Recruiting Trailblazers

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Robin Walters, Founder and CEO of Rogue Recruitment, the “anti-staffing, staffing agency”, as well as Rogue Response, a nonprofit organization committed to enhancing her community.

She also serves on the board with Counseling & Recovery Services of Oklahoma. In addition, she is a writer of fiction books and blog posts.

Listen in as Robin explains how she conceptualized Rogue Recruitment to be “radically different” from every other staffing agency out there by focusing on candidates’ goals instead of their impact on the company’s bottom line.

She reflects on her lessons learned during the first six months trying to get Rogue off the ground, as well as how her personal experience with declining mental health during her lowest points as a business owner inspired Robin to further promote a team culture of transparency and vulnerability.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:46] An introduction to Rogue Recruitment and “anti-staffing, staffing”

●      [06:01] Why Robin started Rogue Response

●      [07:00] How Rogue Recruitment is different from other staffing agencies

●      [10:17] What big staffing agencies need to do to change

●      [14:31] Where quality over quantity begins at Rogue Recruitment

●      [17:21] How Rogue Recruitment communicates with their clients

●      [20:20] Getting Rogue off the ground in the first six months

●      [24:41] What Robin has learned about hiring the right people

●      [27:36] How Robin recovered from a period of declining mental health

●      [31:35] Robin’s advice to those struggling with their mental health at work

●      [34:57] Robin’s advice to a new entrepreneur just getting their agency off the ground

●      [37:47] Robin’s content strategy for Rogue

Key quotes:

●      “The staffing industry is very broken, and if you just go by what’s normal in staffing, you’re never going to make that difference and disrupt it.”

●      “One of the ways that I want to radically transform the industry is by having staffing agencies who are very committed to the community and in giving back.”

●      “When you place somebody at a new job, you are literally changing their life. You have a major impact on them, because how they’re doing professionally is going to seep into their personal life; so, it’s a huge, huge responsibility. When the big companies turn it down to, ‘What’s your gross margin off of this person?’ you lose the entire point of recruitment, and it’s about helping people find positions to better themselves.”

●      “The negative emphasis on metrics has occurred because it’s easier for people to understand numbers versus relationships.”

●      “It’s not a sign of failure to admit that you’re struggling; to need time off. It’s a sign of immense strength when you can reach out and ask for help.”

Resources Mentioned:

●      Rogue Recruitment

●      Robin Walters on LinkedIn

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks to Tom Case. Tom is the head of Talent at Cerebras Systems, a computer systems company, building a new type of computer optimized for AI work,  hosting contains the world’s largest computer chip.

Tom has an Executive search background that began in an agency, went to Facebook, and worked at Intel Capital as Talent Partner before joining Cerebras.

Tune in to listen to Tom sharing his passion for Start-Up recruiting and the nuances that make it such a giant leap from his Talent Partner role, where he was serving start-ups on a much more ad-hoc basis. Tom shares experiences working in different roles and how to establish a working recruitment team that benefits both the company and the employees. He also gives tips on building a talent strategy, how to bring in a new team, why diversity and inclusion are important for startups, and other informative topics.

[02:01] What Tom is most passionate about as a recruiter

[04:54] Working as a Talent Partner

[05:55] Should companies pay more attention to a working talent strategy?

[06:57] Perception on talent strategy as a roadmap

[11:25] Establishing a recruiting team

[16:30] Recruiting process and organization’s culture

[21:18] Appreciating employees

[23:25] Flat structure vs. Management structure

[24:26] How management helps people improve

[25:21] Diversity and inclusion for startups

[29:30] Key challenges when raiding the number of employees

[32:55] Bringing in new people into the organization

[38:08] Figuring out what to take to the market as recruiters

 Notable Quotes

• Startups don’t have many resources. They need to double down to the single one or two things that move the company forward
• If you build a recruiting team, you have to get the right people to do that.
• If you are bringing in managers, you gonna make sure you’re bringing the right ones. And you gonna make sure that people see the value in going from flat to management structure.
• The more diversity you have, the more diversity you recruit.
• Sometimes, it’s like we only hire the most exceptional people. But it’s not true. There are not many exceptional people, and when you get one, they move your company 10x more than anybody else.

Connect with Tom

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-case-81b8504/

Cerebras Systems Website https://cerebras.net/

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Brad Wolff, of PeopleMax, a business expert and advisor with over 25 years of experience in the recruitment industry.  

