This document provides definitions and explanations of various terms related to phone sourcing. It discusses techniques for phone sourcing such as calling into companies' direct dial systems, listening for information in voicemails, and eliciting information from receptionists. It also addresses challenges such as overcoming fear of cold calling and dealing with "gatekeepers." The document aims to break down phone sourcing into manageable steps and provide tips for being effective over the phone.
3. @MaureenShari
800 NUMBERS
• 800 numbers are “call un-blocked” if you’re
using a Call Block service.
• Dial *67 to block your call.
• Dial *82 to unblock your call.
• Some numbers today are returning a fast
“busy” signal to call-blocked numbers.
4. @MaureenShari
Acquihiring
• (a portmanteau of "acquisition" and
"hiring") is the process of hiring by
acquisition
• "Every engineer on staff adds $1 million in
valuation to a company,” the saying goes
in the tech community.
6. @MaureenShari
ASK
• Actively inquiring after information; usually
on the telephone.
• “I asked the Receptionist Gatekeeper to
tell me who all the Food Technologists
were in the R&D group and she did!”
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Bomber Command
• A quick-witted phone sourcing group
should be a vital part of your recruiting
team's fleet-footed Bomber Command
Sourcing Unit.
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Build Out
The function of moving (and gathering)
horizontally or vertically through a specific
person’s group within a specific
organization.
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Carat Level
• Overall effectiveness level of sourcing
results with unchecked Internet results
being the lowest and just-off-the-phone-I-
got-me-a-hot-one! being the highest.
12. @MaureenShari
Channeling
• A state of consciousness that elicits a flow of
communication between two people.
• Sources may include angels, discarnate former
humans, extraterrestrials, and other levels of
consciousness. They may also include telephone
directories, receptionists and anybody else flesh-
and-blood you get on the telephone.
14. @MaureenShari
Charm
The power to effect work without employing
brute force (Ellis); a way of getting the
answer “yes” without asking a clear question
(Camus).
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Cocoon
• The environ many employees are
surrounded by inside companies;
enveloped, protected, hidden, invisible
• “These people are deeply cocooned
within the organization.”
19. @MaureenShari
Decipher
Piecing together pieces of information; in phone
sourcing fifteen Voice Mails in one company all
directing the listener to the same Administrative
Assistant is a good indicator of a group that
“hangs together” (works together) inside that
company.
20. @MaureenShari
Deep And Actionable Data
• Phone sourcing provides "deep and actionable
data” when you can hang up the phone and dial
another number and be assured you’ll be reaching
live a qualified potential hire.
• Hat Tip to Glen Cathey for the term “deep and
actionable data”!
22. @MaureenShari
Disparate Impact
Employment (and sourcing!) practices may
be considered discriminatory and illegal if
they have a disproportionate "adverse
impact" on members of a minority group.
23. @MaureenShari
Phone Sourcing Tip
• In some phone systems, hitting 0 ("zeroing
out") will take you to an administrative
assistant for a department - occasionally
to another deparment member.
25. @MaureenShari
Phone Sourcing Tip
Collecting direct dials (or extensions) of
persons you meet/learn about along the way
on the inside of a company will help you
create a bird’s eye view/a valuable dossier
sometimes on a company’s organizational
structure.
27. @MaureenShari
ensorcel; ensorceler (Middle French)
• To enchant, bewitch
• Sourcers are challenged today to become
ensorcelers; work to develop the ability to
engage not only Gatekeepers but also
candidates on a level that captures their
attention to your message.
28. @MaureenShari
Fear
That thing that clutches at your throat,
makes your hand sweaty, your gut sick
every time you think about making a phone
call to gather information.
29. @MaureenShari
Gatekeeper
That woman (or man) you imagine to be the
400 lb guerilla on the other end of the phone
every time you make a call to find out who
somebody is/is not/might want to do/not
do/be/not be something.
31. @MaureenShari
Grunt
• The individual contributors inside companies
who elude detection and capture mostly
because they’re too busy doing what they’re
doing to “list” themselves on the Internet in
any capacity that reveals to the world exactly
who, what and where they are.
