Nine Ways to Leverage Your Recruiting!

Nine Ways to Leverage Your Recruiting
Are you whittling away your time and energy? If so, you're not alone.
Many recruiters spin their wheels, day after day. And while it's unrealistic to expect each recruiting call, client visit or sendout to result in a placement, it IS possible to use economies of scale to leverage your efforts. Here are nine ways to leverage your efforts:
Build key accounts. By cultivating a relationship with one company with multiple openings, you'll only have to deal with one decision maker, one corporate culture, one fee agreement and one set of rules.
Focus on similar or overlapping job orders. That way, you can draw from a single pool of candidates.
Recruit candidates with similar skills or market affiliations. If you prioritize searches that yield a reusable inventory, you won't gather a vast collection of needles that may never find a haystack.
Set consistent ground rules. For clients, that translates into a standard set of fees, guarantees, points of contact and presentation procedures. For candidates, it's best to develop minimum screening standards for urgency, mobility, motivation and counteroffer risk.
Rotate your marketing. Time your outbound communications so that clients, prospects and candidates receive your e-mail, direct mail or voice mail once a month or once a quarter.
Broaden your exposure. Whenever possible, post or cross-post your jobs online, and market yourself by writing articles for print and Web-based publications.
Educate your candidates. Help them compete more effectively by publishing resume templates, interview tips and job comparison charts on your Web site.
Monopolize the flow of candidates. In other words, avoid situations where the odds are stacked against you. It makes more sense to work one "exclusive" where all five candidates are yours than it does to work on five jobs in which you only have one of the five candidates the employer plans to interview.
Batch your meetings. If you're working with multiple decision makers, put all of them in the same room when you write the job order. You can also ask each person to fill out a questionnaire that describes the job and then compare notes. If your sales staff and recruiting staff are separate, make sure both of you meet with the decision makers. That way, you'll avoid the "lost in translation" syndrome that can cripple a search.
As a recruiter, you can either carve a tree into a toothpick or cut the tree into lumber and build a house. I prefer the latter approach, where the least amount of effort produces the most useful results.
-Bill Radin
www.billradin.com

9 Steps for Conducting a Strong Client Meeting !

9 Steps for Conducting a Strong Client Meeting
Rehearse your presentation:
Rehearse a verbal and mental presentation of your meeting. Get to the point where you have memorized the key points that you want to cover. Nothing will add to your self confidence like preparation and rehearsal.
Set the framework for the meeting:
Say something like this to your client, "I'd like to ask you some specific questions to see if we can be of service, then I can answer any questions you have about us. We're probably looking at 30-40 minutes, does this work for you"?
Use intense listening:
The great thing about client meetings is that what the client really wants is simply to be heard and understood by you. This means that you must be an intense listener. Follow this simple guideline: they talk 80% of the time.
Ask quality questions to expose their wounds and gather info:
Ask "what" questions like these:
What do you like most about your current relationships with other search firms?
What do you like least about your current relationships with other search firms?
What qualities do you look for when you are selecting a search partner?
What are your perceptions about us?
What do you know about our firm?
What strengths do you perceive our firm to have that led you to invite us to speak with you?
What have you tried so far? How has that worked? Were you happy with the results?
What happens if this job remains unfilled (qualify urgency)?
Asking these types of questions would almost certainly reveal the prospects misconceptions and will help you to influence his decision making. Before you try to influence a prospects decision making, find out what he’s already thinking and why.
Find the gap between what they really want and what they have:
This is sales 101. You must find the gap and then sell only to the gap (need) that they describe. Change your presentation to specifically address their concerns and needs.
Give a Brief Bio of Yourself & Your Firm:
You can use all of some of the following:
Recruiter & company background
Describe results (save time, save money, increase quality of hires)
Scope of your contacts
Niche expertise
Candidate screening process
Review your search process: Briefly walk your client through your search process. Include the number of steps you follow and give them a hard copy. Be sure to follow each step with this statement, "...and the benefit to you is..."
Set expectations:
If the client has agreed to work with you, be sure to pre-close issues of timely feedback, hiring manager contact, open communication etc. so that you have set the tone for the relationship.
End the meeting:
End the meeting with this question, "Do you have any concerns about our ability to perform this search? If so, I'd like the opportunity to address them now". Finally, be yourself and have fun with this. Be sure to approach the meeting from a position of preparation, market knowledge and confidence as these attributes are attractive to clients

