Presented by Glen Cathey at the Northwest Recruiters Association 2016 Q4 Luncheon.

1. Social Engineering
The human element of sourcing/recruiting
#NWRA

2. I cannot
teach
anybody
anything.
I can only
make them
think.
Smart people
learn from
everything and
everyone,
average people
from their
experiences.
Stupid people
already have all
the answers.
SocratesGlen Cathey | #NWRA

3. Talent acquisition is all
about people. So why
aren't sourcers and
recruiters more focused
on understanding people,
what motivates them,
and how to best
communicate with and
influence them?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

4. Social engineering is the
art, or better yet, science,
of skillfully maneuvering
human beings to take
action in some aspect of
their lives...
Chris Hadnagy
Security Consultant & Social Engineer
Creator of the Social Engineering Framework
https://www.amazon.com/Social-Engineering-Art-Human-Hacking/dp/0470639539Glen Cathey | #NWRA

5. When you are finding and
engaging potential
candidates, what decisions
and actions are you
looking for them to make?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

6. Social engineering
is the human
element of
sourcing
candidates*
* aka outbound recruitingGlen Cathey | #NWRA

7. Glen Cathey | #NWRA

8. Source: Stack Overflow survey of 26,086 developers from 157 countries
http://bit.ly/1JaglKWSource: Indeed Inbound Recruiting eBook: http://bit.ly/1QoCPMP

9. Glen Cathey | #NWRA Source: LinkedIn Talent Trends

10. "Similar to recruiters, salespeople must master
many people skills. Many sales gurus say that a
good salesperson does not manipulate people
but uses their skills to find out what people's
needs are and then sees whether they can fill it.
The art of sales takes many skills such as
information gathering, elicitation, influence,
psychological principles, as well as many other
people skills." – Chris Hadnagy
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

11. Manipulation | Persuasion | Influence
Manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the
behavior or perception of others through abusive, deceptive, or
underhanded tactics.
Persuasion involves causing someone to believe something to do
something, especially through reasoning, argument or sustained effort.
Persuasion can be used to spur someone to action or to make a
decision without actually earning their sincere buy-in.
Influence is defined as "the power to change or affect someone or
something: the power to cause changes without directly forcing them
to happen" and involves moving someone to think or act because they
want to - inspiring them to take action or make a particular decision.
"True influence is elegant and smooth and most of the time
undetectable to those being influenced." - Chris Hadnagy
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

12. As a sourcer or
recruiter – what is
most often your first
opportunity to make
a first impression?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

13. Glen Cathey | #NWRA

14. Glen Cathey | #NWRA

15. First Impressions
The stereotype content model (SCM) is a
psychological theory that suggests that flash
judgments are really based on two data points:
1. Warmth: Do I like you?
2. Competence: Are you good at what you do?
In other words, people ultimately reduce
everyone they meet into four buckets:
1. Warm + Competent
2. Warm + Incompetent
3. Cold + Competent
4. Cold + Incompetent
You never get a second
chance to make a first
impression
A person's first
impression will
influence their overall
opinion of you
New research suggests
that first impressions
are so powerful they
are more important
than fact
Glen Cathey | #NRWA Source: The Muse - http://muse.cm/2arKtTE

16. Source: The Muse - http://muse.cm/2arKtTEGlen Cathey | #NWRA

17. • How can you come across as competent?
How can you immediately exude competence?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

18. What can you do to be likable?
Likable: Easy to like; having pleasant or appealing qualities
recruiting
Glen Cathey | #NWRA
People like people who like them
You have to like interacting with
people, care about them and be
genuinely interested in helping
the people you're trying to
influence

19. Make them smile
Don't be afraid to leverage
humor - being funny makes you
likable and making someone
smile makes them feel better…
Glen Cathey | #NWRA
http://bit.ly/1rxEbcb http://amzn.to/2cphZgnhttp://bit.ly/2dtZ46o

20. I think you should take
your job seriously, but not
yourself – that is the best
combination.
Judi Dench
Glen Cathey | #NWRA Southwest flight attendant video: http://bit.ly/1eJKwoU

