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What College Football Can Teach You About Successful Business

College football season is upon us, and you know what that means – beer consumption and trash talking are at an all time high. Living in the south, college football usually consumes the majority of conversations from Thursday through Tuesday. You have about one day where you’re not discussing last Saturday’s upsets or predictions for the upcoming weekend. On Wednesday you’re free to go back to complaining about work and the weather, but come Thursday it all starts up again – and frankly, I like it that way.

All this college football talk has got me thinking about college football programs and what it takes for them to be successful. If you think about it, these programs are a lot like companies. The head coach acts as the CEO and the players are their workforces. In fact, your business could learn a lot about success from many of these winning football programs.

There are so many different elements that contribute to a successful college football program. If you look at the top ranked teams, you will see a lot of similarities in the way they operate. It is no coincidence that these same teams occupy the nation’s top 10 spots every season. Clearly, these flourishing programs know what they’re doing. And if they are going to consume most of our free time between Labor Day and New Years, we might as well use them to our advantage.

Smart Recruiting

The root of a successful football program lies within the recruiting. Recruiting new players is not only the same idea as recruiting and hiring new employees, but it is a lot like a company signing on new clients. Just as hiring managers don’t have time to go visit with every candidate, coaches are also limited with time and NCAA restrictions. Coaches can’t do all of the recruiting alone, which is why they hire football recruiters to help scope out the best players all over the country. Smart companies have the same idea. By hiring industry-expert recruiters to explore the candidate pools and find them top talent, businesses are gaining better employees and saving time and money in the process.

Another way savvy recruiters and coaches are saving time is by using videoconferencing applications such as Skype and Facetime, which allow them to have face-to-face conversations with the best athletes across the nation without leaving the office. Companies would be smart to use the same method. By utilizing the latest technology, CEOs could put in face time with top contenders without getting up from their desk. Many players say that face time with the head coach makes a huge difference in their decision. The same difference could be made from a CEO putting in a few minutes on Skype with the highly sought-after candidates they’re hoping to bring on board.

A Welcoming Environment and Stand Out Culture

One way coaches sell their football program to recruits is by inviting them for visits of their campus and facilities and winning them over with a good environment and stand out culture. The best football programs spend millions of dollars to keep their facilities top notch and up-to-date. By maintaining a good work environment for employees, you are providing an inviting atmosphere that people will want to join. Also, by providing the most advanced equipment (for football) or technology (for businesses), it shows how much emphasis you put on training your workforce and getting the most out of them.

The same thing goes for culture and traditions. When the top recruits have all the best football facilities to choose from, it can come down to selling them on a good team atmosphere. Since coaches can’t pay recruits to come play for them, they have to find other ways to motivate. Take a lesson from these football programs and save your bank account the hit – find ways that your company can stand out from your competition and use these factors to bring on and retain the best employees.  

A Solid Reputation

Like I said before, recruiting football players is also very similar to signing on new clients. Coaches have to sell not only their football program, but also a future for these prospects. They have to persuade players that their plan and their vision is the best path to success. Different coaches use different tactics to sell their team, but the finest coaches know which approaches work best with each particular recruit. The same goes for signing on clients – it’s all in the pitch. Coaches must know their recruits just as salesmen must know their customers and then tailor their message accordingly.

The top football teams tend to play their best card: a winning reputation. A company’s brand could be the sole factor that wins or loses them clients. Is a consumer going to choose to do business with an organization that they’ve never heard of? Let’s just say it’s about as likely as a NFL hopeful signing with a team that has never been in the AP top 25. However, will a company with a well-respected reputation and recognized brand sign on more clients? Absolutely. Do you have to be a huge multi-billion dollar company like Apple or Microsoft to maintain a recognizable brand? Absolutely not. With easily accessible tools like social media, getting the word out about your business is a much simpler and more cost-effective task these days. Figure out which branding strategies are best for your company, because a solid reputation and familiar name can take a business (and football team) very far.

Great Leadership

Last, but most certainly not least, is great leadership -- one of the most important aspects of a winning team and a successful business. There’s a reason coaches like Mack Brown and Les Miles have such high salaries. They’re not only great coaches, but also great leaders. Their superior leadership lends long-term stability to their football programs as they consistently produce winning results. However, winning is not the only factor that determines great leadership.

So what really makes a great leader? For one, a great leader is respected. People will listen when he talks and never question his reasoning or authority. A great leader also motivates. A good coach will implement the meaning of hard work and devotion, and will be able to get the most out of his players on the football field and off. A great leader sets a good example and high standards for each and every person they influence. They can will others to do better and be better. Communication is also a huge aspect of great leadership. The most effective leaders are masters of the classic elements of rhetoric – logos, pathos, and ethos. They must possess a knack for simplicity – distilling a complex message and making it accessible to anyone.

