In the post-pandemic world, the rules of hiring fundamentally changed—along with the expectations for talent acquisition. When businesses struggled to hire during the rebound from the pandemic cutbacks, the star of talent acquisition rose from its historical position as a cost center in many organizations. Talent acquisition had its seat at the proverbial table, but when recession fears took hold, TA lost its place amidst layoffs and hiring freezes at some companies.

Talent needs to be center stage for businesses to adapt and thrive in 2023 and beyond. To do this, talent acquisition needs to maintain its seat at the table—or step up if it hasn’t already. Trends like flexible work, DEIB, and workplace automation have all made employers think differently about who and how they hire. 

A cost center that speaks in the language of speed and efficiency does not offer the strategic perspective organizations need to hire effectively amidst rapidly changing employee and candidate expectations. When talent acquisition earn a seat at the table for strategic talent decisions, businesses are more likely to reach their full potential.

According to the Josh Bersin Company, companies that leverage the right recruiting strategies are

• 5X more likely to delight customers
• 30X more likely to engage and retain employees
• 35X more likely to innovate effectively.

Leveraging the right recruiting strategies is not just the job of talent acquisition teams; it’s a job for the whole organization. 

A Seat at the Table Defined

Allyn Bailey, Executive Director of Hiring Success Services at SmartRecruiters, has spent decades at the forefront of global talent acquisition. In our latest ebook, A Seat at the Table: A Guide to Leading a Strategic Talent Acquisition Function, Allyn says,

“Having a seat at the table means not just being involved in decisions directly related to talent acquisition, it means providing input into all decisions that have a talent lens to them.”

If a talent acquisition leader wants to get a seat at the table, they must move from the perception of their function as a cost center to a strategic function. Allyn says,

 “A strategic TA leader is a trusted partner who can come to the table with information that tells business leaders what’s happening in the market, what’s realistic to assume, and how their decisions will impact the company’s ability to capture and keep talent.” 

The journey to becoming a strategic leader—someone who gets invited to meetings because it’s widely known that they have valuable information and perspective that can help the business make high-priority decisions—is varied and complex. It requires that a leader shift their mindset from being an order-taker to someone who provides data-backed insights.

Leading a strategic talent acquisition function is not always easy. Allyn asked, “If  you don’t have a seat at the table today, why not?” The reasons could be a blend of personal and organizational factors. She recommends that leaders get clear about why they want that seat and what they might do with it once they get there.  

To help leaders along this journey, we spent hours interviewing Allyn and two members of SmartRecruiters’ Hiring Success team: Dave Novak, Engagement Manager, and Jared Best, Regional Practice Leader. In those conversations, we uncovered a path for leaders to become more strategic and get the seat at the table they deserve. Our insights are condensed into the ebook  A Seat at the Table: A Guide to Leading a Strategic Talent Acquisition Function. 

Below we list highlights from key sections of the ebook:

Strategic Talent Acquisition Maturity Model

For each level shown in the maturity model above, the ebook offers example scenarios so that you can assess your company and start forming your own North Star vision. To get a real-world picture of how one organization moved to greater maturity, read The Incremental Journey to Talent Acquisition Transformation at Colliers EMEA.

Know Your Why: Reasons to Build a Strategic TA Function

The benefits of getting a seat at the table fall into three areas: to help your organization, support your team, and grow your own career. We expand on each of these areas and provide reflection activities in the ebook so that you can move ahead with inner confidence.

Know What You’re Signing Up For: Barriers to Becoming More Strategic

In our discovery conversation, Allyn Bailey said, “Leaders need to assess their organization’s ability to absorb them into the conversation.” She spoke of the time it takes for organizations to change and said, “Pay attention to the signals that you’re making traction. People will be asking smarter questions and start to repeat words that you’ve inserted into the conversation and adopting them as their own.”

The ebook lists eight common barriers with potential solutions and includes a reflection activity for your company’s situation. For inspiration, read our success story with KinCare which describes the growth of organizational trust after the implementation of SmartRecruiters.

The Path to Getting a Seat at the Table

Our Hiring Success experts have observed many organizations going through the stages of building a strategic function. We can’t emphasize enough that it’s not just a shift for the individual leader; it’s a shift for the whole organization, and it requires many conversations. This section outlines six stages that you can expect to go through.

The Building Blocks of a Strategic Talent Acquisition Function

A strategic TA leader oversees seven critical components of talent acquisition. Your company may be more invested in some than others. Here you’ll find a list of signs of under-investment and high investment. Looking at the list can help you get clear on where you need to start so that you can generate a small win and develop a plan to address larger issues.

How to Change the Narrative to Become More Strategic

Being perceived differently means talking about different things. In the case of talent acquisition, it means understanding what the business cares about and bringing valuable information to the table. “The biggest thing a leader can do is change the narrative,” said Jared Best. “Move away from talking about transactional data and focus on data that ties back to organizational objectives.” This section offers three strategies to do just that, plus a reflection activity.

People Support for Your Seat at the Table

As a strategic leader, you will need the help of not only your team but also others within the organization. Here you’ll find a list of 10 key roles on your support team and their responsibilities.

Technology Support for Your Seat at the Table

Your recruiting tech stack may or may not be optimally configured to support your strategic priorities. To help you clarify what technology concerns you may need to address, we created an 8-point technology checklist for building a strategic talent acquisition function.

