The Internship Workshop was an event for the hiring managers and HR representatives from host companies. Adam Ward, Director of University Recruiting at Facebook, spoke about issues faced by minorities in tech, integrating interns into existing work environments, and setting project, work, goals, and milestones.

Riviera was proud to host and sponsor the evening with Code2040. All our charitable efforts target supporting organizations that work to increase the number of engineers and specifically underrepresented groups. This charitable mission has lead us to work with other great organizations like Women Who Code and Level Playing Field Institute as well.

For more information visit http://code2040.org/

The post Code2040 Internship Workshop with Adam Ward of Facebook appeared first on .

No matter which business sector a company is in, it needs to become a technology company to survive — and the Culture needs to change right along with it.

Five decades ago, the average S & P company’s life spanned for more than 50 years.  Today that same average is 25 years and shrinking. Why? It’s likely these companies haven’t adapted to the evolutionary shift into the Information Age…and because of this, are dissolving.

For the companies that are evolving, they understand this shift and have embraced it. The future IS technology and since there will be an ever increasing demand for those who can create it, aligning a company’s workplace Culture to adapt to this expanding need is a must.

Let’s look at the Truth

Developers, engineers and others in technology do their “magic” and work on electronic devices which don’t restrict them to location or geography.

The Real World

I am involved with a technology startup that has “task based” Culture. The entire team meets once a week at a central location to “physically” collaborate and then they go their separate ways to handle business items needing handling. I asked one of the developers how he liked the Culture and he said, “I love it, mostly because I wake up with my computer and go to sleep with it. But when I have to get dressed up and commute to an office, it’s a distraction”.

In another company I advise, the Leadership doesn’t care if their employees work from the Moon, as long as they meet the expectations that were set by both parties.

So unless an employee has to physically make or create something, interact with another or customers, cook a meal or punch a ticket, there is no longer a solid reason for them to be inside a company, working together.

And when we take in consideration that Autonomy is #2 on the list of the wants, needs and demands of employee’s today (right behind # 1 – Purpose), companies may want to think twice about not allowing telecommuting or working remotely to help attract and retain top talent.

Rationale for not Evolving

Some say that speed and efficiency is lost while telecommuting or working remotely. Could be, but only if the processes, procedures and expectations aren’t properly set.

And others say communication and relationships are sacrificed. Maybe back in the day, but the people I know communicate, build and form relationships on electronic devices a lot more than by meeting in one location and talking face to face.

We are not saying there isn’t value in speed, efficiency, communication and relationships within an organization; because there is. However, the value of liberty and autonomy that we all enjoy in the Information Age has tipped the scales.

So does telecommuting or remote work need to be 100% or nothing? No, any adaptation will be appreciated and then naturally evolve over time.

Remember, it’s the Information Age that has shaped the way we do things in our private lives. Naturally, our work lives should at least allow us the same liberty and autonomy, especially when our work does not restrict us to location or geography.

Bottom Line

Companies that will evolve in the Information Age will do so, by allowing telecommuting and working remotely to be part of their Culture.

After all, it is in alignment with: 1) the wants, needs and demands of the employee in the ever increasing war for talent; 2) decreasing the need for companies to provide workspace, and: 3) helping save the time and costs of commuting for the employee– not to mention, decreasing the carbon footprint – all helping to make the world a better place.

The post Evolve or Dissolve – Culture, Technology & Employees appeared first on .

Check out our findings in our analysis below:

The post 2013 Q1: Software Engineering Salaries in Silicon Valley appeared first on .

4:30pm — Thursday, May 2nd.

185 Berry Street, Lobby 3, Suite 2400.

The post Riviera’s Cinco de Mayo Fiesta appeared first on .

As much as we would like to, we cannot immediately place every candidate we speak with.  Despite that reality, we strive to treat candidates with respect and always build a relationship, as today’s candidate may become tomorrow’s candidate or client.

Why are we not able to place every candidate? In many cases, timing and client need are the issue. Our clients are looking for a profile of candidate whose personality, track record, and skills are highly specific, and this filter eliminates a large majority of candidates.

Putting that aside, the other part of the equation is you, the candidate. Candidates come in all shapes and sizes, and from a recruiter’s perspective, candidates are not created equal. Certain candidates are inherently more attractive than others.

