Minnesota Headhunter

Paul DeBettignies Quoted In The Minneapolis StarTribune Career Article “Balanced Networking”

Below is an article from the October 11, 2009 career section of the Minneapolis StarTribune

Balanced Networking

October 11, 2009

By Brett Pyrtle, Minneapolis StarTribune

Facebook, LinkedIn and other electronic tools are great ways to build a network. But smart job seekers don't limit their connections to cyberspace.

Fueled by an economic downturn, social and career networking sites are full of people using their computers to stay connected with one another. But in a job search, an online approach to networking will only go so far.

Paul DeBettignies Included On Minnesota Social Media Innovator Lists

The Minneapolis and St Paul area has one of the strongest marketing, public relations and social media communities in the country. What sets the Twin Cities apart from most cities is the open collaboration we see from firms and individuals and the ongoing learning that takes place with the areas many organizations and events.

Arik Hanson (@arikhanson) who writes the Communications Conversations blog took nominations to find a list of social media innovators and came up with this list Top 20 Minnesota Social Media Innovators.

I am very humbled that I was included in the list.

Just as cool is that there is another Minnesota recruiter on the list, Joshua Kahn (@joshuakahn) who writes the find+attract blog.

Paul DeBettignies, MN Headhunter And Be Your Own Headhunter Presentations

I am only going back 5 years for the list below as most of the job search, networking and LinkedIn related presentations going back 9 years were based on “I Have A Killer Resume Now What? Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter”

The list below are all sessions that were delivered in person to national and local groups ranging from 10-250 attendees.

To date 12,000+ have seen me live and another 2,900+ through webinars.

Not included in the list are sessions now being done online through Be Your Own Headhunter.

Attendees of the sessions below include a wide range of people including recruiters, HR, college students, job seekers, small business owners, entrepreneurs, librarians, senior executives, social media, public relations, marketing and IT professionals:

2012

• Recruiting For Startups v2 - MinneBar 4/11

• Managing Your IT Career v4 - MinneBar 4/11

• LinkedIn from A - Z: Using LinkedIn as a Job Search Tool – Minnesota Recruiting and Staffing Association 3/12

• Job Search: The Truth - McNally Smith College of Music 3/12

• Social Media: The Basics – Winona Area SHRM 3/12

2011

• Social Media For The HR professional - Twin Cities Human Resources Association 11/11

• Technology, You, and a Networked World Panel - SHiFT 11/11

• Social Media For Recruiting: Let’s Get Doing - Minnesota SHRM Conference 10/11

• Rocking Linkedin: Profiles, Connections, Sourcing & Recruiting - Minnesota SHRM Conference 10/11

• Job Search: A Conversation For Grad Students - Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota 10/11

• Power Networking - Minnesota Bloggers Conference 9/11

• Cenex Harvest States - Social Media Recruiting and Best Practices 9/11

• Social Networking for Recruiters - Minnesota Recruiting & Staffing Association Annual Symposium 9/11

• Career Maintenance - Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis/St Paul 6/11

• Hiring: Post and Pray or Integrated Process for Success Panel - Human Resource Professionals Minnesota 6/11

• Recruiting For Startups - MinneBar 5/11

• Managing Your IT Career Part III - MinneBar 5/11

• Social Media Friend Or Foe For Recruiters - Minnesota Recruiting & Staffing Association 4/11

• Recruiter Panel at Face2Face - 4/11

2010

• ABC’s Of Closing Candidates - Minnesota Recruiters 12/10

• Social Media And Job Search - Face2Face 11/10

• ABC’s Of Closing Candidates - Minnesota Association of Healthcare Recruiters 11/10

• Closing Candidates: The Last Ten Yards Are The Hardest - Minnesota Recruiters 7/10

• 11 Tools Every Search Firm Recruiter Should Use Along With Their Phone - Fordyce Forum 6/10

• How to Fireproof Your Career and Chortle at Recession Worries - MinneBar 5/10

• Case Study: Building Community As A Solo Act - Social Recruiting Summit 5/10

• Panelist - Human Resources Executive Council 4/09

• LinkedIn From A To Z - Minnesota Recruiter and Staffing Association 3/10

• Recruiting and Workforce Retention: New tools for the looming "War for Talent" - Employers Association Social Media Conference 3/10