We’d love to say that there’s a magic wand you can wave and have a perfectly functioning TA team that attracts and hires the best candidates, facilitates recruiter productivity, and engages hiring managers—while increasing employee retention and profits. Instead, we live in a complex reality, and we hope this guide will be one resource to help you get to where you want to go.

Good reporting is critical to achieving hiring success. Without a reporting strategy, how can you know if you are attracting, selecting, and hiring the best talent, within budget, and in the most efficient way? But often, reporting for talent acquisition is harder than it sounds. Gathering reports from disparate systems or business units can take up vast amounts of time, and sometimes a lack of data accuracy prevents the reports from being useful.

Why Implement a Reporting Strategy?

A solid reporting strategy can help you and your organization improve hiring outcomes in multiple ways:

• Evaluate real-time progress against goals
• Uncover hiring process roadblocks
• Measure the progress of DEI recruitment efforts
• Track the effectiveness of new strategies so that you can pivot when necessary
• Align TA with other business functions
• Inform stakeholders across the organization 
• Build credibility with executive stakeholders and the C-Suite
• Inform the next steps toward developing a more mature TA function
• Get support for future TA initiatives
• Build effective strategies to stay competitive in the talent marketplace
• Gather career-building win stories

How to Build a Talent Acquisition Reporting Strategy

Whether you’re still pulling reports manually or have some automation already built into your reporting strategy, you can start afresh and rethink your approach. The goal is to meet the needs of talent acquisition today, which may mean adjusting processes that worked in the past. Here’s how to get started:

1. Conduct an Audit

A reporting audit answers these questions.

• What reports are currently being run? At what time intervals?
• Who is responsible for running the reports and distributing them? How much time does it take?
• What reporting tools are available to us? Do we currently leverage our existing dashboards to the fullest?
• Who receives the reports? Are they the right people?
• Who makes decisions based on the reports? How is the success of those decisions being measured?
• Are the current reports effective at measuring what your company needs? Is there information missing that would help with decision-making? Identify the gaps.

2. Understand Business Goals

No reporting strategy can be effective without understanding the needs of the business. This may include differences across business units, locations, role types, etc. Then you need to look closely at your TA processes for each business concern. At SmartRecruiters, we encourage our customers to take the Hiring Success Business Assessment. The assessment helps them define their maturity status across people, processes, and technology in 21 compenents of talent acquisition. These components are grouped into three buckets: Talent Attraction & Engagement, Collaboration & Selection, and Management & Operating Model. 

By looking at the needs of the business against your current hiring practices, you can start to see where accurate reporting will have the most impact as you make improvements.

3. Ensure you Have Clean Data

Talent acquisition systems are designed to deliver good data, but only if they are used properly. Your reporting strategy will be ineffective if data is missing due to poor system adoption or missing links between tools. To ensure accurate data collection, you may need to identify where you need to improve processes or link systems.

4. Determine KPIs and Set Benchmarks

Every business needs KPIs that matter to the specific situation. While benchmarks may differ across different groups, it’s important to have goals in your sight. Then, individuals can be held accountable to reaching those goals. For example, if hiring velocity is a priority and hiring managers routinely slow down processes by taking too long to make decisions, they should be expected to make the necessary adjustments to hire on time. 

5. Establish a Reporting Cadence

Which reports get run weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually? Determine who is responsible for creating and reviewing reports. To level-set teams and build the expectation of accountability, schedule meetings to review results well in advance.

Establishing a structured reporting plan may reveal knowledge gaps among stakeholders. It may be useful to enable data literacy through additional training from an expert. With greater data literacy, stakeholders can learn to ask better questions of the data and answer them on their own. Data literacy sets the stage for continuous improvement. 

6. Set Up Dashboards and Iterate

Developing a good reporting strategy is an iterative process. The first dashboards may not be as useful as you thought once the data starts coming in. It may take some time to start getting clean data, or some individuals may require education to understand all the data points on the dashboards. Over time, your team will become more fluent in reading the reports and discovering insights that can move the business forward.  

An Expert Can Help Guide the Way

Reporting for talent acquisition is a highly specialized function that other business analytics teams may lack the expertise (or bandwidth) to accomplish. Accurate, actionable reporting is essential in your path to hiring success and crucial to unlocking the full potential of your recruiting function.

SmartRecruiters SmartSuccess Talent Strategy & Insights consulting packages help you level up your reporting strategy. Working with an experienced consultant, you’ll dive deep into what’s working and what’s not. Together, you and the consultant will come up with action and success plans tailored specifically to your business needs. You’ll receive:

• Analytics and insights strategy sessions to identify what stories the data can tell you, giving you the ability to translate TA goals to measurable outcomes 
• Monthly insights maintenance and strategy alignment sessions to ensure you have the full picture of your talent organization to make informed business decisions
• Personalized Tableau dashboards that consolidate the most frequently needed data in one place

There’s no reason a sound reporting strategy should stand in the way of Hiring Success. Get in touch with us to learn more about SmartRecruiters and SmartSuccess. And for a deep dive into how you can lead more strategically with data, download our ebook, A Seat at the Table: A Guide to Leading a Strategic Talent Acquisition Function.