Finally, great leaders make a difference. They impact the people and the organization they preside over. If a football player trained and played under a great leader, he will leave the program as a greater athelete than when he arrived. Just like a great coach can make all the difference in a football program, a great CEO can do the same for his company. When a great leader's job is done, nothing he touched will ever be the same.

Who knew college football could help contribute to the success of your business? I guess when you're watching football this weekend you will have to log overtime hours -- it counts as homework now, right? Do you have any other insights on how college football can teach us about successful business practices? Let us know in the comments below (or at least tell us your score predictions for Saturday)! 

And please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for more thought leadership (and if you want -- college football talk) from ExactSource!

10 Reasons Companies Should Use A RPO

Some people wonder why they should hire someone to do something when they can do it themselves. Why go to a restaurant when you can cook your own meal? Why hire a lawyer when you’ve seen every episode of Law and Order?  Why go to the doctor when WebMD is right at your fingertips? We do these things because although we have already diagnosed ourselves with Smallpox, we may need a second opinion. 

Many people dedicate their lives to their practice, and that’s why we call them experts. At ExactSource, we are experts in Recruitment Process Outsourcing. Not only do we have over 20 years of experience in recruitment outsourcing, we have the process down to a science. So you may wonder, why hire a RPO when you can just post a job on the Internet? We’ll give you 10 reasons.

1. RPO firms already have hundreds of candidates in their database to choose from.

Many of these candidates may have never heard of your company and there’s a good chance they will never see your online job posting. Recruiters have built relationships with these passive and active job seekers and one of them may be the candidate you’ve been looking for. Without the connections of a RPO, you may be missing out on untapped talent. 

2. Recruiting the right people takes time and effort. 

You are already using all your time and effort on your own job, leaving you few options for taking on another one. You can either clone yourself to get both jobs done, or you can hire a RPO. Since it’s not the year 2042, we suggest the latter.

3. Trying to do your own hiring also gives you less time to focus on your existing employees.

Developing and maintaining your existing workers is just as important as finding new ones.

4. Like we said before, WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING! 

Recruiters have years and years of experience in interviewing and screening candidates. A good RPO (such as our self) will even have their own assessment that they use to screen candidates.

5. Just as we have experience finding the right candidates, many RPO firms also specialize in recruiting for certain industries. 

A RPO with industry expertise will better understand your business and the role of the position you’re trying to fill. When you tell them what you’re looking for they will actually understand, because there’s a good chance they have filled that position before.

6. You have nothing to lose. 

Most RPO firms will guarantee to fill your open position (we do, and we provide a 6 month guarantee).

7. You will actually be saving money. 

It costs your business money to have a position go unfilled and even more if you make a bad hire. Hiring a RPO is a satisfaction guaranteed investment. Between the time and resources you’re saving by outsourcing your recruiting needs AND a guaranteed good hire, you can’t lose.

8. A RPO goes beyond simply bringing you qualified candidates. 

They become your partner through the entire hiring process. They can advise you on market trends, salaries, and even give you effective management solutions to improve employee performance. Talk about getting the bang for your buck!

9. Maintain confidentiality. 

Many RPO's do not reveal company names when posting positions on the Internet. Hiring through a RPO will keep your information safe and your competitors in the dark.

10. Not only do we have the experience and expertise to deliver what you need, but also we are passionate about what we do. 

There’s no greater feeling than finally finding that purple squirrel our client has been waiting for. Recruiting is not a 9-5 job. It is something we fully dedicate ourselves to, and that’s why we love what we do here at ExactSource. 

Still want to post your job openings on the Internet? We didn’t think so.

Now that we have convinced you that RPO is the way to go (it rhymes so you know it’s true), how do you determine which RPO is the best for you? The experts at ExactSource have come up with the top 5 things to consider when hiring an RPO to help you out. (We told you we had your back!)

Download Our Top 5 Things to Consider in an RPO!

What kind of experiences have you had with RPO firms in the past? Do you have any reasons you would NOT recommend hiring a RPO? Let us know in the comments below!

As always, please join us in the cyber social scene by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and linking up with us on LinkedIn! 

6 Tips To Improve Your Engineering Resume

I am not an advocate of stereotyping, but I think most people would agree that engineers do not have much of a marketing mentality. Why would they? They’re engineers. They have an engineering mentality, and I like to keep that fact at the top of my mind when I find myself driving on a bridge that is hundreds of feet above a freezing cold body of water.  The point – and I do have one – is that Engineers only need to think like Engineers when they’re doing their job. However, when you’re trying to get a job, no matter the profession, you have to be able to sell yourself – especially on your resume.