• Dating and the Job Search – They Both Suck - Ignite Minneapolis 2/10

• Minnesota Jobs Summit (Panelist) - Minnesota Workforce Center 1/10

2009

• Job Search = SUCKS: 12 Tips To Make The Process Less Painful - MinneBar 11/09

• Networking Online - MinneBar 11/09

• Social Networking Overview and the Affects on HR - Human Resource Professionals 10/09

• Using Social Media For Networking, Lead Generation And Recruiting - Human Resource Professionals 10/09

• Social Networking in Business How to Navigate the Playing Field without Fumbling the Ball (Panelist) - Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota 10/09

• Working the Web for your Career: Young Nonprofit Professionals Network – Twin Cities 9/09

• Job Search Toolkit: Be Your Own Headhunter - Cima Labs 6/09

• Using Social Media For Networking And Job Searching - Hennepin County Library Staff Training 6/09

• Using Social Media In Your Job Search - Social Media Camp 6/09

• Developing Your Professional Network (Co Presenter) - Ecolab 5/09

• Thriving Through Job Transitions - University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business Alumni Event 5/09

• Using Social Media For Networking, Lead Generation And Recruiting - Oberon, LLC 5/09

• 21st Century Job Search Requires New Tools And Techniques - Project Management Institute Minnesota 4/09

• Career and Building a Personal Brand (Panelist) - Public Relations Society of America – MN (MNPRSA) 4/09

• I Have A Killer Resume Now What? Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter - Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Job Club 4/09

• Using LinkedIn & Social Media In Your Job Search - Best Buy 2/09, 3/09

• LinkedIn To A New Year - Savage Chamber of Commerce 1/09

• Using Social Media In Your Job Search - Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis/ St Paul 1/09

• I Have A Killer Resume Now What? Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter - StarTribune Career Expo 1/09

2008

• Build Your Networking Life Raft Before You Need It - MN Chapter International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) 10/08

• I Have A Killer Resume Now What? Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter - StarTribune Career Expo 9/08

• Online Safety or Why You Should Not Post Tailgate Pictures - University of Minnesota Welcome Week 8/08

• Various presentations including LinkedIn, Twitter, and Job Ad SEO - J. Perzel & Associates 6-7/08

• I Have A Killer Resume Now What? Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter - StarTribune Career Expo 5/08

• Creating and Building Passive Candidate and Talent Pools 101 - Minnesota Recruiters 5/08

• I Have A Killer Resume Now What? Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter - StarTribune Career Expo 1/08

 

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Paul DeBettignies And Minnesota Headhunter Interviews

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 Industry Media:

 

 

Here is an updated list of stories, articles and podcasts I have been a part of (blog posts not included):

2013

• Minnesota jobs numbers and what they mean - WCCO AM 1/13

• Survey shows more employee confidence, with 1 in 3 people looking for a new job in the new year - KARE 11 1/13

2012

• Looking For A New Job? Some Sound Advice - WCCO TV 12/12

• Minnesota economy, recovery from the Great Recession - NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation 12/12

• Job Recruiter: Now is the Time to Search for a Holiday Job - KSTP TV 9/12

• IT workers largely shielded from economy's woes - MPR 7/12

• Hiring recruiter analyzes job numbers, trends - FOX 9 News 7/12

• How to find a job in a sluggish economy - MPR 7/12

• Top 4 tips for jobseekers - MPR 7/12

• Facebook faces scrutiny over privacy - WCCO AM 6/12

• Tata to open 300-person office - MSP Business Journal 5/12

• Recruiter: Research to Negotiate Salary - FOX 9 News 1/12

2011

• Sites Help You Manage Your Social Networking Imprint WCCO TV 12/11

• Downtown OK even as Target moves staff MSP Business Journal 12/11

• Network Now! Minneapolis Star/Tribune 10/11

• HR Expert Explains Vacation Stigma in US FOX 9 News 8/11

• An expensive sales lesson MSP Business Journal 8/11

• Chat with Jordana Green and Paul DeBettignies KARE 11 News 5/11

• Out of Work? Focus on the Future, Not the Past Minneapolis Star/Tribune 4/11

• Forty-Three MSB-Richfield Students Graduate Richfield Patch 3/11

• Get Out From Behind the Desk and Network Fordyce Letter 2/11

2010

• The IT Talent Question Twin Cities Business 8/10

• Recruiters: The jobs are there, if you know how to find them KARE 11 TV (NBC affiliate) 7/10