Check out some of the funniest, most cringeworthy encounters with nightmare candidates that these recruiters will never forget.

Recruiting is all about people, and people are hilarious. Nothing like the pressure of a job interview to bring out the most awkward, silly, and mystifying behavior in all of us. So, while we often celebrate the victories—perfect referrals, nailing your LinkedIn search on the first try, the candidate saying yes as soon as they are offered the job—let’s take some time to share of the most comical interactions that the internet has to offer. Spoiler: it includes rollerblades.

Every recruiting vet has one of these stories, so buckle up and see if your experience compares to these hapless interviewers who had no idea what they were getting into.

1. User “Enron_F” shares a story from a former professor who had to choose between the lesser of two bad candidates…

“A long time ago his department was looking to hire a new junior assistant professor. They had narrowed it down to two highly qualified guys, both fresh out of grad school. They knew they were going to hire one or the other. As a final step of the process, they decided to take both of them out to dinner separately.

The first guy is cordial throughout the whole thing, seems to get along with everybody just fine. Then, at the end of the meal, he picks up his empty plate and licks the whole thing clean. Like, tongue flat against the surface of the plate, covering every inch of it until it’s clean. In the middle of a nice restaurant. Then he sets the plate down like it was the most normal thing in the world. Everyone just stares at him, and then awkwardly try to just wrap things up. Afterward, they laugh about it to each other— what a bizarre and unnecessary way to throw away a near clinch on a good job opportunity.

So they take the second guy out, almost just a formality at this point. Again, everything is fine, he’s polite, seems perfectly qualified, seems to know the right things to say. Then, at the very end of the meal, they ask him if he had any questions for them. He pauses and thinks for a moment, then asks, “So what is the student-teacher dating policy?”

Afterward, the other professors are sitting around together when one of them says, “Well, looks like we’re hiring the plate licker.”

2. User “notagoodboye” recounts a time when a candidate clearly didn’t do his research before the interview…

“I was doing a tech screen phone interview, and you could tell the guy was googling his heart out every time we asked a question. He would say, “Hmmm, let me think about that for a second.” The background ambient noise would cut off, and then cut back on a second later, and he’d start reading off stuff from the top Google result.”

3. User “kramblin” has a short dialog about why screening candidates is a good precaution for employers…

“Do you guys drug test?”
“Yes, we do.”
“For like, ALL the drugs?”
“Yes.”
“Ok. Thank you for your time.”

And then he got up and left.

4. User “MichaelTheElder” shares his encounter with a candidate he dubbed “The Candy Man”…

“The interview was for an entry-level retail position. I called him in for an interview, and after introductions, brought him up to the company break room. He looked like a kinda sketchy individual, wearing a beat-up black cap and what looked to be a dirty hoody. I didn’t think too much of it because: a) I did call him in on shorter notice, b) I don’t like to judge a candidate solely on how they look, and c) it’s retail—what do you expect candidates to look like?

I excused myself for 30 seconds to check in on my trainee, and when I came back the candidate looked a little uncomfortable.

Not thinking much of it we start the interview asking the standard questions about what he’s done previously, why he wants to work here, etc. I notice he continues to look uncomfortable and it almost looks as though he’s hiding something in his hands. I eventually ask if there’s something wrong I can assist with and he comes clean.

He explains he has a fistful of candy (jelly beans in this case) and he’s not sure what do do with them. I’m a bit gobsmacked and have questions which I wish I would have asked. Where did he get this candy? Why did he think it was a good idea to eat candy in an interview? What was he going to do with this candy?

As I tried to articulate a response he exclaims, “I know!” and proceeds to shove the entire handful into his mouth. And this isn’t a couple of jelly beans. This is a massive handful of now sweaty, sticky candies that he has just thrown into his mouth. And he starts chewing. And chewing. His hands are stained and he’s really working his jaw due to the sheer amount and chewy nature of them. I swear 30 seconds pass before he finally gulps them down and asks calmly, “You were saying?”

The interview did not continue much longer than that, and unfortunately, the candy man did not get a job with us.”

5. User “PsychohistorySeldon” on why a candidate’s mode of transportation to the office is important…

“Candidate arrived in rollerblades. Stayed in rollerblades the whole interview. He used the word “blade” instead of “walk” or “go” for the whole interview. Can’t tell if I was being punk’d.”

6. User jenjen2317 recalls a candidate who could have picked up a few pointers about phone etiquette…

“We had a guy come in for an interview, and he showed up a full 40 minutes prior to his scheduled interview. One room office shared by three people, so there’s no good place for him to wait. I said you can go to the coffee shop next door and come back at the scheduled time. He said, “No, I’ll just wait here—I have a phone call to make.”

He proceeds to have a very loud phone conversation in our one-room office. When it was finally time for his scheduled interview, he was still on the phone, and actually shushed me, saying, “I’M ON THE PHONE.” Ten minutes later he was ready to be interviewed. Not even sure why we proceeded with the interview, but it was over quickly and his resume was in the recycle before the door even closed.”

7. User “gardenmarauding” shares a time when a video interview ventured into absurdity…

“I was hiring in pharmaceutical sales, and during a large drug launch, the company was hiring almost 200 people nationwide.