33. @MaureenShari
“How Many Names?”
A good question the answer to which
divides, really, phone sourcers from Internet
sourcers. In general, a phone-sourced job
requires less names than an Internet-
sourced job.
35. @MaureenShari
Lift-out
• When an entire team of employees is
recruited from a competitor at once:
• "Good news: We engineered a complete lift-
out of ACME Corporation's programmers."
• Can be dangerous and cause for legal action.
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Magic
A subtle mixing of science and art that
harnesses statistics, human nature,
psychology and technology to produce
effective practices in phone-sourcing.
39. @MaureenShari
• “You can never plan the future by the past.”
~Edmund Burke 1729 – 1797 Irish orator
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Mysterious
That state of being that causes the radar of
many Gatekeepers to rise. The more
mysterious your call “sounds” the more
questions she’s likely to ask of you.
41. @MaureenShari
Organizational Chart
A graphic presentation of the relationships
and interrelationships within an organization
that identifies the lines of authority and
responsibility - changes consistently and
often in many organizations.
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Phone Sourcing Tip
Stating your name to the Receptionist
Gatekeeper calmly and matter-of-factly
when she answers will go a good ways
towards increasing your chances of her
giving you information.
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“Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert
your energies from saving what is left of the old.”
~Winston Churchill
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Passing The Buck
The habit some employees have of passing
responsibility to their managers and/or
subordinates. Is most easily discernable listening to
employee Voice Mail greetings; as in, “Hi. This is
Rob, Manufacturing Engineer. I’m on vacation until
November 15. If you need help with automation
issues contact my Manager, Jose Perez at extension
487.”
49. @MaureenShari
Phone Directory
Usually contains a listing of every employee inside a
specific company location. Many times a company’s
phone directory will lead you into individual Voice
Mails offering these as an alternative to speaking to
a Receptionist Gatekeeper or after-hours to assist
callers; a virtual treasure trove of information if
perused carefully.
51. @MaureenShari
Phone Sourcing
In recruiting and sourcing, the leveraging of
techniques (primarily the phone) to identify
candidates with limited to no presence in any easily
accessible public forum (the Internet, published list,
etc.) It requires the uncovering of candidate
information via a primary means of calling directly
into organizations to uncover data on people, their
role, title and responsibilities.
54. @MaureenShari
Poaching
In general, if you’re not acting purposely and
maliciously to destroy a competitor, you are
free to source into a competitor for good
employees.
55. @MaureenShari
Pocket Hunting
Pursuing and capturing an entire group
(pocket) within an organization. Generally
speaking, if you can find one in a group
online there are several more in that group
you can’t find online!
59. @MaureenShari
Remuneration
Payment for services. In phone sourcing
today per-hour rates seem to remain in the
broad $35-$125/hr. range and the per-name
rate seems to fall in the somewhat tighter
$35 -$75 per name range.
61. @MaureenShari
Resistance
A force that tends to oppose or retard motion.
In phone sourcing resistance is met more on
the inside of our own expectations than it is on
the outside of reality.
62. @MaureenShari
Ruse
• a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid
capture.)
• Also spelled “rouse” and “rouge” as in, “I’m
so ashamed by my lying that my cheeks
turned rouge.”
63. @MaureenShari
Ruse: Controversial
Rusing may be a right-of-passage in so much that
phone sourcers who began their careers “rusing” -
lying to get information – were so uncomfortable
doing so that they’re challenged to increase their
communication skills to the point where it’s no longer
necessary to ruse. This is a common experience for
many seasoned phone sourcers.
64. @MaureenShari
"While I don't have a need for
any phone sourcing right now,
it's how I learned to recruit so
I understand the results you
get.”
~Note on LinkedIn invitation
66. @MaureenShari
Security
Any high fence around a company’s
information. Most companies don’t address the
issue, ignoring the cracks in their doors through
which the curious public may peer. Knowing
these armor fissures allows a phone sourcer
entry and access.
67. @MaureenShari
Silent Keyboard
Allows for the silent transcription of
information as it is heard from a
Gatekeeper’s lips to a phone sourcer’s ear
as to not alarm Gatekeeper that her loose
lips sinking her ship are being recorded.
