Anna Fortner

As an external recruiter and someone who has a past in corporate recruiting, I view my partnerships with the internal TA team to be very crucial. I know.. some agency recruiters won't agree with this statement (and those are probably not the agencies you want to work with in the long run). Hear me out a sec.. 3 Reasons why internal TA and External Recruitment need to act as partners and not competitors: 1) Your Employer Brand. As a hiring leader, it is important to loop in your internal recruitment team on wanting the assistance of agency.. your internal recruitment team is THE voice of your brand in the market. As an agency recruiter, I want to make sure I get your message right when I am reaching out to candidates, and I need help from HR or TA in order to do so. Representation matters. 2) Equity/Market Data. Internal TA knows the equity of the hiring team. They know where the role should sit compensation-wise in the organization. The external recruiter is valuable in providing market data based on real-time conversations in the area. This data is a marriage- you can't have one without the other. 3) TA and Agency should be Yin and Yang. Internal Recruiters understand the intricacies of hiring in that specific business unit- maybe more so than the hiring team understands (i.e. "they are the outside looking in"). The external recruiter can act as a consultant and voice of reason by providing market data (i.e. "proof is in the pudding") on these details that may be missing the mark and why. Bottom Line. All this to say- If an agency is trying to go around the TA team, they may be able to close ONE deal, but they may have a tougher time understanding the needs of the business enterprise-wide. Partnerships with TA and HR are of utmost importance. #recruitment #agency #internalrecruiting #partners

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To the TA professionals that are looking for employment right now: Don't overlook agency recruitment roles. Many agencies operate VERY differently from the next. Even if you had a bad experience working in the agency world, another company could have a much better environment. Factors like the commission structures, industries, specialization, etc. all make a big impact on employee success and OTE. As any industry that's under a barrage of layoffs, it's important to broaden your search when seeking new employment.

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To all my amazing Talent Acquisition connections, I have a topic of discussion for you, if you care to share your feedback! 𝐍𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬!!! 🤔 This pertains to no shows for the initial phone interview that the TA Partner has scheduled and confirmed, as well as no shows for the Hiring Manager interviews. There is such a shift in work ethic in the years I've been a recruiter. I don't remember experiencing no shows back 29 years ago, or even 20 years ago. The past 7 years, I feel as though it's a constant. In my experience, it's primarily with candidates being considered for full time hourly rate roles; not for the salaried roles. But the hourly roles are professional, full time positions. In my current position, the majority of my recruiting is in Director level and above roles, which I do not experience no shows for. I am currently helping with hourly rate roles as well, and the # of people who no show for our initial phone interview is astonishing. I leave a voice mail message and a text and the majority NEVER respond. They're just gone with the wind I guess. No regard for my time, nor for their own credibility or character. 🤷‍♀️ I have given opportunities to reschedule, but only one reschedule. If the 2nd scheduled call is a no show as well, the ship has sailed for me. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.  Is it happening frequently to you as well? If so, is it just your hourly roles, or also the salaried positions? What do you communicate to the candidate when they no show and you don't wish to consider them for employment at your organization? I aim to be compassionate and provide a professional and understanding experience, however, there is a HUGE part of me that really doesn't want to give a 2nd chance, UNLESS there was an emergency where the candidate physically could not text or call me to let me know they need to reschedule. In my years, I've heard every reason possible, as to why they didn't answer. Some I believe and some I do not. For me, personally, a no show with no call, text, or email to let me know they need to reschedule, is a huge red flag. Where is the common courtesy and the professionalism today? Reliability is missing in action. It's so unfortunate. I take the time to email every candidate a calendar invitation that states the date and time, AND the phone number I will be calling them on. It also includes my number so they know what number I'll be calling them from. They have to accept the invite to confirm the call. So it isn't like they didn't know when their interview was scheduled. Today, for me....it is a serious NO SHOW Monday! Three more interviews scheduled today. I will remain positive and hopeful. I'd love feedback on this HOT TOPIC from any of my recruiter friends who care to chime in.