• Good Question: Why Do Employers Run Credit Checks? WCCO TV (CBS affiliate) 7/10

• Facebook Gets 500 Million Users WCCO Radio 830 7/10

• LinkedIn is changing how recruiters, companies seek job candidates Business Journal 5/10

• Business card as brand: An expert warns against common mistakes St Paul Pioneer Press 3/10

• Minnesota Headhunter The Recruiting Animal Show 3/10

• MN Jobs Summit: Frustration To Purpose Minneapolis StarTribune 2/10

• The Best HR City HR Happy Hour Podcast 1/10

2009

• Don't take a holiday from job hunt, experts warn Minneapolis StarTribune 12/09

• Job Searches Get Tweeter Minneapolis StarTribune 11/09

• Next Gen Recruiting HR Happy Hour podcast 11/09

• Deluxe mines LinkedIn, Twitter for recruits Business Journal 10/09

• Balanced Networking Minneapolis StarTribune 10/09

• The Job Seeker's Show HR Happy Hour podcast 9/09

• Tips from the Social Recruitment Trenches IT Business Edge 7/09

• Do Social Channels Help or Hinder Recruitment Efforts? IT Business Edge 7/09

• Recruiting With Social Networking Twin Cities Business 7/09

• Tweeting for a job: Online social networking invaluable in career hunting Chaska Herald 4/09

• Twitter's tweet connections bring job-seekers, employers together St Paul Pioneer Press 3/09

• Extra: Social networking can help job hunt KARE 11 (NBC affiliate) 3/09

• Good Question: Should You Google Yourself? WCCO TV (CBS affiliate) 2/09

• Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 21 Minnov8 1/09

• Getting LinkedIn For Career Success Minneapolis StarTribune 1/09

2008

• Headhunter: The Meek May Not Inherit A Job WCCO TV (CBS affiliate) 11/08

• Minnesota Headhunter, Your Buddy in Bad Times Recruiting Animal podcast 11/08

• Turning to the TV for Explanations and Answers New York Times 9/08

• Sites: not just for personal connections anymore Business Journal 9/08

• How To Get Found By Recruiters Minneapolis StarTribune 7/08

• The Minnesota Headhunter Recruiting Animal podcast 1/08

2006 - 2007

• Tips For The Unemployed Job Seeker Minneapolis StarTribune 11/07

• Northwest Workers May Strike, Judge Says New York Times Blog 8/06

• Northwest's Advice to the Laid Off: Dumpster Dive NPR 8/06

• Web Master (no link) Minnesota Business 8/06

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Welcome To The Minnesota Headhunter Blog

 

This is a “what’s going on” here at Minnesota Headhunter. Blog posts of interest, event announcements and links to Be Your Own Headhunter presentations.

You can also scroll down past this to see posts in chronological order.

Blog Posts (recent/popular)

• Study: Best Paying Jobs For Two And Four Year Degrees

• Most In Demand IT Certifications - March 2013

• Minnesota Job And Career Fair 2013

• Minnesota IT Jobs Most In Demand By Title

Speaking

• Apr 18: Job & Career Fair – MNRSA

• May 3: LinkedIn - Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis St Paul

• May 9: TCHRA Spring Conference 2013

• Oct 13-15: Minnesota SHRM

Events

• Apr 30: Minnesota Recruiters

Be Your Own Headhunter – Job Search Webinar

• No live sessions scheduled until early May. Please view the session posted.

For more information click Be Your Own Headhunter

Have a question, comment or looking for some information? Send an email to paul@mnheadhunter.com

Paul DeBettignies To Present At The Minnesota Chapter Of The Project Management Institute Job Fair

April 20th, 2009 from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM the Minnesota Chapter of the Project Management Institute will be hosting a job fair for Project Managers and Business Analysts.

