Organizations are constantly looking for better strategies and overcoming various language and cultural barriers but sometimes the approach needs to be more concerned with the ‘human’ aspect of the equation.

Good HR practices and employee/employer relations are paramount in maintaining a happy, healthy, and productive staff. By maximizing and personalizing ties between these two parties will ensure a companies health and success by ensuring the recruitment and retention of quality staff. In this, one hand washes the other, approach every party stands to benefit and in a world where globalization is minimizing these essential relationships, it has become increasing apparent of the absolute necessity and the positive affects of quality HR.

Richard Polak discussed some of the internal approaches to HR in a paper entitled, The Globalization of Human Resources. In this piece featured on The Business Forum he discussed the four ‘C’s of international HR.

? Compete: The idea is that all companies should approach their relationship as a competition for their employees. Keeping quality workers is essential to success.

? Compensation: How are your workers going to be compensated and is it adequate to meet the standards and needs of your employees?

? Cost: You have to factor in the cost of this and manage your company’s expenses and output to make the worker and expense of the worker a viable thing.

? Corporate Culture: How does the corporate culture define your approach and how effective is it with the employee?

Some of these strategies recognize the international relationship between private companies and workers from across the globe. What works in one country doesn’t necessarily work in another but these four basics are the principals of what keeps the employer aware of its approach. The employee is the resource and seeing their relative happiness as an essential component is what will, ultimately, ensure productivity and success. Too often the desire for a strong bottom line becomes the main objective. With cheaper labor overseas, it’s easy to mistake people for commodities.

Globalization has created new challenges for developing and postindustrial Western nations but it hasn’t made it impossible. This desire for human capitol isn’t going to slow down any time soon and it’s essential that companies recognize the ever-changing climate of this relationship. Ignoring the needs of the workers is an effective short-term strategy and will have a positive affect profit margins but it won’t have the kind of longevity of companies that view the human element as a resource and not just a necessity. If not approached with delicacy, companies will learn the price of poor practices and drive away skilled labor and will wreck their company’s image, brand, and future.

Thank you Otys for Hosting a wonderful afternoon with the Dutch Recruitment Community. I enjoyed introducing techniques such as Blog links within Linkedin profiles and domain tools that broaden the social media platform’s potential for sourcing. It is always a pleasure to pay homage to my mentor, Shally Steckerl, whenever possible as well for his huge contributions in this field.

I leave for Prague this evening to explore the feasibility of applying new technologies to benefit competitive intelligence on behalf of my client Informatica. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few days in the Netherlands as I have in the past and I look forward to enhancing the potential for ground breaking new avenues for competitive intel research as a middleware intersection.

I know I have been remiss in postings as of late, but I can assure you the weeks of uncustomary quiet are being well spent at the crossroads of research applications

Brad Cook will be presenting at LinkedIn Talent Connect 2010 on November 01, 2010 RSVP

Today Brad shares the secret treasures abundant within Australia, the Great Down Under just weeks before he comes to the San Francisco Bay Area to make his mark on his American ground breaking arrival!

• Brad Cook
• Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Informatica
• Linkedin
• Follow Brad on Twitter
• Community Volunteering: Big Brothers, Big Sisters
• Personal Causes: Animals of the world through RSPCA & WSPC
• Office/Cell Number +61 423 841 118
• Email Brad
• Specialties: Global Talent Acquisition; Talent Management; Building high-performing teams; Leadership; Managing for results; Service P/L Management; Innovation in service delivery; Optimizing organizations; Contract negotiation; Sales strategies; Strategic Planning; Transformational Change; Sales Leadership; New Business Start-Up; Innovation & Creativity; People Management; Field Sales Management; Global Operations; Global Change Management.

To recap, on Part one of our two part interview, Brad Cook is the Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Informatica. Brad delivers Global Staffing initiatives that contribute to the achievement of the business goals. He presently resides in Sydney, Australia but is in the process of relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area. His specialized expertise is in the development and implementation of global staffing strategies (Americas, EMEA, Asia Pac & Japan). Previously, Brad served as Director, Global Staffing Candidate Selection Practice at Cisco Systems and advanced from prior specialization in Global Talent Acquisition and World-Wide Change Management.

Six Degrees: How is US recruitment culture (and overall) in Australia different? How are they similar?”

BRAD: From my perspective, the US recruiting model is far more mature than most other countries. This is because the use of internal sourcing teams, as well as onsite recruiters in a co-sourcing environment is way more advanced in the US than APAC or even in Europe. In my experience, the APAC tendency has been to rely on agencies as the primary source for candidates. Also I noticed that employment branding efforts in APAC region are significantly lower than that in the US. Having said that, I am starting to see things change in the APAC region, and this is due to the explosion of social media. Now, more and more companies are leveraging social networking to attract and maintain relationships with passive candidates. If you look at the growth of internet users in China and India, there poses a significant opportunity to leverage current tools to attract, develop and maintain relationships.

Just recently I have joined Informatica based out of Redwood City, California as the VP Global Talent Acquisition. So it shows that building a global personal network works. In fact my appointment with Informatica was via a LinkedIn networking activity. Proof that networking at all levels included executive levels is critical for career advancement

On the flip side of the equation, the similarities I see between the US and rest of world are more around the process of recruiting. In my experience it’s an 80/20 blend, 80% of the recruiting process is global consistency, as it’s the consistency that drives a positive candidate experience. Whereas the other 20% is the local cultural specifics that are required in that particular part of the world. I advise building a recruitment model that targets a global candidate pool tailored for vast diversity. This leaves you to spend more time on the critical tasks rather than what I call “the why I need to be different” business practices

Six Degrees: What languages are you fluent in?

BRAD: Those that know me would tell you that I speak three languages; English, American and Australian. Those of you who know a few Aussies, will agree that we have plenty of colloquialisms, many of which we have no idea of the origin of the phrase. When living in the US it was crucial for me to adopt an American accent and learn the peculiarities of sentence phrasing and word selection over there, as my wife could only act as a translator after hours! One thing’s for sure – life’s never dull!

Six Degrees: Which recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit?

BRAD: From an ATS perspective, I implemented VirtualEdge globally as my preferred recruitment software tool after a significant vendor selection process. From a personal tools perspective there are very few others besides Linkedin that offer a true global foot print. Job boards all have their strengths and weaknesses in each region, as do aggregators. In a global recruiting capacity, this is where the 80/20 rule really plays out. I find that most ATS systems today do the 80% pretty well, it’s the strategic direction you want to pursue that will help you make the final decision on which ATS is right for you. Some ATS systems have a good CRM platform, others treat a pipeline as a funnel, which I believe doesn’t offer true CRM continuity. For me, It really comes down to how well you data mine the data you have within the ATS. That is where you can really drive recruiter productivity. We had over 500,000 candidates come into our ATS each year. More than enough good talent to fill req loads with a well rounded sourcing strategy wrapped around it

Six Degrees: How many applicants do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals?

BRAD: One of the challenges highly branded companies have, is actually not the numbers of candidates hitting the site, but the process of how to filter them down quickly to respond quickly to the top talent that should be chased down. Referrals offer a different challenge, in that a good referral program needs to seem like a high touch process, but also have automation in order to keep both the referrer and the candidate happy with the experience. Having a possible candidate referred to your company, for them to disappear into a black hole of recruitment inefficiency spells disaster for a referral program. This is the crucial area where good processes and systems play a key role.

Six Degrees: Whether you are hiring IT engineers, accounting, – whatever talent you are seeking, – is your country’s CULTURE a factor in the RESPONSE RATE you get when sending an email requesting a CV versus calling the candidate directly at their work? Are they open/eager to sending their CV, are they more shy/cautious or even suspicious depending on the method you use to contact them?

BRAD: The methodologies here are very regional and in some cases also country specific. For example, some Asian cultures will not take a call, let alone share their resume unless you are referred to them by a trusted advisor. On the other hand, other cultures are very open to looking at new opportunities if something sparks an interest. Knowing and recognizing the possible cultural differences of those whom you’re trying to attract (Without getting too specific), puts the recruiter in a much stronger position to attract the very candidates you are aiming to engage with.

Six Degrees: In terms of what is attractive to Australia’s workers what do you feel drives them in their choice of employer?

BRAD: I’m actually not sure that what I have to say about this is country specific, but more about what drives people. I’m certainly no expert in EVP, however it is my view that it boils down to simple human behavior. If someone is excited and juiced up by the job they are doing, they are receiving fair remuneration for the job, and career development and learning opportunities are available to them, then I believe that most bases are covered. For example, even in my own career I have shifted my views on the question of Employer Value Proposition. At different times in my career I focused purely on dollars, then switched over to a focus on development and continued growth, then on to career advancement. However, I keep coming back to development and growth, as I believe the rest will follow. I know that if I’m constantly learning and challenging myself, then I’m at my most happiest and best. I believe humans can all be quite similar in that regard – what drives us one day, is certainly likely to change over time.

Six Degrees: In Australia, how does the actual selection process proceed once a candidate has been identified and what role does a recruiter in Japan play in the process?

BRAD: One of my strongest beliefs is that the process of recruiting should be and indeed can be consistent globally. The selection process is very similar globally. That is: Find a candidate; assess their basic qualifications; pre-screen them; put them through a formal behavioral interview process; complete a wash-up session to solicit feedback; reference check; and finally make the offer. That is, in a nutshell, the basics of a global recruiting process, and I truly believe this does not change so significantly from country to country. Differences in the recruiting process would be for example, in Japan, is the style of the interviewing and those you might have on the interview team. The smaller nuances change, not the basics. It’s more about understanding how one needs to interact differently with a candidate if they come from a different culture, and this takes a good understanding of one’s own culture and how something we take for granted could be viewed as disrespectful. For example, when interviewing a Korean candidate, them not looking you in the eye is not because they are timid, nervous or flippant – it is in fact a sign of respect.

Six Degrees: Is it acceptable, or common, in Australian culture to offer a referral fee for a successful hire to someone who recommended the candidate?

