Finding Employees, or Building a Team Using “Contactsourcing”
Won Over By Reality
by Tim Bayer
WEBSTER New York—(Weekly Hubris)—11/28/11—Finding the right person for the right job or niche or problem-to-be-solved can be difficult, time-consuming, and prone to “dead-ending.” However there is a fairly simple-minded—on its face—shortcut that works for me. I call it “Contactsourcing.”
“Crowdsourcing” comprises getting input from everyone and anyone without a filter. The premise is that the collective intelligence of the crowd is usually very good.
“Contactsourcing” is what I do when I need help on a project (most recently for my safeGdriver iPhone app) or back when I was increasing staffing as the Director of Engineering for a software company.
In my definition, “Contactsourcing” is talking to people you know (sourcing your contacts) who have experience or talent in a specific bailiwick of knowledge . . . about their contacts.
Artlessly stated, artists know artists; basketball players know basketball players; software developers know software developers.
Not only do these contacts with a recognized specific interest know others with the same interest, they are also a better than average judges of talent in their particular arenas because they have experience in those realms. Bingo! A qualified lead!
As the Director of Engineering, when I needed additional software developers, I would ask the folks who worked for me, “Who do you know that is a good developer?” When I was putting together a basketball team, I employed the same tactic by talking to my basketball-playing friends.
My experience with “Contactsourcing” (software developers, basketball players, softball players, etc., etc.) has worked very well. I’ve been immediately able to get qualified leads and very often find just the people wanted.
“Contactsourcing” can be an exceptionally resource-effective means to generate qualified leads when you are looking for people. In my experience, it will work in many different fields of expertise. When you are looking for employees or forming a team, simply ask your current contacts and you may quickly and efficiently solve your staffing needs. Works for me.
Editor’s Note: This is precisely how I found my multitalented Webmaster, Tim Bayer, by the way. Leave it to him, though, to coin a term for it!
Tim Bayer
Tim Bayer, Webmaster, and Assistant Editor of Weekly Hubris, was born and brought up in Webster, New York. He attended St. Bonaventure University, earning a BS in Computer Science, and then worked in the hi-tech world. In 2002 he turned his creative energies to product development and video production with the release of his first independently produced products. When the demand for web site design and freelance writing increased, he once again switched skill sets . . . to writing and web work. An avid or, to be more accurate, rabid, disc golfer, he may often be found chasing plastic while in pursuit of the perfect round on a disc golf course, or designing and developing disc golf products for Demogrid.com. He says he tries to find the humor hidden in everyday experiences, because, “life is too important to be taken seriously.” (Author photo by Tim Bayer. Author Head Shot Augment: René Laanen.)