So far 20 companies are participating in the job fair.

This is an awesome opportunity to be proactive with your networking in meeting with Recruiters and should you be in a job search clearly this is an event to attend.

During the job fair I will be doing two mini presentations on doing an effective job search.

For more information on the PMI job fair (and the dinner meeting that follows) click 2009 Project Management Institute Minnesota Chapter Job Fair.

Paul DeBettignies A Panelist For Minnesota PRSA Event

Thursday April 16^th, 2009 I will be part of a two person panel for a Core Training class for the Public Relations Society of America - Minnesota or MNPRSA.

 

Information on the event from the MNPRSA web site:

Career and Building a Personal Brand

Guest Panelists:

• Mary Kloehn, Managing Partner, Navigate Forward
• Paul DeBettignies, Recruiter, Blogger, Founder of BeYourOwnHeadhunter.com

As a public relations professional, you’re likely an expert at building and managing brands for clients and companies—but what about developing your personal brand?

Join distinguished leadership and executive transition consultant Mary Kloehn, and social media maven and recruiter Paul DeBettignies as they talk about building and using personal brands online and off. As a consultant, Mary Kloehn draws from human resource and business leadership perspectives to package and present a personal brand. Paul DeBettignies brings a recruiter’s point of view, offering advice for using social media to enhance a personal brand and secure the perfect job.

Take away best practices for building your personal brand and using it to make your mark in your current position, while on the job hunt or when making a career transition. After all, your personal brand is what sets you apart from the rest.

Click Career and Building a Personal Brand for the registration page

Join MNPRSA group online:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• MinnesotaPRSA on Twitter

Info For KARE 11 Viewers

Many thanks to KARE 11 and Scott Goldberg for including me in their Extra: Social networking can help job hunt .

If you are seeking information on the free Job Search, LinkedIn and Social Media presentations go to:

Be Your Own Headhunter

This coming week there are three presentations:

- Job Search Toolkit (March 24th)
- Using Social Media For Networking And Social Media (March 25th)
- LinkedIn A-Z For Networking And Job Search (March 26th)

If stopping by for job search information click Job Search Tips for posts that I have here on this site and while here bookmark this site or sign up for the weekly newsletter or RSS feed.

If curious about the blog take a look around. Scroll down the middle column to "Categories" where you will find information by categories.

Thanks for stopping by.

Paul

Free Job Search Webinar | Trial Run | February 19, 2009 | 11 AM CST

For the past 6 or 7 years (I have lost track) I have been doing a job search presentation(s) to groups of all ages and skills sets called “I have a killer resume, now what? Tips on being your Headhunter.”

The idea is after being a recruiter for 11+ years I know how I would do a job search. And essentially, it is what I do every day to market myself to potential clients. I am trying to find the same hiring managers, recruiters, decision makers and executives that job seekers are.

The presentation itself is very laid back as is my style. I do use the words “dude” and “sucks” a few times. It just happens.

The content is unique and many have called it aggressive. I see most job seekers reacting to an online job or newspaper ad. My belief is being reactionary in a job search and doing what everyone else is doing leads you to compete with a lot of people for that one job.

If you know about it before the masses you will have a much better chance of getting it.

Topics to be covered include:

• Networking, what it is, how to get started, and who to contact
• Using LinkedIn and Facebook as job search tools
• Effective ways of using email to introduce yourself
• Finding hiring manager contact names
• Creating your 10 second Sound Bite and the 30 second Elevator Pitch
• Tracking your job search

The presentation lasts between 50-75 minutes depending on the number of questions.

This is the first webinar I have ever done and I have been very anxious about it. I am used to speaking in front of group from 20-200 so doing one via phone and Internet is a bit odd to me. I like to see people and see how they react to what they are hearing.

So this is a trial run. Surely I will have a miss step along the way but I do promise to make it worth your time.

My plan is to be doing this and other job search and career related webinars as part of my new site Be Your Own Headhunter. Not much to look at yet but a few more sleepless nights and you will be pleased with waht you will find.

Here is the link for the webinar:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/207079110

 

***All attendees will receive a free PDF of “Dig Your Job”, written by G.L. Hoffman, Chairman of JobDig.***

A special note. Many thanks to the folks at JobDig for inviting me to their office and providing the space and support to do this presentation.

