This Week, In Recruiting - Issue 124

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Open Kitchen:?Third Space Tactics When Looking for a Job (As a Recruiter)

I read a great Twitter thread the other day on what made a city or town a great place to live. The commentator narrowed it down to the prevalence of 'Third Spaces' - coffee shops, communal parks, public houses, public squares - accessible places where people can hang out in security and without the sense of intruding onto anyone else.

The idea comes from US urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who coined it in his seminal work 'The Great Good Place', which was not only a study on urban places but also a critique of the car orientated urban design of US cities.

Anyone who has spent time in a town with a lot of Third Places will intuitively get what Oldenburg is talking about. We may not directly interact with anyone in these spaces, but you could and probably have. These interactions tend to be incidental, without agenda and generally good humoured. They can be surprisingly validating for people who spend too much time in their First Places (home) or their Second (office/work).

I read a second tweet thread from a commentator who I can now no longer recall (sorry hombre!), and he was collating lessons learned from tech founders who have had success in fundraising. One of his sources uses a similar concept to Oldenburg's, but with the analogy of trying to get into the exclusive nightclub. There are three doors to the nightclub. The Front Door - everyone queues, gets body searched, has to buy a ticket and inevitably one of your party does not get in 'with those trainers'. The Back Door - VIP only entrance, doorman knows you buy name, you might even own the place. The amazing one shot restaurant scene in Goodfella's was the quintessential example of using the 'Back Door entrance'

There is also a Third Door though, neither Front for the hoi polloi, or Back for the VIP, but some other way into the club. Maybe this was volunteering in the kitchen, being a clandestine but approved food critic, or maybe a caddy for the musicians in the band.

These threads got me thinking about one of the early talks I gave about communication and how Oldenburg's concept of a Third (Neutral) space can also be applied to personal relationships. What makes a great relationship? Chances are it will not be one which is entirely orientated around you (My Space) or them (Their Space) but one which in both parties spend a great deal of time and energy in a neutral conversation or emotional space which they share together.

I think we need to use the Oldenburg concept in the job search.

Seems to me that a lot of looking-for-work recruiters are currently overly focusing on the Front Door / First Place - mainly by applying to job adverts. Now of course you should do this, but please understand in the market like this, this means a very long queue at the Front Door without any guarantee of getting in.

Shifting to the Back Door / Second Place makes sense - if you have a connection and even leverage to make it work for you - you might be able to get in without going through the body search. But chances are you won't have Back Doors in every place, and will need to come up with an alternative. A third way, or perhaps open up a Third Place where relevant people can come, visit, spend time and potentially engage.

What are the Third Spaces for Recruiters in the Job Search?

1. In Person Events

I've been banging on about attending in-person events for quite a while now. I think it is been partly to convince myself as much as anyone else; they are obviously Third Places, which people can attend on a close-to-equal basis and usually freely engage with anyone who they meet there. The lack of discrimination in fact, is one of the joys of doing it - you'll connect with people who did not intend to or forecast to see and who knows what might happen from the connections made there?

In person events may even directly impact your already existing Front Door approaches; I was present in a conversation at an event two weeks ago when applicant met employer and serendipitously discovered that fact, leading to (I hope) an acceleration of that process. Make sure you check out Big List in the What's Going On segment of this newsletter and get yourself to some of these.

2. Interactive Online Events

There's tons of webinars out there, but the ones which I really enjoy the most is where the gap between the people on screen and those who are watching the screen is very close. I suppose you can see this is in why I run Brainfood Live On Air as a livestream rather than as a recording - it's not only because I want to the conversation to flow naturally between the onscreen panellists but because I also consider the audience to be active participants too. They - you - are active co-creators of the content.

So...if you have registered for a webinar, do so with your real full name, add your real profile photo and get involved in the chat, Q&A, polls or whatever engagement opportunity there is on the platform. Another data point from a conversation last week - a friend of mine I randomly met again at an event I didn't think she was attending, told me that she got a free ticket because she had interacted with the one of speakers on a webinar the previous month! This seems like very little work for potentially great return - an opportunity to network again in person, but also deepen the connections with prominent (and maybe influential) people in industry.

