Social Engineering: The Human Element of Sourcing and Recruiting

The Human Element of Sourcing Candidates
Glen Cathey
Social Engineering

Talent acquisition is all
about people. So why
aren't sourcers and
recruiters more
focused on
understanding people,
what motivates them,
and how to best
communicate with
and influence them?
Glen Cathey | SourceCon

"Social Engineering"
https://www.amazon.com/Social-Engineering-Art-Human-Hacking/dp/0470639539 (11/2010)
https://www.sourcecon.com/sourcecon-nyc-sourcing-from-multipl-viewpoints/ (2/2011)

Social engineering is the art, or better
yet, science, of skillfully maneuvering
human beings to take action in some
aspect of their lives...
Chris Hadnagy
Security Consultant & Social Engineer
Creator of the Social Engineering Framework

When you are finding
and engaging potential
candidates, what
decisions and actions
are you looking for
them to make?
• Respond
• Be open to speaking
• Be open & honest
• Provide referrals
• Convert (to candidate, hire)

Social engineering
is the human
element of
sourcing
candidates*
* aka outbound recruitingGlen Cathey | SourceCon

Job Search Status – Global Professionals
Want to hear about new
opportunities
Not interested in new
opportunities
90%
Source: LinkedIn 2017 Talent Trends survey of over 26,000 people in 39 countries

Job Search Status – Software Developers
Not actively looking, but
open to new opportunities
Not interested in new
opportunities
Actively looking for a job
75.2%
Source: Stack Overflow survey of 33,380 developers from 157 countries
https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017

"Similar to recruiters, salespeople must
master many people skills. Many sales
gurus say that a good salesperson does
not manipulate people but uses their skills
to find out what people's needs are and
then sees whether they can fill it. The art
of sales takes many skills such as
information gathering, elicitation,
influence, psychological principles, as well
as many other people skills."
Chris Hadnagy

Manipulation | Persuasion | Influence
Manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the
behavior or perception of others through abusive, deceptive, or
underhanded tactics.
Persuasion involves causing someone to believe something to do
something, especially through reasoning, argument or sustained effort.
Persuasion can be used to spur someone to action or to make a decision
without actually earning their sincere buy-in.
Influence is defined as "the power to change or affect someone or
something: the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to
happen" and involves moving someone to think or act because they want
to - inspiring them to take action or make a particular decision.
"True influence is elegant and smooth and most of the time
undetectable to those being influenced." - Chris Hadnagy

• Scarcity
• Emotion
• Curiosity
• Social Proof
• Obligation
• Reciprocity
• Assume
• Referrals
• 1st impressions
• Rapport
• Objections
• Empathy
• Mirroring
• Framing
• Preloading
• Elicitation

First impressions are so
powerful they are more
important than fact.
Research also suggests
that first impressions
formed online are often
more negative than a
first impression made
face to face.
Glen Cathey | SourceCon https://psychcentral.com/news/2014/02/15/the-power-of-a-first-impression/65944.html
"You never get a
second chance to
make a first
impression"
Will Rogers

So how can we
engineer positive
first impressions?

Be Likable and Project Competence
1. Warmth: Do I like you?
2. Competence: Are you good
at what you do?
In other words, people
ultimately reduce everyone
they meet into four buckets:
Source: The Muse - http://muse.cm/2arKtTEGlen Cathey | SourceCon
The stereotype content model (SCM) is a psychological theory that
suggests that flash judgments are really based on two data points:

• How can you come across as competent?
How can you immediately exude competence?