A good engineering resume is not going to be your first-class ticket to that big office you’ve been dreaming of, but it is going to land you an interview. If you even want a shot at having those three secretaries (doesn’t this fake job sounds awesome?), you have to play your cards right on your resume just to land on the company’s radar. As engineering recruiters, we have seen a lot of engineering resumes. A lot. So many, in fact, I would dare to call us engineering resume experts. We recommend that you listen very carefully to our advice when creating or modifying your engineering resume, and you’ll have your own office masseuse in no time.   

1. Engineer your Resume

See what I did there? Clever, I know. As an engineer, you probably know a thing or two about design. A clean, symmetrical format is key on a resume. It is crucial that your engineering resume is marketable enough to capture the attention of the reader, and it has about 40 seconds to do so. While you want to exhibit all your skills and experience as an engineer, it’s important to remember that this is a resume, not a biography. Too much information may confuse or overwelm the reader. You want to make navigating your resume as easy and natural as possible for prospective employees.

2. Be Exact

We’re not just saying this because we love the word. Exactness is imperative in the field of engineering, so it should be no surprise that your engineering resume should follow suit. Listen very carefully when I say this - DO NOT, under any circumstances, make an error on your resume. Proofread it 10 times, send it to the Editor-in-Chief of the New York Times, and then proofread it twice more if you have to. As an engineer, you are supposed to be precise. If you tell me on your resume that you are very detail-oriented, but the word “oriented” is spelled wrong, I will probably use your resume as a floor buffer while house-training my dog. 

3. Know thy Audience

Not only is this the number one golden rule of marketing, it is the most important thing to keep in mind when creating your resume. Your action words should match the action words of the job description. Any experience you have that relates to the job you’re applying for should be brought to the forefront of your resume. If you choose to include an objective, I cannot stress enough how crucial it is that your objective matches the specifics of the position. My advice would be to ditch the objective altogether, and go with a qualifications summary instead. This is a great way to catch the reader’s attention right off the bat with a few sentences that highlight your most marketable credentials.

4. Talk Accomplishments

So you controlled a Mars Rover at your previous job as an aerospace engineer. That’s really great and all, but so did 20 other aerospace engineers applying for this same position. What did you actually accomplish? Tell the hiring manager what you did that makes you a better candidate than the rest of those feebleminded aerospace engineers (what a great oxymoron). Hiring managers want to see results. Show them that you are not just a doer; you’re also an achiever.

5. Use Bullet Points

I can’t tell you how much hiring managers and recruiters love bullet points. When you have a stack of 100 resumes sitting on your desk, the last thing you want to do is sort through paragraphs of information. In fact, if you happen to catch a hirer on an exceptionally stressful day, and your resume looks like one giant run-on sentence, I have a feeling you’d be lucky if they even take the time to read your name. You want your resume to be very scan-friendly, and the best way to do this is by using bullet points. Each bullet point should start with an action word. Like I said before, these words should correlate with the words on the job description, but if you still need some inspiration, check out Job Mob’s 500 positive resume action verbs.

6. Add a Project List

Unless you are brand new to the field of engineering, you likely have a number of key projects you will want to showcase on your resume. These projects should be listed by employer or client - along with a short description of what you did (and don’t forget to include the outcomes). If you have room, go ahead and add this list to your resume. However, if your projects are overflowing onto an unnecessary second or third page, it’s best to create a project list sheet that is separate from your resume. 

The largest problem with engineering resumes is knowing what information is important enough to include, and what should be omitted. Too many details and you could be turning hiring managers away from reading it in the first place -- not enough details and you may be selling yourself short. ExactSource actually came about because of this very issue. To give you a quick recap – our managing partners realized that resumes rarely capture all of a candidate’s discipline expertise, and they decided to find a solution: ExactProfiles. (Click here for the full story on how ExactSource got started). 

Our ExactProfiles are changing the way engineering firms are finding top talent. Hiring managers can rate a customized profile that represents their ideal candidate, and applicants applying for the position fill out the same profile – self rating their education, certifications, discipline, skills, and expertise. Our proprietary software then processes the data using defined algorithms to calculate an applicant's compatibility score. I know what you’re thinking – finally a hiring process that makes sense! If you’re interested in learning more about our ExactProfiles, click here. We have them in over 114 areas of expertise. Request to see any ExactProfile.

Fill out an ExactProfile Today!

One last thing before we go our separate ways. We recently launched a Professional Engineers Network group on LinkedIn for any and all Professionals in the engineering field to come together in one place to collaborate and discuss industry-related topics, issues and ideas. Our goal is to help develop the careers of individuals, while working towards progressing the entire engineering profession as a whole. We welcome you to join today!