Marketing for "Human Capital":
It's Not Staffing, It's Marketing

With a shortage of qualified candidates, it takes strategic planning and more than a little targeted marketing to find great hires. You have to "sell" your company to the person you want to hire - but first, you have to find the best person for the job!

How important is your management team when you are trying to find funding?

The Profit Dynamics Inc. 1999 Venture Capital Survey asked over 450 venture capitalists what they looked for when choosing companies to invest in. In answer to the question "How do you define quality management? " 83% of the Venture Capitalists include successful experience or proven track record in their response. One respondent says "Without an experienced CEO, they should lower the price they expect for their stock, because the venture capitalist views the risk as higher."

At a recent AZIPA meeting, a panel of Venture capitalists, angel investors, and other experts involved in the VC world answered questions about what they look at when deciding what companies to invest in. One expert said that his company considers the management team 80% of the determining factor in whether to invest in a company!

So, how do you go about finding your management team? You can advertise in the local newspapers, but be prepared for the fact that the best person for the job is probably "not" actively looking for a new job.

If you decide to hire a third party to be your partner in your search, you should understand the difference between staffing agencies who "have candidate databases and 'sell' those to you" and recruiters/headhunters that "analyze YOUR needs, conduct a personal search based on those needs, pre-screens and sends only the most qualified few candidates to you for approval, and helps you negotiate the best deal with the person."

Your company's success depends on who you hire!

Terri Robinson, President - Robinson & Associates, a recruiting company that specializes in sales and marketing professionals. Terri has been published in Arizona Women's News, Arizona Reporter Online News; interviewed by Recruiting Trends' Newsletter for their Extreme Recruiting column, by Smart Money Magazine, and by Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Surf to http://www.recruit2hire.com, call 602-233-8410, or E-mail Terri