Recruiting in a boom market

By GERALD CARSON

Finding innovative ways to recruit high-tech employees can be critical to a company`s success.

Williams Communications, the company I work for, has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years. Perhaps the most dramatic evidence of this growth is the increase in the number of employees--from less than 2000 in 1995 to more than 8000 today. That`s a 400% increase, yet we still have about 800 open positions. The challenges we face in hiring people for high-tech jobs are certainly being faced by the industry as a whole. Some estimates indicate as many as 200,000 jobs are available in the information technologies, engineering, and technical fields in the United States.

With numbers like these, it`s easy to see why many high-tech companies perceive recruitment as a critical factor in the success or failure of an enterprise. Traditional recruiting techniques, such as placing newspaper advertisements and using headhunters, are becoming less effective, and finding qualified employees has become more competitive. In today`s environment, setting your company apart from the competition is essential to attracting the best employees.

One approach to this critical issue is to use the resources already available. Your own employees can often be your best recruiters. Some companies, like mine, have formalized this type of recruiting into a reward program, and it has the potential to be an excellent recruiting tool. People already working at an organization often know people who also would make excellent employees. Several companies have begun offering employees cash rewards, in some cases thousands of dollars, for recommending someone who is eventually hired. Formalizing the word-of-mouth recruiting that in the past has netted a handful of employees each year has helped Williams fill well over 100 positions so far this year.

The Internet, of course, is dramatically changing the way companies recruit, especially for high-tech jobs. This powerful communications tool has huge potential for attracting good candidates. There are many possibilities, including a corporate site devoted to recruiting, on-line advertising, and resume banks on career Web sites. We`ve developed a company-wide team to examine how to exploit the Internet for recruiting purposes.

Hosting open houses in cities where there is a large number of potential candidates can be an effective way of bringing candidates in the door. These events are a great opportunity to provide general information about the company and to set up interviews. On the operations and engineering side, we`ve found that military recruiting can be highly effective because military personnel often have excellent communications and engineering experience.

We`ve seen an increased emphasis on an overall college relations program, of which recruiting is a significant part. Williams goes to more than 50 campuses to interview students in several fields of study, from engineering to accounting. This year, we`ve stepped up our college relations program with a more concentrated effort directed at three large universities in our region, where we hold a "Williams Week." During that week, we host all kinds of activities, including sessions on resume writing, mock interviews, leadership receptions, and even a session on investing. In addition to providing students with important information about finding jobs after graduation, events like these help companies build recognition and credibility with the employees of the future.

Once we have hired the best and brightest from area universities, it`s important to make sure they continue to enhance their knowledge and skills. MAPCO, a Tulsa-based energy company acquired by Williams earlier this year, had an excellent professional development program (PDP). We decided to work with the program they had in place and adapt it to our needs. The PDP allows graduates fresh out of school to rotate through several departments to gain a breadth of knowledge about the company. The program has a marketing track and an operations and engineering track. The purpose of PDP is to prime our younger recruits for eventual high-level professional and leadership roles within the company. However, ramp-up time for recruits fresh out of college is considerable, so recruiting experienced employees is still very important.

In addition to coming up with innovative ways to find new employees, we`ve also had to examine the hiring process itself to ensure that we capitalize on all opportunities presented to us. Recruiters have to learn their internal customers` business thoroughly so they know exactly what to look for in applicants. They also have to shorten the interviewing process--sometimes down to one day--for out-of-town applicants. After the initial telephone interview, applicants may be asked to come to the hiring location for a day of followup interviews and a tour of the facilities. We may even extend an offer at the end of the day. The Internet also has potential in this area; it could help shorten the hiring process significantly by providing a lot of the initial screening through e-mail or on-line services.

The recruitment challenges facing companies today are daunting. Looking at the number of qualified candidates versus the number of positions available, it`s obvious that the only way a company can be successful in this critical and increasingly competitive area is to be creative and dogged in its pursuit. At my company, we`ve found several innovative programs that are working well for us, but we are constantly looking for new and better ways of finding the right employees. u

Gerald Carson is vice president of human resources for Williams Communications Inc. (Tulsa, OK).