What is your passive jobseeker hiring strategy? [DisruptHR]

Typically, hiring managers use the phrase “passive jobseekers” to mean people happily employed elsewhere whom they chase down because they have the right credentials.

Since these people don’t quite want the job, most of the research about these kinds of candidates shows they’re crummy: when approached by recruiters, they ask for don’t stay long and ask for too much money and, after all, they’re so hard to find they’re costly. Plus, most of this is happening on an ever more crowded LinkedIn.

But as we at Technical.ly have done more reporting and, actually, more work for clients on talent sourcing, I’ve found the established talent acquisition industry has a pretty rotten definition. It’s way too limited and that leads to limited strategies. That was the focus of a five-minute lightning talk I gave in October to more than 300 HR professionals at a DisruptHR event.

Continue reading What is your passive jobseeker hiring strategy? [DisruptHR]

By the time something *has* to be solved, it’s probably too late

I’m not a procrastinator, which is no small feat, considering my father and my sister both are.

I take a lot of pride in planning ahead on challenges or opportunities. Sometimes that runs counter to others, who are more to sitting on deadlines. Of course crashing into a deadline happens to us all but the reliance on them concerns me.

That’s because, as I’ve been thinking lately, if you wait for something to have to be solved, then it’s often too late. You can’t creatively or find opportunities for efficiencies. Once the deadline is here, it’s broken and you aren’t going to be able to fix it.

So? Change what a deadline means to you. If something is due on the 15th, your deadline must be the 10th and so you better get started on the 5th. Then you can be the person you say you are.

You’re adopting a puppy

For every project you take on, any commitment you make, you’re agreeing to a longterm relationship. Other people will depend on you, habits will form and roles will shape.

It’s like adopting a pet, as a colleague and I say to each other sometimes. Are you willing to walk the dog? To feed it and give it water and be willing to spend the energy, time and money if it gets sick?

I say that to myself when I want to start something new, and I find it helps influence my thinking. If I think of the longterm requirements and still want to move forward, then I will. If not, well, there’s no use to start at all. (One way I’m working to say no more often).

I am motivated by fear

A version of this essay was published as part of my twice-monthly newsletter several weeks ago. Find other archives and join here to get updates like this first.

Someone asked me recently what was the biggest motivator for me to start a company, and I told him it was fear.

That’s true, if still somewhat self-deprecating.

Continue reading I am motivated by fear

With $1.67M in 2016 income, here’s what I learned with Technically Media

Harvard University’s Nieman Lab journalism trade publication profiled last week Technically Media, the digital media company I cofounded, for the first time since 2012 (that year we got both a profile and an expansion look).

This new profile, which you should read, seemed like a grand opportunity to revisit the check I made in 2015 when we surpassed $1 million in revenue for the first time. So to supplement my professional accomplishments of last year, I wanted to share a few notes included in the Nieman Lab report I find important.

Continue reading With $1.67M in 2016 income, here’s what I learned with Technically Media

What I’ve learned about letting go teammates

When an employee leaves your company, it almost always fits into one of a few clear buckets: they left on good terms, or bad terms, or you let them go yourself.

  1. She found a better role, and you aren’t matching the offer. Either because you don’t want to or that you can’t, you don’t meet or exceed compensation or responsibility or title or something else that the new role offers, though she would be willing to stay.
  2. She’s quitting, and so you can’t do anything about it. Whether or not for another role, she wants to leave your company (maybe it’s time or maybe there’s a problem).
  3. You’re letting her go. Because of budgetary or strategy reasons, her role is being eliminated or fundamentally changed. You could think of this as anything from convenient (downsizing on someone you don’t think was a good fit anyway) to painful (someone you really appreciated but didn’t have the role or place for).
  4. You’re firing her. Because of performance or actions, she is being removed from the organization. There is an array of euphemisms and agreements that mask these, often for optics.

Happily most have left Technical.ly on good terms. But I have experience with them all. Here are some things I’ve learned about the process