3. Conversational or 'Third Space' Content

Firstly, let me say for the record, that I endorse and support public announcements of redundancy. There is no shame is being made redundant, and no shame in saying that you are looking for opportunity. However, as a practical tactic, such announcements can only be used once and unlikely in of themselves to generate opportunities immediately. A small mental shift towards 'Third Space' thinking can convert an appeals post to more sustainable conversational content which might do the same job (probably better) than direct appeal.

I met Tanguy Lacroix at an event last month, and was struck by his sense of humour and his approachable manner! However, Tanguy was reluctant to post on LinkedIn for want of things to say, and did not feel right about the idea of direct appeals for help. My advice to Tanguy was this: think of yourself as a scout going out into the unknown frontier and make observations of your journey and simply report back on it to the community. Making this shift immediately moves from from First Space (direct appeal for help), Second Space (direct applications to jobs) and into the Third Space (community topic which all can enter and engage). And, seeing as we should all know by now how social media newsfeed algorithms work, the distribution power of Third Space content is usually several orders of magnitude greater than anything else.

Anyways, I've belaboured this point long enough. There's probably a talk in there somewhere. Let me know if you want me to expand upon this idea...and...what other techniques can recruiters-looking-for-work start these conversations in the Third Space?

Out of the kitchen, onto the lounge...??

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What's in the News?

UNLEASH Launches 2023 World Startup Award

This is an important note for all early stage recruitment technology vendors - this competition can help you get on the landscape, and it will be a great experience regardless of where you place. I've met many founders who pitched at UNLEASH and subsequently became significant players in the market. Apply here

If you are a recruitment technology vendor with some news to share, comment below and let me know your news

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What's On Offer?

Nada, as we are still on holidays I think. Or at least the Brits will be on a two weeker right about now. Let me know if you have anything to offer the community, this is free advertising space for you!

If you are a vendor and have something you want to offer the recruiting community, comment below and let me know what the offer is. It will go in next week's issue. PS: I don't accept affiliate deals, so everything you offer gets passed on entirely and directly to the community!

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What's Going On?

Big List of Recruiting & HR Events to Attend in 2023

In person events are critically important to the community folks - especially in times when the eco-system is under pressure from bosses telling us 'to do more with less'. We need to lean on each other and ensure that information continues to flow bilaterally between the nodes in the community. You can do that best by being in person. Big List is up and updated, so bookmark it?here!

AI will Save Recruitment, Tues 1st August, 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST

Parts 1-4 were some of the most interesting conversations I've had on the topic of AI in recruitment. I think this is helped by the fact that both Siadhal and I have strong views on the future of AI, which are not always aligned! We're going to explore it again in the second half of the series, kicking off the 5th episode with a 1-2-1 on where we are with AI. Register?here?folks

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep217 - LinkedIn Algorithm Updates: What Recruiters HAVE to Know, Fri 4th Aug, 2pm BST

Ok this is it folks - Andy Foote is the only ever repeat solo guest on Brainfood Live for a very good reason - he is a fountain of knowledge on the most important app we use and it is critically important that we pay attention whenever he is sharing what he knows. We're talking LinkedIn Algorithm update, pertinent for anyone who has seen their engagement collapse lately! Register here

#truChatathon, Tues 8th August, 4-8pm, Nash Squared, 3 Noble Street London EC2V 7EE

Love this series from the Master of Master of Ceremonies in Bill Boorman. If you are one of those who think that you learn best by doing, then these Hackathons on Generative AI are going to the breakthrough moments for you when it comes to getting to grips with these new technologies. Hosted by Nash Squared at their London HQ. It's after work and a great excuse to learn and connect - tickets here

Founders Focus - Ep39 - Raj Mukherjee, VP & GM of Indeed, Thur 17th Aug, 3pm BST / 10am ET

Indeed are one of the few recruitment technology companies which can change the landscape and alter the product roadmaps of everyone else. 2023 has been a year of change for the company, with dramatic changes such as RIF, as well as shift to Pay-per-Application model. More changes to come from Indeed, and we've got none other than Raj Mukherjee himself to tell us about it. Register here folks.

