Will the real slim shady please stand up…

As the pandemic began, recruiters, along with the rest of the world, had to modify our way of doing business (and life in general). Suddenly, working from home wasn’t just a convenience – it was a necessity. As the Director of Talent Acquisition at CC Pace, remote work wasn’t a seismic shift for my team as I’ve long believed that recruiting can be done effectively from home. We could continue to source, screen, and pipeline candidates from our home office and still manage to meet candidates face-to-face throughout the interview process… just with one small change (enter the video chat). However, that small change had a bigger impact than I ever anticipated.

With remote work becoming the norm, professional ‘norms’ started to evolve – and not all for the better. New challenges emerged that were unprecedented. As if recruiters didn’t already have a tough time finding top-notch candidates that fit in with team and company dynamics, a slew of new challenges were introduced. Among them is the fake candidate.

Fake candidates come in many forms. If you’ve been involved with recruiting or hiring for technical positions, you’re probably chuckling to yourself (or cringing if I’m bringing up suppressed trauma) because you know what I’m talking about. If you’re one of the lucky ones who hasn’t been personally victimized by fake candidates, allow me to elaborate.

Breaking Down the Fake Candidate Personas

First, we’ll start with the ‘classic counterfeit’, which is a candidate who has a fake resume. These are real people who concoct a fake work history tailored to fit the needs of the position they are seeking. These resumes generally include fictional skills and fictional employers. In my experience, counterfeit candidates are doing this to get higher-paying jobs and are prevalent within the corp-to-corp contract/freelance world.

Then there is the ‘bait and switch’ applicant (this is a particularly infuriating one). This approach happens when unethical companies bring candidates to the US, sponsor their visas, and tremendously inflate their resumes, marketing the candidate as a highly skilled technical consultant. Again, the company is trying to recoup its investment quickly. This scenario might sound familiar to the ‘counterfeit candidate,’ and so far, it is. Cue the ‘bait and switch’. This happens when a technical interview is scheduled, and a very senior, highly skilled technical person takes the interview and lands the job, only to have a lesser qualified or even unqualified individual show up for the job. Seriously, who would ever think that this is acceptable?! But sadly, it happens.

My final example (save the best for last, right?) is a new emergent class of faker: ‘the moonlighter.’ You’ve heard of this! Just as the nickname suggests, this is the candidate who has the skills and experience to land a great job. However, instead of landing a great remote job (with a great salary), they decide to accept two full-time jobs (or maybe more!) and work them simultaneously, doing just enough to get by. Not only is that unethical (and a sure way to get fired fast), but it’s also giving the rest of the remote workers a bad name.

While we’ve tried to make light of these new challenges, in all seriousness, they have really complicated the job market. It impacts recruiters and employers in the worst of ways. Experienced recruiters have become very savvy at identifying these folks early in the process, although you can never be 100% sure 100% of the time. However, you can look at individual red flags and make a reasonable judgment. Here are a few of the red flags that can help you identify the real candidates from the pretenders. Note -some ‘legit candidates may show one or two of the signs below, but if more than a few of these concerns arise, further investigation may be warranted.

When verifying a candidate on their LinkedIn profile, be wary/concerned if:

They don’t list their full name
No details or limited information is provided (especially education)
They don’t have a photo (or use a stock photo, cartoon image, etc.)
A very low number of LinkedIn connections
They show no upward progression in their job history; only senior-level positions are visible
Work history only shows large worldwide companies (which makes it difficult to verify on social media)

When conducting a video interview, be aware of:

Video: Not turning on the camera and/or, when asked to use video, giving an excuse as to why they cannot do this.
Long Pauses: When answering questions, the candidate appears to be reading a script or ‘Googling’ to look for answers.
Mute: If you notice audio going on and off, along with a delay in answering questions, your spidey senses are probably going off (and for good reason!).
Other Red Flags:
- Sharing strange phone numbers that don’t line up with past or current physical locations.
- Giving generic descriptions of their role and projects they have worked on.
- Lacking knowledge of the companies they have worked for in the past.
- Requiring 100% remote, even if the position is located in the area they claim to reside.