What makes you attractive to a recruiter? Here are the key areas by which we judge candidates:

• Education— Reputation translates to smarts. If you’re an engineer, a degree from a top computer science school is a plus.
• Past Companies—Each company has a different “bar” for talent. If you’re working at a company with a high talent bar, we are going to pay more attention to you.
• Tenure— Have you stayed long enough to make an impact? If you’re always jumping to the next opportunity without making a dent, we are not going to be calling.
• Skills—Have you shown a drive and aptitude for growing in your career? If you’re an engineer who started programming in Java, have you taken the steps to grow your skills in Ruby?
• Accomplishments—What have you accomplished in each of your roles? Is the impact of your work clear? If we cannot identify the “so what” factor in what you did, then we are less likely to be interested.
• Ability to Place—The candidate’s title and level needs to match what the hiring company is looking for, or willing to pay for. Timing (e.g., start date) is also a factor, as are any specific requirements the candidate has (e.g., compensation, benefits, etc.).
• Motivation—Are you running to something or “running away” from something? Before you call a recruiter, think about why you are leaving your current opportunity. Running away is not always a bad thing, but it will merit a lot more reservations from us unless we can validate the reasons. Some reasons for running away would be external company factors such as an acquisition or restructuring .
• Integrity —Recruiters hate surprises, and so do clients. The one trait that will always knock you out of consideration is being untrustworthy. We are in the business of promoting you, but we do not want to misrepresent your credentials and hurt our reputation in the process. We want candidates who are upfront with their cards, who are responsive, and who recognize the need to work together with a recruiter and client to make an opportunity happen.

Granted, the list above is a long one, and you can’t fault us for being picky. But we hope this window into our minds is helpful to you when you connect with us to talk about your next step.

More Tips

Beyond the factors listed above, there are some “dos and don’ts” for candidates when it comes to managing their career and pursuing new opportunities:

• DO have a positive attitude with recruiters—it does matter.
• DO present yourself in a professional manner at all times.
• DO know whether you want to manage or remain “hands on.”
• DO how that you’re hungry to learn and adapt.
• DON’T stay too long at one company, especially if it’s a large corporation.
• DON’T burn bridges—you may be looking for another job sooner than you think.

The post Are you Placeable? What Most Recruiters Might Not Tell You appeared first on .

The post A Look Back at Recruiting in Q1 appeared first on .

Those evaluations are important, and I’m not here to debate the merits of qualifying candidate abilities.  The problem is that hiring is not just about evaluating. It’s about promoting your company, opportunity, team, and role to a candidate.

Just as much as you, the hiring manager, are evaluating a candidate, they are evaluating you from the minute you begin the courtship we call “recruiting.”  Many of our clients fail to recognize this reality, and as a result, they do not spend enough time upfront in the hiring process wooing candidates, waiting until the offer stage to do so.

At that point, it is too late. Passive candidates effectively become active through the recruiting process. They are courting multiple firms that, in return, are trying to excite the candidate about their respective opportunities. When you wait until the offer stage, you are squandering multiple opportunities to build trust and rapport that essentially serves as a “down payment” on closing your candidate later.

The cost of not wooing candidates early in the hiring process is substantial. Not only do you risk losing a hire, but you ultimately hurt your team’s productivity from excessive interviewing, a prolonged hiring cycle, and disruption in the team’s ability to scale by not hiring fast enough.

Here are a few reasons companies fail to actively promote earlier in the interview process:

• Lack of awareness that promotion matters—“I didn’t realize that we were not inspiring the candidate about the opportunity here. I thought you took care of that as the recruiter.”
• Arrogance—“We are the best company in the Valley. I don’t get why we have to sell.”
• Blindness—“I joined this company and love everyone here. I don’t see why that is not obvious to those who I speak with.”

So now that we’ve convinced you this is important, what specifically do you promote? Many of our clients will tout their founders, the source of their funding, and the pain point they are solving in the marketplace. That is all good, but it’s just the starting point.

When it comes to offer stage, the factors that motivate the candidate to accept are the same ones that we heard when we first talked to them. They want an exciting, challenging, and rewarding opportunity to advance their career. Yes, they want free food and other perks, but when push comes to shove, they want to join a great team offering an exciting role with impact and influence in an exciting industry. They want real opportunity. How you communicate will vary with each candidate, which is the subject of another blog post (“Candidates Are Not Sold—They Buy.”)