21. Deliver WOW
Through Service
Create Fun and A
Little Weirdness

22. Be Likable
• Have fun!
• Be a human first and a sourcer/recruiter second; use
a friendly and conversational tone
• Project a confident and positive attitude – they can
read/hear your smile. What you project onto others is
what they are more likely to feel
• Compliment them (genuinely!)
• Ask lots of questions, actively listen and be genuinely
interested in what they are saying
• Establish rapport
Glen Cathey | #NWRA Photo: Just Ard

23. Glen Cathey | #NWRA

24. It's Not About You
Unfortunately, when messaging or
speaking with prospective candidates,
many recruiters talk only in their own
language and the subject of the
message/conversation is me, me, me:
my company, my opportunity, etc.
Instead, it should be about them, them,
them – the prospective candidate: Their
current situation, their challenges, their
plans and desires. Speak in their
language in order to build rapport.
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

25. "Filling a need for the
person you are talking to
drastically increases the
chances of building rapport.
Do it without appearing to
have an end game, do it
with a genuine desire to
help, and be amazed at the
results. Perhaps no other
avenue is more valuable for
social engineers than being
able to meet these needs."
Chris Hadnagy
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

26. Ideal Recruiting Process
1. Developing the relationship
2. Creating/Identifying the need
3. Preventing/overcoming objections
4. Filling the need/providing benefits
5. Advance/close
Source: http://www.ere.net/2008/07/10/stop-telling-and-start-selling/
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

27. Common Recruiting Process
1. Filling the need/providing benefits
2. Developing the relationship
3. Creating/Identifying the need
4. Preventing/overcoming objections
5. Advance/close
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

28. How can you fill a need for someone if you don't
take the time to discover their need first?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

29. Objections/Conversation StoppersGlen Cathey | #NWRA

30. Source: 24 seconds in http://bit.ly/2cCWP1IGlen Cathey | #NWRA

31. Anticipate | Preempt | Address
"If you wait to think about how you will handle potential conversation stoppers or
disruptive influences until the first time you hear them you will most likely fail to
handle them. That presents an interesting thought then. You have to sit back and
think like the target: what objections would he raise? When a person he does not
know calls or approaches him, what might he say? What objections might he raise?
What attitudes would he portray? Thinking through these things can help you to
make a game plan for these potential problems. Write down your thoughts and the
target’s potential objections and then role play. Practice until you feel comfortable,
but not scripted. Remember the comeback is not to be structured so stiffly that you
cannot alter it at all."
-Chris Hadnagy
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

32. The ability to understand and share the feelings of another
Empathy is the key to rapport and is
hard to feel if you think you have the
solution to someone's problem.
Empathy is the tool of the social
engineer. Nothing builds rapport more
than when people feel like you "get
them." – Chris Hadnagy
Glen Cathey | #NWRA
Listen | Understand | Reflect
Source: Agilitrix: http://bit.ly/2cFocCE
Empathy

33. Mirroring
"By matching the client’s volume, tone, and rate of
speech (paralanguage), they often can overcome the
client’s reluctance to communicate."
"Once interviewers establish rapport, barriers
disappear, trust grows, and an exchange of information
follows."
Glen Cathey | #NWRA Source: FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin: http://bit.ly/2dic9jB

34. Framing
A frame of reference is a set of ideas,
conditions, or assumptions that
determine how something will be
approached, perceived, understood or
reacted to.
Anything that can alter people’s
perceptions or the way they make
decisions can be called framing.
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

35. Understand your prospective candidate's frame and
look for ways to either align yours with theirs or
transform theirs into yours. Be aware that everything
you write or say will evoke a frame.
"Painting a picture with words is a powerful way to
use framing. By choosing your words carefully you
can cause a target’s mind to picture things you want
him to picture and start moving him to a frame you
want." – Chris Hadnagy
Miracle question
If there were one thing you would change about
your current situation, what would it be and why?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

36. Preloading
Preloading involves using words, language
and imagery to "preload" the target with
ideas and information to:
• Influence them before an event
• Get them thinking in your desired
mindset/frame
• Be more receptive and react positively
• Take action
• Build anticipation
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItmGlen Cathey | #NWRA