Because of this, the first step was a phone screen, then a video interview with the hiring manager, before flying candidates out for the final, panel interviews with five individuals (VPs of HR and Sales of each region, and Sales Directors for those territories).

Because of this, we were very strict with the interviews and who moved forward, which means it REALLY sucked when a guy went into his final panel interview and started doing magic tricks.

Very seriously, he started pulling flowers from his sleeves, and he tried to “vanish” an interviewer’s coffee, but ended up spilling it everywhere instead.

In that same round of hiring, we also had an individual who did his video call from his coffee table (he sat on the floor) and he had someone ring his doorbell. From the conversation with the hiring manager, he asked politely if he could go answer the door in case it was an emergency. She said, “Sure”—no big deal—and the guy stood up, flashing his tightie whities.”

8. User “tybrromian”, on why recruiters should spend more time scanning resumes for errors…

“I once saw a resume that stated they were a “valid Victorian”. Either they were trying to say they were top of their class or that they were a genuine person from 19th century England, neither of which were true.”

Losing candidates at the offer stage can destroy a recruiter’s confidence. Here’s how to make an offer even the most demanding job seeker can’t turn down.

After vetting and interviewing down to a final selection, a recruiter’s efforts culminate with a final step, one that can make or break the hiring process: the offer. This moment marks the beginning of a professional working relationship with a new employee, so it’s important the experience is smooth and painless. Communication is key to orchestrating a successful offer, which is why we’ve broken down every stage of the process so recruiters know exactly how to professionally extend a job offer, negotiate terms, and close the deal.

The Setup

As recruiters and candidates work towards a final offer, it’s important that everyone’s expectations are aligned as early as possible. Any mistakes made during the hiring process need to be addressed at this point. Before moving forward, recruiters should have a solid grasp of the following information:

• The company’s preferred start date and salary range for the position (including bonuses, benefits, and company perks)
• The candidate’s requested compensation, desired start date, and most recent compensation (including bonuses, commissions, and benefits)
• Background and reference checks from the candidate’s previous managers.
• The candidate’s motivation for wanting the position

While financial compensation is the top concern for candidates, many of today’s job seekers place a high value on company culture and work-life balance, making them important considerations when entering salary negotiations. Knowing what truly matters to the candidate is essential information that can help close the deal.

Prime Your Serious Candidates

Recruiters should discuss a possible job offer with serious candidates during a late-stage interview or a post-interview phone call. This gives recruiters another opportunity to discuss the candidates’ expectations and ensure they align with the company’s position. Emphasizing that the conversation is not an offer, and that other candidates may still be considered, recruiters can assess the candidate’s salary expectations, targeted start date, and benefits package. Does the candidate agree with these terms? This is another opportunity to uncover obstacles that could slow the offer process, such as counter offers from current employers.

Professionally Communicate & Deliver the Offer

Normally, a recruiter verbally communicates the offer before sending an official letter. In addition to the phone or in-person confirmation, an email announcing the offer along with an attached formal letter is common practice. For even faster offers, many modern ATS platforms automate approvals for candidates and hiring teams, preventing unnecessary delays in the sign-off process. When sending this email, the body copy should briefly reinforce the company’s culture, values, and the opportunity being offered—save the professional language and fine print for the job offer letter. There, be sure to include the following:

• Congratulations to the candidate
• New job title & short job description
• An agreed-upon start date
• Work hours
• Probation period
• Base salary, bonuses, or commissions
• Any legal requirements (employment visa, non-disclosure agreements, etc.)
• Health benefits
• Time off entitlements
• Other benefits
• Deadline for candidate response

Timing and momentum are crucial, and maintaining a fast-paced hiring plan ensures candidates aren’t being lost in the tangles of lengthy processes. In today’s job market, top-quality candidates juggle multiple offers at once, and will not wait for companies that procrastinate. With tech-forward features in modern ATS’s like real-time offers and one-click offer acceptances, hiring teams have no excuse for not closing candidates quickly and effectively. Remember: your top choice candidate is likely a top choice at another company as well. Almost half of employers in a recent recruiter sentiment study said their offer rejection rates range from one to 10 percent. Top reasons candidates turned down offers included: accepting another job, insufficient compensation and lengthy hiring practices.

Recruiters can pitch their company and appeal to the candidate’s motivation by describing the candidate’s immediate and meaningful impact on the team, highlighting future career opportunities, and mentioning the company’s strengths (growth potential, desirable culture, financial security, etc). Recruiters should aim to connect the candidate’s previous experience and skills to the new position, and demonstrate how this will positively impact their career growth.

Negotiating Salary

Inevitably, recruiters will need to negotiate financial compensation in order to maintain a candidate’s interest. Some factors to take into consideration include:

• The candidate’s quality, cultural fit, and value to the company
• The industry standard rate for the position
• Cost of living adjustments based on the city
• The possibility of a counter-offer from a current employer

Rather than approach the salary negotiation as a way to secure the best candidate for the lowest price, recruiters should package the job as an opportunity for long-term career growth.

Reiterate and Close

The more preparation a recruiter can do before extending the official offer, the more likely a candidate will be receptive and agreeable to the terms. Recruiters who bond with candidates by aligning the candidate’s skills, experiences, and motivations with those of the company prepare them for a rewarding career path. The more these expectations are communicated before and during the offer stage, the more likely the employee will put forth their best work for the company. By streamlining the job offer process with a technology-forward approach, recruiters get top candidates to “Yes” quicker.