My life is its own message

M. K. Gandhi (1869 - 1948) never won a war. He never was a President. He never was a movie star. He never made it big in industry. He never even made money. Still, virtually every poll across the globe, names him as the Man of the Century.
So what is it that makes the frail man from Porbander, such a towering Titan? Is it his ideas? Probably not. Ahimsa and Satyagrah are age-old concepts. There have been many apostles of peace before. But none enjoyed as much adulation as this humble person. What makes this man the ultimate icon?
It may sound preposterous, but can we credit this phenomenon to his marketing skills? After all he is also known for the following quote:
"A Customer is the most important visitor on our premises.
He is not dependent on us.
We are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption on our work.
He is the purpose of it.
He is not an outsider to our business.
He is a part of it.
We are not doing him a favour by serving him.
He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so"

Gandhi famously said "My life is its own message"; so let us look at his life in marketing parlance.
Market Research
In 1901, after attending the Kolkata session of the Indian National Congress he went out on a tour of India, traveling third class in order to study for himself, the habits and difficulties of the poor.
Packaging:
When Gandhi came back from South Africa he promptly gave up his westernized dress and moved to dhoti, kurta, turban; and he had a 'packaging' which was different than other leaders of freedom fighters like Motilal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah etc. When he picked up the 'walking stick' he did not need one, but again it could have been a part of 'packaging'.
Positioning:
With "My Experiments with Truth", an autobiography containing true account of his early life Gandhi positioned himself as an epitome of truth. This helped him get away with many of his actions of omission and commission later in his political life.
Shelf Space:
Gandhi's first appearance on the all India political scene in 1919 was through Rowlatt satyagrah which ended in a fiasco but made him known all over India. The spark was provided by the opposition of many Indian Muslims to British policy towards the defeated Ottoman Empire and their demand for preserving the Khilafat of Islam.
To quote Claude Markovits from 'The Un-Gandhian Gandhi', "Gandhi got associated at an early stage with Muslims protests against British policy, a position which did not go down too well with many nationalists, wary of a movement that, they thought, was dominated by pro-Islamic elements. But it enabled Gandhi to use this apparently peripheral position to establish himself at the heart of the political debate. He forged an alliance with some Muslims leaders which helped him make his views prevail in Congress in spite of his lack of a proper base."
Image Management:
"Gandhi had a frugal style of living but, as Sarojini Naidu once jokingly remarked, it cost Gandhi's friends a great deal of money to keep him in poverty. His consumption of fresh fruit, increasingly his staple diet, would have bankrupted many a middle class household. This friend of the poor was also friend of rich, and he was always opposed to the ideology of class struggle. While he never showed indulgence towards the rich, whom he expected to behave as trustees and not owners of their assets, his links to business circles did sometimes act as a break on his political decisions." (ibid, Claude Markovits)
Event Management:
"Of all the great initiatives in India's Freedom Struggle, the Salt Satyagrah remains the most innovative…Think of Gandhi, for a moment, as a strategist. He had to fight the British Empire. He understood his competition. He was resource-constrained, if we consider military or financial resources. He needed a cause that would unite people, the rich and the poor. He needed a public demonstration of defiance. He did not want a defiance that would involve any technological requirements. Salt was it. It united all castes and economic levels. Salt is God's gift. Salt, water and the Indian Sun could do the trick. The Dandi March and the crowds on the beaches attracted people. The British learned not to underestimate the power of common symbols", says C. K, Prahlad in Business Today dated 22 February, 1999
Public Relation:
"He knew how to exploit all the possibilities offered by a given situation, combining agitation and propaganda in the most effective way. Gandhi proved to be a genius of 'agitprop'. He was good at attracting the attention of media upon his actions and on the movements he led. The start of the salt march was covered by the three film documentary organizations present in India and by correspondents of the international press. Gandhi was skilled in staging his smallest action, so as to maximize its resonance, by playing on symbols and visual elements. When he seized the initiative, he gave no breathing time to the opponent," notes Claude Markovits.
Market Share:
He defended his territory as the 'main leader of independence movement' as ferociously as a marketing manger defends markets share of his product. He never allowed any other leader to grow around him. Bhagat Singh and Subhash Bose had to pay the price in different ways when they were perceived to be becoming bigger than the ultimate icon of freedom struggle. Jinnah got away with it because he re-defined rules of the game and created his own idiom for which unfortunately, Gandhi had no answer.
"Although the hunger strike was a weapon that Gandhi learnt to use with perfection in his political bargaining with the British, he disapproved of its use by Jatin Das, Bhagat Singh and others for the amelioration of prison condition. He rebuked Jawaharlal for approving of this fast, commenting that it was an "irrelevant performance…" (Reba Som in Gandhi, Bose, Nehru; page 42)
"He did not do anything beyond lip service to defend Bhagat Singh and took rest only after democratically elected Subhash Bose had to quit Congress presidentship…Gandhi, exhibited a ruthless firmness in edging Subhash out of the Congress leadership…(ibid, page 8)
The quotations above are, in no way, a reflection on Gandhiji's leadership, but they are used only to underline his determination as a strong manager to defend his turf or market share.
Logo:
He was a great creator of 'Logos'. He made 'Charkha' (spinning wheel) a potent symbol of freedom fight and he devoted some part of every day to work on 'Charkha' to give it the required publicity. Charkha became so powerful a logo that it ended up on the National Flag till it was replaced by Ashoka Pillar.
Brand Identity and Brand Ambassador:
'Khadi' became the brand identity. Gandhi himself became the Brand Ambassador for Khadi. Khadi was not a mere rejection of Western attire – it was a panacea for the economic ills that beset the country.
Brand Extension:
His brand recall was so strong that his name got associated with the humble khadi cap, which he never wore! What could be a better example of brand extension?
Slogan:
He was well aware of the fact that Mughal and Buddhist rule was overthrown by Bhakti Movement. The resonance of 'Vande Mataram' had brought about the revival of the urge in the country to overthrow Britishers. He created an alternative in 'Raghupati Raghav Rajaram' and like Charkha, started spending time on it every day to give it enough publicity.
To sum it up:
Gandhi said "My life is its own message"; that's why these learnings have been inspired from his life related to his work. (His personal life has been consciously kept out of discussion,)
In sum total Gandhi could have been 'Head of Marketing' of any organization. He had full understanding of all the nuances of marketing and he implemented them to the "T". Only difference here was that he applied that knowledge for fighting for independence and social movements like struggle against untouchability.
Anand Kurian writes (Hindustan Times, Mumbai, December 11, 2007), "So who would be our choice be for India's best advertising man ever? Who is India's best man? …Here is a choice that may appear surprising - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This may seem very quirky choice. But, perhaps we need to see the man, without the halo around him as we usually do."
Anand Kurian further writes, "Perhaps our marketing students need to put aside their Kotler for a time. I hope , one day his life and his work will be compulsory reading for the young in our management institutions as they truly deserve to be.

You determine your value--no one else - case study

When others judge you harshly, abuse you, terrorize youand treat you in inhumane ways, it is natural and common tohave a negative view of yourself.
It is common to feel less worthy.
After all, when we're told we're worthless and treated assuch for long periods of time, we just accept it as true.
When we're criticized, laughed at, called names, calledout for mistakes publicly, it can hurt. It can causedepression, social anxiety, anger, rage, and a whole hostof other destructive behaviors that further disempower us.
But the good news is that when you learn how tocommunicate with yourself on a moment by moment basis, whenyou learn the type of mental movies to keep running throughyour mind and how to do it, even a lifetime of low self-worth can, over time, possibly very quickly, be turnedaround.
You can learn to love yourself, to like yourself and tofeel worthy of even the highest acknowledgements andrewards in life.
Because in truth, if you're reading this, you should knowthis:
No one is better than you.
Sure, there are people who are richer, more talented insome areas of life, more attractive according to societiesvalues, have better social skills and who are more giftedintellectually.
But you have your own gifts and talents.
Enough to work with, to nurture and to grow.
The average person does not like themselves... even therichest, most talented, attractive, socially adept,brightest people often have the lowest opinions ofthemselves.

