finding and hiring dynamics talent

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Finding and Hiring Dynamics Talent

Introduction: Dynamics Consultants, Developers, Salespeople and Managers are the lifeblood of VARs and ISVs, and there has never been a harder time to find and hire them. It’s a classic case of low supply and high demand. My recruiting practice has been filling these positions for VARs and ISVs since 1997, and in this Session I’m going to show you how we do it.

The objective is for each attendee to leave the Session with a much better understanding of how to more effectively execute the Dynamics recruiting role for their company. This session will show you what to do. The essential, costly and time-consuming part is actually doing it.


1. Availability of Dynamics talent:

“Legacy” applications (GP & SL) “Newer” applications (NAV and AX) CRM application US, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa Visa issues


2. Compensation ranges and issues:

Varies by product Standard of living changes: most candidates overreach their

initial base salary because they fear an environment much more expensive than they are currently located in.

General ranges for: Developer Functional Consultant Technical Consultant Sales Support /Solution Consultant Sales Practice Lead / Manager


3. Where to find candidates:

Job boards and resume databases: Monster CareerBuilder Dice DynamicsCareers

Social Networks: LinkedIn Facebook Twitter


A FEW GOLDEN RULES OF SOCIAL MEDIA SOURCING

1. You get what you put into it. You should have profiles established of your own because if you use these avenues to contact people, they will research you to look into your credibility. The more active you are, the more credible you appear (i.e. how many groups you have joined, how many friends/connections you have, how often you post). If you are active in the community, you may find people coming to you.


2. Remember that each candidate you find on a social media search is not a single discover or an end in itself. Each individual profile is a treasure map with a wealth of information and possible links.

LinkedIn: If you find just one profile think of all the information that's there. Who else works in the same role where they work now or at other businesses in their job history? What groups do they belong to and who can you find there? Who made the recommendations on their profile? Who is LinkedIn suggesting as other people similar to their profile or links you may share?

Twitter: Who is on their "twitter lists"? Who are they following and who is following them? Very likely the people they are connected to are colleagues.

Facebook: What groups are they a part of?


3. Remember that none of these social media sites are a silo. They are deeply connected.

Think of the whole playing field. For instance, if you find a prospect on Twitter, you can learn more professional detail about them on LinkedIn. If you find them on LinkedIn, you may have better luck contacting them on Twitter or Facebook. Usually, you don't even have to search; they are already linked by icons on their profiles.


SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE TRICKS

Here's a simple, very effective strategy. Facebook and Twitter require more technical approaches in general to search for candidates. LinkedIn has a very friendly "advanced search" function. Try searching for candidate profiles on LinkedIn, but use Twitter or Facebook to try and reach them, because those are more active channels of communication. People tend to only be active on LinkedIn when they're actively looking for work. It’s harder to reach passive candidates that way.


Helpful trick with LinkedIn - if you have the free account and/or aren't deeply connected on LinkedIn and keep finding partially blinded profiles or names, take the info you have out to a Bing or Google search, and you should get access to full names and the record.


Simple trick to find email addresses *@whatever.com. Use the "wild card" search on Google to use a domain name and sleuth out their email address format. Works most of the time, but you may not know if you have the right guess. Use "mailtester.com" to see if you've found the right address. It lets you test whether an address is legit without actually sending the message first.


mailto:*@whatever.com

Think beyond these "big three" sites. YouTube has its own community of developers posting training online, and again, each "channel" you find has fans and links to other similar channels. Dating sites are fair game. Meetup.com and other event-based groups gather people together by interest. IT people have forums and gather together on sites by common interest. Search major blog sites and keep a lookout for links to blogs on people's profiles on social media sites. Wherever people are gathering, social media is taking place.


MORE TECHNICAL You can view all the public contents of a site

with the site: command. Must be "site:linkedin.com" for example with no space between the colon and the site you're searching. These searches get more technical and require training in Boolean searches, but if you can master them they're very helpful.