Recruitment has transformed rapidly, but some insights remain timeless. We mined the slush pile at the quote farm, unearthing some untarnished gems from which the most cynical can’t help but draw wisdom.

The hiring process is a different beast whether you’re a recruiter, a hiring manager, or a candidate. While the ultimate goal is to match the right candidate to the right job, sometimes the procedural challenges offer the most valuable insights for the future. TA professionals lean on past leadership to improve recruitment today. That’s why we’ve gathered quotes from accomplished entrepreneurs and business leaders that will challenge your perceptions of recruiting, and give you that much-needed kick in the ass.

On Candidate Experience

“Understand your candidates and why they’re making job changes. People leave people, not companies, Make sure you’re giving them something they’re excited to come to.” — Robin Mee, President and Founder of Mee Derby

If we truly believe that people are the core of HR, then creating the best possible candidate experience should be a no-brainer. In an era where company reviews on sites like Glassdoor are widely accessible to prospective applicants, organizations cannot afford to ignore the importance of a positive first impression. Today’s companies are increasingly aware of how candidates view them, not just as potential employers, but on their social initiatives, and even how they write open job descriptions.

On Employer Branding

“Engagement has to be human, because people trust people more than brands. Our employees are the ones who personify Shell.” — Ana Alonso, Global Marketing Head at Shell

A company’s reputation as an employer is hugely important to candidates. Today’s job seekers have greater access to company information than ever before, with 75 percent considering an employer’s brand before even applying for a job. Company fit and culture are moving into the top considerations for candidates who value connections with people more than with a brand. Employers wanting to attract the right candidates should focus on building an internal culture that supports these relationships.

On Hiring the Right Person (or People)

“When you’re in a startup, the first ten people will determine whether the company succeeds or not. Each is ten percent of the company. So why wouldn’t you take as much time as necessary to find all the A players? If three were not so great, why would you want a company where 30 percent of your people are not so great? A small company depends on great people much more than a big company does.” — Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple

“If we weren’t still hiring great people and pushing ahead at full speed, it would be easy to fall behind and become some mediocre company.” — Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft

Steve Jobs may be right about one thing. True, individuals have more impact at startups, but that doesn’t mean they are less influential at larger companies. While we would be hard-pressed to argue with the man who built a successful multinational tech firm, Microsoft’s equally savvy tech mogul makes a strong counterpoint – that maintaining great hires is crucial to an organization’s growth. The takeaway: hiring top-quality talent starts in a company’s infancy, and if done correctly, will carry things into maturity.

On Training

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” — Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company

Onboarding rarely goes beyond the typical welcome packets, employee handbooks, and payroll forms for many recent hires. And while no organization wants to suffer the financial cost of losing a freshly trained worker, this quote from Henry Ford argues that companies who don’t invest in employee training risk greater loss. The future workforce will need a balance of technological, social and emotional, and higher cognitive skills, and many of these will require occasional honing. To that end, it behooves companies to initiate skill workshops, training seminars, and other exercises to maintain a high level of employee performance.

On Team Building

“The best teamwork comes from men [and women] who are working independently toward one goal in unison.” — James Cash Penney, Founder of JC Penney

The founder of JC Penney opened his first store in 1902, and over the course of his life grew it into a $12B organization with 850 stores across the US. Feats like this are only possible with a united team working towards a common goal, where every person understands how his or her role is instrumental in achieving success. Expectations on an individual level demonstrate to employees how every team function aligns with the greater company mission. This not only establishes a value-add for all tasks, but instills a sense of purpose among the entire team.

On Management

“Many think of management as cutting deals and laying people off and hiring people and buying and selling companies. That’s not management, that’s deal making. Management is the opportunity to help people become better people. Practiced that way, it’s a magnificent profession” – Clayton M. Christensen, HBS Professor & Disruptive Innovation Expert

It can be difficult to know exactly what happens behind the closed doors of corner offices as recruiters fight in the trenches for the next great hire, but as this quote from Clayton Christensen suggests, the function of management is to provide support and mentorship to employees. Great managers identify potential, maintain a pulse on company health, and empower employees to reach their goals. Companies can only grow as fast as the people who run them, from managers to executives.

Many organizations discover that the best source for entry-level jobs are former interns, especially when resumes aren’t much use for evaluating new graduates.

If you have an effective internship program that emphasizes mentoring, your interns not only experience the values of your company, they have the chance to demonstrate their enthusiasm in helping you meet those aspirations.

So how do you find “the best” interns? These specialized job boards for interns can help you target just the right prospects. Each attracts some of the best students available so you can highlight your opportunities in ways that will not only promote your internship as a great experience, but attract students with plenty of talent potential.

Here are the 6 best job sites for recruiting interns

YouTern

YouTern has helped connect thousands of students to opportunities for education and mentorship, not only through its job postings, but also through its blog, The Savvy Intern.

Not only has the site been featured in major media such as Inc. magazine and The Wall Street Journal, it’s also been recognized by Forbes as one of “The Top 75 Websites for Your Career” and by Mashable as a “Top 5 Online Community for Starting Your Career.”