What can you do to be likable?
Likable: Easy to like; having pleasant or appealing qualities
recruiting
People like people who like them
You have to like interacting with
people, care about them and be
genuinely interested in helping the
people you're trying to influence

Make them smile
Don't be afraid to leverage humor -
being funny makes you likable and
making someone smile makes them
feel better…
http://bit.ly/1rxEbcb http://amzn.to/2cphZgnhttp://bit.ly/2dtZ46o

Darwin's Facial Feedback
Response Theory suggests
that smiling actually makes
us feel better.
British researchers found that
one smile can generate the
same level of brain
stimulation as up to 2,000
bars of chocolate or receiving
up to $20,000.
Glen Cathey | SourceCon http://bit.ly/2Co4Ylp

The basic architecture of the brain ensures
that we feel first and think second.
- Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux
Glen Cathey

Use content and an approach that
engages people emotionally
Source: Fractl – The Emotions of Highly Viral Content http://slidesha.re/1xenFMk
Neuromarketing
Glen Cathey

I think you should
take your job
seriously, but not
yourself – that is
the best
combination.
Judi Dench

Southwest flight attendant video: http://bit.ly/1eJKwoU

Be Likable
• Have fun!
• Be a human first and a sourcer/recruiter second; use
a friendly and conversational tone
• Project a confident and positive attitude – they can
read/hear your smile. What you project onto others is
what they are more likely to feel
• Compliment them (genuinely!)
• Ask lots of questions, actively listen and be genuinely
interested in what they are saying
• Establish rapport
Glen Cathey | SourceCon Photo: Just Ard

Seek first to understand,
then to be understood.
Stephen Covey

It's Not About You
NO
• Me, me me
• My needs/job/opportunity
• My company
YES
• Them, them, them
• Their current situation
• Their interests and challenges
• Their plans and desires
• Speak in their language in order to
build rapport

"Filling a need for the
person you are talking to
drastically increases the
chances of building rapport.
Do it without appearing to
have an end game, do it
with a genuine desire to
help, and be amazed at the
results. Perhaps no other
avenue is more valuable for
social engineers than being
able to meet these needs."
Chris Hadnagy

Common Recruiting Process
1. Fill the need/provide benefits
2. Develop the relationship
3. Create/Identify the need
4. Prevent/overcome objections
5. Advance/close

How can you fill a need for someone if you don't
take the time to discover their need first?

Ideal Recruiting Process
1. Develop the relationship
2. Create/Identify the need
3. Prevent/overcome objections
4. Fill the need/provide benefits
5. Advance/close
Source: http://www.ere.net/2008/07/10/stop-telling-and-start-selling/

Objections/Conversation StoppersGlen Cathey | SourceCon

Source: 24 seconds in http://bit.ly/2cCWP1IGlen Cathey | SourceCon

Anticipate | Preempt | Address
"If you wait to think about how you will handle potential conversation stoppers or
disruptive influences until the first time you hear them you will most likely fail to
handle them. That presents an interesting thought then. You have to sit back and
think like the target: what objections would he raise? When a person he does not
know calls or approaches him, what might he say? What objections might he raise?
What attitudes would he portray? Thinking through these things can help you to
make a game plan for these potential problems. Write down your thoughts and the
target’s potential objections and then role play. Practice until you feel comfortable,
but not scripted. Remember the comeback is not to be structured so stiffly that you
cannot alter it at all."
-Chris Hadnagy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another
Empathy is the key to rapport and is
hard to feel if you think you have the
solution to someone's problem.
Empathy is the tool of the social
engineer. Nothing builds rapport more
than when people feel like you "get
them." – Chris Hadnagy
Listen | Understand | Reflect
Source: Agilitrix: http://bit.ly/2cFocCE
Empathy

Make the effort to understand and appreciate what it must
feel like to be relentlessly pursued by recruiters on a daily basis

Mirroring
"By matching the client’s volume, tone, and rate of
speech (paralanguage), they often can overcome the
client’s reluctance to communicate."
"Once interviewers establish rapport, barriers
disappear, trust grows, and an exchange of
information follows."
Glen Cathey | SourceCon Source: FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin: http://bit.ly/2dic9jB

Framing
A frame of reference is a set of ideas,
conditions, or assumptions that
determine how something will be
approached, perceived, understood or
reacted to.
Anything that can alter people’s
perceptions or the way they make
decisions can be called framing.