Think about the content of the site you're after when using this kind of search. LinkedIn has people's professional profiles and often you can search by job titles. Twitter and Facebook profiles are less likely to have a specific job title like "Dynamics AX Developer" and in fact searching that way on those sites tends to turn up a lot of job postings and ads. For Twitter and Facebook, think as if you're targeting their conversation/posts instead of their profile. What would your role be talking about online? What programming languages, modules, certifications, issues, unique acronyms and abbreviations would they use? Search those to find the right conversation and you'll then find the right person.


In any Boolean search for candidates, eliminating a few words can be as invaluable as including them. If you have a lot of "Static" in your search, look for words that keep popping up. "Job, apply, submit" come up a lot on job postings so add "-jobs, -apply, -submit" to a search.

In any search try to find specific terms to your role. "x++" is a great term for AX. "dexterity" or "dex" is great for GP. This can be helpful searching job boards as well.

At the same time, a good general rule is to start your search broad and then narrow. Starting off too specific or narrow immediately can get you tangled up more quickly. Starting broad can give you a chance to develop your search and learn as you go.


3. Where to find candidates (cont’d):

Search Engine/Boolean searches: Google Bing Yahoo Exelead Others AIRS training

Referrals: From all the above Colleagues & competitors Employees


3. Where to find candidates (cont’d): Raiding:

Identify targets Determine approach (ruse?) Turf battles Image / reputation

Workgroups: LinkedIn Other groups

Organizations: User groups Technology groups

Conferences: TPC Convergence Industry shows


4. How to evaluate them:

Logistic issues Interview and travel scheduling. Work authorization. Relocation. Contract issues. Timing issues, start date.

Technical experience: Litmus test questions. Technical interview. Skills tests. Samples / exercises.


4. How to evaluate them (cont’d):

Functional experience: Litmus test questions Functional interview Sample presentations

Consulting experience. Industry experience. Projects performed. Employment history: job hopper or steady employee? Job readiness: learning curve or ready to hit the ground running? Communication skills:

Writing Spoken – accent mitigation


4. How to evaluate them (cont’d):

Teamsmanship. Initiative, fire in the belly. Work/life stability. Criminal & financial background checks. Use of references. Use of profiling tools. Personal/Professional alignment with company’s goals. Cultural alignment with company.


5. How to interest them:

Treat all candidates with respect; always follow up. Professional, efficient, quick recruiting process. Match candidates’ goals to company capabilities. Present company appealingly. Present location appealingly. Involve peers-to-be in interview process. Express excitement about candidate. Present that this position is the best next step in the candidate’s

career path. Understand the candidate’s priorities and demonstrate commonality

with the company’s priorities.


6. How to successfully hire them:

Time is your enemy; the longer it takes, the less likely you’ll have a successful hire.

Shepherding the interview process: follow-up, follow-up, follow-up… Asking, “What is your gut feeling right now? Are you excited about the

position and feel ready to hop on board or do you still have concerns?” How to deal with the counter-offer. Involvement of spouse/partner. Familiarization with benefits and company “perks”. Help with relocation. Help with visa issues. The first 30-days.


7. A general Q&A:

Whatever . . .


About the Speaker:

Ben Schrenzel was raised in New York City, and then moved to Seattle (got to experience the best of both worlds). He obtained a Bachelor degree in Psychology from Seattle University, and attended law school at the University of Puget Sound (now part of Seattle University). He began his career in the IT world, starting as a programmer, rising to the rank of CIO, and then founding and running a successful software company (CRM-type system for stockbrokers). In 1997 he started a retained IT recruiting practice, with a particular focus on Microsoft Dynamics. He has recruited Dynamics talent for VARs, ISVs, and end-users, nationwide, for the past 15 years. He served in the US Army Special Forces, and is an active member of MENSA.

Please feel free to contact Ben Schrenzel by phone: 206-826-8800 x1 or by email: [email protected].


mailto:[email protected]

finding and hiring dynamics talent

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