CollegeRecruiter

Over the last 20 years, CollegeRecruiter has helped Fortune 1,000 companies, federal government agencies, and many other employers meet their demand of hiring hundreds or even thousands of students and recent graduates every year.

The company offers job postings, of course, but also opportunities for targeted email, mobile banner ad, and display ad campaigns with attention to both quantity and quality of applications.

Internships.com

One of the world’s largest internship sites, Internships.com has been ranked by Forbes as one of its “Top 10 Career Websites.” Basic posts are free, and you can search the site’s database of student resumes.

The site also offers a wide range of resources to help you follow best practices for making your summer internship programs successful.

Internjobs.com

InternJobs.com features an extensive global database of internships and entry-level positions for students and recent graduates.

In addition, the site’s partner resources include SummerJobs.com (for summer employment opportunities) and OverseasJobs.com (for professional positions abroad), which can also help you source talent for your internship roles.

WayUp

Used by more than 3.5 million college students and recent graduates, WayUp includes jobs and internships from more 300,000 companies.

If diversity is one of your mandates, WayUp notes that its user base is 60 percent female and more than 30 percent “underrepresented minorities.”

LinkedIn

Although LinkedIn doesn’t specialize in internships, it can be a valuable resource because it combines not only job listings but an active social media presence.

Students looking for internships are certainly using the site and creating profiles you can review to get to know potential candidates in addition to posting your opportunities.

Post and share your job to 200+ job boards in minutes.

Obviously campus career fairs and contact with professors at colleges and universities helps you build relationships to find talented young people, but when you look for other places to promote your opportunities, definitely consider these six sites!

SmartRecruiters’ Talent Acquisition Suite increases recruiter productivity by enabling you to distribute jobs to hundreds of job boards with just one click.

For companies hiring less than 10 people at a time, SmartStart is completely free.

The idea of a double-edged sword came to mind as I read Ed Shineman’s article on recruiting sales talent right out of college.

As I evaluate candidates for sales development representatives at SmartRecruiters, I know that hiring recent graduates offers a chance to shape a promising new SDR with no bad habits to break.

But with no experience, it’s far more difficult to assess whether a new graduate would be a good fit, wants to be a SDR at all, let alone even knows what it means.

You can find great SDRs with proven track records, but there’s plenty of potential on college campuses. Here are some tips to keep in mind when considering recent grads for your sales team.

First, I agree with Ed on the idea of not putting too much focus on academics or major field of study. After all, plenty of students change majors. What’s more important is that they’ve learned to communicate well. Some of the best SDRs I’ve hired majored in the liberal arts.

But while Ed feels that a candidate’s extracurricular activities aren’t that relevant, I disagree. Any activity that demonstrates competitiveness impresses me, such as athletics or fundraising for a fraternity or sorority, for example. Why? This shows a natural knack for sales.

More listening, less talking

What other traits should you be looking for in graduating students?

One of the most important is listening. As a I explained in a post on our blog, “10 Traits of Great Sales Development Rep Hires,” outstanding SDRs listen more than talk. And if they do talk, it’s to ask smart questions. If, on the other hand, if a candidate interrupts you, that’s a red flag.

Listening ties into many other qualities – such as curiosity, respect, and integrity — that I discussed in my post.

Ask the right questions

As you interview recent college graduates, think about what you’re looking for – matching a profile to your existing team.

Start with a phone screen. For a SDR position, that can be quite revealing as it demonstrates level of comfort talking on the phone. Perhaps you can conduct a brief cold call role-play. As that scenario unfolds, guide them through it. Does the candidate seem coachable? Do you get a sense that they’re willing to adjust their process and thinking?

A post I wrote for LinkedIn, “The Most Important Interview Questions for Hiring Great SDRs” includes questions I think are most valuable.

Some include asking candidates to teach you about something they recently learned. That shows how someone can quickly explain an unfamiliar topic at a high level without diving into the nitty gritty.

One typical interview question that drives me absolutely nuts is that tired old, “What’s your biggest weakness?” How cliché! Instead, I ask candidates to tell me about a time they failed.

That’s far more meaningful as I’m asking someone to tell me a story, hopefully about a lesson they learned that changed their thinking. After all, failure comes with the territory if you want to be a SDR.

But the most revealing question I ask is why a candidate wants to be a SDR at SmartRecruiters. Do they know what a SDR does? Do they know anything about our company? If not, that’s a show-stopper.

Closing their own deal

Finally, when evaluating candidates — whether recent grads or not — take note of questions you’re being asked.

If a candidate is asking what it would take for me to hire them — if they’re trying to close the sale on themselves — well, that’s music to my ears.

Recruiters are going to have to make a few changes over the next few years. A new generation is beginning to enter the workforce – those that have absolutely no memory of the 20th century, nope not even 1999.

Monster’s fact-filled report and survey is a must-read because as Generation Z — generally defined as those born since 1997 — enters your candidate pipeline, it’s going to look a lot different.

Sure, some workplace needs remain universal — pay and benefits, for example — but attracting young people into your organization requires seeing how their expectations differ from their parents and grandparents.

Think about it. When those born in the mid to late 1990s think of “media,” it’s always going to be social. What the heck is “non-social” media? What’s so “smart” about a smartphone? They’re all just phones.

