turn reqs into sourcing strategies

turn reqs into SOURCING STRATEGIES

Mark Tortorici Founder & Training Expert [email protected]

about Mark Tortorici

Mark Tortorici is the Founder & Training Expert at Transform Talent Acquisition. Since 1997, Mark has trained thousands of technical staffing professionals including hundreds at Google, where he taught sourcers and recruiters onsite throughout the company’s global staffing organization. Other companies include Facebook, Disney, Tagged, Apple, eBay, Yahoo, and AppNexus.

Mark also helped launch the MARS (Master Accreditation in Recruiting and Sourcing) certification program with netPolarity, which creates expert staffing professionals with little or no previous industry experience. He has managed staffing teams with great success and is an expert technical sourcer & recruiter.

what is the problem?

When it comes to technology, are you a recruiter without a clue?


When you search for engineers with Big Data experience, does your string look like this: engineer AND (“big data” OR “giant data”)


When you search for engineers with Big Data experience, does your string look like this:


When you talk to candidates about Cloud Computing do you feel like this?


Yeah Brain, basically it’s a bunch of

computers up in a cloudy sky?

Pinky, are you contemplating the

same thing that I am contemplating?

When you talk to candidates about Cloud Computing do you feel like this?


Screening candidates for technology experience can be difficult Sourcing for the technology can be just as difficult

what is the solution? Understand Tech!

A recent Careerbuilder survey said that one in four candidates were dissatisfied with the way the recruiting process was handled Of course the number one reason is still submitting their resume and never hearing anything again

what is the solution? Understand Tech!

But the other main reasons included: • Being sold a job that wasn’t a fit for them at all

• Not having a good idea about the technical screening that would occur during the onsite interview

do we do this? how

We know: Recruiters and sourcers aren’t computer science graduates or engineers (though that would be nice!)

do we do this? how

But we need: The gaps between candidates and recruiters to be bridged

1. Three job openings that every staffing professional is filling today

2. How to source for these reqs

3. How to screen and recruit for them

in this session we break down:

Part I: Breakdown

…the technology

breakdown technology

You can’t source/recruit for a job req if you don’t understand it.

Fill a req with blind

luck?

Maybe.


But that will be at the expense of: • Too much employee time wasted searching

• Too many wrong candidates qualified

• Too much of the hiring manager’s time wasted

interviewing


Once you have a basic understanding of the most common job functions in the technical world, then you will be able to:


Once you have a basic understanding of the most common job functions in the technical world, then you will be able to: • Source through resumes quicker • Come up with search strings that capture more targeted candidates

• Recognize candidates that are not a fit very quickly


Research the “classic” definitions of these engineering roles online. There are tons of technical documents, articles, wikis, and encyclopedias that cover this.


Research the “classic” definitions of these engineering roles online. There are tons of technical documents, articles, wikis, and encyclopedias that cover this. Don’t use Wikipedia only! Use multiple sources of info.


Look at resume after resume of people who work in similar jobs or companies. There is no better way to learn how to instantly recognize and profile resumes, other than to look at TONS of them.


Key reference materials:

www.answers.com

Computer Desktop Encyclopedia

Look it up on Google!

There are so many different sites, encyclopedias, white papers, and technical journals out there…USE THEM!


it all starts with the req…

Hadoop / Big Data Engineer

Break it down

it all starts with the req…

understand technology

Bridge technology and staffing


Break down 3 common roles we see today 1. Hadoop / Big Data Engineer

2. Piping Designer / Engineer

3. Production / DevOps / Site Reliability Engineer


What is Hadoop? Where is it used? What languages are used? Why do we use it?

1. Hadoop / Big Data Engineer



What is Hadoop? An open source framework used to create distributed data applications Where is it used? What languages are used? Why do we use it?



What is Hadoop? Where is it used? Typically used in high availability, large scale applications like search engines, highly visible ecommerce applications, mission critical distributed apps What languages are used? Why do we use it?



What is Hadoop? Where is it used? What languages are used? Hadoop is written in Java and is very much a part of the open source SW community – because of that, many versions have been created Why do we use it?



What is Hadoop? Where is it used? What languages are used? Why do we use it? Because Hadoop can handle large data sets that reach into the terabytes range, which traditional enterprise databases cannot handle. Also, Hadoop can work with unstructured data & is open source.