Recfest Nashville, 13-14 Sept, Bicentennial Park, Nashville, TN, USA

Recfest comes to the USA, and I'm coming along with it! Going to give a talk on AI and whether technology can ever deliver us freedom from drudgery or will the value always be captured by the few. It's not a talk I want to give, but I think it is one I have to give. Smarter people than I will be in attendance, along with 1000+ delegates from all over the world. Tickets going fast - get them here

Talent Acquisition Summit, 3-4 November, Bogota, Colombia

So I suppose this is happening! Good job my favourite coffee stall on Hoxton Street Market is ran by a Colombian family, I will use the opportunity to brush up on my Spanish. Or rather, learn it, as I don't have any! Looking forward to the event by my buddy Carlos Guillermo Lopez in his home town, and delighted to be bringing friends from Europe along for the ride. Tickets here - see you there?

If you have an event, webinar or podcast going on next week and want it featured on next week's newsletter,?comment below?with the link and event details. Don't forget to at mention me so that I see it

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Who's Hiring?

Early Careers Advisor, Price Bailey, Norwich, United Kingdom

People Operations Specialist, Blinkist, Berlin, Germany

Senior Recruiter, Western Union, Vienna, Austria

If you are hiring for recruiters or HR people, you are welcome to post jobs FOR FREE on the Brainfood Jobs Job Board. Use coupon code: BTCFREE for 100% discount.

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Whose Story?

Virginia Tirado, People & Talent Leader, Looking for next challenge

Great to connect with Virginia for the first time earlier this year at RL100 Summit in Whitstable, and again albeit briefly at Recfest 2023. I asked Virginia to share her story via 20 Questions, and here are her answers.

If you want to answer 20 Questions comment below to volunteer. This is an exercise in fostering community and open to all

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Whose Available?

That's 367 members of the community. If you are a recruiter or HR person that is looking for work, join the Brainfood Talent Collective?here. If you are an employer hiring recruiters, apply for a company account?here, and use the code: BTCFREE to freely post jobs and search the db.

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Who's Moving?

Callum Reilly joins Checkout.com, after leaving Meta earlier this year, whilst also previously having worked for Funding Circle, GetYourGuide and GoCardless. Two things to note here: what a great start doing embedded recruitment can be, and also how in-demand quality recruiters continue to be. Need to do the 'Meta Alumni' Brainfood Live at some point - let me know if you're up for it Callum!

Katie Kingdom joins Alliance Search as Director. This is a fascinating industry sector - building & construction, without which none of us would have houses to live in or offices and factories to work out of. Need to know more about how recruiting works in this sector - another Brainfood Live series on this I think...

Peggy Beschnitt joins Mindcurv as Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, having most recently been with Amazon Web Services (EMEA). The slow down in Big Tech might well be leading to a dispersal of talent across the tech eco-system, and inadvertent but potentially hugely valuable phenomemon,

Promotions to celebrate: Manj Ubi goes up to People Operations Manager at Rated People and Angela Rees goes up to the top job at Tinder now as Director, Talent Acquisition - congratulations both!

If you have made a senior exec appointment to your business,?and feel the wider community needs to know about it,?comment below?with the details and see it featured in next weeks issue.?Don't forget to @ mention me in it so that I see it

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What Are You Doing?

Chantelle Johns joins RecruitCRM's Expert Corner, providing a regular column of recruiting advice for experienced recruiters and recruitment leaders. Great to see more community leaders finding their voice online - more should do it!

Felix Mitchell, Co-CEO of Instant Impact launches Talent Bytes, a LinkedIn newsletter about recruitment technology and AI. Take a look and subscribe.

If you are doing something new,?comment below?with what it is and share a link to where you want people to go. Don't forget to mention me in it so that I see it

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End Notes

Looks like the summer has gone home early in the UK; torrential downpours, plus a grey overcast sky. Still super hot when the sun comes out though - earth is heating up and causing observable change in climate. As an interesting aside, we will soon have to think about how climate change conditions will impact the world of work - the London commute is bad enough as it is, but if it turns into 36C experience, it will become a danger to health and life. Remote for climate change might be the most compelling argument to do it.

Anyways, I'm here now for the next 6 weeks, so hit me up if you're doing anything I should be attending ??

Have a great week everybody

Hung

Hung Lee is the curator of?Recruiting Brainfood, and now This Week In Recruiting. Subscribe to both if you are into recruiting or HR or just interested in world of work.