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25 new requisitions all in 1 day? 🤯 Yep, that was my Monday. 🤷‍♀️ If you’re in #recruitment or #talentaquisition, you may have experienced that "OMG how will I have time?!" feeling. 😅 When I first started my recruiting career 6 years ago in a high volume staffing firm, sometimes that high pressure made me want to run for the hills🏃🏻‍♀️(not literally, but maybe to the stairwell for a quick panic moment). 🫣 But I quickly learned that with a strong recruitment strategy, it doesn’t have to feel impossible. You can even keep your sanity intact all while maintaining a work-life balance. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve incorporated into my strategy that have helped me keep my #confidence and stay on track: 🌟 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: This is your gateway to find the right talent. If it's not engaging, who will take it seriously? Highlight the day-to-day tasks, what they’ll gain, key benefits, and more. 🤖 𝐀𝐈 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬: Leverage AI-powered sourcing tools like HireEZ and SeekOut to efficiently identify and receive alerts about available talent globally. 🎥 𝐎𝐧-𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: HireVue has been a game-changer for streamlining screening and evaluation processes, but this does NOT replace the candidate experience. Train your managers to use it effectively for easy collaboration. 💬 𝐀𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Lean on tools like Slack, Zoom, Loom, or Microsoft Teams to facilitate flexible communication between team members and managers. 🏆 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Give an authentic glimpse of your company culture by sharing employee testimonials, video job descriptions, day-in-the-life videos, etc. 📈 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Share talent market data from LinkedIn Talent Insights and TalentNeuron to influence hiring decisions and educate managers on the competition and how to remain competitive. 🌟𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬: Highlight relevant benefits that matter to your candidates, such as remote work options, flexible schedules, or wellness programs. 🤝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Ensure every candidate feels valued with timely updates, personalized communication, and feedback. And yes, even no update is STILL an update. To me, a strong recruitment strategy is all about adaptability, having an open mind, and being able to pivot. Since I started 6 years ago, my process has evolved annually to help me stay current with #industrytrends and #bestpractices. Just take a deep breath, assess the situation, and prioritize accordingly. You got this! ————————— Hi, I’m Casey 👋 + Talent Acquisition Specialist & People Enthusiast + Remote Work Advocate + Follow for more TA/Recruiting tips 👩‍💻 #TalentAcquisition #Recruiting #RemoteWork

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Recruiting fees aren't worth it... What about the additional fees you pay for Doordash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Redbox, etc. Why do we do pay additional fees when we can just pick up our own food or return items on time? Well, you don’t want to break away from that show, drive in this heat (we're getting baked in Phoenix), or have to throw on some pants that you took off after that Zoom meeting.. In all actuality, you’re paying for your time, which is convenient. More time is more convenience to do the things that are a priority. Managers have priorities, limiting their time. Trying to hire a hard-to-find skillset or an entire team while getting their own projects done is time-consuming. If you’re hiring and don’t have the people in place to find talent, you could take the time to do: 🕛 Market research of candidate cost of living/salary, remote vs in-office availability based on skillset, and hiring/retention best practices. 🕑 Source candidates through paid for tools, years of networking, and skill-based targeted searches. 🕒  Qualify and interview dozens to hundreds of applicants to ascertain initial alignment and interest. 🕔 Coordinate all interviews and feedback process providing candidate prep, invites, and post-interview debrief/follow-up. 🕕 Stay in regular communication with the candidates to gauge their continued interest, competitive opportunities, schedule, and more – no surprises! 🕘  Research post-hire on salary trends/benefit changes in comparison to similar roles and company sizes in the market to build retention. The service doesn’t stop after the deal is done. Or you could pay a fee to take all of this off your plate. Everything you buy is for convenience. Time is money.

