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Broadlook the search starts/ends here! A recruiter's perspective |
If you haven't heard of Broadlook yet, it's more than likely that your competition for talent has. Broadlook is a serious recruiting tool. My team and I have worked with Broadlook since its introduction. In fact, I/we were an earlyproduct tester for Broadlook being the first to successfully scan and strip contact data off more than 100,000 pages from one web site while running the program for 22 hours straight [Broadlook stripped data from html/text/word and .pdf files]. Broadlook's speed in stripping data from web sites is driven by how quickly the contacted web site releases pages once Broadlook requests access. Broadlook was originally introduced as a sales tool for sales/business development professionals seeking to build a large database of prospective decision-makers for their products and services. Since that time, Broadlook has quickly been adopted into the recruiting realm as a tool for efficiently managing and transporting massive amounts of detailed information on prospective candidates [names, titles, companies, phone numbers, e-mails, content] into contact managers/applicant tracking systems and CRMs. If you have several internal researchers [or just one] whose main responsibility is to mine the Internet, this is a tool you need to consider. Relative to other industry offerings, I have found Broadlook's overall value [in terms of price, flexibility, thoroughness and accuracy of data] to be excellent, especially if you are a pro.
As we all know, sourcing "name generation" is where it's at in the recruiting world - if you aren't able to reach enough high-quality talent in a quick time period [which is a product of a strong and comprehensive sourcing effort]then you'll never reach critical mass which is often where the best talent fall from. With this in mind, I originallycame upon Broadlook while seeking a high-quality spidering tool that would allow Redmond to become even more flexible and responsive to our clients expanding needs for more complex research/search assignments. I was seeking a tool that would both complement and leverage [not replace] our old school name generation approach and allow my team and I to expand our quality database of professionals accurately, quickly and proactively across multiple job functions [Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Operations mainly] and within each of my clients respective industries [from semiconductors to enterprise software to pharmaceuticals to consulting, etc.]. The ideal program would also need to fit into my teams working style - in other words, it needed to be user friendly. Being no stranger to the value of technology, Redmond has continually developed its own proprietary search tools with a focus on tools that work the way we think. I have found Broadlook to be extremely user friendly in this respect, a product I believe of its founder, Donato Diorio, whose roots are founded in the Executive Search industry as a top biller.
The best way to understand the value of Broadlook is to take a look at a recruiters main assets:
* A high-quality database of prospective candidates, which means qualified names and accurate data.
* The relationship capital we have built and continue to build upon [market reach].
* A knowledge base of understanding regarding the industries and positions we recruit.
* A meaningful and flexible contact management tracking system.
Lets take a look at how Broadlook aligns with and helps to build upon each recruiter asset. Having worked with Broadlook for a year and a half, I can say that when properly applied, Broadlook delivers on its promise to help build a recruiters assets.
Broadlook --the search starts/ends here! [A recruiters perspective].
#1: A database of prospective candidates, which means qualified names and accurate data: The Internet has resulted in the significant proliferation of company data providing recruiters with the means of identifying qualified talent quickly [this relative to the old school and still valuable recruiting approach that I come from]. Point being, the quicker we find the right talent - the better - after all your competition may be calling that same person today so this is one way of creating a competitive advantage. Most major corporations have articles and whitepapers written by their top professionals---the type of professionals clients are interested in hiring. The main problem posed is how to strip the relevant data once quality sources have been identified. Broadlook's "Plan Search" rapidly and accurately gains access to and strips company personnel lists and valuable company information: [names, titles, companies, phone numbers, e-mails, content]. Broadlook can grab an entire site's worth of information [you can set it to go as many pages deep as you'd like] or you can point it at only one page on a site. You can run it during the day or run it in the evening [often my preference when larger sites are involved]. While I have focused on corporate web sites, you'll find its application only limited by you/your teams personal creativity.
On a related subject and with some creativity, you can also fudge the program so that you can strip the data from the results page of a google search you have run.
#2: The relationship capital we have built and continue to build upon [market reach]: Relationships are built upon trust and integrity and a genuine concern for the welfare of others. Recruiters can accomplish this in many ways and Broadlook provides one such solution. You can set Broadlook's "Trigger Events" to access daily information on companies you are recruiting from. Broadlook will deliver targeted information on company news, industry happenings, etc. Newsworthy information can serve as a means to proactively connect with candidates within your network - in other words, you have a reason to connect with these candidates. This is certainly a great way of building credibility and differentiating yourself within your network as a true recruiting professional.
#3: A knowledge base of understanding regarding the industries and positions we recruit: Whether you are just starting as a recruiter or have been around for awhile, each project we undertake requires a search to find a point of reference [foundation] that will help direct and lead us to a successful project outcome [what companies/associations are relative and where would I ideally find the talent my client is seeking?]. The question is: How do you gain this "point of reference" that will propel a project forward successfully? The use of Broadlook's "Prospect Search" is a tool that can help build the knowledge necessary to create the right point of reference by forcing you to dig deep to find answers which are at the core of a successful project [i.e., what are the key words [terms] that run through the industry/position I am seeking to fill?]. This greater understanding can onlylead to improved results. Broadlook guides you through a user-friendly set of questions that allow you to ultimatelybuild a wealth of data on relative web sites that can provide you with an expanding reference point to work from [other companies/associations, etc.]. It even allows you to single out those terms that you know would not provide the answers you are seeking.
Now I can already hear the naysayers: "But I don't have the time to do this and you just don't understand". My response, "get over it." Funny thing is many will find the time to correct a problem on the backend. Why not apply yourself at the frontend and have the project run more effortlessly? Beyond this, what's worth the time is worth the effort. Interestingly enough, I have found [and am sure many of you have as well if you really think about it] that the more you realistically and truthfully consider how to overcome challenges by making that initial effort, the more problems just seem to take care of themselves.
#4: A meaningful and flexible contact management tracking system: If you currently manually cut and paste the data into spreadsheets for further use which is an extremely time consuming and cost prohibitive process, then Broadlook may be your answer. Whether you are using a Contact Manager [Act/Goldmine/Outlook], and Applicant Tracking Systems or a CRM, Broadlook provides the ability to move data to over 50 platforms effortlessly and quickly. Best of all, the transported information is now purchased and ready to be used for your current and future recruiting efforts whether it's to pick up the phone and start calling or sending out a marketing campaign targeted at qualified talent.
In summary, Broadlook is an excellent tool to add to your recruiting arsenal, especially if you are seeking to truly leverage the speed, accuracy and results of your research team. Like any good tool however, your success with Broadlook is directly proportional to your recruiters creativity and attention to details. Good recruiting!
About the Author:
Steve Diedrick is CEO/Founder of Redmond Research [www.redmondresearch.com] and has over 15 years of recruiting experience consulting with over 25 Fortune 500 companies and 10 multimillion-dollar startups. Steve is the Author of The Art of Zen Recruitment™, Founder of BigDogJobs.com, and Co-founder of CACHEMiRROR. He has personally recruited, coached and developed training programs on the most effective recruiting strategies to employ to build strong, sustainable relationship networks driven by credibility and integrity. Steve graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1986 with a BS in Business Administration, Marketing, and Finance. Before founding Redmond Research, Steve led a distinguished career in sales and marketing with Frito-Lay (a division of PepsiCo) and Memorex Corporation. You can reach Steve at
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or (920) 854-6555, x 101.
About Redmond Research:
Founded in 1991, Redmond is a uniquely powerful hybrid between a recruiting research firm valued for its research and an executive search firm valued for its network, consultative techniques, and follow-through.
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