Tune in to listen to Brad speaking about how recruiters can deal with scaling problems through systems, processes, and technology, especially content outreach on LinkedIn and email outreach. He also shares his insights on the best cold calls tips, minimizing defensiveness and resistance in getting clients, and how agency owners or recruiters should embrace metrics to help them move forward. Be sure to also get great tips on job orders and managing clients. 

[02:12] Brad’s experience in the recruitment industry 

[03:06] What are the key problems that Brad is able to help agencies resolve

[05:04] Scaling and examples of businesses that Brad has worked with to help them scale

[06:51] Systems, processes, and technology in a recruitment agency

[13:38] Content outreach on LinkedIn and email outreach

[15:15] Things that don’t work anymore in business developments

[18:50] Cold calls tips

[21:52] Minimizing defensiveness and resistance in getting clients

[24:42] Recommended tools for outreach

[26:14] Business metrics and how agency owners or recruiters should embrace metrics to help them move forward

[29:32] Production metrics, candidate first interviews, client meetings, and reverse engineering

[32:50] Job orders with clients

Notable Quotes

●      There are always many new things to learn, especially today when the industry seems to be accelerating in different directions. 

●      Scaling has to do with how you grow and do more without you personally having to do more.

●      Defensiveness is the enemy of being able to build relationships and get clients.

●      You want something that feels and syncs with who you are.

●      Nothing works for everyone. At the end of the day, we are just working with human psychology.

●      Defensiveness is the resistance that keeps you from getting clients. Minimize resistance!

●      Nothing that works now will continue to work indefinitely. Everything has its time; the system is constantly changing.

●      Sales to me is simply as soon as the process moves to the actual human-to-human conversation. That’s when you’ve crossed over from marketing into sales.

●      If you can get the key things you need with a three metrics, don’t use more than three. More is not better with the metrics.

●      You want metrics that are very simple to understand and measure, as much as possible.

●      The metrics should be designed as a roadmap to help people stay focused on the most important things instead of a punishment.

●      Teach recruiters to understand how a metrics can impact their performance. 

●      You can do anything in your life if you know how to do it.

●      No today does not mean No tomorrow.

Connect With Brad on LinkedIn 

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Brianna Rooney, the CEO of TalentPerch, an on-demand strategic hiring solution for engineering teams. Brianna is also the founder of Techees, a recruitment agency that finds engineers the best possible career while making the companies they work with equally satisfied. She is also the creator of themillionairerecruiter.com, a training platform for new and experienced recruiters.

Brianna, the “ultimate matchmaker”, does more than just connecting engineers to companies. She solves tough vacancy issues and other employment problems at some of the biggest tech firms in the industry.

 Tune in to listen to  Brianna sharing insights on RPO and Contingency recruitment models, their differences, and inadequacies in the contingency model. She also talks about firing clients, sourcing maps, knowing what candidates want by doing things differently from others in the marketplace.

Timestamps

[02:29] Brianna’s great day. What’s going on so well?

[03:28] How big are TalentPerch and Techees?

[05:32] Why Brianna started TalentPerch and the problems she was looking to solve

[07:02] Differentiating RPO and Contingency recruitment models when first having a conversation with the client

[09:00] Is RPO Model replacing the contingency model?

[12:30] Inadequacies of the contingency recruitment model.

[16:11] Who’s better? External or internal recruiter?

[22:13] Overseeing first conversations with clients

[24:53] How do you fire a client

[28:24] Some awkward experiences when firing a client

[29:58] Sourcing Maps

[34:40] The Millionaire Recruiter course

[37:40] Resilience and work ethic

[40:23] Tips and tricks to stay on top of the candidate marketplace

[47:30] Humanizing recruiter outreach

Notable Quotes

●      There should be no war between any recruiters, internal or external, whatever we are.

●      If we have three people go onsite for the same role with the same client, if one of them isn’t given an offer, it’s a bad client.

●      I wanted to show you can be a millionaire from an industry that requires zero education and zero-knowledge.

●      Always stay on top of what’s the new new.

●       I don’t have to know what you do, but I know what a client needs, and I know what you need. So we can just match it up together.

●      You need to figure out how to make money on every single touch.

Connect With Brianna

LinkedIn

YouTube Channel

 Websites

Techees 

TalentPerch

The Millionaire Recruiter

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with career coach Amy Bracht, who “helps mid-life professionals transition from stuck to a career they love.” She also helps to slay the limiting beliefs that hold people back.