BRAD: Speaking from experience, referral hiring is one of the best ways of finding good talent. In the past we had a system of paid referral bonuses, which stayed the same for years. Whilst it used to be a global fee set in USD, we have had to readjust to the global market place because having USD fee that pays the same in all countries created big problems even though a flat fee is easiest to administer. However, we, had situations in India where the fee was extremely high in local converted currency, and it ended up taking the focus away from someone’s real work, to everyone having their recruiter hats on – which meant that people weren’t productive. We resolved this by implementing a sliding scale based on local salary, vs a single USD flat fee. On top of that, at times when we needed certain types of particular skill sets, we paid an additional bonus on top of the base fee. It was a lot of money, but in comparison to what it costs for internal recruiting, or in some cases agency spend, it was money well spent. I believe that if someone goes to the trouble of referring someone they know to your company, they are putting their reputation on the line. The recruiting teams need to treat the referred candidate like gold and ensure there is always a level of communication with all parties. So paying the person to submit the candidate is something that I feel warrants a reward, so I am a very strong advocate for referral rewards. Then it all comes down to how much a particular company wants to offer, and that’s a personal choice. I have seen it range from $500 USD to $3,500 USD for some unique skill sets.

Brad Cook lives the life of an Iconic Figure. From Mount Everest, the temples of Peru, the Pyramids of Egypt and beyond …. he is the super hero without donning the cape. He departs Oz for the wilds of the Bay Area. Yes, a Hefty Tale …. but grandiose is what Brad Cook Breathes for lunch. Chuck Norris has a challenger who can win a Yak Butter eating contest.

• Brad Cook
• Global Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Informatica
• Linkedin
• Follow Brad on Twitter
• Community Volunteering: Big Brothers, Big Sisters
• Personal Causes: Animals of the world through RSPCA & WSPC
• Office/Cell Number +61 423 841 118
• Email Brad
• Specialties: Global Talent Acquisition; Talent Management; Building high-performing teams; Leadership; Managing for results; Service P/L Management; Innovation in service delivery; Optimizing organizations; Contract negotiation; Sales strategies; Strategic Planning; Transformational Change; Sales Leadership; New Business Start-Up; Innovation & Creativity; People Management; Field Sales Management; Global Operations; Global Change Management.

Brad Cook is the Global Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Informatica. Brad delivers Global Staffing initiatives that contribute to the achievement of the business goals. He presently resides in Sydney, Australia but is in the process of relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area. His specialized expertise is in the development and implementation of global staffing strategies (Americas, EMEA, Asia Pac & Japan). Previously, Brad served as Director, Global Staffing Candidate Selection Practice at Cisco Systems and advanced from prior specialization in Global Talent Acquisition and World-Wide Change Management. At Cisco, His career achievements are numerous and worth mentioning:

• Responsible for leading, developing and implementing a highly successful global “Manager Hiring and Interview Skills” e-learning program for 10,000 managers
• Successful implementation of a global recruitment system(Virtual Edge) on time and within budget, to 10,000 managers, 55,000 employees, 2800 recruiting agencies, and 480 recruiters
• Redesign and implementation of Cisco’s global employee referrals program – with a subsequent increase of referrals from 18% to 32%
• Led the design of the recruitment model to support Cisco’s entry into the Emerging Markets theatre, including building the Latin America function from the ground up within 60 days
• The training comprises of 11 modules covering behavioral-based interviewing, inclusion and diversity, interviewing within the law and the global talent landscape
• Completion of an initiative to design guidelines and processes to enable the implementation of psychometric assessments, including vendor management and legal due diligence
• Leadership of an initiative focused on prototype pre-hire assessment processes to provide the foundation for future competency-based models and assessments
• Leadership of multiple global recruitment system (Virtual Edge) enhancement projects to ensure company compliance and deliver process improvements
Consolidate a single focused client facing Talent Acquisition team comprising global Talent Acquisitions Managers (TAM’s), local recruiters and an operational team to support a global staffing process.
• Reengineered the global recruiting vendor business models to ensure Cisco goals and objectives were met and or exceeded.
• Led and managed a direct team of 18 and indirect team of 190 recruiters, sourcers and coordinators
• Implement operational best practices around the measuring of critical staffing metrics
• Creation of the a new “Why Cisco recruiting Campaign” along with redesigning the Cisco external jobs page for greater candidate impact.

He has covered the most difficult terrain of the wilds to the highest reaches of the world and curiosity will add places further to conquer. As Brad ventures to America on his latest mission to build talent acquisition excellence at Informatica, he looks forward to it with the same confidence and wonder of another terrain to make familiar. The Bay Area may never be the same with this adventurer’s infectious question “what next and what more can be done?”

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

BRAD: My home world is always exciting! Just recently my wife & I have completed a major renovation on our home. The end result is awesome – very well worth the time and effort we put into in the design, planning and construction stages. Having a wife as an interior designer has been a huge advantage for the project, even though it meant lots more changes and re-evaluations throughout the process.

I have been married to my lovely wife Jana for close to 9 happy years now. We met just after the millennium at a personal development course.….funnily enough we were both there in order to let go of any old baggage left over from our previous relationships. It has truly been a wonderful and exciting 9 years. Jana was working for Qantas Long Haul as a Flight attendant, so everyone automatically asks if we met on a plane! I was lucky enough to be Jana’s travel buddy which allowed me to enjoy the perks of staff travel. Once I got to go on safari in Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the round trip from Sydney only cost me $300! I remember that trip fondly as one of my most favorite adventures abroad.

in 2002, just after the 1st bubble burst we moved to San Jose, CA as I was transferred to work at Cisco HQ. , We spent a wonderful 5 years enjoying all of the delights in the San Francisco Bay area, such as regular trips to the Napa Valley, Yosemite, Road trips to the Grand Canyon & Las Vegas, as well as extensive travel throughout the USA, Mexico and Peru.. It was during this time, that Jana went back to school to complete her Interior design qualifications, which has certainly, come in handy with all of our home renovation projects.

Anyway, in 2005 it was time to pack up the expat bags and head back to Sydney, which we now consider to be our home again (well for the near distant future anyway!). We love Sydney with its great multicultural environment – great cuisines, top Aussie wines and plenty of diversity to satisfy anyone’s needs. Sydney Harbor and all of the beautiful waterways are truly magnificent, and we also spend many a weekend out boating on our boat. We haven’t been blessed with children, so I supposed that makes us DINKS? Just joking! We are, however, the proud “parents” of Jones, a beautiful Golden retriever who turns 11 in September this year. The reason his name is Jones is because he had an older brother Indy – yep – you guessed it – they were named after one of my favorite movie series “Indiana & Jones”. Sadly Indy passed away a few months back, so only the younger half of the duo is left. Now that we are all through the grieving period for Indy, Jones is starting to quite enjoy being the centre of attention.

Six Degrees: Your pictures tell us of a life well lived. Your sense of adventure puts a whole new perspective on the typical talent acquisition executive. What compels the drive … ?

BRAD: I have always had a very strong penchant for adrenaline sports. You name it: parachuting, bungee jumping, extreme mountain bike riding, scuba diving, just to name a few. It’s all about the rush that you get from putting it all on the line, making you feel alive & totally present in each moment. Living in the US offered an abundance of world-class mountain bike riding opportunities – I used to head out with the guys every Sunday up into the hills around Palo Alto and totally ripped it up. Another great passion of mine is adventure travel to exotic destinations world-wide. My most rewarding, yet difficult trip was trekking to Mt Everest Base Camp. I wasn’t fully prepared for just how physically, mentally and emotionally challenging it would be. To cut a long story short, I found myself being air lifted out of Pheriche at an altitude of 4600m by helicopter with HACE (high altitude Cerebral Edema) AKA swelling of the brain, which had quickly turned very nasty, and I found myself fighting for my life. If it wasn’t for the seven Sherpa’s who carried me down through the middle of the night by strapping me to their backs using a humble plastic outdoor chair, I wouldn’t have lived to tell my tale! To them, I humbly owe my life. Looking back, many have since asked me if making it to base camp was worth going through a near death experience, and every single time I answer “yes”. Why? Because I can now say with pride that I have stood at EBC, at close to 18,000ft, breathing oxygen levels only 50% of that at sea level. Seeing the top of the world from that height is one of the most incredible experiences – a trip I will never forget, and one that has truly changed my life for the better in so many ways.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

BRAD: Now, the very interesting fact about me is that I’ve only actually been in the staffing world for the past 5 years! It was a very strategic move, as I have been able to capitalize upon my previous 26 years of Sales, Services, Global operations and change management, and integrate those into my role when I joined Staffing back in 2005. It’s been a fun and creative journey as there are so many parallels I have been able to drawn upon from my sales and operation days to make massive improvements to staffing processes, benefiting managers and candidates alike.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

BRAD: Well, I first got started in staffing back in 2005 when I was asked to reconsolidate a decentralized staffing model. Since then I have been fortunate enough to play in many areas of Staffing – from global ATS implementation, to global process design and implementation as the owner of Cisco’s global candidate selection end-to-end process programs.

Six Degrees: What languages are you fluent in?

BRAD: Those that know me would tell you that I speak three languages; English, American and Australian. Those of you who know a few Aussies, will agree that we have plenty of colloquialisms, many of which we have no idea of the origin of the phrase. When living in the US it was crucial for me to adopt an American accent and learn the peculiarities of sentence phrasing and word selection over there, as my wife could only act as a translator after hours! One thing’s for sure – life’s never dull!

Six Degrees: What countries within your country are you accountable for?

BRAD: The best answer here is that I am a Global being, as during my 11 years at Cisco, 8 of those were global roles, with so many countries being within my accountability at some stage, I really can’t keep count. To be more specific, prior to Staffing I ran Business Operations for APAC, and during my time staffing I spent much time in Europe building out the Emerging markets staffing strategy with fellow local leadership. My current role as VP Global Talent Acquisition with Informatica has me back in the global footprint. I am truly looking forward to next phase of the exciting world of global talent working for Informatica, a Redwood City, Data Integration Software company, and the challenges and excitement it brings with it.

Six Degrees: How is culture a factor in the hiring practice different from other countries you recruit from?

Six Degrees: Where is your country ahead of the USA in certain recruitment tactics?