All that Money Matters!

It’s true!If you change how you relate to money, you will start to experience better prospects and a healthier outlook that will enable you to increase your wealth. Take on board the following wealth generating perspectives and you’ll start seeing a positive change in your fortune:1. Focus on abundance, not lack! If you moan about what you haven’t got, you’re placing all your energy and focus into creating nothing. The negative thoughts simply highlight your deficiencies and do nothing to start creating financial abundance. When you hear yourself complaining about not having enough money, stop yourself! Turn the negative statement into a positive one and focus your attention to abundance. It may prove difficult at first, especially if you’re always grousing, but stay resolute and focus on plenty and your fortunes will start turning round.2. Money is energy. Like the tides, it comes in and goes out and comes in again. It exists to represent the value of things in the world – and that includes the value you place on yourself, such as your experience, skills, knowledge and abilities. If money hasn’t been flowing as you want it to, look to how you value yourself. Do you have faith in what you can offer or provide? Do you have confidence in your abilities? Believe that you are worthy of reward. Believe that you deserve the wage, job or prospects that you desire. Raise your self-esteem, increase your value and your wealth will also increase.3. Contrary to what you may have been told or believe, money isn’t evil; it’s what we do with it that determines whether it is used with good or bad intentions. Being told that money, and the pursuit of money, is bad is full of guilt and envy riddled overtones, often spread by those who are jealous or lacking. With money, you can do great deeds in the world. You can support wonderful causes and spread your wealth to where it is needed. Be proud of your association with money by giving something back to society and realising that it gives you the opportunity to bring about positive change. 4. Don’t be precious about your money. Trying to hold on to your money or agonising over it and begrudging spending it reveals that you are too attached. This over-attachment can bring about fear resulting in lack or financial misfortunes. Don’t hoard your money or be tight-fisted. Let your money flow. Pay your way through life without resentment. Be more generous about your money and consider the intrinsic value of what you’re gaining in return.5. Give a percentage of what you earn to a good cause. Spread your wealth and don’t begrudge doing so. By sharing what you have, and giving away some of your money altruistically, without worrying about lack or hoping to gain something in return, you are demonstrating a healthy relationship with money while also trusting in yourself and the universe to create abundance all round. 6. Be positive about money. You may have grown up hearing many negative although perhaps well-meaning statements about money from your parents, friends or other family members. What is said often sticks in your mind and contributes in some way to your outlook on life. If you grew up believing that money is evil, that you need to guard your money, or that it’s hard to come by, this generates negative connotations about money that you are likely to carry through to adulthood. Only by re-programming those negative associations can you release the hold that money has over you. Once you are detached from money, it is actually free to start flowing to you so enhancing your prospects. 7. Believe that you will always have enough of what you need. Focus on abundance at all times, but in a detached rather than grasping way. Trust that the money will flow. Don’t let money, or the pursuit of it, rule your life because it isn’t necessary and by doing so, you’ll miss out on all the other riches that life has to offer. 8. Finally, be grateful for what you have and show or express your gratitude. By living graciously, and not taking anything for granted, you will be more appreciative of the abundance that comes your way.In summary, be positive about money.Focus on abundance and trust that you will always have enough. Believe that you are worthy of a great income and wealth but make sure you remain grateful and altruistic with your fortune. By changing your perspective and adopting a good relationship with money, your financial outlook will start to look healthier.So, what are you waiting for?Enjoy a prosperous life!

Backstabbers Lose!