You may know of JobDig as a newspaper and online job board but they have many products including LinkUp, a job aggregator similar to Indeed and SimplyHired but LinkUp only uses corporate career pages, and for my recruiter friends JobDig Tracker, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

Looking forward to tomorrow and if you listen to the webinar please provide any feedback you have.

Job Search | LinkedIn | Social Media Job Search Presentations

The last three weeks I have done three different presentations and have inserted them below.

This morning I presented at the Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cities on “Using Social Media In Your Job Search.” Before going further I want to, need to say, in six or seven years of doing career related presentations I have NEVER had so much fun.

Thank you to those who attended and for participating in the conversation. Lots of really good questions were asked and this being my first time doing a presentation to this niche I learned quite a few things and will add a few slides in future similar presentations.

Announcements:

• Please pass on to friends, family, coworkers and anyone you know who is now or may in the future be doing a job search the following web site, Be Your Own Headhunter http://www.beyourownheadhunter.com
• As I type this (1-30-09) there is not much there but in the coming week it will be a good source of job search information. I will also be adding city pages that will have links of local information with Minneapolis and St. Paul being the first. (big shock, right?)
• In about two weeks I will be doing free job search webinars likely on a weekly basis.
• If you know of a group within short driving distance who would like to have a speaker on job search, networking, LinkedIn, etc please pass my name along. For local presentations I do not charge a fee.
• If you attended today’s event (or either of the previous two) and I missed a topic you had hoped would be covered please leave a comment below so I can see if/how to work it into a presentation.

That’s it for “announcements.”

OK, I lied...

NOTE: Today’s presentation was taken in part by the two below it as well as new content specific to today. You may/will want to look at the others to get more information on doing a job search and using LinkedIn as a tool.

Using Social Media In Your Job Search

View more presentations from MNHeadhunter. (tags: social media)

 

The following was presented at the Savage Chamber of Commerce 1-20-09:

LinkedIn to a New Year

View more presentations from MNHeadhunter. (tags: linkedin presentation)

 

The following was presented at the StarTribune Career Fair 1-13-09 and is my standard job search presentation:

I have a "killer resume", now what? Tips on being your own Headhunter

View more presentations from MNHeadhunter.

Job And Career Fair Presentation

I have had a lot of stuff running through my mind since the presentation at the StarTribune Career Expo which is why until today I have been a little quiet.

I said this when I started speaking, I was a bit unnerved with the number of folks wanting to hear the presentation. I had a few folks sitting on the floor, standing in the back and into the hallway. The hosts of the event estimated at around 130 people were in the room at the beginning.

When I asked for hands of those unemployed 90%+ raised their hands.

I should restate this, I was not unnerved about speaking before a group that size but the first thing that goes through my mind is the collective emotion that everyone is feeling. Being without a job sucks. What sucks worse is when we have slow economic times.

The job search presentation went from 2 PM – 3 PM. Then about 20 minutes for the networking piece. Then a group Q & A and a few one on one questions. By the time I left it was around 5 PM.

It was a good day and feedback from the presentations has been very good.

Here is the presentation:

I have a "killer resume", now what? Tips on being your own Headhunter

View more presentations or upload your own.

I do have the shell of Be Your Own Headhunter up and running. More content will be added the next three days along with a page specific for Minneapolis resources.

My original idea was to start doing online webinars in mid February but I have decided that rather than perfect everything and have the web site in high gear I am going to start before the end of January. It makes more sense to get this information to people than wait for everything to look pretty.

The first webinar is not yet schedules as I need to figure out the tech side of things and do a trial run.

If you know of a group in the Minneapolis | St. Paul area seeking a speaker on job search, networking, or using LinkedIn please forward my email on, paul@mnheadhunter.com

As long as it is local and I can keep my time away from the office to 90 minutes or less I am willing to do them for free.

MN Headhunter Gets Nice Guy Award

On January 7, 2009 Recruiting Animal gave his The Recruiting Animal Award Winners 2008 on his radio show.