Hopefully, these tips help to protect your organization from hiring a fake candidate (or you feel like you have a support group if this is something you’ve experienced yourself). While you can’t be 100% sure every suspicious resume is a fake, our goal is to find the right, real candidates for our clients – every time. At CC Pace, we’ve instituted a lot of standard procedures to help us identify and eliminate the fake candidates from the get-go so that you never have to experience a counterfeit candidate, a bait-and-switch, or a moonlighter at your organization! Give us a call if this is something you need help with!

Several of our clients are currently working to improve development team efficiency by hiring Software Development Engineers in Test (SDETs), to drive a deeper level of testing effectiveness by thinking through the design of both the code and the related testing process and frameworks, from the very beginning of the development lifecycle. As the role name suggests, successful SDETs combine developer and test engineer acumen, which allows them to work hand in hand with the development team on an equal footing.

Let us draw a Major League Baseball analogy, in our experience, if you consider test engineers “those that can pitch” and developers to be “those that can hit,” in searching for candidates the role requires an emphasis on the hitting portion of the task. Each task on its own is very hard.

The universe of candidates is certainly full of pitchers, QA engineers who have learned frameworks and now present themselves as SDETs. But in many cases, candidates lack the coding background to be successful in the role. They have been around hitting, but they haven’t had many at-bats.

Here are considerations for those that are looking to fill SDET positions as a candidate or one of our client technical leaders:

For aspiring SDETs, if you are a QA engineer candidate looking to make the jump to an SDET role, find a way in your current role to bolster your coding experience… you will increase your odds of success! You don’t necessarily have to be a developer, but you must be able to read code and prove so in a technical screen.
For CTOs and tech leaders, we’d expect most of your developers are not interested in making a full transition to an SDET position. Consider requiring/advocating for testing framework skills from a portion of your development staff and then have them rotate through the SDET position so they remain primarily developers.

In the realm of Major League Baseball, Don Drysdale is known as the classic “pitcher who can hit.” He recorded twenty-nine home runs in 1,169 career at-bats. Shohei Ohtani represents the modern embodiment of a dual-skilled superstar, achieving thirty-nine home runs this season alongside an ERA of 3.43. Just as baseball enthusiasts look for players adept at both pitching and hitting, we, too, search for SDETs who embody a harmonious blend of coding and testing prowess!

Good luck finding (or becoming) the next Drysdale or Ohtani!

As for the CC Pace team, we will be on the lookout for these highly capable pitchers that can hit. While this is not an easy role to quickly fill, we have an extensive referral network that is growing every day. Give us a call if you’re ready to find the perfect fit for your team.

When it comes to work trends, one thing is clear: the future is all about flexibility – but what does that really mean? Like many things, it tends to mean something different to just about everyone, as there is no ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ when it comes to applying it to the workplace. As many companies seek to craft their definition of adaptable work policies, CC Pace is in the middle of the crosscurrents in deciphering the right balance of flexibility, both for our staff and our team of consultants who are navigating various clients’ policies and expectations.

While we can’t tell you what policies are right for your organization, we can share some of the impacts we’ve seen these decisions have when it comes to recruiting. It should come as no surprise that companies with the strictest remote work policies are having the hardest time finding, and retaining, top talent. They’re having to dig deeper into their pockets to make a hire and are losing good employees to their competition at unprecedented rates. In fact, according to a recent poll, 54% of workers said they’d leave their current job for one that provided more flexibility.

Employers with varying ranges of flexibility (hybrid to fully remote options) attract up to an average of seven times more applicants than fully onsite positions (CareerBuilder). Job seekers have spoken, and they want flexible work options. So much so that, on average, they are willing to take a 14% salary decrease to work remotely, according to a recent survey by ZipRecruiter. Companies with flexible options are less likely to roll out the red carpet to get top talent and go into high-stakes salary negotiations compared to their inflexible competitors.