Whatever are people thinking when they are two-faced? Are they really thinking that people are stupid and can't see the forest for the trees?When meetings take place surreptitiously, behind closed doors and blinds, suspicion builds. I was working with a finance department for a major agency. The director was well-known...and feared...for her supposed 'open door' policy. Loudly she proclaimed that anyone at any time was welcome tocome and speak with her in her office. She declared that she wanted open communication and everyone feeling able to talk with her. Sounds great. So, what was the problem?When a brave person would muster up his or her courage and take her at her word, it was likely that, in moments, the yelling voice of the director could be heard throughout the department, complete with language suitable for a gutter! Oh, but that was not all. Seconds later, the door of her office would slam shut and the blinds would snap. The hopeful employee trapped inside. And, the abuse would continue.When I was brought in to act as consultant, trainer and coach, my task was to create a functioning team from these nine people. One screamer, three middle managers living on tenterhooks and five subordinates afraid to speak or step sideways. Whew! You can believe that there were many days thatthose folks seriously considered sick leave!People enjoy power. Some people abuse power. And, they do it from fear. No one needs to abuse power when they feel secure, when they know they are competent and capable, when they have nothing to prove.Some people feel they have to stomp on and mess with folks in order to get a promotion. In some dysfunctional businesses, this is true. I was recently working with an executive coaching client who had a boss who wanted harmony at any price. He was petrified of managing conflict in his office. My client was bringing in great clients, with their money, but her subordinatedid not like her. The boss, in his wisdom, decided to release my client rather than deal with the underhanded and in-her-face behavior of the subordinate. All in the name of peace. Strange things happen in the corporate world sometimes.Of course, the opposite could also happen. The person who brings in the most money could be allowed to trample over the subordinates because the bottom line is more important than respect.A reader wrote to me about a director who plays power games. This woman calls meetings at inconvenient times and invites her favorites along. This requires folks to shift priorities, upset family plans and give up weekends just to satisfy this woman's whims. But she takes the abuse of power to a whole new level. Once everyone has changed their plans to accommodate her,she changes her mind, changes the meeting time, and the shifting begins again. What an incredibly insecure woman!Backstabbing, gossiping, greed and power games are a sign of an unhealthy organization. Worse, though, those who engage in these things are wasting vital energy and making themselves miserable. You might think that eliminating these things will eliminate you from the promotion ranks. You might think that I 'don't understand how the game is played'. Believe me, Ido. My question to you is "Are you willing to give up your integrity and peace of mind on a daily basis in order to play into someone else's misguided power games?" What is the real prize?Yes, I know, you need the pay check. We all do need to be able to earn our keep. How about this, though? How about you behave in integrity with your values and refuse to play? Wouldn't that feel better? Would you enjoy each day more? And, eventually, folks will get the message.Here are a few tips for you:BE THE APPRECIATORMention the things you appreciate. Comment on the things you like. Discuss what you prefer.William James, the father of psychology, said, "The deepest craving of the human nature is the need to be appreciated." Appreciation is cost-free. Move the things you like forward by talking about them. It takes almost no effort to find something you appreciate about each person you know. Just give voice to it. Guess what? You'll be appreciated.NEVER SAY ANYTHING YOU DON'T WANT TO BE TRUEWow! This one can change the face of the planet, let alone the culture of your workplace. Speak only about what you want to see happen, what would improve things. Focus on the positive and give voice to it.No, this is not Pollyanna thinking. That's why I wrote the book, 'What You Pay Attention to Expands'--because it is true. How much energy do you lose when you engage in the 'poor me' and 'ain't is awful' conversations? You're doing it to yourself.I'll bet you would not list gossip, backstabbing or negativity as one of the desirable values you hold dear . But, are you behaving as though that were true? Remember, your behavior is your belief and there is no way around that one!BE PRO-ACTIVEFirst rule of change: Be the change you want to see in the world. That's what Gandhi said and I believe it is paramount. How many people expect behaviors from others that they are not demonstrating themselves?Talk about what you want to create. Keep the buzz going about what is possible. Influence the culture of your workplace with your presence. Be strong. Be the voice for fair play and reason.Would that person who calls those meetings that inconvenience everyone be happy if it happened to her? No, she would be the first to complain. Would the person who runs to you with the latest gossip be thrilled to be the topic of conversation tomorrow morning? No, he would be outraged and declare it unfair. Would the backstabber cry when stabbed? Louder thananyone.Stop this nonsense. Just stop it. Refuse to play. It will soon end the game and, if not the whole game, it will end the game around you.I'm not talking about being a wuss, a doormat or a snob. This is about being in integrity with what you value, with being the person you most want to be. Use your energy, time and resources in ways that make you feel good every day. After all, it is your quality of life you're creating!There are risks. You may be happier. People may gravitate towards you and want to play on your team. You may become a leader and have the opportunity to demonstrate a better way of doing things.Of course, there are other risks. You may be seen as different and no fun at all. Some folks don't like people to rain on their pity parties! Or, you may catch the eye of the offender in power. Guess what? You'll be the one who is promulgating positivity. You'll be the one showing that there is another, a better way, to make it through the work day. And, they just maywant you on their team. Why? Because you are easy to be around.OK, now, do the math. You're easy to be around while sharing what's possible for the team, department or company. That has to be attractive. Hang in. Backstabbers lose every day. Not only will you be winning every day personally, you very well may win the day. Be a shift shaper!© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD

You've got to find what you love! by Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios)

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
THE FIRST STORY IS ABOUT CONNECTING THE DOTS.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
t wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
MY SECOND STORY IS ABOUT LOVE AND LOSS.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
MY THIRD STORY IS ABOUT DEATH.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.Thank you all very much for reading all the article, wait untill next speech deliverd by Varaprasad ;)

Forget the Past -- The Future is Now!

"What's the score?" the basketball coach asked his star rookie during halftime.

"We're down by 20 points," said the rookie.

"Wrong answer," shot back the coach. "From this moment on, the score is 0-0. What happened in the first half is history, and there's nothing we can do about it. But if we go out and play a great second half, we can outscore the other guys by 21 points and win the game."

I love this story, not only for its optimism, but because it addresses so many aspects of our professional life.

For example, many rookie recruiters feel they can't compete effectively against recruiters with much more experience. Or that cold calling is a waste of time, because it didn't work the last time it was tried.

But they could be wrong; from this moment on, the score is 0-0.

I've found that an enterprising rookie recruiter has just as good a chance to open a large account or find a high-quality candidate as a ten-year veteran. If that weren't the case, there wouldn't BE any ten-year veterans. And in terms of cold calling, recruiters sometimes give up too easily, especially when confronted with gnarly gatekeepers or a painful string of rejection.

Whatever your failures or mistakes have been, it's best to leave them where they belong -- in the past. While it may be true that insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, it's just as crazy-making to switch horses every time the race becomes contested.

As Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money says, it doesn't matter how much money you made or lost in the past by investing in a particular stock. The only thing that matters is where the stock is headed in the future.

The Flip Side is True, Too.Just because you had a terrific client yesterday doesn't mean the client still needs you today. Or that the expertise you worked so hard to develop will forever guarantee your success.

According to Tom Friedman, author of The World is Flat, the U.S. has been asleep at the wheel for over a decade. During that time, the Chinese were quietly taking our manufacturing jobs, the Indians were taking our technology jobs and the Argentines were taking our Olympic gold medals in basketball. Our response? Hit the snooze button.

The U.S. was so dominant for so many years, we never felt the need to look over our shoulders. But that's no longer the case. We're now ranked 17th in the world in math and science, and new technical schools are popping up all over the planet to satisfy our competitors' insatiable appetite for skills that drive innovation and job creation. And you can bet our global high-value rivals aren't racing us to the bottom.

Should we worry about losing our jobs to a team of bright and enthusiastic 22-year old recruiters working from a 24/7 call center in Bangalore? Maybe. But from this moment on, the score is 0-0, and if we go and play a great second half, we can outscore the other guys and win the game.

The Recruiter/Telephone Connection!

What's the only activity you can actually control? Your phone time.

You can't force a hiring manager to give you a job order and you certainly can't force a candidate to go to a job interview.