BRAD: Having held many global roles, I have been fortunate enough to work with many different groups, and I have found that just because something works in one location, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for another. From my view point, the US is a more mature market when it comes to outsourcing or as I prefer to call it – “ In-sourcing” or “co-sourcing”. It’s the move away from traditional reliance upon agencies, towards building out an internal sourcing capability. From my experience, APAC and Europe have tended towards a higher reliance on agencies compared to the US, but I also see that is shifting. I believe that many companies outside of the US are now starting to see the business benefits and dollar saving by bringing some of the sourcing internally. Also the advent of social media is playing a large part of the new world of talent attraction. With APAC having some of the fastest growth in internet users, it will be an exciting space to watch over the next few years.

Six Degrees: What networking groups are available and influential within Your Country as a whole and within your country in particular?

BRAD: We now live in a truly global economy, so networking capabilities no longer has country boundaries, as they had in the past. Social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Tweeter have made reaching out to one’s network so much easier, faster and more efficient. Each region seems to have their own favorite means of connecting with others, and it’s the ability to meet people outside of your immediate circle of influence that makes the new world of globalized social networking very exciting – this article being a perfect example! I ask the reader – how else would I ever have met Dave if it weren’t for social media?

Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of?

Six Degrees: How the recession has affected your particular industry niche?

Brad: Weathering the storm of any economic crisis has its impacts. Staffing within a recession strikes fear into many recruiters. I have seen it in 2001 and now in 2009, when hiring has gone from tens of thousands of hires to zero. With that has come significant change on many fronts. Back in 2001, I was a sales manager that had to let go of significant numbers of people, and last year in 2009 I was impacted personally by the GFC when staffing volumes at Cisco dropped significantly.

My groups global responsibilities were dramatically reduced and the majority of teams displaced, including myself. The GFC has given me a great opportunity to take time out from the Corporate world, which is something that doesn’t come around very often. I, together with my wife, have renovated our house, as well as taken some time out for travel. Just recently I have joined Informatica based out of Redwood City, California as the VP Global Talent Acquisition. So it shows that building a global personal network works. In fact my appointment with Informatica was via a LinkedIn networking activity. Proof that networking at all levels included executive levels is critical for career advancement.

Six Degrees: Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects?

Brad: It’s been said many times before, but I’ll say it again – in today’s world, one’s own network and your networking capability can and will make or break your career opportunities. For example, when I started using LinkedIn and Plaxo 6-7 years ago, I never imagined the importance of social networking in my industry. In fact, it has opened doors on so many different angles. My time living in the US and building my network in corporate there has also been instrumental in developing my own personal brand identity. On another level, I also advocate coffee chats as a great way to meet and get to know interesting people, who may end up having an important part to play in the next opportunity. In fact, I have made it a personal goal to meet at least 2 new people every week, be it for a coffee, or connect with them on LinkedIn or some such other networking site. Seeing the current changes in the market networking will be a primary vehicle for finding opportunities in the future.

“While working for Brad in Global Staffing for over two years, he continually impressed me with his leadership skills, and natural affinity for keeping his team motivated to deliver complex projects on time. He is one of those rare managers that can bring out the best in his direct reports – creating a productive environment of mutual respect, personal empowerment, and fun. I would welcome the opportunity to work for Brad again.” October 1, 2009
Cindy Cloud, WW Cisco Services Change Management, Cisco

“I had the pleasure of working for Brad while at Cisco, and by far his was one of my best managers. He assigns projects that challenge you, and provides the leadership that will make you succeed, he ensures that his teams are always growing by providing training, and sharing his knowledge. Brad takes the time to understand your strengths and encourages you to rise to the top of your game. Brad is a true leader and I’m fortunate to have worked for him, and hope to work for him again.” September 29, 2009
Sylvia Flores, Staffing Manager, Cisco

“Brad combines innovative thinking with the ability to put that thinking into action. My team and I really enjoy working on projects with Brad because we’re able to turn vision into reality with him and his team.” July 9, 2009
Anne Formalarie, Manager, Cisco Systems

“Brad came to the US from a field sales role as was key to driving an outside-in view within the San Jose based team. Brad has strong service business knowledge, is a good leader, see’s the big picture and is very solid in execution. Brad was a great team player and knows how to get the best out of people.” June 26, 2009
Brian Jeffries, VP Services Global Field Operations, Cisco

“Brad is an outstanding senior leader with global insights and strong business acumen. His sales leadership experience has been highly regarded in all circles. His staffing and HR experience are an added plus to a very well rounded executive. Wes Olson” May 13, 2009
Wes Olson, Director, Vertical Sales, Cisco Systems Inc

“Brad joined the Global Staffing Team from one of the business lines. He brought his business expertise, passion for improvement and team building knowledge to a newly forming group. He quickly established himself as a value to the team by encouraging us to look at “staffing” from the business perspective – and helping us build a model that was scalable and flexible meeting the needs of our businesses during some turbulent times. Personally I always appreciated Brad’s open communication style and objectivity in his leadership style. He’s definitely one of the “good ones”!” April 22, 2009
Lisa Glebus, Staffing Operations Manager – US, CISCO Systems

“Brad is a motivated and enthusiastic manager/leader to work with bringing a great depth and experience to the management team at Cisco. His enthusiasm and focus brought a strong energy to the service sales team offering open, supportive and constructive guidance ultimately delivering strong results and a high performing team. He is a great communicator and articulate public speaker and is able to build trust and motivation with the people he works with. Brad is naturally good at inspiring people! Many people, including myself, benefited from the experience of his leadership. He shows a genuine and intuitive understanding of human behaviour and it is these natural skills that set him apart from his colleagues. Thanks Brad, your one of the best managers I have had in my IT career.” April 14, 2009
Julanne Saltiel, Service Account Manager, Cisco Systems

“Having recently joined Cisco, Brad has been an invaluable resource and mentor to me. I’ve partnered with Brad and his team on multiple issues and he does a wonderful job articulating the challenges needing addressed and leading our team toward successful resolution. Brad is quickly able to identify the bigger picture and successfully builds a strategy and vision to tackle whatever the business challenge presents. I’ve watched Brad in action participate in meetings and handily diffusing what could have become difficult discussion, and turning it instead into a productive exchange of information. Brad is a strong collaborator who has worked well across multiple business units on a global basis and is consistently effective. On a personal note, Brad has been a great support to me as a new employee. He is quick to help explain to me the larger picture or help me identify resources to assist. His patience and insight have been a huge source of support for me and I’ve been able to go to safely go to him and seek him out for guidance.” April 9, 2009
Jackie D’Ercole, Manager – WW Talent Supply, Cisco

“As Brad’s teammate at Cisco Systems, I observed his ability to make his case, solicit management support and collaborate cross-functionally as he proactively worked to resolve customer service issues and raise customer satisfaction, or improve internal processes and increase productivity. He was also quick to spot, recruit and develop people whose talent may not have been previously recognized, allowing him to build strong and loyal teams. These were some of Brad’s strengths which, when added on to his sales accomplishments, made him a credible, forward-thinking leader as he took on more senior roles in the company.” March 22, 2009
Rose de Leon-Titus, Program Manager, WorldWide Field Operations, Cisco

“As a leader in the Staffing organization Brad is highly strategic and forward thinking, yet understands the the day to day tactical needs and complexities of the end to end hiring process. This allows him to drive multiple process improvements and work collaboratively with his peers. As a manager, Brad always had my personal and career development top of mind which I very much appreciated. He trusted his employees to get the job done by providing course correction only when necessary. His engaging personality and sense of humor got us through many stressful times and projects.” March 20, 2009
Denni Oravec, HR Program Manager, Cisco Systems, Inc.

“Brad is an engaging, effective leader and business partner. He has taken bold steps in his career to increase his impact to Cisco and to our customers. He is well regarded in multiple functional areas and geographic theaters. I look forward to working with (or for!) Brad in the future.” March 20, 2009
Jeff Zirker, Senior Director, Operations, Cisco Systems, Inc.

“Brad is an outstanding professional with strong leadership skills. During our relationship in Cisco, he demonstrated superior ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity in a challenging transformation for the Staffing function. His strong process orientation and managerial skills were recognized by both his peers and his team. It ha been a pleasure to work with Brad.” March 20, 2009
Massimo Carli, Senior Hr Manager Switches Storage Wireless, Cisco Systems

“Brad Cook is a knowledgeable and dynamic leader. He consistently goes the extra mile in his collaborations with others. The experience and result of working with Brad is consistently first rate. He has a natural gift for working with people and he demonstrates that by always working to help those around him grow their capacity to perform at a high level.” March 20, 2009
Greg Giuliano, Founder & Managing Partner, Ecstasis Consulting, LLC

“I was fortunate to work with Brad in two different groups at Cisco: WW Customer Advocacy and Human Resources. Brad was a senior leader in both groups and his style was consistent: an excellent leader who drives, motivates, and supports his team to succeed. He simply gets the job done. What I respect about Brad as a leader is that he is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and work on the front line. This has earned him the respect of his peers, direct reports, and indirect reports – me included.” July 9, 2009
Andrew Lee, Manager, Human Resources, Cisco Systems

“Brad was on the few leaders at Cisco that truly encourages and supports your development. He takes the time to know your strengths and areas of development, assigns projects which will challenge you and broaden your capabilities. He is a leader that develops top performing teams by encouraging us to put our best forward. Given the opportunity I would work for Brad again.” January 16, 2009
Sylvia Flores, Staffing Manager, Cisco

“Brad was instrumental in driving change management within our organization. He was able to overcome resistance throughout the organization and came up with very creative ways to drive change.” October 12, 2009
Lisa Everett, Sr Manager, WW Svce Sales Ops, Cisco Systems, Inc

“Brad Cook is the consummate professional. It was pleasure to work for and with him; Brad consistently demonstrated his ability to lead his team with purpose and provide the right level of support, In addition, he was the master at forming business partnerships built on trust that only helped to facilitate delivery of results and value.” October 10, 2009
Celestine Lee, Sales Operations Program Manager/Change Management Consultant, Cisco Systems