I was awarded “Recruitosphere Nice Guy”:

Now for those not in the recruiting industry you may wonder what is a Recruiting Animal and why do you care.

The Recruiting Animal is a popular guy, a Recruiter, has the Recruiting Animal blog, and his own radio show The Recruiting Animal. That’s pretty good for anyone let alone an animal.

While the shows are not always very serious (this is not your suit and tie show) the content that is shared and the people who contribute (most days) are.

So to be mentioned with the folks he gave awards to is in all seriousness, very cool for me. When you go to his page you will see those listed is very much a “who’s who” of the recruiter’s who are online, who give back to the community, who teach and train.

It also means a lot to be known as a “Nice Guy” and this proves nice guys do not finish last.

Oh and I should say that if you are wondering more about his show you can click one of the following links to 2008 shows I was featured on.

Minnesota Headhunter, Your Buddy in Bad Times (October 29, 2008)

The Minnesota Headhunter (January 16, 2008)

Paul DeBettignies To Speak On Job Search And Networking Topics At Minneapolis StarTribune Career Fair

I should have posted this here earlier. I have been sending messages out on Twitter, Facebook and email and forgot about the blog. Yeah, sometimes I am not the brightest bulb on the tree.

Today, January 12^th 2009 I am presenting at a career fair sponsored by the Minneapolis StarTribune to be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I did all three events in 2008 and have been invited (and I accepted) to do them again in 2009.

Here is a link to the online event announcement StarTribune Career Expo.

During the event I will be briefly talk about a new site I am working on Be Your Own Headhunter where I will be posting career, job search and networking information, links to blog posts, information on Minneapolis and St. Paul career resources including networking groups, professional associations, etc.

From the site I will also be hosting webinars and later this spring launching a book.

Here is more information on what I will be speaking about:

2 PM – Room 102A
I have a “killer” resume, now what?
Tips On Being Your Own Headhunter
Paul DeBettignies, Managing Partner, Nerd Search

Paul has been an IT Headhunter for 11+ years; he is a frequent speaker on job search and networking topics and writes the popular business blog MNHeadhunter.com. Paul will share principles he has learned that are universal to a job search through is own business and throughout his years of interaction with candidates that will help speed up your job search process.

Areas to be covered include: networking, what it is, how to get started, and who to contact; using LinkedIn and Facebook as job search tools; effective ways of using email to introduce yourself; finding hiring manager contact names; creating your 10 second Sound Bite and the 30 second Elevator Pitch; tracking your job search.

3PM – Room 102A
Open Networking Opportunity With Fellow JobSeekers
Paul DeBettignies, Managing Partner, Nerd Search

Paul DeBettignies Quoted In Minneapolis StarTribune Article On LinkedIn

In the January 4^th 2009 Sunday career section of the Minneapolis StarTribune I was quoted in this article from Brett Pyrtle, Getting LinkedIn For Career Success:

In a world where business networks and relationships are often sustained in virtual reality, having an online presence is increasingly critical to career success. That's why a number of professional recruiters say that strategic use of LinkedIn is a smart move.

"The two best ways for a job seeker to be found are to either post a resume on a job board, which is a headache to manage, or set up a LinkedIn profile," says Paul DeBettignies, founder of the MN Headhunter recruiting blog and an occasional speaker to business group on using LinkedIn tools. "With the latter, people can really tailor their messages and make good use of key industry words or acronyms, because that's what recruiters use to conduct an online search."

Unlike social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, LinkedIn is specifically designed as an online resource to highlight business accomplishments and build professional contacts. The distinction has helped the site increase its user base by nearly 200 percent in the past year, according to Nielsen Online research, with substantial gains among workers in all age groups between 25-64.

For those who still have not established a LinkedIn profile, DeBettignies offers three key reasons why it might be worthwhile:

Extended Networking.

• On LinkedIn, a user can add a virtually unlimited number of contacts from their own professional or personal network. Every time a user adds a contact, they gain access to that person's network (unless they choose to restrict views of those names). If a job seeker wants to connect with a resource in this extended network, they can ask the friend or colleague in their own contact list to provide an online introduction.

Easier Research.

