The wonderful world of training
Sourcer and Recruiter Training is something that is always essential. Whether you are completely new to the business or a seasoned veteran, there is always something new to be learned.
When I started training in 1997, there were very few choices available to recruiters. Heck, there were very few search engines that were actually worth anything. Some people forget what the world was like before Google or use one of Microsoft’s various search engines that were playing catch up with the rest of the industry. Back then, I used Alta Vista (R.I.P. – because even though it’s still up on the Yahoo! Servers, it doesn’t search the same way anymore) and AlltheWeb (FastSearch). I also used Netscape religiously and was very disillusioned when they were forced out of the browser market.
How things have changed since then! Now we have multiple search engines that are very powerful. We have not only Google, but Google Custom Search Engines. We have Mozilla Firefox (rising from the ashes of the Netscape project), Opera, Chrome, and other open-source browsers. And we also have all kinds of yahoos (not the company!) training people in the wonderful world of sourcing.
There are many choices out there when it comes to training. Just like anything else in the free-market world, you have different flavors of quality. You have your McDonald’s type trainings: Classes that are delivered in a flash with little or no amount of retention and by people who do not know how to train. Just like large fast-food chains, you see these people everywhere and by sheer numbers & marketing, you begin to think, “This might be a good idea after all”.
The main issue: Just because someone is a good sourcer that does not make them a good teacher. I’ve watched many trainers out there and a lot of times the feedback is that the training was either too fast, or not applicable to the audience. When training people, you have to appeal to both ends of the spectrum. You have to get things going with basics that everyone can relate to, and then you have to push the boundaries of material by incorporating some very cool advanced searching.
As humans, we really learn when we are reading, visualizing, and doing. Just lecturing will not get the point across. Lecture-based training has a VERY low retention rate.
(Source)
You have to be able to connect with your audience or students and make sure that not one of them is left behind. You have to use examples that everyone can understand right away and some that are advanced enough that the students may not get them right away, but with understanding & time they will.
Even if you don’t know who I am, you probably could have guessed from this posting that I am a Sourcing & Recruiting Trainer. Teaching is something that I have been doing since I was in high school, whether it was teaching people how to play the piano, how to factor differential equations, how to break down the IC manufacturing process, or how to find elusive candidates that nobody else can. I am proud of the countless people that I have trained in staffing and always am open to training more. My belief is that if I can do this, then ANYONE can.
I will be speaking at the upcoming Sourcecon in October, so please come see my presentation. You will NOT be disappointed. Make sure you sign up to go if you have not already done so. There will be many speakers and sourcing experts in the industry there (including me). You can contact me for more info about the event or about training for your sourcers & recruiters: markt (at) netpolarity (dot) com
