7 Awesome Talent / Recruiting Hacks
So most of us are now reaching out to people directly, shunning the reactive side (read: posting jobs and wait until that gem applies) when they see how much they can accomplish when they go for active reach outs to people who can actually do the job.
Because this is such a qualitative process, people become really innovative with their recruitment / talent hacks. I thought I would share some of my favourite ones.
1. Spotify reach-out to developers
First, take a look at this guys twitter page. Ladies & gentleman meet Andre Hellström, one of the most creative recruiters / talent hackers I have seen in my career. Famous for: ‘I used to be a recruiter like you, then I took an arrow in the knee’. Check it out:
2. Unclegray.dk hunting for developers in online game Team Fortress 2
This one is pretty classic, also featured in my first ever sourcingmonk blog post and still one of my favorites. Check it out:
Brilliant idea by Daniel Nicolajsen, Unclegrays’ former Art Director.
3. Find almost anyones email address on Github
The Github API is so open you can virtually get anyones email address out of it who did a public commit over the last 12 months (even the people who hide theirs). Pretty neat talent hack.
Go to Page on github.com and replace ‘XYZ’ with the username of the guy. ⌘ + F Email and voilà, the email. Or automate it, check it out:
4. Javascript bookmarlets to quickly cross reference people
Add this simple Javascript to a bookmarklet, the text you will select will be found on LinkedIn. You can also use these for Github, Stackoverflow, etc., etc:
javascript : ( function (w ,d ) {w. open (‘http://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/p?keywords=' +encodeURIComponent (d.getSelection ( ) ) , ‘_blank’ ) ; } ) (window,document ) ;
Check it out:
5. Using your WiFi to let talent know you are hiring
When I was in Atlanta I did this simple hack, my Mac was discoverable on open networks with the name: ‘Do you code Javascript? come see the guy with the long hair ;)’
And my phone was sending out an SSID with the name: ‘Javascript pro? Come see me (knot)’
Also, Jobbox.io is sending out a strong WiFi SSID in their building, well done Pedro Oliveira:
6. Stackoverflow SQL search
This one is not for the normal people out there, so I urge you founders, CTOs & managers to get you brightest SQL guy and write you some queries. Check it out:
7. Billboards next to competitors buildings
Old, but I like it. Check it out:
The billboard was placed in front of a competitor’s building. The headline tells (in ASCII code): “Now Hiring”.
The final answer takes you to a recruiting page. Pretty clever hack from google right?
That is it, my list of nice talent hacks. If you have some, share them with me in the comments!
Also on my blog: sourcingmonk
Follow me: Willem Wijnans (@WillemWijnans) | Twitter
