Think about the two most important choices you’ve made in your life. My top two are my choice to marry Elena and start a family with her (snuck in two for the price of one!); and the second: my career choices. Lucky for me, there are specialists in both of these vitally important areas of life: love (professional matchmakers!) and career (recruiters!). Amy Andersen, CEO and Founder of the highly successful boutique matchmaking firm Linx Dating (and well regarded as Silicon Valley’s most coveted matchmaker) was kind enough to share her career journey into the very exciting and rewarding world of matchmaking with me. Since the two are fields share similar approaches, I was excited to learn more about her process, and how I might apply the same principles of a romantic search to our searches for our hiring partners (and vice-versa). Afterall, Talented Recruiting has had our own success with helping love bloom: Danielle, our CEO, played match-marker for her best friend. Read this sweet story here!
Similar to Talented Recruiting, upon connecting with new clients, we fact find. Amy must first learn more about a potential client before agreeing to work with them. Her process includes multiple interview levels. To kick things off, first and most importantly, she needs to learn more about their personality and what they are looking for in a partner. This allows Amy to determine if the search is appropriate for her firm, or if another matchmaker could be a better fit. A good recruitment firm also qualifies searches and agrees to those historically have generated a successful outcome for all parties. After this key step, the process moves to an in-person, comprehensive meeting.
Next, Amy dives deep. She reaches potential matches through a variety of tried and true sources:
Inbound: people from all over the world submit their information to Linx, interested in being matched with someone great.
VIP clients and other selected “match bios” appear on the website, so writing directly about a profile that piques your interest can pay off!
Perusing their own database of former and current clients to see if anyone is a match, or if they can tap into potential referrals.
Social networks like Facebook & Instagram and professional networks like LinkedIn are key.
Research! Wikipedia is super helpful in identifying someone with a few major accomplishments under their belt.
It’s not uncommon that Amy conducts a nationwide - even global! - searches on behalf of her clients. IIn the age of social networking and everyone sharing their (mostly) authentic selves throughout the web, the sourcing/searching part of our fields has become relatively easier than ever before. But finding a name/picture/bio is just the first part; then comes the art and science of beginning a conversation with that prospect.
Amy and her team engage with potential matches in initial outreach and multiple conversations before presenting them to the client to make sure they fit the profile and are interested. When we begin our interview, Amy is actually on the Stanford campus engaged in an in-person search and conducting interviews with prospects for a current client. She has a thorough, powerful, and multi-step vetting process in place that helps ensure there isn’t a potential mismatch. Amy helps both sides - the client and the prospective date - market themselves and prepare to meet one another. In both of our businesses, we continue to be involved throughout the entire “courtship”. In the end, there is nothing more satisfying and fulfilling than seeing our respective happy outcomes: a couple happily dating, and a company that is thrilled with a new hire and vice-versa.
I asked Amy for advice to pass along to candidates looking for a new job, and hiring managers looking to attract and retain amazing talent. She had some great tips to share.
Invest in yourself! Eat well, be fit, be aware of your strengths and in a positive mental state. Be looking and feeling your best; you will exude confidence and positive energy around others whatever you do.
As much as it is hard to encapsulate yourself in a resume or CV, you need to really wordsmith and think about yourself from a marketing perspective. Enlist the help of others if need be - people who know you well and who can break down your best qualities to their essence.
Create options for yourself by exposing yourself to a range of people and possibilities that overlap with job opportunities: socially, professionally, networking, career fairs, talks/lectures, you name it. Put yourself in situations where you will shine around people, where you best skills and passions are obvious and cause people to take notice.
For recruiters/hiring managers looking for the best talent? She had a key tip that I love.
When you present yourself to candidates, do everything you can to give them a window into what their world will be like at their potential new job. Usually the very best candidates will have choices, so be prepared to put your best foot forward and to be able to explain and show why your company is best for them.
Reflecting on my conversation with Amy, my favorite overlap in our jobs is that every day brings a new challenge - and a new chance to change lives for the better.
Looking to meet a high caliber, amazing person through the hard work of one of the premier matchmakers in the world? Contact Linx Dating! Find her - and Linx - on social media:
Instagram: ms.linxdating
Twitter: @linxdating
Linx Line blog: http://linxdating.wordpress.com/
If you are a hiring partner looking to be “matched” with stellar Product & Design candidates (and if you are a P&D candidate looking to find your dream job), let’s talk! Contact me at andrew@talentedrecruiting.com.