But you CAN force yourself to pick up the phone more often. Simply put, the fastest and easiest way to make more placements is to make more calls.

That's not to say that skill, good judgment and quality work aren't important. They are. But no amount of brilliance can compensate for a silent desk.

A Tortoise or a Hare?We know that more calls will result in increased activity, which in turn will translate into more placements. But will two recruiters who make the same number of calls get the same results? The answer is no, because of differences in desk specialty, job order difficulty and so forth.

Plus, some recruiters are simply more efficient than others and will get better results, even when they apply no more physical effort than the recruiter in the next cubicle. Whereas one recruiter may need to arrange eight interviews in order to make a placement, another may need only three.

There are no absolutes when it comes to how much effort you should put in, as long as you recognize that in general, the greater your output, the higher your billings. In terms of style, some recruiters are tortoises, others are hares. Some are flashy and ADD, while others are understated and sharply focused.

That being said, there are four basic quadrants that recruiters tend to fall into when it comes to the activity/result quotient. Which of these stereotypes best describes your recruiting persona?

High Activity High Billing
Low ActivityHigh Billing
High ActivityLow Billing
Low ActivityLow Billing

1. High activity, high billing. You generate lots of calls, produce a consistent flow of activity, make a lot of placements, and rarely experience a slump.

2. High activity, low billing. You make lots of calls, write plenty of job orders and send out a slew of candidates, but you close very few deals.

3. Low activity, high billing. You're a sharpshooter who makes up for low activity by working more efficiently. You also experience peaks and valleys in your billing, due to a lack of consistent activity.

4. Low activity, low billing. You're just getting started in the business, and you're too reticent to push for results. Or you're in a slump.

Rookie recruiters are the ones who most often fit the high activity, low billing profile. That's because their competency hasn't yet caught up with their activity.

I saw an extreme example of this phenomenon a few years back, when my management team was considering firing a new recruiter for not making any placements after eight weeks on the job. Then we looked more carefully at his activity, and lo and behold, he had 56 sendouts.

The new recruiter might have been slow in figuring out how to make a placement, but he had no problem in generating activity. So we stuck with him, and sure enough, within two years he was out-billing every single recruiter in our 35-desk office.

Who knows? Maybe there's a recruiter out there who makes a ton of money just by sending e-mails. But that's about as likely as a politician who expects to get elected by simply issuing press releases.

In our business, direct contact—with lots and lots of constituents—is the only sure-fire way to win.

