Another Top 50 (Fill In The Blank) list came out a couple of weeks ago with a bunch of HR and recruiter “thought leaders” on it. And as usual there was some chatter on Twitter and Facebook about it. Some pro. Some con. Some rants too.
I have an opinion and I want to know what you think. But first a disclaimer: every now and again I squeak in on the bottom of one of these lists. I am not coming at this with “sour grapes.”
And I am not here to bash the folks on the lists.
I am writing this, and hoping you will comment below, to start a conversation.
I want to know what recruiters are doing. I want to know challenges they face. I want to know about their successes and failures.
My perspective is this: I am in Minneapolis recruiting internally for four startup and small tech companies. I know what it is like to grow a group from 5 to 30 … and starting this month with a group at 13 aiming for 60.
I am long ago tired of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Zappos, Twitter, or any of the other often (and easily) cited examples on blog posts and in conference sessions. Those are easy to talk about.
What about the rest of us? What about you?
Where are the conversations (keeping with a Minnesota theme for a moment) about how to recruit for a manufacturing plant in Duluth, a cabinet maker in Mankato, or a new web shop in my North Loop neighborhood in Minneapolis?
I want to find, follow, and interact with people more like me. Those who:
- are today recruiting a tech team of full stack Ruby developers and QA engineers. Or a team of contract web developers for a hospital website redesign. (You can swap your nurse, CNC, call center titles for mine)
- are posting updates about their local/regional business climate
- are speaking at their local college, university, tech schools, and job groups
- are attending a user group, professional association, or networking event representing and recruiting for their company
- are promoting the next tech, marketing, PR, manufacturing ideas, products, and events in their area
I am a BIG fan of Tim Sackett, Jennifer McClure, Susan Strayer LaMotte, and Glen Cathey. They are some of the folks on these lists who share content and speak about things that I can relate to.
Who are the regional and local folks? The ones like me who do not have “influence” at the (inter)national level but are making an impact in their own backyard?
And how do we create, recognize, and applaud their achievements? How do we get them to come up for some air and share their experiences?
Do we need another list? Another group? Another conference? Probably not.
But I’m bored with the industry echo chamber … and I know many of you are too.
Let me be clear. I am not taking a shot at the thought leaders in our industry. I need help seeing the forest through the trees and I am thankful for their perspective.
I do wish we had a similar list of those making a hire today.
We can and should have both, right?
I’m going to hang up and listen now. Drop your comments and thoughts below.