Recruiting takes time, effort

Tips from the experts:

• Participate in internship programs.
• Educate and entertain your interns. It’s also good to provide helpful information that promotes Southeast Michigan.
• Have a presence at job fairs — to network and meet talent. Choose the track with the skill set you’re looking for.
• Attend conferences and trade shows. It gives you the chance to “shout a bit” about your company and attract talent, said Peter Stevenson, COO at Royal Oak-based RTT USA Inc.
• Establish relationships with universities across the country. General Motors Corp. works with professors on curriculums that support the automaker’s goals. This helps produce an ideal talent pool.
• Get to know well-liked professors in your field. “That will make or break your experience at that university,” said Campbell-Ewald recruiter Barb Rozman-Stokes, who says that professors can continue to tout Detroit or your company.
• Tap into alumni networks for candidates.
• Use recruiters or head hunters. GlobalHue takes this route because its niche is specialized: people experienced in African American, Hispanic, Asian and youth marketing across all cultural classifications.
• Pay for referrals. Employees get $2,500 for referring talent at GlobalHue. “They know best who is out there,” said recruiter Sybil Smith.
• Focus on your business, who you’re trying to attract, and what’s important to the them. Make sure the region is a fit.
• Use the Internet as a recruiting tool. Campbell-Ewald gets information on people through LinkedIn and Facebook. “Be on all of them,” Rozman-Stokes said.
• Collaborate with competitors. “We try to share tactics and work together and say ‘I found this person, they are fantastic, I can’t hire them but you should, because I’ll steal them from you in year,’” Rozman-Stokes said. “Ultimately it’s self-serving.”