With one client, we had more than 11 offers rejected over the course of six months. In almost all of the cases, the candidates uniformly bought into the client’s team, the funding, the market opportunity, and company business model. But,  to varying degrees, the candidates did not truly understand what their role would be, nor did they see their role as having impact tied to the company’s mission.

In your case, the role may not be the issue, but the point is that you have to promote multiple attributes and hone in on the ones most relevant to the candidate with whom you are speaking.

The bottom line is that evaluating and promoting go hand-in-hand. Getting a candidate excited about your opportunity needs to start the moment you begin interacting with them.  In fact, the more senior or higher caliber the candidate is, the more important this step is, especially if your employer brand awareness and perception lags behind your competitors.

The post It’s A Courtship, Not A Gauntlet appeared first on .

As with any solid process, successful recruiting requires ongoing interaction and communication. It’s easy for recruiters to become too “busy” and metrics-focused to connect with the business, but it’s imperative to keep the channels of communication open between the company and the search firm.

So, it’s the responsibility of both parties to keep one another apprised of what’s going on.  If a recruiter understands the future of the company, changes in business strategy, human capital trends, press coverage and PR trends, and cultural shifts or observations, that recruiter can help the company address these issues in ways the company may not traditionally expect.

It could be ascertaining people the company will need down the road, or it could be identifying training, talent development, or coaching resources for the client. This hasn’t always been the case.  Recruiting has evolved over the past couple decades from a reactive function tasked with filling immediate needs to a proactive one where companies strategize on and forecast their talent requirements to move their businesses forward.

And companies don’t need to go at it alone. The best recruiters and search firms are those that help their clients align talent acquisition with overall corporate objectives. A recruiter’s job is to help the company get the right people in the right place at the right time.  The variables in this equation can change with circumstance, but this is the end goal.

From a candidate perspective, the only way to know the best potential people for the position is to get to know the candidates and their motivations.  What gets them excited?  What’s their situation, and would this opportunity have a positive or a negative effect on that?  Why did they get into this business in the first place?

Today, people can build, maintain, and expand relationships faster and easier than ever before.  So, it’s easy to think that algorithms and analytics can magically create best-fit matches.  Discerning the sound from the noise becomes important to serious candidates, and it’s incumbent on recruiters to help by understanding that talent acquisition is not a means to an end, but an ongoing process that should result in a positive experience for both companies and clients.

Systems help. But recruiting is, and always will be, about people.  Clients are people, candidates are people.  And people operate better working with people they have grown to trust.  The relationships recruiters and companies build with candidates are essential for creating mutually beneficial opportunities.

If you’re a company hiring a person, you want to hear that a candidate truly finds the opportunity relevant, interesting, and challenging.  Otherwise, you run the very real risk of a person lacking appropriate engagement if they come on board.

If you’re a candidate, and you’re on the phone with a recruiter, you want to know that there’s a clear connection between what you’ve done and what you could be doing, why it’s a great fit for you individually, and what the opportunity for growth is for you.  You want to know that the recruiter  ”gets” you, that they actually care about you, and that there’s a good reason you’re speaking with them about that particular prospective path in life.  You always want the benefits and drawbacks shown, and never want to be sold anything – not a job, not a person, not anything.

Exceptional companies realize the value of exceptional people, and they are working harder than ever to attract, hire, and retain top performers.  We’re lucky to work with companies that truly believe that constant communication and teamwork is worth the effort, to get these exceptional people.  We hope this is the case with you, too.

About the author: Sam Wholley  is a Principal at Riviera Partners. He leverages a diverse background of managerial, operational, advisory and technical roles to build the retained search practice at Riviera.

The post Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, Baby appeared first on .

In today’s Information Age, the quest for companies to attract and retain top talent is far more difficult than ever before, and the problem rests solely on the company for the following 2 reasons:

The first reason that makes it difficult for companies is that there is an ever increasing amount of choices of where the employees can choose to spend most of their waking hours, not even mentioning the option of the employee working for themselves in the Information Age.