37. Preloading examples
• "What is the next step in your career?"
• "What would your dream job be?"
• "Not sure if you would be interested in
opportunities that involve ________"
– Working from home
– A shorter commute
– Exciting new development
– Working with a top notch team…
• "Most of the people I talk with aren't
actively looking to make a change"
• The best time to look is when you
don't need to…
• "…I won't waste your time…"
• Mention a personal or shared interest
(preloading rapport/likability)
• Pay them a genuine compliment
(preloading rapport/likability)
• Be very specific with regard to their
experience (preloading competence
and potential match)
• Preloading for honestly and disclosure:
"Now think very carefully before you
answer my next question…"
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

38. So, I would normally leave these first-contacts short and
sweet, but I am really intrigued by your statement "What
you look for in that dream opportunity..." It is the most
interesting statement I've come across [and it] makes me
feel human. Out of mere excitement about the question,
here's my first shot at answering it:
candidate response
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

39. If you do not know how to ask the right
question, you discover nothing.
W. Edwards Deming,
Engineer, statistician, professor, author,
lecturer, and management consultant.
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

40. Elicitation
To draw forth or bring out or
to arrive at a conclusion
(truth, for instance) by logic.
Alternatively, it is defined as a
stimulation that calls up or
draws forth a particular class
of behaviors.
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm
To draw or bring out or forth; educe; evoke: to elicit the
truth; to elicit a response with a question; to arrive at a
conclusion (truth, for instance) by logic.
In social engineering, it can also involve a stimulation that
calls up or draws forth a particular class of behaviors.
Elicitation
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

41. Source: http://bit.ly/2aJc8ROGlen Cathey | #NWRA

42. Elicitation
You can fashion questions that
draw people out and stimulate
them to respond and take the
behavior you want.
Expert elicitation can result in
your target wanting to answer
your every request.
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

43. Elicitation Techniques
• Appeal to their ego
– Be genuinely complimentary, but don't overdo it, and never be insincere
• Express a mutual interest
– One of the easiest ways to be immediately likable (do your research!)
• Make a deliberately false debatable statement
– Many people feel compelled to correct wrong statements and share their opinion on
polarizing topics
• Volunteer information
– Offering up information in conversation almost compels people to target to reply with
equally useful information
– Reciprocity & mutual disclosure are largely automatic and unconscious
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItmGlen Cathey | #NWRA

44. Are you:
• Looking?
• On the market?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

45. Intelligent Questions
• Open-Ended questions
– Sometimes open ended questions can be met with some resistance, so using the pyramid
approach can be helpful: Start with narrow questions and then ask broader questions at the end
of the line of questioning
• Closed-Ended questions
– Not used for gathering information. Typically only one of two answers, used to lead the
prospective candidate where you want
• Leading questions
– Leads the prospective candidate where you want them to go, but allows for the opportunity for
them to expand. Common examples include stating a fact and asking for the prospective
candidate to agree or disagree.
• Assumptive questions
– Questions phrased in such a way that you're assuming the prospective candidate has a
particular motivation, opinion or some specific knowledge to determine whether or not they do
Glen Cathey | #NWRA Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm

46. Why does elicitation work so well?
• Most people have the desire to be polite, especially to
strangers
• Professionals want to appear well informed and intelligent
• If you are praised, you will often talk more and divulge more
• Most people would not lie for the sake of lying
• Most people respond kindly to people who appear genuinely
concerned about them
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm
Getting people to talk about themselves and
their accomplishments is remarkably easy!
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

47. Scarcity
People often find objects and
opportunities more attractive if they are
rare, scarce, or hard to obtain because
they are viewed as having more value
Scarcity is often used in social
engineering contexts to create a feeling
of urgency in a decision-making context.
Leverage #FOMO and competition
Glen Cathey | #NWRA Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm

48. If you would
persuade, you
must appeal to
interest rather
than intellect.
Benjamin Franklin
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