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Seeing as I have been a TA Recruiting Partner for over 20 years, I have seen my share of ATS systems and application processes. How in the world of technology that we live in has there not been a more effective system created to parse resumes? Two, why, why do you still have to parse resumes when you literally can just review the resume alone (what I have done for years). Three, why are companies mandating dates for not only graduation from college, but also start dates at said college? Next, remote, hybrid and onsite…. Let’s be honest, one day from home is not really hybrid, just state your role is onsite and surprise them by saying you can work one day a week from home! Also remote is not remote if you require someone to be in a specific city and within certain miles of said city. Let’s call that one hybrid. Finally salary. Post your ranges whether the law tells you to or not. And if you are not posting salary ranges on your job descriptions/postings, don’t make it required we tell you one number on salary requirements in order to apply only to then reject said applicant because they asked for too much than you are willing to pay. I don’t even approach the salary conversation when I’m recruiting until the very end of the interview. I want to know all about the KSAs before diving into that discussion. Then just be up front and honest with your candidate. If you want the applicant’s range, return the favor and also allow us to give a range not just one hard and fast number. As I have recently reentered the job search market, these are things that have pained me and have me wanting to pull my hair out this last week. I love processes that are quick easy and done vs I finally have to just stop after 10 minutes because my kids need dinner or homework help and I’m still only 1/4 of the way through your company’s application process. TA leaders need to do better setting up their process. Put yourself in the applicant’s shoes. Let’s all do better to make it easier for applications to flow into our systems. #remote #hybrid #jobsearch #TA #recruting #ATS #processimprovement #salarydisclosure #jobpostings #applications #jobs #recruiters #talentacquisition

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"Staffing agencies are bloodsucking." I always get these messages when I'm doing something very not predatory, like sending pictures of the stained glass I made to candidates. BUT, not all agencies are created the same, and if that is someone's experience, that is completely fair. It's a fun challenge when we get that feedback because we tend to be the agency that restores faith in our clients that there ARE great staffing partners out there that don't just have their own bottom line in mind. With your previous partnerships - What happened? Where did it go wrong? What could a new agency offer that would make you trust the process and that the resource is worth your while? (Besides, to peel back the curtain a bit, our structure is such that we AREN'T motivated to send you anyone but those that truly fit what you need.) If you have negative experience with previous agencies, let's talk. We can rebuild that trust and clean up the mess.

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"Fox Search Group has only had one replacement candidate in 3 years of business" Arguably my favorite statistic to go to when speaking of the quality Fox produces during the Recruitment process but what does it really mean? 🔔 Quality - The 3 rounds of Technical / Cultural vets our team completes are one that only benefits the interviewing process as we don't want to waste your time or our candidates time. 🔎 Due Diligence - We are not "resume slingers" we look for the yellow and red flags so you don't have them pop up 2 months down line. The last thing you want to do as a Hiring Client is have to revisit this hiring, and I promise we don't want to either. Getting hiring right, the first time. 🎬 Interviewing you as the hiring client, first. Who do you really want in your hire? What is most important? Technical Skills, Culture fit, on-site presence, salary, a mix of all, etc. Without a proper in-take call, we cannot properly access our candidates, it starts with you! 📈 Confidence. We offer a guarantee period just like most agencies, but we're not worried about it. If it gives you peace of mind, of course we understand, but on our end we know our candidates are the right fit for you so enjoy it! In this market, having a trusted partner to help you make the right hire is CRUCIAL. Let's have a conversation and see if Fox is the right partner for you. #Hiring #ITRecruitment #Staffing #Recruitment #IT #BusinessDevlopement #Sales