• LinkedIn allows users to research job openings in several different ways, including employer name, market niche or geographic location. By keying in the name of a specific firm, a user can also call up a list of LinkedIn members within each company. That search often yields a treasure trove of hiring managers or HR staff that can be helpful to a job search.

Better Visibility.

• DeBettignies says a simple - and often overlooked - step to maximizing LinkedIn visibility is to add a link to the user's e-mail signature block. That enables interested parties to check out the page on a regular basis. "If a person is posting on blogs or professional discussions, that's a great way for others in their industry to take a closer look at who they are."

Minnesota Business, Technology, Sports And General Topic Blogs Updated

What follows is an update (20 blogs) to my blog roll. These blogs will also be added to my TwinCitiesBlogs.com project.

Minnesota Business Blogs:

• Digital In Motion
• Maria Energia
• Sustainable Middle Class
• Techrigy
• Twin Cities Real Estate Gal
• Barker and Hedges Real Estate Blog
• VisiOlo
• The Celebrity I Am Not
• Communications Conversations
• Minneapolis Online Marketing Blog
• Twit In Biz

Minnesota Technology Blogs:

• Blasted Consulting
• Inside The Nerdery
• buildcontext
• I [heart] code!

Minnesota Sports Blogs:

• Daily Norseman
• The Viking Age
• Vikings Gab

Minnesota General Topic Blogs:

• fresh.mn
• Minnesota Gossip

What Makes A Smart Recruiter?

I know for a few of my non recruiter friends the immediate response will be, “There is such a thing as a smart recruiter?”

Yes friends with all sarcasm put aside there are. In fact most are smart and good at what they do but like most industries a small percentage can ruin it for the group at large.

Jason Davis is running a “contest” at RecruitingBlogs.com called “Are You a Smart Recruiter?” The site is nearing 15,000 members and at each milestone Jason does a contest of sort. You can find out more by clicking Are You a Smart Recruiter?

The contest is sponsored by the folks at SmartRecruiters, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) provider.

So far 35+ recruiters have participated and you can read the entries by clicking What makes me a Smart Recruiter.

What follows is my entry:

I am not so convinced I am a smart recruiter because 75% of what I know has come from trial and error and 25% from listening to what others do and then make it work for me in the way I do things. Maybe the combined knowledge of messing things up and listening to smart folks makes me a smart recruiter.

Here are five reasons for my success:

- Short memory and avoiding the roller coaster. In football they say the best cornerback’s have a short memory. What they mean is whether you gave up a touchdown, got an interception or usually something in between you have to forget what just happened and think about the next play. The common analogy is riding the roller coaster. It is hard to see this business clearly when your emotions are all over the place. Keeping the highs and lows not so extreme has served me well.

- I ask a lot of questions but the most important part is to listen and take good notes. I do this with almost every conversation I have. I will ask a candidate five different ways what the salary requirements are, same with the client on what is most important to them. A recruiter needs to know what really motivates both parties in order for a placement to benefit both the candidate and client.

- Do right by the client and the candidate. We are asking clients to trust our evaluation of talent and the marketplace and based on our information will invest lots of time, energy, salary, benefits and our fees. We ask candidates to pursue opportunities with our clients that will have an impact on their career paths and financial security for their families. I know if I do right by them my business, financial security and family will be well.

- I use a variety of tools without which my career as a one man band of a search firm likely would have ended years ago. Among them: phone, email, blog, social media, newsletters, RSS feeds, sponsoring events, speaking before groups, referral networks, talent pipelines, SEO and creating interesting and optimized job ads. Not every tool is right for every search but because of the niche and location I am in the previous in some combination always works well.

- #1 reason: Most days I like most people and most days most people like me.

Congratulations to Jason Davis as RecruitingBlogs.com nears 15,000 members and many thanks to Jerome Ternynck and the team at SmartRecruiters for sponsoring this.

Best Wishes in ’09.

Paul

Minnesota Business, Technology, Politics, Sports, Recruiter and HR Blogs Updated

What follows is a major update (33 blogs) to my blog roll. These blogs will also be added to my TwinCitiesBlogs.com project.

