SOURCES
By: Frank McCarthy

Sources is a complete guide to hiring, training, and utilizing a research assistant, plus how to execute meaningful, useful research and sourcing to optimize overall effectiveness. If you're thinking about adding research capabilities to your recruiting operation, but don't know how, this is the place to start.

	RW Everyday Price: $47.50
	Recruitment Price: $40.50

THE PLACEMENT STRATEGY HANDBOOK
By: Search Research Institute

This book contains relevant, easy-to-apply information that could mean the difference between actually placing a candidate and almost doing so. Successful recruiters don't react -- they act. They literally "make" placements. And they use The Placement Strategy Handbook to do so.

	RW Everyday Price: $32.50
	Recruitment Price: $27.75

SEARCH RESEARCH
By: Frank McCarthy

The culmination of years of analysis and successful implementation, Search Research delivers search research techniques as practiced by the search and placement experts. This illustrated 145-page, self-paced instructional manual logically and candidly explains the search research process.

	RW Everyday Price: $89.00
	Recruitment Price: $76.00

In Part I of this series, Getting the Most Out of Recruiting Research Firms, we discussed ways to integrate the services of a research firm into your sourcing strategy. In this article, we'll cover ways to research candidates on your own. We've asked two research professionals to reveal some of their best strategies for finding candidates on the phone and on the web.

Internet Research

Recruiters should conduct ongoing research on job sites and resume boards, recommends Carl Kutsmode, CEO of Tiburon Group. Obviously, active candidates can be found on job sites and resume boards, but these sites are also good places to find passive candidates. "If you notice a flood of resumes coming from a particular company, that company might be a good target for sourcing," says Kutsmode.

Other good places to search for passive candidates, include:

• ISP (Internet Service Provider) websites. These sites can point you straight to individual home pages replete with resumes, links to past employers, and more.
  
  
• People directories, (ex: Yahoo People Search). Individuals who register for these services often list their profession and/or place of employment.
  
  
• Expert directories on Yahoo or About.com. Target individuals who turn to experts for advice, as well as the experts themselves!
  
  
• Alumni association websites, both university and corporate.

In addition, the timeworn, (in Internet years), tactics of flipping, (finding personal resumes that link to company sites), and X-raying, (uncovering pages within a company website), remain excellent tools for finding company information and passive candidates.

Telephone Research

Telephone research is primarily used for specific assignments. According to Diane Banis, a telephone researcher with Banis & Associates, "Targeting the right companies is key."

Once the right companies have been identified, Banis suggests using SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes and Hoover's company profiles to get information about the companies and their competitors.

From there on, it's just a matter of picking up the phone: "We contact potential candidates and talk to them about the job opportunity," says Banis.

Getting names and bypassing secretaries can sometimes require some private eye-like tactics. Recruiters faced with a stonewalling switchboard operator or secretary may want to revert to tried-and-true schemes such as:

• The Term Paper: Many switchboard operators have a soft spot for students with a fast-approaching deadline. Asking for names and job titles under the guise of a "research assignment" can prove surprisingly successful.
  
  

• The Fed Ex Delivery: Tell the secretary that you need a name or phone number to complete delivery of a package.

However you conduct your research, stay focused on your ultimate goal --finding top candidates for your client.

Read Recruiting Research Part I:
Getting the Most Out of Recruiting Research Firms

Christine Hirsch is a founder and director of RecruitersWorld.com. With over 14-years of recruiting, executive search, and corporate human resources experience, Ms. Hirsch has positively impacted the recruiting functions of several Fortune 1000 companies and consulting firms. For the past 16 years, Ms. Hirsch has headed her own recruitment consulting firm, Chicago Resources. During that time, she has become recognized as a subject-matter expert in the recruitment field.