Mobility. Purpose. Flexibility.

Compare Gen Z to their millennial predecessors and you’ll see some striking differences. According to Monster’s survey, measured against millennials, this generation is:

• 64% more willing to move for a good job opportunity
  (74% vs 45% for millennials)
• 64% more likely to believe that work has a greater purpose than earning a salary
  (74% vs 45% for millennials)
• 28% more willing to work nights and weekends for higher pay
  (58% vs. 45% for millennials)

“Must haves,” for a job?  Gen Zers roughly agree with the rest of the workforce on standards like competitive pay, a boss they respect, and health insurance, but they do put a lot more value on flexibility in changing roles within a company (32 percent vs. 25 percent across all working generations).

Digital natives demand a connected workplace

Your Gen Z employees won’t be joining you if you’re not connected. There’s no split between an “online” vs. “offline” world, so they’ll be demanding tools they see as essential in communicating with colleagues and customers:

• Smartphone: 39% vs. 25% across all working generations
• Texting: 23% vs. 13% across all working generations
• Social networking: 21% vs. 9% across all working generations

We’ve only just begun

Generation Z totals more than 60 million young people – and 77 percent are still students. As you begin to recruit from colleges and other educational institutions keep these tips in mind:

• Communicate your values: Standard job ads won’t attract younger people who value transparency. They see right through the platitudes many organizations continue to emphasize in their job postings. Who you are – your employer brand – needs to ring through loud and clear.
• Be there: Your career site – and even third-party career sites – are less effective reaching generation likely to be elsewhere. Older social channels grow passé quickly — so be prepared shift gears as discussions move elsewhere.
• Get to the point: Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. You only have a few seconds to make your point, so communicating in a fast and visual way is key to reaching a generation that’s grown up using emojis and acronyms.

As more Gen Zers enter the workforce, be ready to adapt. Fortunately tools such as SmartRecruiters makes it easy and flexible to quickly shift the way you recruit and hire.

Be sure to read the Monster report. The only question it doesn’t seem to answer is what comes after Generation Z?

We’re out of letters in the alphabet, so it will probably be an emoji.

When CIOs evaluate ATS solutions, many say they want best-of-breed features across all HR functionality, but when it comes to recruiting they simply “check the box” and move on. Yet more CIOs now pay much closer attention to talent acquisition – not surprising given than 61 percent of CIOs say finding skilled IT professionals is a challenge.

Consider this: Companies that adopt best practices and processes for recruiting generate 3.5 times the revenue than peers that have not. Without specific tools built with recruiting in mind, you’ll end up with a mediocre solution at best.

Want proof? All it takes is one simple challenge.

I’m only going to ask you to complete a routine task to prove my point, but before I do, it’s important to recognize that recruiting differs from other HR functions. You see, while most HR functions are internally facing, recruiting is externally facing. That has a huge impact on processes and technology.

Most of the time HR systems are used to help managers accomplish tasks such as completing performance reviews or setting goals — areas where managers have control over their teams. Recruiting is quite the opposite, more like marketing and sales where there’s no control over people and thousands of candidates to deal with.

In addition, recruiters must work with multiple external vendors – perhaps dozens – to perform assessments, generate background checks, create advertising, manage social networking, and more. The rest of the HR realm is more focused on internal record keeping.

Taming a messy process through streamlined best-of-breed tools.

Given that recruiters need to work with external information, the data gets messy because it’s inconsistent from source to source. A Monster.com profile, for example, is structured differently than a LinkedIn profile and your recruiters have no control over that structure.

Other HR functions can be standardized — for example forms used for performance reviews. There’s no such standardization for recruiting, and most ATS solutions don’t recognize this.

To see how this can screw up a recruiter’s day, think for a moment about how search functionality works. Google indexes the entire web. That’s one messy job! Facebook, on the other hand, controls formatting of profiles so they’re consistent.

The search challenges are completely different, yet nobody expects to use Facebook to search the web. But using a traditional ATS for recruiting is exactly like using Facebook to search the web – relying on a tool never designed with that need in mind.

Remember, recruiters perform in a sales-oriented role. They need to find candidates using data that’s messy and inconsistent. That doesn’t work at all without best-of-breed tools specific to those needs. And those tools are woefully missing from most ATS platforms.

Don’t believe me? Take me up on my challenge:

Access your current recruiting module. Now find five candidates already in your database you can shortlist for a hypothetical Senior Developer position you need to fill, then kick off two assessments and background checks for each.

You have 30 minutes. (Don’t worry. I’ll wait.)

…

Not so easy, huh? And even if you find a candidate to hire, can you complete an offer for approval in the next 10 minutes?

SmartRecruiters clients work this quickly and easily every single day. That’s because they didn’t simply check the “recruiting” box when evaluating a new ATS. And they know that recruiting is far more essential to business success when the competition for top talent is so fierce.

If your ATS wasn’t up to my challenge, don’t worry. Help is on the way. Just get in touch with us so you can take advantage of best-of-breed talent acquisition right away.

As author Jeb Blount says, “If you suck at prospecting, you suck at closing.”