While employees mostly adjusted well to the changing landscape of this new work environment, companies (read: management), have had mixed results. We see continued refinements as hiring managers try to balance where the future is headed with how their positions stack up relative to the competitive alternatives that job seekers have. This often leads to misaligned expectations – job requirements that say, “completely remote,” to maintain a competitive edge, while managers casually mention to the recruiters that they’d ‘really like it if the candidate was within driving distance to the office’ so that they could ‘occasionally meet up.’ In other cases, all positions are hybrid roles, with no exceptions (although exceptions are made for the ideal candidate). This behavior is confusing and can contribute to a costly increase in turnover as current staff asks, “but what about me?”.

In our experience as a consulting firm, this newfound ability of clients to work with a hybrid/distributed workforce has allowed us to expand with clients that we would not have previously been able to support. Take a manufacturer who is located far from a major city; working with them to transform their IT department would have been cost-prohibitive in terms of sustained travel expenses. The happy middle ground here is spending some time face-to-face up front to establish the basic bonds necessary to be successful throughout the engagement. In this case, we need an employee who can ‘travel a little’ and would rule out anyone who cannot. Surprisingly, there are plenty of job seekers that remain adamant on being ‘fully remote’.

These observations don’t appear to be post-pandemic trends that will die out when the market shifts. In the world of technology services, we have seen that when the C-suite mandates ‘no remote work,’ it pushes away the top talent. After all, these are the same people logging in from home on the weekend when the system goes down, aren’t they? Beyond location, Europe’s 4-day workweek trial run in 2022 caught the attention of both employees and employers alike (albeit maybe for different reasons) and has inspired a lot of chatter stateside. Currently, Maryland has a bill on the table that, if passed, would offer major tax incentives to any businesses that scale back to a 4-day (32-hour) work week without employees losing any pay or benefits. It would be a major shakeup to the US workforce. But that’s for another post…

The bottom line is flexibility isn’t just good for your employee morale. It’s good for your bottom line. Companies with the right balance of flexibility save on upfront recruiting costs, employee turnover and can find higher-quality resources than their less-flexible counterparts. The haves and the have-nots have turned into the flexible and the inflexible.

All sides point to flexibility as a work trend that’s here to stay. In response to this trend, we’re creating an ease of coworking index offering to help organizations measure how easy it is for employees and teams to work together – particularly in remote and hybrid environments. Keep an eye out for this service to be released later in the year!

The latest trend on TikTok is a game called “He’s a 10 but.” It’s a simple game where friends rank imaginary partners based on different traits. For example, he/she could be a 10 when it comes to looks, but he/she chews with their mouth open. That might be a deal breaker for some people and they might decrease the ranking on that individual to a 2 or maybe a 5.

The CC Pace Recruiting team decided to take on this little trend and have some fun with what it takes to be a great candidate! Watch and enjoy!

What makes a good recruiter? Well, it depends on who you ask. I’ve been in the industry for over two decades and generally see my fellow recruiting directors answer that question one of two ways. The first answer: a high-volume recruiter – someone who can source numerous candidates quickly and move on to the next requirement. This recruiter excels at meeting goals, is generally very organized, and is a transaction-oriented individual. The second response (and the answer I firmly subscribe to) is a high-value recruiter – someone who is more focused on building strong relationships with both candidates and hiring managers than they are on transactions and numbers.

As a candidate, you don’t want your career treated like just another number, so finding a high-value recruiter is important. You want someone who can help you identify if a position is a fit for now versus the right fit based on your values and long-term career goals. If you’re wondering how to tell a high-volume recruiter from a high-value recruiter, I’ve put together some of the top attributes to look for to ensure you aren’t selling yourself short next time you’re on the job hunt.

High-Value Recruiters Get to Know YOU vs Your Resume

High-value recruiters take the time to get to know you beyond your resume. They are great listeners and pick up on the subtle details that indicate if a position is going to be a good fit for your personality, career goals, and values. The relationship-oriented recruiter is focused on your long-term aspirations and considers how those align with an opportunity versus simply submitting you for positions for which you may be qualified. For example, if you have a relatively low-risk tolerance, make sure you have a recruiter who can walk you through all the considerations that moving from a full-time employee to a contractor imposes. This sort of move is more than just a salary and benefits conversation – it requires a level of consulting that a recruiter focused on value and your long-term goals are going to be willing to have, even if it means a missed hire for them in the short term in order to ensure the best fit. A great recruiter puts the candidate before the position at all costs as they are more interested in finding the right fit for both sides.