49. Appeal to Curiosity
In 1994, George Loewenstein, a behavioral economist at Carnegie
Mellon University, provided the most comprehensive account of
situational interest. It is surprisingly simple. Curiosity, he says, happens
when we feel a gap in our knowledge. Loewenstein argues that gaps
cause pain. When we want to know something but don’t, it’s like
having an itch that we need to scratch. To take away the pain, we need
to fill the knowledge gap.
One important implication of the gap theory is that we need to open
gaps before we close them. Our tendency is to tell people the facts.
Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Made to Stick: http://bit.ly/U437rBGlen Cathey | #NWRA

50. Appeal to Emotion
Use quotes and tell stories - the brain
processes stories differently than
other information.
Appealing to emotion forces the
listener to use their imagination. Ask
questions and using phrases such as
"What happens…" or "How do you
feel when…," which will require them
to imagine something to answer,
evoking a frame and corresponding
emotions. Source: Neuromarketing by Roger Dooley: http://bit.ly/1sK1UA1
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

51. "Knowledge is what prepares a person for action, logic convinces him the
action is good to take, but emotion is what makes the action happen. If
you are emotional about your "cause" the target will feel that emotion."
- Chris Hadnagy
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

52. Social Proof
Social proof, also known as
informational social
influence, is a psychological
phenomenon where people
assume the actions of others
in an attempt to reflect
correct behavior for a given
situation.
Glen Cathey | #NWRA
Source: Barry Feldman http://bit.ly/2cR3lMx

53. Social Proof
Stating or even implying that others have taken a particular action
can increase your chances of success.
– "Most of the people (specific titles/roles) I speak with aren't actively
looking to make a change…"
– "The folks I've been speaking with have said ___________"
– "I've heard back from # of others so I'm hoping to get in touch with you"
– "I've been speaking to folks from X, Y, Z" (companies - and even same
company when accurate)
– "People who have recently interviewed have said _____________"
– "We've recently hired folks from X, Y, Z and they've said ___________"
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

54. Obligation & Reciprocity
• Providing others with something of value
can make them feel obligated to reciprocate
– What can you provide prospective
candidates that they would find valuable?
• Follow up compliments with requests to
leverage obligation
– Compliments can also help make people
more agreeable to influence
• Simply being persistent can make people
feel obligated to respond
• Even something as small as a question can
create obligation – leverage the power of
silence
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

56. Listen & Assume
• Be a good listener
– Repeat back what they share with you for rapport and
confirmation that you get what they're expressing to you
• Assume, assume, assume!
– Assume the prospective candidate will respond and act the
way you want
– Assuming that what you want to happen will happen affects
your mindset. Being positive and confident increases the
probability of the desired response.
– Resist the urge to always ask, "Is now a good time to talk?"
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

57. ReferralsReferrals
Glen Cathey | #NWRA
Source: Jobvite: http://bit.ly/2949dQY
#1 Source of quality hires

58. Glen Cathey | #NWRA

59. Why would
someone give you a
referral?
Why not?
Glen Cathey | #NWRA
Execute a 5 Whys Exercise with your team

60. Referrals
• What's your why/story? Sell, don't tell!
• Don't ask on first contact unless they've absolutely ruled
themselves out. First contact is and should always be 100%
genuinely about THEM.
• "Who do you think would be interested in being considered for
this opportunity/working for _______?
• "The manager/director/vp of ________ is interested in
identifying talented (insert target talent), who would you
recommend?"
Glen Cathey | #NWRA

61. Key Takeaways
• Be empathetic - seek &
communicate understanding
• Leverage mirroring, framing and
preloading
• Master elicitation
• Leverage scarcity & social proof
• Appeal to emotion & curiosity
• Leverage obligation and
reciprocity
• Listen & assume the best outcome
Glen Cathey | #NWRA www.linkedin.com/glencatheywww.glencathey.com www.booleanblackbelt.com www.twitter.com/glencathey
• Engineer great 1st impressions
• Be likable & project
competence
• Be positive, have fun & make
them smile
• Make it about them - discover
their needs
• Leverage framing
• Anticipate & preempt or
address objections