Data Engineer Responsibilities • Building scalable data solutions and data warehouse environment. • Leverage homegrown ETL framework as well as off-the-shelf ETL tools • Build and extend cross platform ETL and reports generation framework • Provide consultative solutions approach to business partners

Requirements • B.S. or M.S. Computer Science or related field • Passionate about data • At least 5 years of ETL development experience with Python, Perl, PHP

or similar • Expert in ETL techniques handling extremely large volumes of data • Experience with Data warehousing architecture • Knowledge of Hadoop, HBase and Hive highly preferred


What is a Data Warehouse?



ERP

CRM

Operational

Flat Files


ERP

CRM

Operational

Flat Files

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract


ERP

CRM

Operational

Flat Files

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

TRANSFORM


ERP

CRM

Operational

Flat Files

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

TRANSFORM

Load


ERP

CRM

Operational

Flat Files

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Data Warehouse

TRANSFORM

Load


ERP

CRM

Operational

Flat Files Data Mart Data Mart

Extract

Extract

Extract

Extract

Data Warehouse

TRANSFORM

Load

Data Mart

identify primary functions







identify secondary functions

Put together an “elevator pitch” that summarizes the job: “I am looking for ETL / Data Warehouse Developer who will customize home grown data tools in Perl, Python, or PHP. The desired candidate will be an expert in Hadoop / Hive / Hbase and experience with large data sets.”

formulate your pitch

ETL / DW

Developer

Custom / Homegrown

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets

Hadoop / Hive / Hbase

Use this base profile to grade your candidates.

A-level candidate B-level candidate C-level (probably wrong)

ETL / DW

Developer

Custom / Homegrown

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets


ETL / DW

Developer

Off-the-shelf ETL SW

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets

grade candidates

ETL / DW

Developer

Custom / Homegrown

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets


Use this base profile to grade your candidates.

A-level candidate B-level candidate C-level (probably wrong)

ETL / DW

Developer

Custom / Homegrown

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets


ETL / DW

Developer

Off-the-shelf ETL SW

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets

Developer

ETL / DW

Custom / Homegrown

Perl / Python / PHP

Large Data Sets


grade candidates

Expand each of your terms from you’re A-Level Profile with as many variations possible. Make sure they equal each other.

ETL / DW

ETL Datawarehouse

“Data Warehouse”

Developer

Developer Programmer

“Data Engineer” “Software enginer”

Perl / Python / PHP

Perl PHP

Python


Hadoop Hive

Hbase Mapreduce

“Map/Reduce” Mahout Vertica

Mongodb Couchdb

Large Data Sets

“Big Data” PB

Petabytes “large scale”

“data services” “data pipeline”

Custom / Homegrown

(not used since someone who is an ETL developer

and has Hadoop experience is likely

creating homegrown SW)

expand keywords

(etl OR "data warehouse" OR datawarehouse) AND (developer OR programmer OR "software engineer") AND (perl OR php OR python) AND (hadoop OR hive OR mapreduce OR "map/reduce" OR mahout OR vertica OR couchdb OR mongodb) AND (pb OR "Big Data" OR petabytes OR "large scale" OR "data services" OR "data pipeline")

Use your A-Level Profile to create a string:

formulate your string




Special thanks to Matt Ferree @getreqt

Part II Source

…the technology

• Sourcing for technical positions cannot be done with just “buzzwords”

breakdown sourcing

• The very use of the term “buzzwords” indicates a removed level of understanding from the people who understand the meaning of these words

breakdown sourcing

• Start by creating strings from the profiles of candidates that we need to find

breakdown sourcing


• For each of your search terms, think of as many variations as possible that describe that word

breakdown sourcing


• For each of your search terms, think of as many variations as possible that describe that word

• Group together similar terms

breakdown sourcing

• Envision the profile = think of the variations • If you need candidates with Hadoop database

experience, then don’t just put “Hadoop” • Expand your search terms with as many

variations as you can think of:

(bigtable OR hadoop OR nosql OR "no-sql" OR "map/reduce" OR mapreduce OR hive OR hbase OR couchdb OR mongodb OR "unstructured data")

breakdown sourcing

Expand each of your terms from you’re A-Level Profile with as many variations possible. Make sure they equal each other.