“Brad hired me as a professional contractor to develop and execute several communication programs. His ability to give clear direction and supportive advice made it easy to deliver superior work products. Working for Brad was a real pleasure and if he asked me to join his team in the future, I would not hesitate a moment before I said “yes”!” October 1, 2009
Cindy Cloud, WW Cisco Services Change Management, Cisco

“Brad was a great Manager to work for . He showed great leadership and influential skills . Brad was always very focused on the core business objectives. He was a great mentor and provided me with great guidances for success. It was a pleasure working for him.” February 25, 2007
Shin Choy Yeung, Program Manager – WWFO – Sales Force Automation, Cisco Systems

“Brad is a great professional partner. His ability to transform ideas into reality is outstanding. He works with all levels to fully understand the priorities, develops a plan and then executes to completion. Great inspiration!” September 12, 2005
Steve Blaz, Director, Strategic Alliances, Cisco Systems

“Brad Cook was a brillant sales manager, whose leadership inspired exceptional performance from his team. His strong blend of coaching in the field and guidance off the field ensured his team delivered super stretch sales achievement.” September 27, 2009
Robert Finn, Channel Account Manager, Cisco Systems

“Brad is an outstanding leader with strong business acumen. He was highly regarded within Anixter for his sales & professional services leadership and results, developing a very successful national support services business. Global staffing/HR experience with Cisco and financial focus make him a very well rounded senor executive.” December 18, 2009
Adam Summons, Finance Director & CFO – Australia, Anixter Australia

“Brad hired me into a relatively fledgling support services operation at Anixter. Over the 2 or more years I worked for Brad I encountered a man who was not only highly driven and extremely competent, but ethical, solid, reasonable, personable and an excellent people manager and motivator. He instinctively knows how to build a winning team, driving them to joint success and growing each of them. He took the new support services practice and built it very quickly into a key plank of Anixter’s service offering, winning global acclaim across the organisation. His eventual transition into senior staffing roles at Cisco surprised none of us who have remained in professional contact with Brad. I would work for Brad again any day and I’m sure I’m one of many.” September 26, 2009
Richard Priestley, Project Manager, NetStar Networks

“I also worked with Brad at Anixter for a couple of years. We were very sorry to lose him to Cisco Systems, however there was no holding Brad back and he quickly outgrew his position with us. During his time at Anixter, Brad was instrumental in helping us attract and retain major clients, as well as helping to secure large competitive bids.” February 1, 2006
Salvatore Barbagallo

“I worked with Brad at Anixter. While there Anixter employed many diverse people to drive an aggressive push into its market. Brad was instrumentel in leading that charge by example ! Brad’s disposition allowed him to worked well with all employees in a highley charged environment.” July 20, 2005
Greg O’Brien

KEYWORDS: “Talent Acquisition” “Talent Strategies”, Cisco, Informatica, ERE, “ERE Awards”, Jobs2Web, Branding, Sourcing, “Passive Talent”

By Dave Mendoza

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• Website: www.essencetalent.com.au
• Your Personal Blogs : http://robertgodden.wordpress.com/ and http://devotea.blogspot.com
• Community Volunteering: I support IASEI, A group of people trying to set up an international plan of action to help people overcome anxiety and find employment
• Office/Cell Number: +618 7129 4441 – +614 33 413 305
• Robert’s Email

Six Degrees: Does your staffing organization “DIRECT SOURCE” from competitor companies to hire talent?

Robert: In my previous role, which was effectively the creation of a new multi-market recruitment agency, and the one before that, it was a specific part of my duties to track every player at every major competitor. It was eye-opening; it certainly teaches you who treats their staff well and engenders loyalty, and who doesn’t, which is of course pretty stupid. As a newly appointed CEO, the market will be expecting me to do the same again, but we’ll see. I’m actually thinking of sourcing talent from the US or other markets where they can bring in new skills.
Once I paved the way for an entire executive recruitment team from a competitor to resign and come on board at one hit, so you can imagine that that gives one a reputation as being audacious and clever, but the simple truth is, if those people had not been feeling vulnerable, uninformed and unloved I wouldn’t have had a chance. If you lose staff to a competitor, and you blame the competitor, you are compounding your original stupidity.

I studied Candle ICT before I joined and turnover was zero percent locally and only a few percent nationally last year- these things don’t happen by accident – I’m the only person that has left there for years in Adelaide, and that was to take up the offer of a lifetime.

Six Degrees: how do Australia’s legal system affect your ability to recruit?

Robert: There’s been a fair bit of upheaval in Australian politics lately. We had a deep recession in the early ‘90’s, and a Liberal (that’s the conservative side here) did a pretty good job of running the place, and they added a lot of flexibility into the IT laws. Then they made a mistake and decided to bundle all their changes together, seek to go further on some issues and give it a name. By calling the package “Work Choices”, they gave the union movement a label to attack, and millions were sunk into defeating that government, whilst state governments (all Labor at the time) enacted various bits of legislation to get around some of the ideas. Then a Labor government (nominally leftist) was elected and they’ve pretty well dumped nearly every promise they made, though their program of IR reform seems to be proceeding via a million committees. The whole idea of a ‘minimum wage’ in other places is not so strong here, as we have ‘award wages’ for almost every occupation and these occupations will often have specific conditions. One of the key traps in the Australian market is that under some conditions a contractor – in other words someone who has been paid a higher rate in exchange for no sick pay, no annual paid leave, no job security – can be deemed to have been on staff long enough to actually become entitled to all the benefits they’ve been paid not to have. That makes no sense, of course. There’s also tax law that states that if a contractor receives more than 80% of their income from one source, then they are not really a contractor at all and should be taxed as an individual. The one that really upsets me though, is that we bring in skilled migrants and then tax them up to 50% of their income, to do the same work as the guy next to them paying a lot less tax. If you are brave enough to change countries for the sake of your family, you go through the frustrating and never-ending battle to get here, pass all the tests to prove you speak English to a high standard and that your qualifications are up to the standard we have here, and even prove you are coming here with some money behind you so as you don’t drain our public purse, then I don’t see why our Government should punish you.

Six Degrees: How is US recruitment culture (and overall) in Australia different? How are they similar?”

Robert: From here, America looks to have some great stuff, and some that just looks awful. We have universal health care and universal super annuation, so salary negotiations are pretty simple. We also have a Goods and Services Tax, which theoretically removes the incentive for “under the counter” payments, though that’s a theory that’s quite suspect.

The very worst thing about Australian recruitment culture, both internal and external, is the unwillingness to hire talent that is too good. I remember reading about previous senior execs in the US that are now serving at McDonalds and Burger King. That would never happen here, if you can’t get a job at the level you are used to, the conventional wisdom is that you would be ‘too bored” to last in a lesser job. I’ve spoken to a lot of heartbroken people over the last year that keep hearing “You’re amazing, way too good for us, best of luck” and such sentiments don’t put food on the table

Six Degrees: IMPT QUESTION: Which recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit?

Robert: I’m actually a bit of a basic guy when it comes to recruitment software. I have a toolbox that comprises things like my own home-made twitter bots and a bunch of useful search strings

I’ve assessed a stack of the great recruitment utilities and software which all comes form the US, and much of it suffers from the situation of only returning small amounts of Australian data nestled amongst great stuff that doesn’t mean anything to me. For example, I looked at Cardbrowser a few years back – such a simple idea – and it just needs to get more local content for me to get excited. I’ve road tested some of Arbita’s stuff and also Broadlook Diver; both of which are on my wish list when I can build a business case on the near future.

When it comes to Applicant Tracking Systems I love a little system out of Melbourne called Virgo. I like the fact that it is totally customizable to work flow, so that you can effectively force not-so-good consultants to follow the habits of good ones…

Six Degrees: How many applicants do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals?

Robert: As a sourcer, I don’t rely much on traditional applications through the web. Often I get a job that has already been thoroughly advertised. I always feel I find my candidates through science, hard work and luck. You need at least two of those three in any search.

Six Degrees: Where are your key sources of hires collected from? (In terms of Quantity #)

Robert: On-line advertising is definitely the greatest source of totally unsuitable candidates. Of course, there;s often good ones in amongst it. I always approach these resumés with a mixture of expectation and trepidation.

Six Degrees: What is the source of your “LOWEST COST OF HIRES” – (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality)

Robert: Run an on-line ad for peanuts and pick up the phone. From there, the cost is a reflection of how long it takes and how many calls I make.

One strategic decision I made a while back was to avoid politically-tinged appointments. Once the decision becomes not about who can do the best job but who is the best politically-credentialed, it’s a waste of time. I once put 500 candidates forward in batches of 20-30 because a public servant was crossing off anyone who he thought might not be acceptable to the Minister. In the end, the original person in the number one slot, who was thought to be unacceptable, was appointed by the Minister to another role, and the public servant who decided all of our candidates were unsuitable got the job. Now that’s a pretty significant cost-to-hire!

In fact, government hiring processes invariably seem to me to be designed to ensure that the best candidates get lost in the process. The best, though, are those clients who leave standing orders with me to forward people of a certain skill set when I come across them. They know I won’t waste their time with anyone that is not suitable, so often it’s a few days, a decent fee and a happy client and candidate.

Six Degrees: Whether you are hiring IT engineers, accounting, – whatever talent you are seeking, – is your country’s CULTURE a factor in the RESPONSE RATE you get when sending an email requesting a CV versus calling the candidate directly at their work?

Robert: I’ve split my time between sourcing and salary consulting, and nothing is more suspicious sounding than calling an executive and asking them what they get paid. Head-hunting by comparison is a much easier call. Most people love to get a head-hunt call, it validates them and enforces their sense of self-worth. If they have an interest, you’ll get a CV pronto. It’s the gate keepers that are suspicious and there you have to be careful and charming. Email is always a bit hit and miss.

Six Degrees: In terms of what is attractive to Australia’s workers what do you feel drives them in their choice of employer?

Robert: Australians have headed off around the globe in search of careers and can be found pretty well anywhere, so I guess we’re all looking for something different. I think a challenge, and a good team are probably pretty high up on the list for many. My home town of Adelaide has a great tradition of young people heading off to the East Coast (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) or the UK, US or Asia to establish a career and have an adventure. The big impetus to return is usually either birth of the first child or the start of schooling. Adelaide has world class schools – we’re spawned a host of Nobel prize winners – but the cost of education is incredibly low by world standards.

