I like the show Justified on FX. It’s about a Deputy U.S. Marshall named Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) who works in Kentucky. In the 4th season premiere, Raylan was returning to custody a bail-jumping accused murderer of two heroin dealers. The “perp” was telling a couple of the characters about the chain of events that led him to kill the drug dealers, who he’d planned “only” to rob.
When asked how he found the drug dealers, he said that he looked for junkies. When asked how do you find junkies, he said he looked for bike thieves. And when asked how did he find bike thieves, he said he looked for places where rich kids had expensive bikes. The junkies would quickly cut through the locks and head on off to “fences” for money, and then would go to the dealers for their junk.
It seems to me that being able to follow this multi-step trail would make for a fine sourcer, were it not for the utter stupidity in thinking of robbing drug dealers. Come to think of it, such a curious combination of brilliance and stupidity is common in start-up founders.
(Raylan would make a fine sourcer, too)
Speaking about sourcing…
Sourcing Challenge (or Detective Work?)
Remember John Zappe’s column on ERE.net from a few weeks ago about “Bob” from Verizon who outsourced his job? Well, I want to find out if this guy is real, and if he is, I want to talk to him! He has a relevant story to tell. This isn’t an easy one as “Bob” may not be real and may not want to be found by the likes of “Yours Truly,” so this is not something I’m sending out to my offshore “Sourcing Posse”.
Here’s the deal: You find him (or can get evidence it’s a hoax) and get verified contact information, and I’ll tell everyone here (and elsewhere) how good you are.
But wait! There’s more…
Questions for Sourcers
- Are you primarily a phone sourcer, an internet sourcer, or a social network sourcer? Do you do more than one type of sourcing?
- Do you provide names & contact information, full resumes/profiles, build out organization charts, and/or something else?
- Do you contact the potential candidate, and if you do what do you ask them (beyond the contact information.
- Do you usually work on current openings, work to create pipelines, or both?
- Do you work independently, as part of a sourcing firm, or as a sourcer (contract or FT) for a corporation’s staffing department?
- Where are you located?
- How much do you charge for your services?