SHRM09 - Newsflash! Gerry Crispin Knows A Lot More About Recruiting Than You and I...

Hang around the uber recruiter sites like ERE and Recruitingblogs.com, and you'll quickly learn that Gerry Crispin is well regarded in the staffing and recruiting industry.  For those of you that don't know Gerry, he teams with Mark Mehler to form the personality behind CareerXroads and the CareerXroads colloquium.

Mark and Gerry have worked for and with corporations of all sizes in career planning and placement, contract recruiting, executive search, recruitment advertising and human resource management. After years working on the front lines of recruiting, these two saw a new potential in the Internet and in 1994 came together to create CareerXroads.

CareerXroads is a lot of things to a lot of people.  Take a look at the site and see what they're doing - very interesting, part think tank, part interactive focus group, part working club and more - good stuff.  I was lucky enough to take in my first Gerry Crispin presentation at SHRM09. 

I'm glad I did.  Crispin's got so much knowledge, he's no longer trying to prove it, which is the highest complement I can provide.  He's easy like Sunday morning, which is the second highest complement I can provide to a presenter at a conference like SHRM.  That's the package that delivers some of the best information regarding the state of the staffing and recruiting scene that I've heard.

Gerry's a master at giving you glimpses of data, then wrapping it up in a way you can get your head around.  For example, here's one of the key takeaways I got from what what he shared.  Topic is "what candidates want when they come to your recruiting site":

• I (meaning the candidate) recognize people like me..

• I understand why people join your company...

• I got the information I need to make a decision on my career...

• I was treated with respect, regardless of my status....

Damn.  That's pretty good.  It's easy to say that's common sense, but when you hear it with the context of the research and thousands of conversations that have gone into developing that view, you realize you have no shot to have the perspective of Crispin in this area.

Crispin = Depth. Approachability. Authenticity.  Not a bad combo...

So....if you can afford it and can get invited, you join the colloquium. If you can't do that, you figure out where Gerry's going to speak and go see him.

BONUS TRACK - If you've never met Gerry or heard him speak, here's a clip of Gerry addressing the crowd at the SHRM09 tweetup in New Orleans, which he sponsored in part. 

 

Crispin at Tweetup from Fistful of Talent on Vimeo.

Comments

[Meg Bear]

I agree with you KD. I saw Gerry at HRTech last year and found it one of the best sessions I attended.

[Joe Murphy]

Great toast to a Master.
Two of Gerrry's greatest assets are his unquenchable thurst for knowledge and his deeply curious open-mindedness. Tie for those are his true concern and interest in advancing the profession and his willingness to take a personal interest in you.

Reach out to Gerry. Share your learning, ask your questions. The ensuing dialogue will be transformative for both.

[Gerry Crispin]

Blush