ETL / DW

ETL Datawarehouse

“Data Warehouse”

Developer

Developer Programmer

“Data Engineer” “Software enginer”

Perl / Python / PHP

Perl PHP

Python


Hadoop Hive

Hbase Mapreduce

“Map/Reduce” Mahout Vertica

Mongodb Couchdb

Large Scale Data

“Big Data” PB

Petabytes “large scale”

“data services” “data pipeline”

Custom / Homegrown

(not used since someone who is an ETL developer

and has Hadoop experience is likely

creating homegrown SW)

expand keywords

Look for ETL development in large scale environments running on Hadoop

source the right profiles

Evidence of moving large amounts of data for constant/daily analysis Custom ETL development with different languages in a Hadoop environment

source the right profiles

Part III Talk

…the technology

breakdown the questions

When it comes to interviewing (phone or in-person), there are 2 ways it can be done:


When it comes to interviewing (phone or in-person), there are 2 ways it can be done: • The RIGHT WAY


When it comes to interviewing (phone or in-person), there are 2 ways it can be done: • The RIGHT WAY • And the WRONG WAY


• The WRONG WAY is asking the candidate if they have XYZ experience.

• The RIGHT WAY is asking the candidate where did they

use XYZ experience, when did they use it, and how much were they involved in the project/process.

Besides basic telephone / recruiting skills we need: • To know how to weed out the mediocre candidates

from the superstars

• To know which questions to ask and why we ask them

• This level of understanding will bolster your credibility with the candidates and hiring managers


The Right Screening Questions


The Right Screening Questions • Screening questions are the key to your success


The Right Screening Questions • Screening questions are the key to your success • If your questions can be answered with a “yes” or “no” then you aren’t recruiting – You are taking a survey


The Right Screening Questions • Screening questions are the key to your success • If your questions can be answered with a “yes” or “no” then you aren’t recruiting – You are taking a survey

• Create questions that require the candidate to describe their experience in depth


Who, What, Where, Why, & How – Base your questions around the JOB FUNCTION:


Who, What, Where, Why, & How – Base your questions around the JOB FUNCTION: • WHO is the company and group/division that this job is for? • WHAT (tool, software, method) did you use to complete the job / task? • WHAT was your level of involvement? • HOW long did it take to complete the (project, application) on time? • WHY did you choose this (software, method, programming paradigm) over others? • WHERE can we see examples of your work?



Questions for Hadoop / Big Data Engineer

• WHAT needed to be done with the data? WHAT purpose did the processing serve? • WHAT ETL tools were used in the job? • WHAT was your level of involvement? Were you the primary engineer? • HOW much data was processed over what period of time? Terabytes / day? • WHY did you decide to build a custom ETL tool instead of using something like Informatica, Ab Initio, or SSIS (Sql Server Integration Services)? • WHAT was done with the data warehouse once it was built?


Break it down again



Bridge technology and staffing


Break down 3 common roles we see today 1. Hadoop / Big Data Engineer


3. Production / DevOps / Site Reliability Engineer


What do they do? What industries can they work in? What SW tools do they use? What educational backgrounds with they have?




What do they do? They design, verify and create layouts for piping systems while focusing on material quality, stress analysis, and flow with the lines. What industries can they work in? What SW tools do they use? What educational backgrounds with they have?



What do they do? What industries can they work in? They can come from both off-shore (oil, gas) and onshore (water, oil, gas, mining) What SW tools do they use? What educational backgrounds with they have?



What do they do? What industries can they work in? What SW tools do they use? These engineers use CAD (computer aided design) tools or software to design the pipes used in these offshore and onshore projects What educational backgrounds with they have?



What do they do? What industries can they work in? What SW tools do they use? What educational backgrounds with they have? Most of the time, they will have mechanical engineering degrees or backgrounds. They could also have civil engineering degrees or no related degree at all.


PIPING DESIGNER/ENGINEER – MELBOURNE As an ideal candidate, you will have experience as a Piping Designer or Engineer on large scale projects in the MOG industries. You will be well versed in piping engineering and verification, and demonstrate proficiency with AutoCAD and PDMS. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate: Tertiary qualified in Mechanical Engineering (degree/diploma or equivalent) 4-5 years of experience in a similar position Extensive industry background in MOG Proficiency with AutoCAD and PDMS Exposure to RealityLINX and/or CloudWorx (highly desirable)

Expand each of your terms from you’re A-Level Profile with as many variations possible. Make sure they equal each other. (designer OR engineer) (piping OR pipeline) (bsme OR msme OR "mechanical engineer" OR "mechanical engineering" OR "civil engineering") (mining OR ore OR oil OR gas OR drilling OR "off shore" OR offshore)

Job titles

designer engineer

Degree (s)

bsme msme

"mechanical engineer" "mechanical engineering"

"civil engineering"