Six Degrees: In Australia, how does the actual selection process proceed once a candidate has been identified and what role does a recruiter in Australia play in the process?

Robert: Varies a bit, but normally I would interview them first, send a report with my thoughts and suggest a client interview. If that goes well, I’d run some strong reference checks and then I’d negotiate the salary, conditions and a start date between the parties. It’s also good practice to stay in touch with both and head off any teething troubles after commencement.

Six Degrees: What methods/resources produce the FASTEST amount of time in producing hires (what types of talent?)

Robert: For me the quickest method is to write and post it somewhere – it doesn’t matter where, but seek.com is the most popular site in Australia, so I tend to use careerone.com – it helps judge the effects of a social media campaign. Once you’ve got the ad posted, a few strategic tweets drive traffic to it. I’ve got a few industry mailing lists, so an email to inform people who might know someone of the ad. Add the advert to suitable LinkedIn groups – a great example is the Pick Users Group if you are looking for a Pick/Universe specialist, (and most of those have retired). Then get on the phone. By now I’ve spent maybe half an hour, and the ad is out there working for me, while I call a few appropriate candidates from the database or my head.

I don’t think you can drive the second half of the recruitment process much past a certain speed without damaging quality, so any speed has to occur in the identification portion of the process.

Six Degrees: What SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY TOOLS do you use that produce FASTEST amount of time in producing hires. Please state the software, databases you use in detail.

Robert: I’ve used plenty of ATS systems that have all sorts of features, and I find that they all have good and bad points. Clarius Recruitment Group (an Australian Public Company) have an in-house system that has superb integration with Outlook and the rest of MS office, which basically avoids all double-handling and double-entry. If you can save time on admin, you can have a far more effective ATS (and often integrated CMS) systems. I’ve spent a fair bit of time working with a small software company in Australia who produce the VIRGO recruitment system which I find speeds the process as the workflow is built into the product – basically there’s little decision making, a consultant just works through the process:

I also quite like the mycareer.com Australian jobsites “Head Hunter” module, great software that really just needs another year to really fill out the database.

Six Degrees: Is it acceptable, or common, in your country’s culture to offer a referral fee for a successful hire to someone who recommended the candidate? Yes or No? What is the formula, method or basis for developing a money reward for a referral?

Robert: It’s not uncommon but has never really taken off. I think it has some issues, particularly the pressure it puts on staff – for example, someone is very keen to have HR hire their friend and pocket some dollars. Also, they tend to not pay out until after the probationary period, which means that someone who joins the company and doesn’t like it might feel obligate to stay until their friend collects the bonus.

Six Degrees: Do you use blogs specific to each country’s talent within target industries/competing companies?

Robert: Much of my life I’ve recruited recruiters, and Recruiter Daily is invaluable for knowing what goes on in our industry in Australia: I also do a bit of work in recruiting Social media types, and I often look to see who has posted replies on blogs such as Silkcharm, a blog out of Sydney. But as a general principal, if you find yourself recruiting in an unfamilair arena, the first two things to find are a good blog and a local news RSS Feed.

Six Degrees: What are the BEST JOB BOARDS ** SPECIFIC WEBSITES** to each of the countries you recruit for, BOTH overall and SPECIFIC TO each industry

Robert: The situation is Australia is that the industry leader is Seek – http://www.seek.com.au . Far and away the strongest site, well well branded and advertised. The other two big players have their pro’s and con’s . Career One – http://www.careerone.com.au – come out of Rupert Murdoch’s news limited. It has far and away the best content to assist employers and candidates – I should mention I’ve just been appointed as an expert to one of their on-line career forums. It’s the second strongest site in states where the main newspaper is a News Limited paper, such as my home town. Other places where the Fairfax papers are strong – that’s another big Australian media group – seem to have MyCareer (http://www.mycareer.com.au) as their number two. The link between the print media and on-line in this case is very strong

Six Degrees: What Search Engines in addition to common ones like Google, do you use that are native to the countries you are responsible for? Please Detail with links.

Robert: Both Google and Yahoo have local flavours here in Australia, and I rarely go outside of those search engines. LinkedIn is usually my first port of call, though, as the information is always presented in a format that I can use.

Six Degrees: Which 3rd party agency/ recruitment search firms have you successfully used and would recommend to others for the types of positions (IT, accounting etc) you recruit for?

Robert: I’ve worked for a few, and also done some research. Fairness compels me to identify Hudson, an ex-employer, as the only large agency that had a 100% response rate in some research I did.: Candle ICT have impressed me with their intense knowledge of the IT market.

By Dave Mendoza

• Linkedin
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• Business Website
• Personal Blogs
• Community Volunteering: I support IASEI, A group of people trying to set up an international plan of action to help people overcome anxiety and find employment
• Contact: +618 7129 4441 – +614 33 413 305
• Robert’s Email

I take pride in featuring my friend and loyal fan of the mission statement of the “Six Degrees from Dave” audience to further the goodness that is “passing it forward” among fellow industry colleagues the world over. I can state that I hand picked him from the audience at the Austral-Asian Talent Conference to demonstrate the power of peer networking. I made a convert and a friend that day on the issue of open networking and he is today one of the most responsive colleagues – be it 15 flight hours away, I know we can always count on Robert as an enthusiast and a friend.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

Robert: I’ve been with Anne since we met in 1984. I know a good candidate when I see one! We’ve been married for 24 years this year. Our two boys have grown up and left home, so we share our house in Adelaide, South Australia with our dog and a stack of cats

When I’m not talking recruitment and HR, I’m talking tea. I’m obsessed with the stuff. I have a tea blog where I discuss ethics in the tea trade and a video blog where I explore different teas and tea issues. In fact, I dropped out of recruitment for a year in 08/09 to run a teashop with the family.

Anne and myself met when I joined her band as a bass player – she’s a wonderful singer and an impressive self-taught keyboard player so music always surrounds us, whether we are making it, listening to it or going to see it.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

Robert: The pure answer to that is ten years, though the seven years before that were effectively training me and guiding me toward the industry as we had our own resume business.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

Robert: I started in computer sales and by age 26, I’d worked up to a position of Marketing and Sales Manager for a small firm, and one of our specialties was Desktop Publishing. One day a guy came in and he’d made himself a brochure-style resumé, and I just fell in love with the concept. I quit my job, bought some desktop publishing equipment and started a resumé creation business with Anne.
From there, I was invited to teach resumé skills on a government program, then to help people create business plans, all the while building up skills.

One day I went for a job as a resourcing team leader, and the guy just liked me. I found myself in the corporate world for the first time in my thirties, and it was weird. Everyone was frightened of the next person up the chain. As I didn’t share that fear, I stood out, and six months later I was head of Research. The previous head had been promoted to head office in Holland, and the other researcher had left. So I was head of a department of one, and nobody had any idea what the job actually entailed. They just told me what they needed to know and I took it from there.

Six Degrees: What languages are you fluent in?

Robert: Only English and a sprinkling of Hindi

Six Degrees: What countries within your country are you accountable for?

Robert: AS CEO of Essence, my focus is executives across the board in Australia, but our main domain is emerging industries, such as green power or bio-tech. If you want to be a CFO or a Company Secretary in these industries, you can’t be a standard old-fashioned type – and that’s regardless of age. It’s more of a mindset. Bluntly, our candidates are people who are going places, and our clients are the people that want them. Also Anne runs employment programs and I try to assist with ideas for placements across Australia.

Six Degrees: How is culture a factor in the hiring practice different from other countries you recruit from?

Robert: I find that at an executive level, things are quite similar – people know the quality they want.

Robert: I think Australians as a whole see recruitment as quite simple, and they tend to shy away from any process that seems complex. It’s more obvious when I look at People Magic, where Anne is doing a lot of work with what Australia calls “Skilled Migrants” and the culture and the expectations can be quite tricky. Firstly the candidates have been told by migration agents they are coming to a land of milk and honey where their skills are in demand, but many don’t realize how insular Australia is. As an example, the first thing she advises clients from Kenya is to put near the top of their resumé that all business in that country is transacted in English. A simple step, but Australians as a whole are a little unaware of the world outside of Australia, the US and the UK.

We did recently have to let a candidate know that shouting at your subordinates is not usual work practice in Australia; He was simply from a place where that was expected! Giving people who are brave enough to move countries to make a better life for their children a fair go is something we are passionate about; we live in a country built by migrants

Six Degrees: Where is your country ahead of the USA in certain recruitment tactics?

Robert: I don’t think we are ahead of the US at all though It pains me to say it. I think the industrial relations environment is different between the two, and that means there’s less scope for flexibility or originality. I recently read that former senior managers in the US are now flipping burgers for a living. That’s wouldn’t happen in Australia; no employer or recruiter would hire someone that is “too good for the job” which sounds noble but isn’t what you want to hear if you’re a former exec trying to save your house after losing your job. That’s not to suggest that either system is better; they’re just different, and ours encourages employers and recruiters to look simply at the candidate that “ticks all the boxes” It makes those situations where you see creativity all the more interesting. I think we could learn from the US in candidate care and responsiveness, too.

Six Degrees: What networking groups are available and influential within Your Country as a whole and within your country in particular?

Robert: I started a networking group on LinkedIn the day after seeing Dave talk at the ATC in Sydney in 2008. The group has only three rules – live in Adelaide, be an open networker, and be prepared to meet occasionally in real life. The strength of that group is that every member is a good contact; it’s not full of network marketers from far away. I built that group because I thought it was important, not with any expectation of profit from it, and I think that has made it stand out. For me personally and unexpectedly, all of a sudden I’m “that guy who started that group ” and people are seeking me out. I’m also impressed by Ian Berry’s Differencemakers.com and some of the worldwide LinkedIn group, like the RecruitingBlogs one are pretty popular amongst my peers

Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of?

Robert: Because I was self-taught and I had been head-hunted to set up an entire recruitment practice, I thought I knew it all. Then I spent three days in Sydney listening to Kevin Wheeler, Dave Mendoza, Shally Steckerl and others, and I realized I was a long way behind.

Ever since that, webinars have been my source of inspiration. At least one a week I find myself on-line at 3 or 4 in the morning listening to Shally, Kevin, Glenn Gutmacher, Donato Diorio or others. I also read many blogs, but the only non-missables for me are Six degrees, The Talent Buzz and Boolean Black Belt

Six Degrees: Do you recommend any specific books to gain a broader understanding of Australia’s Culture?

Robert: That’s a tough one. I think there are some similarities across Australia but also some regional differences, in the same way that Texans are different to New Yorkers. But I like to think we’ve all got a strong sense of the absurd, and we are quite egalitarian, but not in a grim way.

Here’s a great example – when we managed to spawn a racist, bigoted, ignorant politician a few years back, the reaction of most Australian was to just start incessantly making fun.
If you react with horror. You give them something to feed off of, if most people just get to a point where they laugh out loud at the mere mention of the person, then there’s no political power in that.

Visit Australia and be prepared to laugh at everything, including yourself, and you’ll get on just fine.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

Robert: I’ve tended to be more involved in development and avoided the political or ‘establishment’ side of the industry. For example, I’ve sat on focus groups and advisory bodies to on-line job boards and provided a lot of time and energy to people who were developing software for the recruitment industry in general. Sourcing as a specialty is so limited here that I’ve joined recruiters and then had to have their applicant tracking software modified to actually cope with my work.

Where I’ve made a broader contribution is through direct teaching of individuals around me or through articles, though I believe in “telling it like it is” so some of my articles have appalled my peers. For example, I made 120+ calls to recruiters posing as a candidate and then reported on the response rate, which was pretty bad. A stack of recruiters responded by contacting me and asking how they could improve, but another bunch attacked me and said either I didn’t know what I was talking about, or that they were perfect and everybody else was at fault. When you get a strong reaction, you know you’re onto something!

I’ve also got a deep interest in helping disadvantaged candidates to reach employment, which of course is what my wife Anne actually does, so I like to help out with referrals or ideas and advice. On the candidate theme, being made a Forum Editor of the CareerOne website, which is Australia’s most content-rich job site, gives me further opportunity to help candidates, and as well as being a chance to help, when you do that now it increases the talent pool down the track.

Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche

Robert: My perspective is unique for two reasons. One is that I left the industry for a while just before the GFC hit. I actually bought a business with Anne, and our first day was the day Lehmann Brothers crashed. The business was a café/restaurant very much favored by recruiters for candidate meetings, and over the first couple of months we watched that side of the business dwindle. Then recruiters I knew were stopping by to tell me they were on the market, usually involuntarily.

Australia at that exact moment had transitioned from 11 years of a conservative Government to one that, on paper at least was a union-backed Labor one. The new government reacted with an odd plan and just gave everybody $900 as well as picking a few industries to pump billions into. Even though the planning was appalling and the targeting dreadful, it was one of those situations were poorly planned action was better than no action – technically Australia avoided recession. The extra money stimulated the economy enough so that unemployment didn’t go much over 5%, and in my home town in particular, the hard times were in general much shallower that in the rest of the world.

Pretty soon recruiters were hiring again, and a few careers have been reinvented, and a few recruiters have used this as an exercise to strengthen their teams.

Coming out of the downturn, I briefly joined Candle ICT, an IT recruiter with a very strong presence in the Government sector which gave them a steady stream of opportunity, even during the worst of the recession. I’m grateful to Candle, because the couple of months there really re-awakened my passion for recruitment, and while I was running around full of zeal, some venture capital guys met me, saw how I operated and offered to bankroll a new agency, partly to get first crack at the best candidates, so Essence was born. However, it’s sobering to think that In Australia there are 4000+ recruiters less that were in the industry two years ago.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities.

Robert: I’ve rarely done anything purely in the name of networking, except for the day when I saw Dave speak and went from a ‘closed” LinkedIn Networker to an open one. Within a week of making the Six Degrees Top Ten List I had increased by network by a factor of 15. At the time, I decided to create a networking group on LinkedIn purely for my home town, and for people who actually wanted to meet in person occasionally. Because I had virtually no Business Development responsibilities, I didn’t create it as a place to capture business, and I think that made it unique. It really is more of a support group.

At times, I questioned my efforts, as it seemed that plenty of others in the group were getting work, leads, even jobs and I was facilitating this as almost a free public service, but it enabled me to build up tremendous quantities of what my friend Kwan Yu calls ‘Social Capital”. The results are opportunities like my own small TV show and some other exposure-type stuff, and I’m now starting to see other good things come of it.

I’ve also always been keen to help others via things like LinkedIn answers, and I think this builds you as a person but also means that opportunity will find you. Lastly, my great hobby and passion, tea, has led to create my own blog on the tea industry and a series of videos about the stuff. I’m amazing how my work in that area is leading to opportunity within my professional life.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?

Robert: Understand this- LinkedIn has 60 million people who joined to sell, and virtually none who joined to buy. Or consider a ‘networking function’ – again, mainly only people who are looking to sell something turn up, And it’s pretty obvious where that leads, with the succession of people who throw themselves enthusiastically into one form of networking or another, then vanish after a few engagements. I can’t suggest strongly enough to be a giver, not a taker. I’ve spent years connecting people with opportunity, and if it’s outside my field and it seems like a good match, then make that introduction or pass on that information. I find I don’t need to demand payback like I’ve seen some others do- people just love doing business with me. I’m not the sharpest dresser, the most highly qualified or the ‘old school tie’ choice, not the cheapest or the highest profile, I’m just the guy people trust to do a good job and treat them well. I tend to service a client base that doesn’t have job after job on offer – most of them one or two hires per year- yet I’m 100% confident in most cases that their first reaction to a need is to call me. And because of that, I can help them join in with my networks – even though there’s plenty of other good quality recruiters with those networks – knowing they will benefit, but remain loyal.

I do go back again though to my watershed moment – the afternoon in Sydney when Dave Mendoza explained clearly and simply why I should be an Open Networker. If you start with that as your base, you can make the right decisions going forward

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? What inspires You as a Recruiter?

Robert: In about my forth week in charge of a sourcing team – my first foray into the recruiting side of the fence – an outplacement consultant told me of an IT manager that had been treated in an incredibly shabby way and then fired. I met him, and two weeks later he was my first placement – at 30% more than the salary he had been on. The phone call I made – his wife answered, because he actually hadn’t arrived home from the interview by the time he won the job – has stayed permanently recorded in my head. Why would you want to work in any other field? I only really work with clients I respect and trust, and I’d never put forward someone that I didn’t think was a good person. The client wins, the candidate wins and how can anything be better than being paid to do that?

By Dave Mendoza

JOE QUOTABLES:

When I decided to retire from 32 years in the insurance industry I thought about what I would like to do going forward … I talked to the fellow who had started “I Search Worldwide” in Singapore … I then spoke with Richard Hoon, the founder of “I Search”, about opening an I Search office in Japan. I agreed to become the owner of the Japan franchise. We established a corporation in Japan and applied for a recruiting license with the Ministry of Labor. The company was established and the license granted and we started operations in 2005.”

• Joe Peters, CEO of “I Search Worldwide, Japan”
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Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

JOE: Married for 39 years to Takako Ishiyama Peters. We live in Tokyo, Japan. Moved back here in 2002 after spending 10 years in Singapore & 1½ years in Malaysia. Third time to live in Japan for a total of 19 years here. We have 3 kids; all grown & living in the USA (Naomi, Stephanie & Chris); no pets at this time.

Most weekends find me on the golf course where I do my best to maintain my 16 handicap with the occasional game getting into the high 80s. We also enjoy hiking and trail walking in the mountains in Japan or along the rivers. We try to get a hike or two in each month to enjoy the scenery and as part of our healthy life style routine. Of course, some of the healthy life style is offset by the occasional wine & good food dinners we enjoy with friends at one of the many great restaurants Tokyo has to offer. I try to do some additional offsetting of these forays into the gourmet world with a couple or three workouts at the gym each week.

My wife & I are avid travelers and we make two or three trips outside of Japan each year in addition to domestic trips. Favorite destinations include San Francisco (home in the USA), Italy, and France, but we’re open to traveling to many countries, seeing new things, and making new friends.

I am a member of one of the Tokyo Toastmaster chapters where I’m also the Sergeant-At-Arms.

I chair the Direct Marketing Committee of The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. This committee holds several meetings per year where we invite speakers in to talk about direct marketing techniques, or other DM topics of interest to a lunch crowd. I also sit in as a member of the Chamber’s Membership Expansion sub-committee as well as being a member of a few other committees of the Chamber.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? JOE: I only got started in this industry in 2005 so I continue to learn. However, I have always been involved in helping others with their careers as well as coaching and training others to enable them to improve their career and future.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

JOE: When I decided to retire from 32 years in the insurance industry I thought about what I would like to do going forward. Since I was interested in helping others, as well as continuing to train and build a team, I decided to take a hard look at the recruiting industry. I talked to the fellow who had started I Search Worldwide in Singapore several years ago. I worked with I Search when I was the CEO of AXA Life Insurance in Singapore and I was impressed with the integrity and success of the firm. I then spoke with Richard Hoon, the founder of I Search, about opening an I Search office in Japan. I agreed to become the owner of the Japan franchise. We established a corporation in Japan and applied for a recruiting license with the Ministry of Labor. The company was established and the license granted and we started operations in 2005.

I Search Worldwide in Japan has four main areas of recruiting: Insurance & Finance, Direct Marketing, Information-Communication-Technology, and Consumer Goods. We work with a very high level of integrity (in fact, the “I” in I Search is for Integrity) and our recruiters are well trained and very conscientious about their jobs and ensuring that our clients and candidates get the high level of service they deserve. We have placed people in roles from secretary to country manager with the main

“The Japanese recruiting market is extremely competitive, with the great majority of assignments done on a contingency basis and worked on by multiple firms.”

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

JOE: It would have to be my first placement. That was a thrill and convinced me that this was the business to be in. The candidate was happy and the client was happy, and of course, I was very happy.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

JOE: The person who got me started in the business, Richard Hoon, who started I Search Worldwide Pte. Ltd. in Singapore several years ago.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your role at “I Search Worldwide”

JOE: I own & manage I Search Worldwide Japan. We are a boutique sized firm with 7 people now, but with plans to grow larger in 2010.

Six Degrees: (A) What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

JOE: There are thousands of firms in Japan and it would be difficult to pick one or two. We also do some joint work with a few firms, but we are careful to select only those firms who work with the same principals of integrity and fair-play that we believe in and practice.

(B) In what aspects are they superior?

JOE: We don’t feel any firm’s aspects are superior to ours. We believe that we work with full expertise and that we can do as good as, if not better, than our competitors.

“The insurance industry in Japan has been hit especially hard in 2009 as many companies curtailed sales activities of specific products and some companies decided to go out of the Japan market. … In insurance we target actuaries in addition to other specialized staff such as underwriters or insurance marketers. We may have one of the biggest databases of actuaries of any search firm in Tokyo. In Technology we target SEs and developers. In consumer goods it is mainly middle to upper management (back office) and of course, marketing managers.”

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

JOE: The growing use of Social Networks in recruiting. We see more and more candidates putting their data on these networks and more recruiters are contacting them through SNS methodologies.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

JOE: Unfortunately, there are few, if any, of these sort of events held in Tokyo. We would like to see more of them in the future or I will attend events in the USA to learn more techniques and cutting edge practices.

Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Has it effected your job or that of your fellow team members within the organization – If so, to what extent? (If you have been laid off, tell us about the experience, when it happened)

JOE: The recession has hit Japan just like the rest of the world. We have seen more of our clients freezing hiring or higher fewer people and those that tend to be a bit more careful about who they bring in. The insurance industry in Japan has been hit especially hard in 2009 as many companies curtailed sales activities of specific products and some companies decided to go out of the Japan market. As we are at year end we do see a bit of pick-up in the hiring now since companies are able to begin 2010 with fresh budgets for staffing.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects?

JOE: We’ve done some extra marketing efforts this year by holding seminars for clients where we had a lawyer talk about the labor laws, and about hiring/firing practices for foreign firms in Japan, and another session with a trainer-consultant talking about keeping morale up in the recession economy.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? Be specific

JOE: It’s been said before, but it’s worth repeating: When you are at a networking event don’t just run around the room handing out business cards like they were discount shopping flyers. Choose who you want to talk to, spend a bit of time with them, and get to know about them. Put the emphasis on “them” not on “yourself.” By doing this you’ll be able to follow up with a note or email that is more personal than just the usual, “It was great meeting you at the such & such event yesterday…”

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

JOE: At my age & stage I have reached and done many career goals. However, my next goal is to build I Search Worldwide Japan into a bigger, healthy profitable company with a great team.

• This profile is one in a series titled Monday Member Showcase. It was originally published on RecruitingBlogs.com, a recruiting and HR community, where I am a featured contributor. To read the whole series please click here.”

Sage words from ‘Van Heerden:’
“I am a firm believer in measurement. I have a value score for my contacts based on the level of interactions by email, phone or face to face. You have to make friends now with the people you may need later.”

“… Rather than trying to fill traditional full-time roles, companies will have to consider flexible approaches to resourcing to fill skill gaps. The other big driver is technology ..”

• RecruitingBlogs Profile
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• Community Volunteering: I am on the Corporate Advisory Panel of an educational organization (Open Universities Australia) as well as about 10% of my time is pro-bono work which I provide to clients and customers based on needs
Office: +61 418 271 506
• Personal Email

Charles Van Heerden Observes his Three Decades, Generations & Countries, from Nelson Mandela to Change Management. A Veteran of the Staffing Industry, Charles has over thirty years of expertise which he regularly and generously shares to the RecruitingBlogs.com community. He is a Change expert, commercial HR Director & innovative OD consultant, authentic leader & executive coach. His experience includes services (consulting, information technology and research), heavy industry (mining, engineering), FMCG (dairy, beer and carpets), working with medium and large scale organisational change, including acquisitions and mergers.

Tertiary qualifications include psychology, industrial relations, human resources and change management.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

Charles: After getting married on my 21st birthday we have defied all the odds and my best friend Marianne and I have been married this year for 30 years. I am good at remembering our wedding anniversary, but tend to forget to buy a card or gift. We have two darling daughters; Tanya (27) and Leana (25), who both live in Melbourne as well. Tanya has a daughter (Felicity) who is ten months old. I really don’t feel like a grandfather as many of my friends recently had babies, so we enjoy being a close family, getting together on a weekly basis.

We live in the outskirts of Melbourne on a golf estate designed by Greg Norman, which should be really good for my handicap, but I still struggle to find enough time. I used to do a lot of running, including about a 100 half-marathons, until I did my first marathon in New Zealand, running around Lake Rotorua. After that, I reverted back to more gentle pursuits. The last couple of years we were based for most of the time in Warrnambool, which is based at the end of the world famous Great Ocean Road. This is known as the Shipwreck Coast and the weather can be pretty wild. Contrary to most of Australia, the Southwest is very green with lots of rain, very similar to New Zealand.

My life can easily be divided into three chapters, the first half living in South Africa, then moving to New Zealand for ten years, followed by the last eight years in Australia.

Six Degrees: What are some of the unexpected adventures in your life’s journey’s outside of the staffing industry?

Charles: We lived in South Africa during a turbulent time and I was working for the most progressive employer (SAB), which included various meetings with the ANC, including a very special dinner with President Nelson Mandela, including meeting him personally, just before the 1994 elections. I had the opportunity to meet him and other key ANC figures; I was quite involved with an organization that assisted returning exiles to the new South Africa. This included several trips to the UK. One of my fond memories is a presentation to a large group of graduates on how to prepare for interviews and the best way of finding a role.

It was really difficult to make the decision to leave South Africa, but we decided to leave due to the high level of crime. My next-door neighbor was the MD of an arms company and had guards outside with machine guns. I wasn’t sure if we should feel safer or whether we run the risk of being shot in case of mistaken identity.

Unfortunately we had to leave our three Persian cats behind, as the quarantine period was nine months, just too long so we found them good homes. It wasn’t long before we had another three cats in New Zealand, which my company agreed to move to Australia. Due to old age we lost two of them in recent months, with one faithful tabby, Tammy, now being spoiled.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?
Charles: It is getting close to three decades, most of it as a corporate recruiter. I have been involved with all types of roles, from shop floor to technical, with my expertise around management roles, as I have been head of HR from age 26. In my consulting roles I often redesign structures, resulting in revised roles or new roles. I refer any recruitment to recruiters, as WaveBox is not a recruiter but a strategic HR consulting business, developing strong relationships with other consultants.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

Charles: My very first reference book was on recruitment (Successful Staff Selection), which is still in my extensive library of a few hundred books. So I got into recruitment from the start, initially as a Personnel Officer.

Most of my career has been in corporate HR, culminating in heading the Personnel function, which included Talent Management and Recruitment for South African Breweries (now known as SAB Miller).

After about 15 years in HR, I moved to New Zealand and was appointed in a senior line management role, which means I had to manage a team of twenty consultants, providing services to about 500 customers, from large companies like Gillette and Phillips, to very small companies.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

Charles: Recruitment has been an integral part of my career, including managing the Employment function for the Feltex group. It was during this time that I was leading a project that was recognized as a best practice in recruitment, working with Management Search International. Terry McCloy, the MD and I were able to develop and implement a true partnership model, where MSI was doing all external recruitment for Feltex. This resulted not only in a 30% reduction on recruitment costs, but a significant improvement in quality, including retention and time to fill. This model served the business very well for about three years, until we bought an Australian company and we had to change our resourcing strategies.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

Charles: Though I have been able to work with some excellent recruiters, I have learned most by leading teams and energizing and motivating HR teams to create a culture where the company is a great place to work. Getting feedback from my teams and others has been the biggest influence on my career.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your position, Charles.

Charles: My current focus is on change management and Strategic HR, including talent management. This includes Leadership Risk Assessment, which means that my key contact is with recruiters. I work hard to try and understand the real strengths and specialty areas so I can match it with specific clients.

Six Degrees: (A) What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

Charles: There is a company in NZ (Kerridge & Partners) that I would regard as highly innovative.

Six Degrees: (B) In what aspects are they superior?

Charles: They are the first firm as far as I know, to have engaged a global CA firm to review their performance and confirm statistics based on an assessment of every assignment completed, not just a sample. This is an extraordinary high level of transparency, giving clients a sense of actual performance and accountability. They also offer an integrated search and coaching solution – taking full responsibility for identifying, assessing, attracting and developing senior leaders into critical roles.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

Charles: The way in which we work is changing profoundly, which means companies will have to adapt the way in which they consider their talent requirements. Though it may not be quite as radical as making a movie, the concept of getting a group of talented people to deliver a project will require more innovative ways to attract talent. Rather than trying to fill traditional full-time roles, companies will have to consider flexible approaches to resourcing to fill skill gaps. The other big driver is technology, which means that a virtual team can be established, consisting of permanent, casual and contract staff, supported by consultants. Virtual leadership is demanding a different skill set, by getting a diverse and dispersed group to deliver outstanding results.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

Charles: Conferences are great to stay in touch with networks. I am fortunate that I have been invited to speak at a number of international conferences, though I now try and limit it to special events. When I chaired a conference a few years ago we had a number of speakers pulling out on the second day (highly contagious?) so we got the speakers together in a panel, which proved to be the best session!

My key topic areas are around strategic HR, managing change and talent management. Most recently, I spoke at a regional HR conference about configuring the workplace in recessionary times.

Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Has it affected your job or that of your fellow team members within the organization?

Charles: The GFC impacted most industries in Australia though we have been fortunate that a strong banking sector, and a positive approach by the Government’s fiscal stimulus package have made it less severe than many other parts of the world. We haven’t yet seen much of an upswing and our client base is indicating little improvement until early 2010. The only sectors spending in real terms are government related projects. There are some signs of life at the lower end but more senior roles are still scarce. HR seems to have been hard hit and know of several senior HR people having been moved on.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects?

Charles: Rather than networking in a haphazard way, I prefer a more structured approach. It takes time, but it means that you are more strategic in your networking. I am a firm believer in measurement. I have a value score for my contacts based on the level of interactions by email, phone or face to face. You have to make friends now with the people you may need later. This was a key lesson I learned from a previous CEO, Sam Magill, who did quarterly staff communication sessions. Sam also used to say: “I is no good trying to talk to staff in bad times, you have do it during the good times so you build a trust relationship”.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?

Charles: As a result of my moves across countries I had to rebuild my networks twice from the ground up. I have been able to build enduring relationships. There are probably three things I would highlight:
(a) It is important to stay in touch with your existing network, as much as it is vital to keep expanding and adding new contacts. People quickly realize when you are like a butterfly moving from one contact to the next.
(b) Linked to this is the recognition to close the loop by keeping your network posted on your interactions with any referrals.
(c) Lastly, it helps everyone if you are generous by introducing others to your network. Creating a closed society is not beneficial to anyone. It really has to be a give and take.

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

Charles: Reinvention is the key to success and through WaveBox, my consulting business, I am developing a portfolio of innovative programs to cover key gaps in the market place – coaching/mentoring of HR Practitioners is an area I particularly enjoy. Another project is around talent management and helping people to grow their careers, which strongly relates to recruiting. Through my networking I developed great relationships with a number of consultants and we are working on a number of projects, all around improving business performance through people. Almost finished is my first eBook on Job Search, which has been commissioned by a career development web site. I would like to spread my time doing consulting, training, speaking and writing, which is why I really appreciate the great feedback from the recruiting community.

By Samantha

It took me a long time to get on the social networking bandwagon, but now that I am on it I can’t stop! Most social networks are open to anyone in the world to join but generally use an English-language interface. There are, however, social networks geared at French-speakers specifically, and even a social network geared towards Francophiles like you (presumably) and I! Before you make your foray into the “réseaux sociaux,” though, you’ll want to brush up on some key vocabulary (further down is a list of French social networks):

réseau social=social network
réseautage social=social network
un contact=a contact
un compte=an account, a username
un mot de passe=a password
un utilisateur=a user
un profil=a profile
une communauté=a community
partager=to share
s’abonner=to subscribe
un lien permanent=a permalink
un commentaire=a comment
rédiger=to compose (post)
un lecteur=a reader
s’identifier=to login
se connecter=to login
fermer (une) session=to logout
s’inscrire=to sign up, to resister
envoyer un message=to send a message

And on to the réseaux !

• Bookmarks.fr – You may remember my interview last summer with Bertrand Hardy, shortly after he founded this network, ultimately a French version of del.icio.us. It’s a great way to find interesting links in French!
• Le nuage des filles – Formerly just a huge link cloud linking to blogs written in French by women, the network now has all sorts of interactive goodies for French-speaking gals to enjoy.
• Les influenceurs – A very interesting concept for a social network, where users submit items to the site which may appear on banners that other users can post on their blogs. Confused? Me too!
• Samantha

  href=”http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com/” target=”new”>Copains d’avant – The French take on Classmates

• Lexode – A social network just for young people
• Réseau urbain – A social network for the Québécois…just launched this summer!
• On va sortir ! – A place to find places in French-speaking countries to visit
• Skyrock – Although it’s available in several languages, Skyrock is first and foremost a French sensation. It calls itself the “Free people network,” a vague description at best, but a quick look at the front page will tell you Skyrock has a lot in common with MySpace.
• Francophilia – An English-language social network where French enthusiasts come to interact
• Médias Sociaux – A blog that gives a French perspective on social networking

Rainer Jeske
President at CONNECTYOUK.K. / Tokyo
CONNECTYOUK.K.
AIG Building Suite B1
1-1-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
Tel: +813-5288-5227
Fax: +813-5288-5353
Email
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rainerconnectyou

Rainer Jeske conducts retainer and contingency executive and engineering specialist searches in Japan with a focus on leading IT, automotive and industrial vendors. His company, CONNECTYOU, is headquartered in the AIG Building in Marunouchi, right opposite the Imperial Palace and has a branch office in Shinagawa close to Sony. CONNECTYOU was founded in 2004. Rainer is a Co-Founder of the “Japan Information Technology Recruitment Association (JITRA).”

INTERNATIONAL SOURCING SURVEY QUESTIONS, Part 2

Six Degrees: Does your staffing organization DIRECT SOURCE from competitor companies to hire talent?

Rainer Jeske: Yes, I directly source from competitors to find candidates for my clients. The challenge is that most Japanese hesitate to move to a direct competitor since it would burn bridges with their previous employer. Keeping harmony and good relations is very important for them.

Six Degrees: Can you identify specific “How-To” obstacles of the countries you are responsible for, – particularly in terms of HOW EMPLOYMENT LAWS ARE FACTORS? Also, How do government laws affect your ability to recruit?

Rainer Jeske: As a recruiter, you need to have a government license. The Japanese government has implemented tight rules surrounding privacy policy and the handling of candidate information.

Six Degrees: How are US and European recruitment culture different? How are they similar?”

Rainer Jeske: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Japan, do as the Japanese do. One big difference is that most clients want Japanese-written applications consisting of a) work experience/resume b) personal background information of the candidate and c) self-appeal in Japanese.

Another difference is that most Japanese clients demand complete personal information such as age, marital status, nationality, visa status, etc. So whenever I talk to American’s about their resume, I often apologize asking very personal questions that would be illegal in the United States.

Six Degrees: Which recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit?

Rainer Jeske: I am using Google and Linkedin.

Six Degrees: How many applicants do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals?

I am using Google and Linkedin. 25% or more hires come from referrals and zero from our homepage. Our strategy is proactive hunting of top-notch candidates rather than waiting for average candidates to apply through our homepage.

Six Degrees: WHERE ARE THE “MOST HIRES” collected from? (In terms of Quantity #)

30% referrals, 30% proactive scouting on networking events, 20% cold calling plus our own database and 10% from other recruiters.

Rainer Jeske: What is the source of your “LOWEST COST OF HIRES” – (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality)

Rainer Jeske: Referrals.

Six Degrees: Whether you are hiring IT engineers, accounting, – whatever talent you are seeking, – is your country’s CULTURE a factor in the RESPONSE RATE you get when sending an email requesting a CV versus calling the candidate directly at their work? Are they open/eager to sending their CV, are they more shy/cautious or even suspicious depending on the method you use to contact them?

Rainer Jeske: I cannot see a direct relationship between Japanese culture and response rate. That would be too simplistic. For an experienced recruiter the answer is case by case.

Example:
When targeting traditional Japanese companies e-mail is ineffective. Cold calling is my way of arranging a meeting and establishing a relationship.
When targeting multinationals with more westernized people, email is an alternative to cold calling.

Again, the tricky part is knowing when to use which method. IBM is a multinational, however very conservative and inside completely Japanese so that both email and cold calling maybe yielding no results. Personal introductions can be more effective in this case.

Six Degrees: What methods/resources produce the FASTEST amount of time in producing hires (what types of talent?)

B) What SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY TOOLS do you use that produce FASTEST amount of time in producing hires. Please state the software, databases you use in detail.

Rainer Jeske: One of the fastest way of filling high-end positions is through candidate referrals. A lot of Japanese still prefer the old way of personal introductions and face-to-face meetings as the starting point of making meaningful career changes. Especially once you leave Tokyo and reach out for more rural areas, the quickest way is to leverage personal relations.

The Internet and SNS are becoming more and more important for recruiting in Japan, however, with regards to global sites such as Linkedin most of them are unknown because such sites are in English.
Linkedin Japan has about 43000 members as per beginning of July and a lot of the members are non-Japanese, including myself.
During an event organized by MIT alumni in Japan, about three out of eighty people raised hands when asked whether they know Facebook or Linkedin. This is Japan.

Six Degrees: Is it acceptable, or common, in your country’s culture to offer a referral fee for a successful hire to someone who recommended the candidate? Yes or No? What is the formula, method or basis for developing a money reward for a referral?

During my nine years, I have never paid money although I offered a reward to the referral giver. Japanese recommend someone when they think it is a good thing to do.

Six Degrees: Do you use blogs specific to each country’s talent within target industries/competing companies?

Rainer Jeske: I am not targeting blogs.

Six Degrees: What are the BEST JOB BOARDS ** SPECIFIC WEBSITES** to each of the countries you recruit for, BOTH overall and SPECIFIC TO each industry (For Example: IT, Finance, Marketing etc)

(You can review relevant job such as http://www.topjobsites.com/ for reference.) List the websites with their links please.

Rainer Jeske: I am not using job boards for sourcing. Job boards are overcrowded by recruiters, yield poor results and are pretty expensive.

Six Degrees: Can you provide a list of SPECIFIC recommended/effective (not all) local newspapers AND ALL known major associations & conferences and industry-specific website portals *** BY COUNTRY ***

Rainer Jeske: I am doing high-end searches and never use printed media. I have not heard that recruiters use printed media as a good way to source candidates. That is why I do not want to recommend any of them.

Six Degrees: What Search Engines in addition to common ones like Google, do you use that are native to the countries you are responsible for? Please Detail with links.

Rainer Jeske: I am only using Google, both English and Japanese version. There maybe better local search engines around, though.

Six Degrees: Which 3rd party agency/ recruitment search firms have you successfully used and would recommend to others for the types of positions (IT, accounting etc) you recruit for?

Rainer Jeske: Recommending recruitment firms will frequently lead to disappointments for clients in Japan. That is because the quality of service a client receives is by and large determined by the quality of the recruiter serving the client.

Brands are meaningless. Let me explain. My advice to anyone is stop recommending recruiting firms (in Japan). Stop recommending brands. Start recommending individual recruiters. And most importantly, start recommending individual recruiters with strong specialization in their specific (IT) area, recruiters who speak fluent Japanese AND who actually carry out search assignments themselves.

KornFerry, for example, has experienced partners in Japan. However, they are getting unattractive split deals sourced in Silicon Valley that get handed to inexperienced researchers. It is said that only 50% of retainer searches in KornFerry Japan are completed.

KornFerry is a strong global brand. Could I recommend this brand? Or should I recommend certain individuals in certain IT areas who I know are going the extra mile until the job is done?