High-Value Recruiters Have a History of Success

As a candidate, you want to work with a recruiter who has been there, done that. It’s not just about the years of experience, but it really does make a difference when you work with a recruiter who has a relationship with the client and has a history of successful hires. Don’t be afraid to ask the recruiter to reference their past success at the company you’re interested in! This will help you understand the insights your recruiter may have that you couldn’t possibly get from a job posting or even a Glassdoor review.

This is one area in which a relationship-oriented recruiter will add value to your job search in more ways than you may imagine. For example, what does the recruiter know about the company culture that you don’t know? They have relationships with candidates who work there, so they have a clear sense of what it’s like to work for the client and can accurately describe the company culture, projects, and expectations. They know and understand client nuances (e.g., manager personalities, team dynamics, corporate culture) and have awareness of what you need to do in order to succeed in the interview.

A high-value recruiter will not only take the time to prepare you for the interview process but will also prepare you for success once you land the job. Great recruiters are the face of the company and it’s their job to ensure that candidates walk away from the experience feeling positive about an opportunity, even if it ends up not being the right fit.

High-Value Recruiters are an Open Book

A high-value recruiter should talk to you like a good friend and tell you what you need to hear over what you want to hear. As a job seeker, you want someone who will give you candid, honest, and constructive feedback and advice before you get to the interview. You don’t want a ‘yes man’ who only tells you what you want to hear – you want someone who can help you grow and put you in the best position possible to make a great impression on the hiring manager. A stellar recruiter will be honest with you, even if it’s uncomfortable (but will always do so in a professional and helpful way). The job may be out of your league or the money you desire may not be realistic. You may not like to hear these things, but it’s better to find them out before you get too far down the process!

High-Value Recruiters are Relationship-Oriented

Finally, one of the most important characteristics of a high-value recruiter is that they are driven by people, not numbers. You’ll know when you find them as they are laser-focused on your needs and finding out more about what drives you. They want to understand your goals, your expectations, and what job characteristics you prioritize over others. The value-driven recruiter keeps an open mind for the best long-term fit, not just the opportunity on the table.

These recruiters tend to be likable and build strong relationships with both candidates and hiring managers. There’s a level of trust on both sides, knowing that the recruiter is in it for the long haul and will go to great lengths to find the best fit for everyone because they value the relationship over a goal and would put that at stake just to get a hire. Their reputation, relationships, and referrals are more important than the instant gratification of a single transaction.

A high-value recruiter can make all the difference in your job search. When you find a recruiter who values the person over the transaction, they act like a consultant to your hiring process – advising you, redirecting you, and making sure you’re landing in the right place where you’ll be happy, have alignment with your career goals and are getting the best compensation possible.

One final piece of advice: when you find high-value recruiters, make sure you stay in touch with them, even after you have found the job because those connections can be invaluable to your career. If you have any questions about the recruiting process, feel free to connect with one of our recruiters today to see how we can help you find your next position!

Recently, I read an article titled, “Why Distributed Software Development Teams Work Infinitely Better”, by Boris Kontsevoi.

It’s a bit hyperbolic to say that distributed teams work infinitely better, but it’s something that any software development team should consider now that we’ve all been distributed for at least a year.

I’ve worked on Agile teams for 10-15 years and thought that they implicitly required co-located teams. I also experienced the benefits of working side-by-side with (or at least close to) other team members as we hashed out problems on whiteboards and had adhoc architecture arguments.

But as Mr. Kontsevoi points out, Agile encourages face-to-face conversation, but not necessarily in the same physical space. The Principles behind the Agile Manifesto were written over 20 years ago, but they’re still very much relevant because they don’t prescribe exactly “how” to follow the principles. We can still have face-to-face conversations, but now they’re over video calls.

This brings me to a key point of the article -” dispersed teams outperform co-located teams and collaboration is key”. The Manifesto states that building projects around motivated individuals is a key Agile principle.