Industry

mining ore oil

gas drilling

"off shore" offshore

breakdown sourcing

Focus

piping pipeline

(designer OR engineer) (piping OR pipeline) (bsme OR msme OR "mechanical engineer" OR "mechanical engineering" OR "civil engineering") (mining OR ore OR oil OR gas OR drilling OR "off shore" OR offshore)

breakdown sourcing

site:au.linkedin.com/in OR site:au.linkedin.com/pub -inurl:dir


Candidate designing piping systems for a company


Questions for Piping Designer

• WHAT steps of the process were you responsible for? Design, layout and verification? • WHAT were the regulations that you had to follow for this particular project? • HOW adjust to the client’s / customer’s changing requirements? • WHY did you create the designs using this particular PDMS? • WHO is using these designs? Are they still used at the company?

• HOW much of the design work was attributed directly to you?

• HOW long did it take for you to complete the project?



What is Production/DevOps? What are similar functions/titles? What skills do they have? What is the string?

3. Production / DevOps Engineer


3. Production / DevOps Engineer What is Production/DevOps? These groups support the systems, applications, and servers that run mission critical software for a corporation What are similar functions/titles? What skills do they have? What is the string?


3. Production / DevOps Engineer What is Production/DevOps? What are similar functions/titles? Production Engineer, Dev Ops, Service Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Sys Admin, Systems Engineer, Linux Engineer, etc. What skills do they have? What is the string?


3. Production / DevOps Engineer What is Production/DevOps? What are similar functions/titles? What skills do they have? They are part systems engineer, part SW support/deployment, and part troubleshooting/QA What is the string?


3. Production / DevOps Engineer What is Production/DevOps? What are similar functions/titles? What skills do they have? What is the string? (production OR "service engineer" OR "site reliability" OR distributed OR "99.99" OR "99.999" OR devops OR "dev ops") (unix OR Linux) (rpm OR package OR yum OR release) (shell OR perl) (python OR perl OR ruby) (deployed OR deployment)


(inurl:resume OR intitle:resume OR inurl:cv OR intitle:cv) (production OR "service engineer" OR "site reliability" OR distributed OR "99.99" OR "99.999" OR devops OR "dev ops") (unix OR Linux) (rpm OR package OR yum OR release) (shell OR perl) (python OR perl OR ruby) (deployed OR deployment) -jobs -job


Evidence of supporting a large scale application / web architecture Also evidence of an OLTP / mission critical environment


Questions for Production / DevOps Engineer

• WHAT application were you supporting? Was this a mission critical service for the company?


• WHAT application were you supporting? Was this a mission critical service for the company? • WHAT programming platform was the application built in? LAMP? .NET? J2EE?


• WHAT application were you supporting? Was this a mission critical service for the company? • WHAT programming platform was the application built in? LAMP? .NET? J2EE? • HOW many servers did you support? Were they strictly application servers or were they also web servers and database servers?


• WHAT application were you supporting? Was this a mission critical service for the company? • WHAT programming platform was the application built in? LAMP? .NET? J2EE? • HOW many servers did you support? Were they strictly application servers or were they also web servers and database servers? • WHAT deployment tools did you use to keep on top of software releases and updates?


• WHAT application were you supporting? Was this a mission critical service for the company? • WHAT programming platform was the application built in? LAMP? .NET? J2EE? • HOW many servers did you support? Were they strictly application servers or were they also web servers and database servers? • WHAT deployment tools did you use to keep on top of software releases and updates? • WHO else was on the team? What were their roles?


• WHAT application were you supporting? Was this a mission critical service for the company? • WHAT programming platform was the application built in? LAMP? .NET? J2EE? • HOW many servers did you support? Were they strictly application servers or were they also web servers and database servers? • WHAT deployment tools did you use to keep on top of software releases and updates? • WHO else was on the team? What were their roles?

• HOW many users did this application support?


Elementary, my dear Watson • Remember that you are a detective

• A candidate is not a fit until you get

the answers you need

Sherlock Holms great-great-grandson: Suh P. Holms, world renowned recruiter


in SUMMARY

• Learn the Technology – Understand the technical requirements and job function • Do your Research – Research the company, the group, the product, the corporate vertical, and look up every term you don’t know • Formulate the Correct Search Strings – Based off of your research, create search strings that describe your candidates in multiple ways • Ask the right Screening Questions – If you don’t know the technology, how can you validate the candidate’s experience?

in SUMMARY

turn reqs into SOURCING STRATEGIES

Mark Tortorici Founder & Training Expert [email protected]

turn reqs into sourcing strategies

Recruiting & HR