68. @MaureenShari
Singing
• Accomplished with the lips open; singing is
the act of disclosing information. In it’s
most cantabile form it is smooth and
flowing and has a musical quality.
• Known also as “Spilling” in the industry.
72. @MaureenShari
Songbird
Any person whose vocal organ is developed in
such a way as to produce various sound notes
that translate into names or information that
leads to other names or more information. The
cant normally sounds like music to a phone
sourcer’s ears and usually requires prompting
to elicit.
74. @MaureenShari
Spilling
The act of someone (or something) “giving up”
or “offering up” information about others or
facts inside an organization. Sometimes
accomplished with the knowledge of the one
doing the spilling (for reasons known only to
them.) Usually follows prompting.
75. @MaureenShari
Stabbing In
• The practice of calling into a company’s direct-dial system in
an ordered fashion, after learning the internal
prefixes. Requires discerning internal prefix first; sometimes
as easy as asking the receptionist for someone’s direct dial;
usually requires investigation on the Internet to uncover. Very
effective and for an experienced phone sourcer rarely takes
beyond three calls to obtain helpful information from someone
on the inside.
77. @MaureenShari
Stinkin’ Thinkin’
The self-immolation we offer ourselves up to
before attempting a task. Some of us possess
more of it than others. A few are blessed with
its absence. Usually precedes or is
accompanied by pain and suffering and always
leads to failure. Requires professional help.
78. @MaureenShari
Strike
Acting on your senses; as in when you sniff
a whiff of information you circle in fast and
when it starts to leak its life blood, strike
hard and take all you can get.
79. @MaureenShari
Watch where you’re cuttin’!
“You don't get no closer to the bone than phone
sourcing.”
~ Remark heard in a recent phone sourcing chat on the MagicMethod network
80. @MaureenShari
Target
The organization you’re going into to source
talent. Some organizations are sourced
repeatedly in certain fields – they’re usually the
market leaders in their business
segment. They know it and many of them, in
turn, source talent repeatedly from their
competitors.
83. @MaureenShari
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors,
and doing new things, because we're curious and
curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
~Walt Disney
84. @MaureenShari
Phone Sourcing Tip
"Phone sourcing seems to be an overwhelming
task/you helped simplify it breaking it down into
small manageable tasks.”
~ Newbie Phone Sourcer learning the ropes
85. @MaureenShari
Telesourcing
• The act of getting on the telephone and
asking for information - very simple; very
effective; very difficult to overcome fear of.
• A must-have mastery for most people who
desire sourcing success.
93. @MaureenShari
Title Strike
Titles vary depending on the size of the company,
but in general, the bigger the company, the lower
your title-strike might be, and the smaller the
company, the higher the title-strike might be. In
other words, a Manager level in a $3 billion sale
company could be at the same experience level as a
Director in a $900 million sale company or a VP in a
$100 million sale company.
95. @MaureenShari
Trampolining
• Also referred to as going “from pillar to
post”
• A phone-sourcing technique of going
(bouncing) from one person to another
inside a company acquiring different
pieces of information along the way.
96. @MaureenShari
Voice Mail
• A treasure chest of information
• Many times (especially around
holidays/vacation times) Voice Mails
contain exquisitely detailed information
about the person and/or the person’s
group.
97. @MaureenShari
Weeding
That act in sourcing where you choose the wheat from the
chaff. Requires discernment and iron decision-making
ability and willingness to ask the hard questions.
“Does she work on the front end or the back end of the
product? Which member does what?”
98. @MaureenShari
Wheedle
• Influence or urge by gentle urging,
caressing, repeated appeals, teasing or
flattering
• "He wheedled her into going along."
• wheedle, cajole, palaver, blarney, coax,
sweet-talk, inveigle
100. @MaureenShari
Yapping
That tendency a phone sourcer has to say too
much when asking for information. Yapping
sends up red flags and intimates that the
yapper is nervous about something and makes
the person being yapped at cautious. Also
known as “babbling”, “acting like an idiot” or
“talking too much.”