Minnesota Business Blogs:

• craigsanatomy
• Above the Buzz
• Barry Judge
• DoApp Blog
• Greater Than Media
• Mediapirate’s Weblog
• Social Studies
• Steve Bendt
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Paul DeBettignies Answers Job Search Question On WCCO TV

I still hate writing my name in the third person. Anyway...

Friday (November 7, 2008) I was contacted by reporter James Schugel to see if I would be interested in answering a job search related question they had received from a viewer.

I think my answer was, “Heck Yeah!!!”

Thankfully I was already in Downtown Minneapolis so I headed over to the WCCO studio (they are the local CBS affiliate):

The segment was to be 1-2 minutes and James was looking for three tips for job seekers. “Three???” I said. “I usually do this in 45 – 90 minute presentations. And I am not short on words.”

But James is a very experienced reporter and said lets have a conversation and through that I will get the material for the story.

Here is the link to the story (they do not allow for embedding video):

Headhunter: The Meek May Not Inherit A Job

There is one big tip I should have suggested but under the pressure of lights and camera slipped my mind.

When contacting companies explain what you can do for them. Do you have experience growing profits, streamlining something, cutting costs, etc. Something that shows you can bring value.

Save what you want for a later conversation. Too often candidates talk about vacation, benefits, and other things that are important to them (and rightly so) but this market has turned these past months and companies are in the driver’s seat.

Turns out the woman in the video who had the question, Fiona Quick, I know through Twitter (@quick13). When she was interviewed earlier in the day (before I got the call) she had already shown them my blog. Very nice of her.

Speaking of Fiona, Click Fiona Quick to see her LinkedIn profile. If you happen to be an employer seeking a CRM Administrator/Analyst/Manager with SalesForce and Database skills contact her. Or send me an email and I can out you in touch with her.

Paul DeBettignies In The New York Times And Business Journal

OK, it feels really weird to write my name in a blog post. Usually I say “MN Headhunter” but neither of the articles have anything to do with this blog.

The New York Times article from September 28, 2008, Turning to the TV for Explanations and Answers, is the first time in the paper and the second time on their web site. The first was in this blog post August 17, 2006 Northwest Workers May Strike, Judge Says.

The newspaper article came about of my watching CNBC coverage of the credit crisis, fledgling economy and particularly how this would impact national, regional and local employment.

I was contacted by Brian Stelter of the New York Times after he did (of all things) a search on Twitter for CNBC. He came across my MNHeadhunter profile and my many, many Tweets (as they are called).

He was a cool guy. Had a nice chat. And three days later I am in the paper.

A few hours into the day and into the next days I had quite a few cool email including old friends I had not seen/heard from in years including a guy I sat near in home room in high school for four years who now lives in Tennessee.

Some day I will be able to tell my kids (need a girlfriend and then wife to make that happen) one day about how I was named in an article with:

• Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman
• Henry "Hank" Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary
• Mark Hoffman, President of CNBC
• Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
• Jim Cramer, “Mad Money”

Who knows if my then kids will find this cool but for a couple of days I did.

The second article was September 26^th, 2008 in this Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article Sites: not just for personal connections anymore. The article is about how social networking sites are not just for social purposes but also a business tool.

I am including my quotes below because I am not sure how long this link will work:

Recruiters, too, are increasingly turning to social-networking sites to find job candidates, said Paul DeBettignies, managing partner at Nerd Search, a Minneapolis-based tech recruiting firm. And they’re not just looking at LinkedIn; Twitter — a “micro-blogging” tool that lets people dispatch 140-character messages or “tweets” that can be shared with fellow users — is especially popular in the tech crowd, and fertile ground for IT recruiters.

“The idea is you should probably go where your talent pool is,” DeBettignies said. “If you’re an IT person, you want to go on Twitter. If you’re in marketing, get on Facebook.”

About 85 percent of employers use Facebook to either find candidates or do quick background searches on prospective hires, DeBettignies said. The technique is especially popular with recruiters who are competing for strong intern candidates.

And:

“The hard sell is dead,” Boardman said. “It doesn’t work door-to-door, and it doesn’t work on social networks.”

That’s a rule followed by many savvy recruiters, DeBettignies said. “What some recruiters do is become a bull in a China shop and start spamming people. Then it’s like fishing — they all scatter and don’t come back for a while.”