Sitting on the periphery of life and career coaching, Amy speaks to us about how she helps people who have decided to make a career switch.

Listen in as Amy explains why many of even the most successful professionals feel hollow or unsatisfied with their careers, why self-awareness is the first step to solving that problem, how to overcome limiting beliefs in our ability to succeed in any given venture, and what it really takes to have a career in the space you’re passionate about.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:40] Amy discusses her mission and the services she offers

●      [04:55] Why some successful professionals continue to feel “hollow”

●      [07:01] The importance of self-awareness for career satisfaction

●      [07:37] The power of reframing how you see your work

●      [12:03] Typical reasons why people feel “off” on their current career path

●      [15:57] What are limiting beliefs and how can we mitigate them?

●      [20:53] How slaying limiting beliefs can help with handling rejection in the recruitment industry

●      [22:55] How Amy guides her clients based on their expectations

●      [29:09] Is it possible for everybody to be doing the thing they love?

●      [32:28] The questions we should be asking ourselves if we’re considering a big change in our lives

Key quotes:

●      “I firmly believe that we are called, as human beings, to live very abundant lives. That abundance can take on many different forms; but, for most people, they really want to experience that abundance, that joy, and that passion in their career.”

●      “We make decisions when we’re 18 about how we’re going to spend the rest of our lives with a very limited point-of-view of what that could look like. You’re deciding that before you’ve had experiences of even living away from your family.”

●      “Limiting beliefs are the stories we tell ourselves that we don’t need anymore.”

●      “People can be very extreme until they’re listened to.”

Resources Mentioned:

●      Amy Bracht: A Better You Is Possible

●      Amy Bracht on LinkedIn

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Tom Rope, Vice President of US Markets at Engage PSG, a national search firm headquartered out of the UK.

Tom focuses on connecting RegTech and FinTech industries with world-class people, taking “an advisory-first, recruitment-second approach,” according to him.

Listen in as Tom offers his advice on niche marketing based on over seven years working in the RegTech space. He talks about “managing the overspill” that came as a result of the pandemic, especially with regard to fraud prevention. He also explains why verticalization works extremely well in the recruitment industry today and why partnership models are the way forward for recruiting high-caliber professionals. Finally, Tom shares how candidates can best prepare for that first interview.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:18] A primer on the RegTech space

●      [05:49] Opportunities that have emerged in the recruiting space since 2020

●      [11:14] Challenges that have come out of the pandemic

●      [13:59] The benefits of vertical specialization as a recruiter

●      [16:58] How Tom distinguishes himself as a niche recruiter

●      [20:01] Tom’s first goal during the initial conversation with the candidate

●      [25:53] Retained versus contingency business

●      [32:29] Why partnership models are the way forward for getting top talent

●      [40:44] Preparing candidates for their first interview

Key quotes:

●      “The RegTech space has significantly contributed towards the prevention of online fraud. That’s what the RegTech space is all about: to stop innocent people getting hacked, account takeovers, having their identity stolen.”

●      “When you’re speaking with anyone, behind the mask of business, you’ve got an individual there who has hopes, dreams, goals—a life outside of work. It’s all about drawing up all those dots and fully understanding who somebody is, what they want out of life, and how you can help them move up to that next step.”

●      “[Candidates] need to own the room. The reason you’re in that seat is because you’re special. You have almost everything that the person speaking with you today needs—not wants, needs. Now is your chance to demonstrate that and make a significant impact.”

Resources Mentioned:

●      Engage PSG

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Scot McCallum, Senior Vice President of Western Markets at Artech, a global technology staffing and consulting company. He has previously held senior leadership positions at both Kforce and Ajilon.

Listen in as Scot opens the conversation by discussing the challenges he has had to face as a leader at Artech during the pandemic, and his observations around how his colleagues were able to cope throughout 2020 in such a socially-driven industry.

He then does a deep dive into the secrets to building rapport with candidates and the understated importance of building trust in that first conversation instead of simply pitching your proposal.