Which means that Sales Development is your most important department in sales. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the account executives on your team that never hit quota. It’s probably because they don’t have the prospecting skills that SDRs excel at. Thankfully, you can get ahead of the curve by hiring great SDRs that grow into great account executives.

Whether they are an inbound or outbound SDR, these roles are the toughest jobs in sales. Therefore, recruiting the right people for this “A Team” can be a big challenge. Hiring the wrong people can be costly: one bad impression could burn a bridge at a key account, or turn a great deal into a lost opportunity.

In order to define and find great SDRs for your organization, here are ten traits to look for when hiring:

Creativity

Modern SDRs must be creative. It’s not enough to blindly follow a process: the modern selling landscape has changed drastically in the last 15 years. Back in the early 2000s, sending out thousands of emails asking for a referral was good enough. Now, we live in the world of hyper personalization and educated buyers. Great SDRs must be able to adapt to the changing landscape and think for themselves.

Passion

Being a SDR can be draining. On a daily basis, you deal with constant rejection. To be successful, your candidate must have passion for the product and sales itself. Without this, the SDR will fail when the going gets tough. To screen for this, ask the candidate what they know about the product and why they want to sell it. If they’re not sure, or don’t have a satisfactory answer, move on.

Grit

SDRs must have a Jeff Bridges-at-the-end-of-True-Grit level of…you guessed it, grit. Top SDRs focus on winning – they have an internal quota that is higher than the one set by their manager. These reps embody the Winston Churchill quote “When you are going through hell, keep going.” Failure is a common occurrence for SDRs. It’s how they deal with that failure that makes up their character. Ask your candidates about a time they failed and what they did because of it. Top candidates will be honest and have a good story to tell.

Competitiveness

You can’t be a successful SDR if you are not competitive. Your candidate will be doing the toughest job in sales. There are a couple personal backgrounds that generally indicate high potential for sales:

• Did they play sports? College or former professional athletes are often strong candidates for sales development.
• Were they in the military or police? People in these roles succeed in environments that are hazardous to their health. Picking up the phone to make cold calls won’t seem so scary after that!
• Do they come from a competitive industry (ie: finance, consulting, law)? Individuals who performed in high pressure careers are often good candidates for sales. They have a deep ‘bucket’ for pain and are well educated.

Respect

When you hire passionate, gritty, and competitive people, you run the risk of hiring a jerk. This person is deadly to the sales culture you are trying to build. Respect is the cornerstone of success on the sales floor. Without it, you’re on the route to creating a boiler room and not a modern SDR team. Check in with your team after the interview to see how the candidate treated them. How was their personality with the front desk, or in emails and phone calls?

Coachability

While the SDR role is an important one, it’s not a senior role. This means that you’ll be recruiting people with raw talent, but who need to have their skills honed to be great. On the SDR’s end, this means they must be able to accept and act on feedback. A good way to test for this in the hiring process is to provide them with constructive feedback. Tell the candidate that the point you told them to focus on is important to the next interviewer. Afterwards, see if they changed their behavior for that interview.

Curiosity

For a SDR to be successful, they must have innate intellectual curiosity. In simple terms, you shouldn’t hire people that are looking for a quick buck. The people you hire should care about the problem your product solves. Additionally, that level of curiosity should be the beginning. Does this person have interests outside of their immediate job skills? The more unique experiences or interests the SDR has, the more likely they are to connect with prospects on a personal level.

Integrity

The best SDRs are aware of their ability and what they are going to do in a particular month. This is what integrity is when viewed through the sales lens. Integrity is two parts – honesty and accountability. Great SDRs are honest with themselves, their team, and their manager about what they can get done. They then hold themselves accountable to that ability. Top performers know how they will do in a particular month before they begin. The best will find a way to overachieve no matter what.

Articulate

Speaking skills improve over time, but the ideal SDR should already be at an intermediate level. This role is not for someone with a low level of mental organization. Mental fogginess when answering questions is a big red flag. Rambling answers, avoiding questions, and a high amount of verbal tics all point to low potential. Don’t get me wrong – we are all guilty of these at some point, but the SDR job is not the role to develop a basic speaking ability. You can test for this in the interview by asking the candidate to teach you about something new that they recently learned. If they can’t do this, they likely won’t be able to explain things to prospects either.

Listeners

Great SDRs actually listen more than they talk. The speaking side of the SDR role is asking questions and then providing value. To do this, the candidate should show that they are a great listener. It’s easy to test for this in the interview process. Note if they ask questions to each interviewer at each round of interviews. Sometimes candidates don’t actually have new questions if they’ve been through many rounds. But, if they are meeting a new interviewer, it benefits them to at least ask the same or similar questions. Why? The skilled sales rep can discover opportunities in the different answers of various contacts. Additionally, see if the candidate interrupts you when you answer their questions. If they do, you can be sure that they’ll do this to your prospects as well.

Testing for these traits in your interview process will help you hire better talent. For it to be effective, make each of these traits part of the interview scorecards that each of your interviewers complete. Collaborating around these traits will allow you to review each interviewer’s overall rating and their scoring for these ten traits.

When you find a candidate that embodies each of these traits, you should hire them! It only takes a few great sales people to change the trajectory of your sales organization. Invest in sourcing, screening, and hiring top talent with these traits and I guarantee you’ll see a major increase in revenue.