Translation: collaboration and motivated individuals are essential for a distributed team to be successful.

You cannot be passive on a team that requires everyone to surface questions and concerns early so that you can plan appropriately.
You cannot fade into the background on a distributed team, hoping that minimal effort is good enough.
If you’re leading a distributed team, you must encourage active participation by having regular, collaborative team meetings. If there are team members that find it difficult to speak above the “din” of group meetings, seek them out for 1:1 meetings (also encouraged by Mr. Kontsevoi).

Luckily, today’s tools are vastly improved for distributed teams. They allow people to post questions on channels where relevant team members can respond, sparking adhoc problem-solving sessions that can eventually lead to a video call.

Motivated individuals will always find a way to make a project succeed, whether they’re distributed, co-located, or somewhere in between. The days of tossing software development teams into a physical room to “work it out” are likely over. The new distributed paradigm is exciting and, yes, better – but the old principles still apply.

We would like to introduce Deepak Palanivelu to you. Due to Deepak’s positive experience with CC Pace as a contractor, he approached us regarding his desire for a permanent position. We jumped at the chance to bring him on as a full-time team member. Here Deepak shares his story of the whole transitioning and on-boarding process that took place for him to become a CC Pace employee.

Welcome to the CC Pace family Deepak!

Are you a seasoned Agile Practitioner interested in expanding services beyond yourself while providing strategic guidance to a variety of clients?

CC Pace is currently looking for a dynamic Agile Thought Leader who is ready to make an immediate impact and drive our Agile transformation services. The ideal candidate is local to the DC metro area, is comfortable making decisions and implementing innovative ideas. CC Pace will provide a flexible working environment and support interest in growing a personal reputation in the global Agile community, in addition to a competitive, comprehensive suite of benefits.

What will an Agile Thought Leader at CC Pace do?

Set the direction for our Agile transformation services, drive strategic imperatives, define Agile offerings, establish priorities and grow our Agile business
Represent CC Pace at conferences, through independently orchestrated thought leadership and by guiding client engagements
Provide strategic guidance to clients through enhancing, producing and delivering Agile training and coaching both in person and via alternative delivery modes
Build and mentor a team of consultants to deliver the services both with internal staff and business partners
Define and brand CC Pace while developing new relationships in the Agile community

Position Requirements:

Current certified Agile credentials or equivalent level of experience
Strong communication and presentation skills – must be versed at public speaking and a capable writer
Proven experience leading Agile engagements, including developing training materials and coaching at both the enterprise and team level
Ability to demonstrate leadership experience in IT delivery, including building and sustaining high-performing teams
Strong leadership skills that will support setting the direction for our Agile practice, managing a team of resources and driving the Agile offering and delivery strategies
Ability to provide ample thought leadership to further our footprint in the Agile community
Strong business acumen that will assist in supporting the sales & marketing efforts involving Agile transformation services

At CC Pace we have a strong referral program and encourage not only our employees but even those who don’t work for us to take advantage of it – so if you know someone who would be a fit for this position please refer them!

For more information regarding this Agile Thought Leader position, please contact Rechelle Card, rcard@ccpace.com

Now that you have hired millennials, this last blog in our millennials series discusses integrating them to become part of your team, and making changes to your organization to fit their professional needs. As with any new employee, it takes time for that person to become acclimated to your organization.

This article, 2018 Millennials at Work Report, touches on managing this generation, millennials in leadership and long-term change. Making small changes across the board to create a more relaxed work environment seems to be a key starting point. Even employees outside of this generation will welcome change as they too seek more flexible schedules, cutting edge technology, professional development and management feedback.

If leaders are willing to take the time to invest in this generation of workers, it will surely make a difference to not only their teams, but their business.

We came across in interesting article on Tips for Interviewing Millennials (And What They Really Want from a Job). It discusses how, in the workforce today, there are 5 different generations of workers. How does an employer position themselves to be attractive to each of these generations?

The first step would be understanding what each generation is looking for in an employer and seeing how that fits within your organization. Millennials have quickly become the largest growing pool of candidates and interviewing them may be a bit different than previous generations.

