At the May 23, 2012 recruitDC, we pulled together a series of topics that participants gathered around during lunch and shared tips & best practices. Some of the table hosts were kind enough to share their wrap up notes.

1. recruitDC Networking Topics – Shared Comments
ATS Systems
The main area of interest at our table regarding ATS systems was what was in the
market for the small to mid-tier companies. The discussion centered around needing
more metrics capabilities, better integration with the HRIS and Performance
Management tools with an affordable price tag.
o It was discuss that while many of the largest ATS system like Taleo,
BrassRing, and Workday have very robust metrics tools the products for
the small to midsized organizations are lacking that feature. Several good
products that were discussed included Jobvite and Newton. Two
members of the table had evaluated systems in this space and had
implemented both as affordable solutions that are scalable as a business
grows. Newton has a very good metrics tool and is built around
recruiting analytics and a workflow that can be measured every step of
the way. Jobvite had a strong social media platform but the metrics piece
was limited. Both very good options and came with an affordable price
tag.
o The group then spent some time discussing integrated TMS. The group
discussed several performance management systems that integrated
with an ATS, The Silkroad Life suite was discussed as it had modules that
could be leveraged for ATS, On boarding, L&D, and performance mgt.
This discussion then moved into how do we as recruiters use our systems
to measure the quality of hire metric. All agreed that an ATS or TMS
could not necessarily help with that process unless there was a
performance mgt component in the system. Even then what is the best
time to measure QoH? 30, 60, 90 days into the job or at the 6 to 12
month mark?
o We concluded the discussion talking about integrating the reference
checking process and having better assessment tools integrated into an
ATS system. The group agreed it would be beneficial to be able to have
both integrated, and could reduce the time from the point of when the
offer is accepted to when the candidate started. Talked about CVVerify
that uses candidates previous managers, co-workers or employees to
verify what they put on the resume as being accurate and Clearfit for
assessments.
Working with Difficult Hiring Mangers
o Figure out what is most important to the manager
o Do a lessons learned if the trouble came up while working together.
o Don’t take full responsibility sit down and talk to the manager – lay the
cards out but don’t point fingers either way “We”
o If all else fails, ask if there might be a proxy who you can work with

2. Employee Referral Programs
o L-3 Stratis pays $10K for a full scope polygraph
o L-3 has a full-time employee referral recruiter
o One person noted that John Sullivan’s research shows there is no
correlation between size of the $ award and results
o Marriott – the core of their program is education – what’s in it for
employee beyond $ - recognition, picking your coworkers
o Metrics show it takes 17 referrals to net a hire vs. 75 applicants without a
referral
Candidate Care
o Set expectations at the first conversation
o Do what you say you will do
o Communicate at every step of the process
o Make the candidate feel important
o Be honest
o Ask questions & find drivers
Recruiter Rewards & Incentives
o Paid day off contest
o Work from home contest
o Day on a boat
o Tickets to Nats or Caps
o ½ day Fridays
o Recognition from hiring managers copying senior executive(s)
Budgeting/Cost of Recruiting
o Need to build a business case when seeking an additional recruiter using
data (growth; revenue increases; reduced time to fill, etc.)
LinkedIn / Pipelining Candidates
o Use File organizer to capture specific candidates
o Join up to 50 groups and actively participate in discussions
o Put “I’m hiring” under Update section with your email address
o Polish your profile so when candidates check you out your “brand”
attracts them
o You only have 3000 invites but you can get it reset 3 times for free
Recruiting Metrics
o Find out what is important to your organizations’ leadership, then
measure what matters to them
o Need to measure effectiveness of your own (company’s) effectiveness to
be able to show improvement over time

3. o Important to know what the effectiveness (ROI) of each source is in order
to plan and budget wisely
o Time-to-fill has changed little over time – 5 to 7 weeks is always the
average
o Quality is very difficult to measure at the time of hire