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A question I get a lot is how are we surviving as a tech recruiting company through a tumultuous couple of years? It’s certainly not by operating how we used to. We made a number of edits to get back to a position of strength. Some of the edits included * We quickly lowered our pricing in response to the surplus in supply versus demand. It took longer to build the financial model to understand the full impact of that, and eventually learned we were generating losses on a number of accounts. We modeled out a few different pricing models to get to one that wasn’t crazy on margin but at least HAD a margin so we didn’t go out of business.  * In the initial free fall of the market we conducted a small layoff. It totally sucked, no one wants to be in that position. It was either some people lose jobs or everyone does if we ran out of cash (which we didn’t).  * This eventually included, painfully, eliminating an ops role, and me as the founder picking up another hat. Simply you can’t spend more than you make.  * We started hiring part time contractors to flow to the changing demand, and converting people to full time as our revenue grew more stable. This required that every account have an account manager, to ensure every account has an FTE that’s familiar with our process since we’re pretty specific about it.  * Delivery is the most important investment. There is very little room for error. When we F up we quickly discount the invoice and make sure our clients only pay what we feel good about charging. I wish we NEVER f’d up but hey we are human. Every time that happens we make sure to make some kind of asset of it, by editing controls in our process or developing trainings.  * Generally we are moving away from seed companies and towards Series A +. There’s lots of opportunity now with seed but given risk candidates are much less responsive and recruiting can get pretty expensive which doesn’t feel good.  * We’ve taken on more diversity in roles. We used to lean more heavily engineering and started taking on more biz roles. FWIW I don’t suggest everyone do this but I led biz recruiting at Palantir so it’s a personal strength. What am I missing? What are you doing? 

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💫 DEAR ABBY: We have an internal Talent Acquisition team. Why does it make sense to use your Prospex Recruiting team too? We LOVE working with TA teams! We want to be a positive addition to your internal process in whatever scope that looks like!! Most of our clients have an internal team and utilize us in multiple different ways!! Ultimately, we want you to get the best people for your team whether we find them for you or we show you awesome candidates to benchmark against (and a killer process along the way) so that you can make your decision in confidence! Plus - you get our whole Prospex Recruiting fam working for you on each position!! 💯 PARALLEL SEARCH. We do parallel searches with internal teams all the time. The internal team will run their search, we will perform our search/comb our extensive network, and you can make sure you're seeing a good range of the market to make the best choice for you! Remember, you only pay us when we find the right person for you! #contingent 💯 DIVIDE AND CONQUER. Free up your team's time to focus on their certain roles and let us focus on the ones allocated to us. Whether the TA team is slammed with other positions or if it is a specialized role that requires a certain level of understanding in the market, give us the positions that need key focus or a certain specialization and let your team focus on the ones that best fit them! 💯 CONFIDENTIAL SEARCH. When a position is a high-level of confidentiality, bring us on to make sure that you're getting awesome candidates in a discrete process! We are 💯 contingent! We also have a 90 day guarantee - let us take the liability of hiring onto us! We are 20% - we don't want to play the up and down negotiation game to take advantage of the market conditions. What needs can we help with right now?! Message me! What has your experience been on when you've brought in external teams? Excited to hear from you!! Reach out to any of our fam to help you out! You get our whole team working for you!! Zach Truman Whitney Jaques Lauren Hedin Nicole Ehlers Maloree Johnson Maria Battista Foxley Talisha Jones Josh Roberts (additional sidenote - any Morgan Wallen fans out there?! We took our kids for an end of summer quick trip!! Loved seeing them experience their first concert!!)

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Hiring for a Senior PMO Manager? This is your guy right here!! FlanStaff Candidate - Senior PMO Manager – Seattle, WA  🔹 Headhunter Prescreen Notes 🔹 I have been trying to headhunt this candidate for years because he is that great of a candidate! He is currently employed as a Senior Manager PMO. There he manages 46 direct reports and a $600M budget on their largest PMO team. He has experience working in a startup environment as well and has helped that team grow from $0 in revenue to $200M and acquisition. He is really looking forward to building and growing a team with amazing people. 🔹 Strategic Vision and Proven Results 🔹 With 9 years of experience in technical project management, he has successfully led multi-million dollar portfolios and strategic initiatives across diverse industries, including Technology, Healthcare, Oil & Energy, Utilities, SAAS, WAAS, Venture Capital, and Consulting, consistently driving substantial revenue growth and operational improvements. 🔹 Exceptional Leadership and Team Management 🔹 Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage large-scale projects, such as the implementation and migration of Microsoft 365 for over 30 corporate teams and 75,000 employees, and spearheading a machine learning and AI-driven project at his current employer that achieved 100% regulatory compliance and $10M in annual savings. 🔹 Data-Driven Decision Making 🔹 Expert in leveraging data analytics and visualization tools, including SQL, Python, and Power BI, to turn complex datasets into actionable insights, optimizing business processes and enhancing decision-making capabilities. Developed 100+ automated workflows saving 1,200 hours weekly and 100+ Power BI dashboards from 30+ data sources. 🔹 Innovative Problem-Solving and Process Improvement 🔹 Proven track record of driving efficiency and innovation through process improvement initiatives, such as developing and implementing 150+ automated workflows at his current employer and leading IT modernization efforts at Valero Energy Corporation, resulting in significant reductions in technical issues and increased sales figures. 🔹 Comprehensive Industry Experience and Technical Proficiency 🔹 Equipped with a robust technical skillset including SQL, MySQL, Power Automate, Tableau, and Salesforce Architect, and extensive experience managing all aspects of the software development lifecycle. Gamal's technical proficiency and strategic planning expertise make him an invaluable asset for Go-To-Market initiatives and complex problem-solving. #ProjectManagement #PMO #SeniorManager #HiringNow #Leadership #TechTalent #TeamManagement #SeattleJobs #ProjectManager #BusinessGrowth #ProcessImprovement #DataDriven #StrategicLeadership #TechHiring #ExecutiveSearch

