If this were a movie, I would start it off with Another One Bites the Dust by Queen. The opening scene, imagine that playing as we see the mighty LinkedIn crushing Chrome extension after Chrome extension in their path. Their powerful grip of their all-encompassing, iron clad User Agreement clinches down on the company after company, user after user leaving nothing behind. In its wake, you see thousands of recruiters running hysterically in every direction. End opening scene.
The most important thing to note is who was NOT running in the wake of the Nothing. The sourcer. Much like Atreyu who fought the Nothing in the Neverending Story, the valiant sourcer is a warrior, a loner, a rebel. We see Chrome extensions as a way to feed our stick-it-to-the-man-itis. If we were the developers that we often hire, we’d be open source guys and gals. So when it was announced last year that Microsoft was acquiring LinkedIn, it was no surprise what would happen. If there’s anything Microsoft does best, it’s licensing and litigation.
Listen, Sourcers are the Apocalypse Preppers of the Recruiting Industry. We’ve been coming up with ways to find candidates before LinkedIn, and we’ll be coming up with them after LinkedIn. Why do you think last year all we spoke about was, finding candidates if LinkedIn went down? That’s because we’re prepping.
It’s been said that the only thing that doesn’t change is change. As sourcers we must love change, we must adapt to change; we must prep for change. Because if we don’t, we die, metaphorically anyway.
All this change may seem scary to some. Here are some words of consolation:
“I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.” – Neo
There is life out there for those who don’t pay for a LinkedIn seat. The future starts with coming to SourceCon. If you are not learning the newest AND the oldest techniques in sourcing, I guarantee you are going to be left behind. You need to understand Boolean; you need to understand phone sourcing, you need to understand data scraping, you need to understand machine learning. If you are already well equipped in those areas, then you should be going to conferences to at least network and mastermind with like professionals because you cannot reach new heights alone.
The Chrome extensions will come and go. LinkedIn will roll on and continue to change and make you conform to their way. So you must ask yourself. “Am I a rebel?” If so, then grab your Boolean strings and get to typing. Email your favorite developer and begin your data scraping. Pick up your phone and start calling. Because… the Apocalypse is coming.