Understand your prospective candidate's frame and
look for ways to either align yours with theirs or
transform theirs into yours. Be aware that everything
you write or say will evoke a frame.
"Painting a picture with words is a powerful way to
use framing. By choosing your words carefully you
can cause a target’s mind to picture things you want
him to picture and start moving him to a frame you
want." – Chris Hadnagy
Miracle question
If there were one thing you would change about
your current situation, what would it be and why?

Preloading
Using words, language and imagery
to "preload" the target with ideas
and information to:
• Influence them before an event
• Get them thinking in your desired
mindset/frame
• Be more receptive and react positively
• Take action
• Build anticipation
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItmGlen Cathey | SourceCon

Preloading examples
• "What is the next step in your career?"
• "What would your dream job be?"
• "Not sure if you would be interested in
opportunities that involve ________"
– Working from home
– A shorter commute
– Exciting new development
– Working with a top notch team…
• "Most of the people I talk with aren't
actively looking to make a change"
• The best time to look is when you don't
need to…
• "…I won't waste your time…"
• Mention a personal or shared interest
(preloading rapport/likability)
• Pay them a genuine compliment
(preloading rapport/likability)
• Be very specific with regard to their
experience (preloading competence
and potential match)
• Preloading for honestly and disclosure:
"Now think very carefully before you
answer my next question…"

So, I would normally leave these first-contacts short and
sweet, but I am really intrigued by your statement "What
you look for in that dream opportunity..." It is the most
interesting statement I've come across [and it] makes me
feel human. Out of mere excitement about the question,
here's my first shot at answering it:
actual candidate response

If you do not know how to ask the right
question, you discover nothing.
W. Edwards Deming,
Engineer, statistician, professor, author,
lecturer, and management consultant.

Elicitation
To draw forth or bring out or
to arrive at a conclusion
(truth, for instance) by logic.
Alternatively, it is defined as a
stimulation that calls up or
draws forth a particular class
of behaviors.
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm
To draw or bring out or forth; educe; evoke: to elicit the
truth; to elicit a response with a question; to arrive at a
conclusion (truth, for instance) by logic.
In social engineering, it can also involve a stimulation that
calls up or draws forth a particular class of behaviors.
Elicitation

Elicitation
You can fashion questions that
draw people out and stimulate
them to respond and take the
behavior you want.
Expert elicitation can result in your
target wanting to answer your
every request.

Elicitation Techniques
• Appeal to their ego
– Be genuinely complimentary, but don't overdo it, and never be insincere
• Express a mutual interest
– One of the easiest ways to be immediately likable (do your research!)
• Make a deliberately false debatable statement
– Many people feel compelled to correct wrong statements and share their opinion on
polarizing topics
• Volunteer information
– Offering up information in conversation almost compels people to target to reply with
equally useful information
– Reciprocity & mutual disclosure are largely automatic and unconscious
Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItmGlen Cathey | SourceCon

Do you have time
to talk?
Glen Cathey

Are you:
• Looking?
• On the market?

Intelligent Questions
• Open-Ended questions
– Sometimes open ended questions can be met with some resistance, so using the pyramid
approach can be helpful: Start with narrow questions and then ask broader questions at the end of
the line of questioning
• Closed-Ended questions
– Not used for gathering information. Typically only one of two answers, used to lead the prospective
candidate where you want
• Leading questions
– Leads the prospective candidate where you want them to go, but allows for the opportunity for
them to expand. Common examples include stating a fact and asking for the prospective candidate
to agree or disagree.
• Assumptive questions
– Questions phrased in such a way that you're assuming the prospective candidate has a particular
motivation, opinion or some specific knowledge to determine whether or not they do
Glen Cathey | SourceCon Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm

Scarcity
People often find objects and
opportunities more attractive if they are
rare, scarce, or hard to obtain because
they are viewed as having more value
Scarcity is often used in social
engineering contexts to create a feeling
of urgency in a decision-making context.
Leverage #FOMO and competition
Glen Cathey | SourceCon Source: Social Engineering - http://amzn.to/2ajMItm

