"It takes a thief to catch a thief". E Gayton, Pleasant Notes upon Don Quixote, 1654.
I worked in R&D, from software engineer to CTO, for 25 years. About once a week, a stranger knocked on my Linkedin door and in the best traditions of nice uninvited people at my door told me the story about a great company I am missing. Following the same tradition, I would either answer politely “Not interested,” or just shut the door, depending on my stress level that day. Is it possible I missed the greatest opportunity of my life? Absolutely. Why didn’t I listen?
As marketing guru Seth Godin put it, we do something if “people like us do things like this.” I may like your company if people with my background and values like it. I would accept a message from another engineer, but not from a junior recruiter. They are just not like me.
The problem is that not many engineers would spend their days looking for their future coworkers. Everybody knows it’s the job of the recruitment team! Apparently, they are not delivering at the required level, since we have so many open reqs. Occasionally, they push back at us, asking for articles for the employer branding program or referrals. They don’t understand that we can't write articles and we have a release coming.
If only there was a way for the recruiters and engineers to work together!
Good news - there is. It’s called PeerTown - the first comprehensive platform for engagement-based recruiting. It utilizes the power of engineers to attract other engineers without the burden on them and still keeps “control” in the hands of HR. Your engineers already know the amazing talent: their former colleagues, classmates, and friends. PeerTown.com cloud platform helps find and engage them.
Engagement-based recruiting, driven by the engineers and curated by HR, completely changes the recruiting process at many levels:
The numbers. You have a handful of recruiters but probably hundreds of engineers.
The conversion. Instead of reaching out to thousands and getting few responses, you work with a much smaller but very connected group of people.
The relationships. Instead of hiring and then building the relationships (or not), you build the relationships first and then hire.
It’s just common sense. If you want to attract engineers, put forward the engineers. Similia similibus.
Alex Elkin, CEO, PeerTown Inc.