Finally, Scot gives his thoughts on recruiting metrics and the only reason a recruiter should be looking at them, as well as whether cold-calling is officially dead in the staffing industry.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:25] Challenges that Scot had to overcome as a leader at Artech in 2020

●      [05:00] The pros and cons of working exclusively from home

●      [10:50] The challenges of hiring remotely

●      [12:38] Dealing with the unexpectedly uptick in business during COVID-19

●      [16:04] The importance of honesty and staying in your lane as a recruiter

●      [17:41] How to win strategic accounts today

●      [20:48] Attributes of a great recruiter

●      [23:50] Keys to rapport building

●      [29:02] Getting the candidate to talk more during the conversation than you

●      [35:30] Scot’s philosophy on recruiting metrics

●      [43:20] Is cold-calling dead in the agency recruiting business?

Key quotes:

●      “The one thing you can control is your level of effort.”

●      “This is a relationship business. Make no mistake. It always has been and it always will be no matter how much technology is involved.”

●      “The mindset that works in our industry is essentially a high sense of urgency [...] and an inquisitive nature.”

●      “The most successful salespeople and recruiters have a common skill: They’re able to build good rapport with their candidates and clients in a very short period of time—usually in one meeting.”

●      “Staying focused on open-ended questions really gets the conversation flowing with the person you’re engaged with.”

●      “You have to be able to take the interactions you’re having and focus on the other person. Make it about them. You want to learn about them. Through that process, you’ll have your opportunity to share, too.”

●      “You should look at metrics for one sole purpose: to help coach people and to understand where and when they’re struggling.”

●      “The key activity that generates results is getting client interviews.”

●      “It’s about your messaging as much as it’s about reaching out to people.”

Resources Mentioned:

●      Artech

●      Scot McCallum on LinkedIn

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with Joe Mullings, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of The Mullings Group, a leading search firm in the medical device industry.

He is also the Chief Visionary Officer of MRINetwork, a Top 3 executive search firm with 400 officers worldwide.

Finally, he is the Founder of Dragonfly Stories, a production company and studio that focuses on creating stories that revolve around medical technology, including four seasons of the docuseries TrueFuture, of which Joe is the host.

Joe shares his 30-year history in recruiting , why he is so passionate about content creation, and his best practices for building a strong online brand 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:50] An overview of The Mullings Group

●      [06:01] How Joe got involved with MRINetwork

●      [07:21] What went into Joe’s decision to invest in a production studio

●      [11:16] The power of telling visual stories on LinkedIn

●      [15:04] Helping old-school headhunters embrace digital media

●      [18:44] All about the TrueFuture docuseries

●      [22:00] Why Joe has never balanced a checkbook in his life

●      [24:44] Joe’s experience filming a show in Israel

●      [28:10] The 10-4-2 Strategy to grow your network and increase engagement

●      [31:54] The Digital Transition: Hum, Sing, Shout

●      [35:04] Staying on-brand while continuing to produce entertaining content

●      [37:20] Is it possible to overshare on LinkedIn?

●      [39:17] Why not creating content will quickly make you obsolete

●      [40:30] How branding moves the phone further down the activity chain

●      [48:07] The importance of eliminating friction in your business interactions

●      [53:30] What Joe is most excited about in 2021

Key quotes:

●      “The content [we produce] is part of the product [we market].”

●      “If you examine all the activities I have going on, they all revolve around empowering the individual to make career decisions in their life to give them more choices and more freedom as they move forward downrange.

●      “ROI only declares itself when you define the denominator of that which is the timeline.”

●      “If you really look at it and step back, [LinkedIn] is not a social platform; it’s not a job posting platform anymore. It’s an educational platform. We use LinkedIn to tell the stories of our clients.”

●      “I think headhunters who intelligently use media will replace headhunters who don’t use media.”

●      “When you start to balance a checkbook, you start to pull your punches.”

●      “Your Hum, Sing, Shout Strategy should not be about advertising. Your Hum, Sing, Shout Strategy should be about educating, informing, and inspiring.”

●      “Give, give, give without the expectation of anything in return; but don’t cheat yourself—be standing in plain sight when somebody needs something.”

●      “Put the thought on a Post-It. If it can’t fit on a Post-It, it can’t fit on LinkedIn.”

Resources Mentioned:

●      Joe Mullings

●      Joe Mullings on YouTube

●      Joe Mullings on LinkedIn

●      TrueFuture

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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Thanks to the incredible reception to our previous episode featuring 13 pearls of wisdom courtesy of previous guests, we’ve collected ten more short quotes from some of the earliest conversations we had on the podcast.