And the second reason is that most companies are doing nothing to better articulate or create their Own Unique Culture that would either attract or retain Top Talent.

So, as an employee, your 2 most important questions remain unanswered:

1. What company should I choose to work for?
2. What would it be like to work inside this company?

The Solution is pretty simple:

Attract and retain Top Talent by letting them know what it’s like to work inside your company by clearly articulating and creating and articulating your Own Unique Culture.

The place to Start:

Vision, Purpose and Values.  They are 3 out of the 5 structures with in any company or organization that create any great Culture.

Then employees and perspective employees can know, this is what they do, why they do it and what they value

Step 1

Create a Vision statement that let’s everyone know…this is what we do. If it is Grand enough, it will attract Top Talent that wants to help create the Vision. Don’t forget to make sure your Vision isn’t “transaction based”…it needs to be “experience based” in order for it to truly  attract employees.

Once they are on board, the employees just keep creating, reinventing and deliver the Vision or what you do. After all, it’s something they wanted to do, and it’s what attracted them in the first place.

Step 2

Everyone wants a Purpose in their lives, so create a compelling Purpose statement that serves a higher purpose, like a purpose that would “empower people”, “make the world a better place”, “decrease the carbon footprint”… something that will really attract those that share the same sense of purpose. Make sure that your Purpose compliments your Vision and is in alignment with it.

This will give the employees a reason to join your company as it is why you are doing what you are doing. And it they are attracted to it, it will help retain those who chose it.

Step 3

Create some meaningful Values. You can create 4 or 10, all up to you. Make sure the Values will help empower the employees and help them reach their full potential. If your Values are all company-centric – they will attract no one.

A good idea is to have all of your employees come up with your Values to begin with, after all they are the ones that will be living in the Culture with the Values that are created. This leads to much less resistance than telling your employees which Values they are going to be living by at your company.

Also the Values should also compliment, help drive and be in alignment with your Vision and Purpose.

Let them know what you do, why you do it and what you Value as a company and you will attract and retain Top Talent, allowing the employees and the company to reach its full potential.

The post How to Empower People and Companies, No Matter What You Sell appeared first on .

While putting your best foot forward, your efforts may not ensure success in closing top candidates. Why?  Because the best candidates are not “sold” on an opportunity; they “buy” into the opportunity.

What do I mean by this distinction? All too often, we see clients pitching a candidate based on a “one size fits all” approach to why a candidate should accept an opportunity. This generic pitch will often be about the funding of the company, its potential for growth, its leadership, and so on.

These factors are worth discussing, of course, but it’s not enough. Candidates are individuals, and the higher caliber talent you are dealing with, the more discriminating they will be in evaluating an opportunity from a personal and professional standpoint.  To effectively close top candidates, you have to know what makes them tick. What are they motivated by? What do they fear? What are their hopes, dreams and aspirations?

Your message needs to be tailored to who a candidate is and his or her view of the world. If you do not connect the dots for candidates in a way they can relate to, you are “selling” a generic idea, as opposed to motivating them to “buy” an opportunity that they inherently believe in.

As a result, you are likely to prolong the time it takes to fill a position and, in many cases, you will lose a candidate to other opportunities even when your position may include a higher title or more money. We have seen time and time again that top candidates will be willing to trade off rewards in countless ways when opportunities are presented to them in a customized fashion.

Keep in mind that candidates will not immediately divulge their innermost thoughts on what they value most unless you have spent the time to build trust and rapport throughout the recruiting process.  If you treat a candidate relationship as a transaction, then you are handicapping your ability to convince the candidate that it’s in their best interests to join your team when you get to the offer stage. At offer stage, this personalization becomes even more critical and it may be helpful to refer back to the candidate’s original feedback on their motivations and criteria for picking a new role.

When it comes to recruiting, a “one size fits all” message simply does not work. Speak to candidates as individuals to motivate them to “buy” into the opportunity you are presenting.  To get candidates to “buy,” clients need to make each interaction highly personal and suited to the individual’s unique mindset and motivations.

By doing that, you are not only more likely to land a candidate but, even more important, will begin your employment relationship on a mutually positive note. This leads to more loyal, productive, candidates and ultimately maximizes your return on recruiting investment.

The post Engineering Candidates Aren’t Sold – They Buy appeared first on .