The top items they want to hear about are equality, flexibility and growth. This article will give you some key questions to ask to ensure both you and the candidate are on the same page to create a perfect union.

In our previous blog What Really Matters to Millennials Today, we discussed that more than one third of the workforce today are millennials. Employers are now asking themselves, what can we do to appeal this demographic?

How to Attract Millennials to Your Company highlights 4 key areas to consider when focusing on these job seekers to join your team:

Millennials Value Passion and Purpose
Allow Autonomy With Flex Hours
Don’t Ban Social Media
Revise Your Recruiting Process

This list is actually not limited to just millennials. Everyone, regardless of age, wants to feel passion and purpose, desires flexibility, uses social media and has changed the way they now job search. However, it is the millennials who have driven more companies to consider the importance of addressing what they have to offer. Are you ready to revamp and do what it takes to attract millennials?

This post, The No. 1 Thing That Causes Millennial Employees to Quit, states that more than one third of the workforce in the United States is between the ages of 18 and 34 years old. It also points out that millennials are currently the largest group of workers in America.

Dominating the recruiting pool, millennials have made it well known that if they are not happy in their current work environment, they will move on without hesitation. So, what can companies do to meet the needs of millennials? It seems the answer is not that difficult to find – to recruit and retain these workers, employers simply need to provide them a corporate culture that provides positivity, flexibility and the latest technologies.

Companies need to take a closer look at what they offer, and make the necessary changes to not only attract, but keep, these valuable employees who are the future of their organizations.

Can you believe it is already 2018? Think about all the technological advances there have been in the last 10 years… no actually make that 5 years - it is truly unbelievable! All of this new technology has created a culture of “now”. Interested in watching something on TV – just stream it, “now”. Do you want to ask someone a quick question, no matter where they are – just shoot them a text, “now”. Do you want to order something and have it delivered today – just get online and order it, “now”.

Move that thinking to the human resources or recruiting department of an organization where they think, if only we could start to screen for this position “now”. If only we can confirm this candidate is as good in person, as they are on paper “now”. This is where the advantage of video interviewing comes into play.

This article, 15 Advantages of Video Interviews You Didn’t Know About, discusses how companies, both big and small, are using this technology to screen candidates, streamline the hiring process and save these organizations time and money. A video interview is a great way to connect with a potential employer, so be prepared as you begin your next job search and make sure you are camera ready!

Any business will tell you that retaining employees is important. The costs involved with the turnover of employees equals about a quarter of their annual pay. That takes into account the cost involved in: hiring, onboarding, the new hire’s learning curve and the ripple effects on the rest of the team. Every employer knows that the longer a person stays with a company, the more valuable and productive they become for that company.

At CC Pace, the retention rate for our staffing placements has been above 90% for the past 5 years. This article 4 Reasons why Employee Retention is Important (And 4 Reasons All Business Owners Should Use to reduce turnover) highlights why workforce retention is important, and strategies that can improve employee loyalty. A great deal of our success with our people is due to our commitment to provide our clients with the best candidates, based on this approach:

We work with our clients as a partner, finding the right fit by taking the time to truly understand their business and technology needs.
We are a consulting firm first – with full time business and technology experts available to help guide the qualification process and customized screening tools.
Most importantly, we make quality a priority over quantity. Knowing people means assessing their technical knowledge, their soft skills, their cultural profile, and everything in between.

Now that you have read about what we offer our clients and how we find the right fit for each position, you must be wondering what’s it really like to work for CC Pace? Let our consultants tell you firsthand about their experience working with CC Pace.