What I Learned from Warren Buffett

I've been on a Warren Buffett kick lately. Not only do I think he'll be remembered as one of the towering figures of our time (as were Carnegie and Ford in theirs), I believe the principles that underlie his success can be applied to recruiting.Take time management, for example. If you consider time as an asset that can be invested, then why not utilize the same strategies as the greatest living investor in order to maximize your returns?Where To Put the EggsMost financial advisers want you to invest in mutual funds. They'll tell you it's foolish to put all your eggs in one basket.Yet that's exactly the opposite strategy that made Buffett a multi-billionaire. In his view, diversification is okay—if you're looking for average results. To get outstanding returns, forget about diversifying. Do your homework, ask tough questions and make an informed decision. Then, invest heavily in one or two stocks—as opposed to the hundreds that make up a typical mutual fund—and stick with them over the long haul.The same strategy applies to recruiting. You can adopt the "mutual fund" mentality and divide your time, trying to serve many different clients. Or, you can do your homework and carefully choose one or two clients to work with, based on objective criteria, such their willingness to work with you, their ability to attract industry talent, and so on. By building "key accounts" with a small number of companies that have multiple, ongoing hiring needs, you'll focus your energy, deepen your understanding of their needs and establish long-term relationships.Risk vs. RewardTrue, there's an element of risk any time you concentrate your resources. But the payoff can be huge. Top recruiters know that it only takes two or three key accounts to put up big numbers, and that the more scattered your attention, the harder it becomes to work efficiently. Besides, you can always hedge your bets by keeping your eyes open for new clients. When you need them, they'll be there.Here a few more gems from the Warren Buffett playbook that directly apply to recruiting:1. Focus on what you understand. It's not necessary for you to be able to perform your candidates' work, but if you can't visualize or explain in plain English what their job entails, it'll be difficult for you to match up jobs and people.2. Make decisions with your head, not your heart. We sometimes maintain relationships that are no longer (or were never) useful. By breaking dysfunctional attachments, you'll do yourself a favor.3. Sidestep problems that are beyond your control. As recruiters, it's our job to fill positions. And by so doing, we solve personnel problems. But if the company is unwilling to pay a competitive wage, or can't put together a realistic set of requirements, or make decisions in a timely manner, it's no longer a personnel problem. Rather, it's a structural problem. Occasionally, we can coach our clients to correct their mistakes; or serve as management consultants to address some of the business issues they face.But when employers act as their own worst enemies during the recruitment process, there's not much we can do, unless we want to fight with them or spend countless hours trying to solve a problem that's not of our making, and beyond our control. The Running of the MillsWhen Warren Buffett gained control of the Berkshire Hathaway textile mills in the 1960s, the U.S. textile industry had already begun its slow, downward spiral. Rising to the challenge, he spent the next two decades trying to turn the business around. Finally, in 1985 Buffett closed the mills. Despite all his efforts—and his reinvestment of millions of dollars in new equipment—Buffett couldn't solve the underlying problem: offshore competitors could produce the same products at a fraction of the cost. Though his failure was painful (and expensive), Buffett learned an important lesson, which he summed up this way:"After 25 years of buying and supervising a great variety of businesses, I have not learned how to solve difficult business problems. "What I have learned is how to avoid them."

Avoiding Interview Disasters

Is it possible to control our candidates' behavior during their job interviews?
As recruiters, we'd like to think so. That's why we spend so much time coaching them how to handle the questions they'll likely be asked.
But once the interview begins, we're no longer the ones gripping the wheel. It's the candidates who must steer themselves squarely in the direction of a job offer -- or hurtle, Titanic-style, into the nearest available iceberg.
"Oy-vay" Moments I'd Like to Forget Bob was a sales candidate with a terrific track record. Best of all, he was perfectly matched for the job I was trying to fill.
"Don't be shy," I told him prior to his interview. "You increased sales by 1,000 percent in less than three years, and landed several major accounts."
"Right," said Bob. "I'll be sure to highlight my strengths."
I was so confident Bob would get the job, I nearly pinned my invoice to his jacket. Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly as planned.
Just as I had coached him, Bob stressed his accomplishments, plus his mastery of the latest sales techniques. He frequently referred to his powerful closing skills -- but without ever asking for the job.
"Sorry," said the employer after the interview. "We're going to pass on Bob. We've found that great closers know how to ask for the order."
Okay, so I forgot to prep Bob to be more assertive. Fortunately, I had Jerry, another outstanding candidate, lined up to interview. So as not to make the same mistake, I instructed Jerry to go ahead and ASK for the job.
Which he did. But it seems Jerry also told the employer he really needed the job because he was unemployed, and might lose his house if he didn't land a position soon.
"No dice with Jerry," said the employer following the interview. "Enthusiasm is fine; begging is something we're not real comfortable with."
More than Animal Attraction The experience with Bob and Jerry reminded me of what can realistically be gained from a thorough pre-interview preparation session:
Confidence. A well-informed candidate will perform at a higher level than one who's caught off-balance or asks dumb questions.
Better use of time. An intelligently briefed candidate will use the allotted interview period more efficiently -- and will help save the interviewer's voice.
Insight into the intangibles. Every company (and every hiring manager) has a corporate culture or unique personality. The more accurately you can describe these traits in advance, the better the potential "chemistry" between the parties involved.
At the same time, Bob and Jerry also made me painfully aware of the limitations of interview prep, and how it's unrealistic to anticipate every conceivable question or script a response for every potential situation.
If the candidate is fundamentally suited to the job and clicks with the company, great. But in the real world of interviewing, no amount of perfume can sweeten the smell of a pig.