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The LEGACY staffing industry is going to HATE this post... At the bottom of every initial Inmail I send to candidates, it states: ***We work directly with every Hiring Manager. I am happy to share the employer's contact info if you prefer to apply directly. Candidates and Job Seekers: If a recruiter contacted you and is not offering this, you should ask yourself: 1. What are they hiding and why don’t they trust me? 2. Is there really a relationship with the “client”? 3. Do I want to be represented by someone who has to hide information from me and their “client”? Employers and Hiring Managers: If you are working with an external recruiter and they are not offering this, you should ask yourself: 1. What else are they hiding from me and the candidates? 2. Should someone who doesn't trust us be representing our company? 3. How many candidates are we missing out on because our legacy staffing resource doesn't trust us and candidates don't trust them? Not all candidates like working with external recruiters. However, there is an easy fix if you aren't in the Legacy Staffing Industry! Not only do I include the note about contacting employers directly, but I also include the name of the employer and the name of our main contact at that company or the Hiring Manager in every InMail I send. It's funny how when you share the company name and are transparent with candidates, they become much more willing to reply and communicate with you. There will always be a few who still want to apply directly and that accomplishes the goal of expanding the qualified candidate pool as much as possible. The result: A higher response rate and a larger candidate pool for the Hiring Managers we support.

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Weekly TA/Recruiter Job Market Update: Exciting news in the TA/Recruiter job market! While there was a slight 0.5% dip in weekly job openings, the overall trend remains positive ⬆️. As of today, there are 31,978 TA and Recruiter positions available — a significant 📈39.9% increase since March 2023 and a 📈22.8% rise since the beginning of 2024! #TAjobs #RecruiterJobs #RecruitingMarket #TAMarket

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Staffing Fortune Cookie No. 50 TALENT or TECH STACK? 🧑‍💼 👩‍💼 🤖 Sure it would be nice if the candidate has your preferred tech profile. I mean they walk in hitting the ground running on Day 1, right?!? 🙌 But who might you MISS OUT on if you REQUIRE specific software? - An MBA who doesn't have your tech requirement is still in the top 8% of all education profiles. - A CPA who doesn't have your tech requirement is still in the top 30% of accountants. - The average IQ of a STEM Major is 120 whether they have your tech requirement or not. - A Senior Master Sergeant is in the top 2.5% of all enlisted personnel whether they have your tech requirement or not. - An Eagle Scout is in the Top 6% of anybody who ever joined the Scouts whether they have your tech requirement or not. - A D1 Athlete is in the Top 2% of anyone who played in high school whether they have your tech requirement or not. The list goes on... But there is NO WAY, I mean NO WAY AT ALL that these star performers could EVER POSSIBLY learn your required tech and become Superuser?!?! 🙃 You could hold out for SAP or hire an MVP. You decide. 🤷‍♂️

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