This week's episode includes clips from Marcus’s conversations with Julie Coucoules, Casey Jacox, Adriaan Kolff, Jeff Wald, Joel Lalgee, Natasha Katoni, Andrew Trout, Bruce Morton, Roopesh Panchasra, and Marcus Sawyerr.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:53] Julie Coucoules on partnering with recruiting agencies

●      [04:09] Casey Jacox on the importance of grit and resilience

●      [05:04] Adriaan Kolff on the key principles of success for job seekers

●      [06:14] Jeff Wald on how little one really knows when rolling out a new product or service

●      [07:25] Natasha Katoni on creating an excellent candidate experience

●      [08:20] Joel Leege on hiring great recruiters

●      [09:33] Andrew Trout on standing by your team amid crisis

●      [10:49] Bruce Morton on buying into your company’s mission

●      [13:11] Roopesh Panchasra on building a candidate pipeline

●      [14:55] Marcus Sawyerr on the purpose of building a diverse organization

Key quotes:

●      “What I always believed that agency recruiters should have is a value-add.” ~Julie Coucoules

●      “The elite sellers I’ve worked with were positive, had a plan, had clear direction with what they were trying to do, and they were resilient and gritty.” ~Casey Jacox

●      “It is a full-time job to find a new role, especially in this market.” ~Adriaan Kolff

●      “As smart as everybody is, we really don’t know a darn thing because we’re an audience of one; we’re a data set of one. Until you put something in front of a bunch of people, until you have a bunch of people touching it and interacting with it, you don’t really know how they’re going to use it.” ~Jeff Wald

●      “I would never go to bed until I made sure that I followed up with every single candidate. I hold myself to a 24-hour turnaround.” ~Natasha Katoni

●      “Try to hire the people that you feel have that desire to win.” ~Joel Leege

●      “[When making business decisions,] we’re thinking long-term and we constantly remind ourselves that this is a marathon, not a sprint.” ~Andrew Trout

●      “Studies have shown that if you have a diverse organization you, by far, outperform organizations who lack diversity.” ~Marcus Sawyerr

Resources Mentioned:

●      WIN the RELATIONSHIP, not the DEAL by Casey Jacox

●      The Ultimate Guide to Finding a New Job Fast & Efficiently by Adriaan Kolff

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/

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In this episode, Marcus Edwardes speaks with James Hornick. He is a partner at Hirewell, a 60+ person tech and marketing recruiting agency in Chicago. James wears many hats: leadership, strategy, marketing, business development, as well as content development and coaching under the banner of Careerwell, which he also co-founded.

James also publishes a newsletter called Talent Rants and Sarcasm, which offers a uniquely fresh perspective on all things recruiting.

Listen in as James makes a case for why content marketing is one of the most powerful initiatives that any recruitment agency can commit to today.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●      [02:49] The main distribution channels James uses for content marketing

●      [05:16] Why James decided to prioritize content marketing

●      [10:50] Is the lack of short-term ROI preventing many recruiters from committing to content marketing?

●      [13:30] Does James think twice about publishing controversial content?

●      [15:54] Why focusing on creating a personal brand over valuable content results in garbage content

●      [20:48] The right way to promote your product or service without resorting to a cheesy sales pitch

●      [23:54] Why video content works so well on LinkedIn

●      [28:19] Why personalization is overrated

●      [36:28] The right way to build an employer brand

●      [43:48] How to create content that resonates with your audience

●      [45:00] James on his most recent Saturday troll post

●      [49:27] What James has planned for the rest of the year at Hirewell and Careerwell

Key quotes:

●      “I’m a big believer that you have to start building out your own channels. While I’m on social media, I’m not a big fan of it. The algorithm can change. You don’t own that.”

●      “What I’ve always found hysterical is the amount of oversharing people do when it comes to their personal life on Facebook or Instagram; yet when it comes to something that will actually make you money such as improving your professional persona on LinkedIn, they completely clam up and they’re afraid of it.”

●      “You can talk about how your service or product works and why it’s valuable without giving a cheesy sales pitch.”

●      “Personalization is absolutely overrated. [...] Personalization is just a fancy way of saying ‘mail merge’ nowadays. I think that what candidates really crave is relevancy and detail, which is different from personalization.”

●      “Employer Brand is just a lagging indicator of your culture.”

Resources Mentioned:

●      Hirewell

●      Careerwell

Connect with Marcus https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusedwardes/