Practices: The return of talent agents; HR owns M&A; and hiring without degrees Anyone who tracks advanced trends in talent management knows that many of them  originated in the Silicon Valley. However, you probably also know that many of the publicized practices that start in the Silicon Valley are so …

NASA artist – black hole There is probably no more misleading statement in corporate recruiting than “we will keep your application on file for six months.” While such a statement may be factually true, the reality is that at most corporations, hell will likely freeze over before anyone will review …

During the newly reinvigorated and exciting ERE conference, two attendees posed related but powerful questions to me. The first was “What advanced topics should be on the agenda of recruiting leaders at elite firms?” Or as another put it “What should Google be planning to do next in recruiting?” At …

If you’ve ever regretted taking a Pharma job, you have already learned the value of doing extensive research into a job opportunity. Unfortunately, there’s only so much research you can do externally. So to supplement that external research, it’s wise to ask questions during your job interviews in order to …

 Most applicants fail to realize that one of the top “knockout factors” that both recruiters and managers use is “Did the applicant ask great questions during the interview?” Failing to ask questions at all is a terminal error but it’s also a major mistake to “wing it” and to make …

Nearly every firm that I have worked with that captures data on the quality of their hires learns that employee referrals produce both the highest volume and the highest quality of hire from any source. However, the results of referral programs can almost always be dramatically improved when referral program …

Let me go on record as stating that the concept of “corporate coworking” is among the boldest corporate people management concepts of the decade. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it varies from traditional coworking, which is a well-established concept where a group of startups and entrepreneurs share a …

Most know references to be a tool for checking a candidate’s background, but it’s important to realize that reference related factors can also be one of the simplest, cheapest and effective areas for identifying top candidates. Even the best corporations that excel at recruiting routinely fail to realize that references …

If you’re not getting exceptional hires, it may be because your traditional interview process is simply not designed to excite them. Instead of dwelling on the past, a superior alternative is to ask them to solve real problems, to demonstrate that they are forward-looking and that they have solutions for …

Part 2 of a 2 part series (Click here for Part 1) A retention toolkit for innovators. As the economy picks up and unemployment rates continue to drop, I can forecast with a good deal of certainty that the turnover rates among all employees will increase. However, it is important …