If you would
persuade, you
must appeal to
interest rather
than intellect.
Benjamin Franklin

Appeal to Curiosity
Loewenstein's Gap Theory states that curiosity happens when we feel
a gap in our knowledge, and that these gaps cause pain. When we
want to know something but don’t, it’s like having an itch that we need
to scratch by filling the knowledge gap.
By creating gaps we can elicit specific responses.
Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Made to Stick: http://bit.ly/U437rBGlen Cathey | SourceCon

Appeal to Emotion
Use quotes and tell stories - the brain
processes stories differently than
other information.
Appealing to emotion forces the
listener to use their imagination. Ask
questions and using phrases such as
"What happens…" or "How do you
feel when…," which will require them
to imagine something to answer,
evoking a frame and corresponding
emotions. Source: Neuromarketing by Roger Dooley: http://bit.ly/1sK1UA1

"Knowledge is what prepares a person for action, logic convinces him the
action is good to take, but emotion is what makes the action happen. If
you are emotional about your "cause" the target will feel that emotion."
- Chris Hadnagy

Social Proof
Social proof, also known as
informational social
influence, is a psychological
phenomenon where people
assume the actions of others
in an attempt to reflect
correct behavior for a given
situation.
Source: Barry Feldman http://bit.ly/2cR3lMx

Social Proof
Stating or even implying that others have taken a particular
action can increase your chances of success.
– "Most of the people (specific titles/roles) I speak with aren't actively
looking to make a change…"
– "The folks I've been speaking with have said ___________"
– "I've heard back from # of others so I'm hoping to get in touch with you"
– "I've been speaking to folks from X, Y, Z" (companies - and even same
company when accurate)
– "People who have recently interviewed have said _____________"
– "We've recently hired folks from X, Y, Z and they've said ___________"

Obligation & Reciprocity
• Providing others with something of value
can make them feel obligated to reciprocate
– What can you provide prospective
candidates that they would find valuable?
• Follow up compliments with requests to
leverage obligation
– Compliments can also help make people
more agreeable to influence
• Simply being persistent can make people
feel obligated to respond
• Even something as small as a question can
create obligation – leverage the power of
silence

Listen & Assume
• Be a good listener
– Repeat back what they share with you for rapport and
confirmation that you get what they're expressing to you
• Assume, assume, assume!
– Assume the prospective candidate will respond and act the
way you want
– Assuming that what you want to happen will happen affects
your mindset. Being positive and confident increases the
probability of the desired response.
– Resist the urge to always ask, "Is now a good time to talk?"

ReferralsReferrals
Source: Jobvite: http://bit.ly/2949dQY
#1 Source of quality hires

Why would
someone give you a
referral?
Why not?
Execute a 5 Whys Exercise with your team

Referrals
• What's your why/story? Sell, don't tell, and sell before you ask!
• Don't ask on first contact unless they've absolutely ruled
themselves out. First contact is and should always be 100%
genuinely about THEM.
• "Who do you think would be interested in being considered for
this opportunity/working for _______?
• "The manager/director/vp of ________ is interested in
identifying talented (insert target talent), who would you
recommend?"

Action Items
• Be empathetic - seek &
communicate understanding
• Leverage mirroring, framing and
preloading
• Leverage scarcity & social proof
• Appeal to emotion & curiosity
• Leverage obligation and
reciprocity
• Listen & assume the best outcome
Glen Cathey | SourceCon www.linkedin.com/glencatheywww.glencathey.com www.booleanblackbelt.com www.twitter.com/glencathey
• Engineer great 1st impressions
• Be likable & project competence
• Be positive, have fun & make
them smile
• Make it about them - discover
their needs
• Master elicitation
• Anticipate & preempt or address
objections

Social Engineering: The Human Element of Sourcing and Recruiting

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