“The primary reason for choosing to work with CC Pace AGAIN is that they have top notch people who will ensure that you are a great fit for the openings, as well as making sure that your values align with theirs.” – Travis R., Consultant

“At the client site, CC Pace has always made sure I succeeded in doing my job which only shows how much they care about their people and their clients. I particularly appreciated how management was available to answer any questions I had while working on the client’s projects. Even though I worked with CC Pace as a consultant, I should note that I was treated equally as an employee.” – Namgyel D., Consultant

“I’ve been involved with CC Pace as an employee, contractor and customer for more than 22 of my nearly 35 years in the working world. I can honestly say that there is no better employer, contract vendor, or business partner with which I have had the pleasure to be associated. The employee-centric culture, strong business knowledge and technical expertise, and an ethical standard par none are why I have remained associated with them over the years. CC Pace provided me with the experience and opportunity needed to launch my career. Now, so many years later, I’ve come full circle, rejoining them and leveraging all that they helped provide.” – Paul H., Consultant

Looking to make a change in your career? Think about joining us and check out our latest job opportunities.

Previously, in Part 1 of this blog series, we discussed how U.S. News and World Report stated that two-thirds of the candidates employees refer get hired and how companies benefit by hiring those employee referrals. Today, we want to address how to build your own personal network.

By creating a network, you expose yourself to unlimited opportunities to have doors opened for you when searching for a new position. And, in turn, you may be able to open some doors for others. So, how do you get started?

It’s easy: start by getting social! Create your profile in LinkedIn and/or Facebook. Depending on your area of expertise, a Twitter or Pinterest account may also be beneficial. Now start connecting with everyone you know! Here is a list of Top 10 Places to Find People to Grow Your Network:

Associates in your current and past places of employment
Customers/Clients (both current and past)
Friends, family, friends of friends, and neighbors
Professional organizations or associations
The Alumni program at your alma mater
Do you have children? If so, reach out to other parents, teachers, coaches, instructors, and scout leaders
Fellow members of any clubs, organizations, church and community groups
Get involved with your civic association or homeowners association
Do you have a gym membership? Get to know some of your fellow gym members!
Include those whose services you use, your hairstylist, mail carrier, doctor, house cleaner, pet sitter, baby sitter, repairman, etc. They all have built their businesses on referrals so they are a great resource.

The network you build will give you the ability to use these contacts to help you find your next position. Now when you apply for a new job you will use your network for a connection to get your foot in the door with a referral – remember the saying “it’s all about who you know”!

At CC Pace our Referral Program is open to everyone. It’s simple: refer someone to us for a position and, if they get hired, you get a referral bonu$! So take a minute, and check out our job postings and refer away! While building a network can seem like a lot of work, in the end the opportunities and professional gains that come your way will be well worth it!

Sure, the office seems nice, the finishes are modern, fresh and bright, but day-to-day what goes on within the walls of the office environment are what really matters. When you are seeking a new position you need to remember that not only are they interviewing you, but you are interviewing them as well.

Here are some key question to keep in mind: What is the ideal company culture for you? Do you succeed in a more casual or formal business setting? Do you like a hands-on leadership approach? Does this company share the same values you do in making sure things are done correctly versus just getting the job done?

How to Determine If a Company Is a Good Fit for You gives a great perspective on important factors you should consider before you sign your next offer letter. Remember—the interview process is just as important for you as it is for the hiring company.

At CC Pace, we aren’t trying to fit you into a role; we’re committed to finding the best fit for you. Why? Because we are not your average staffing firm. This commitment is the reason our clients have stayed with us for over 35 years and why many of our candidates have worked with us for over a decade. As a recruiter at CC Pace, I strive to get the best sources available to keep up to our firm’s reputation.

‘Purple squirrel’ is a term used by recruiters to describe a job candidate with precisely the right education, specific, hard-to-find experience and qualifications that perfectly fits a job’s multifaceted requirements (Wikipedia). It may sound unrealistic, but if your hard work pays off, and maybe with a little luck, you find just the right candidate which fits your clients requirement – and that’s your purple squirrel. You simply cannot afford lose them!

They’re in high demand. As the author of the article below says, you can’t just blast them with impersonal email and expect them to respond. They get dozens of those emails each week and it’s never going to work. You can’t just tweet them a job title or send an InMail with a link to your job posting and expect them to drop everything and apply online. It just isn’t going to happen.

So, how is it going to happen? There are some great tips in this article, Recruiting Purple Squirrels? Here’s the Trick, by Stacy Donovan Zapar, for courting your purple squirrel. Enjoy and hopefully it adds to your recruiting arsenal.