BobKat's Higher Education Experience:

Since 1978, we have seen the opportunities, downsizings, mergers, and acquisitions. We have helped people during times of high unemployment, low unemployment, high interest rates, and low interest rates. We have adapted to change, such as the move from generous employee benefits to shared cost benefits. BobKat began with a focus in medical recruiting and has expanded into the higher education market due to the similarities in process and accountability.

We have the energy and creativity to stay on the cutting edge in our field along with the experience to help you in your situation

BobKat Is a Member of:

• Chief Academic Officers Group
• Higher Education Management Group
• Higher Education Professionals

In this competitive market BobKat provides the best Higher Education candidates by:

• Consistently publishing articles and having a presence in leading industry publications
• Maintaining a strong web presence
• Actively participating in industry organizations
• The most complete and up to data bases
• Developing a wide national network of quality clients & candidates
• Relying on referrals from clients and candidates for 22% of our assignments

BobKat retains our team members for consistent and efficient service because we provide:

• Fair and competitive compensation and bonus structure
• Exceptional support & training
• Ethical business practice
• Virtual offices to achieve maximum creativity and control of outcomes
• Business rules for best practices and benchmarks
• Virtual Consortium Members adding to the expertise and balance of Professionalism

The search process:

We know that every Institution has a different culture and a different need that will make your hire either a success or a failure. A misfit to the organization can be measured in a significant loss of dollars because Cost of Ownership can be high. The Cost of Ownership may be a strange term for a hire, but it is a fact that a square peg in a round hole costs the organization by:

Costing you time, pulling you and your team away from projects to interview, analyze and the testing process.

Costing you in morale because the fit was not appropriate and key indicators were not met for the length of time the individual was with the institution.

Costing you in terms of team trust. The organization will believe that the search team did not do their due diligence as the team now needs to go through the lengthy search process again.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the National Market:

The good news is that the College and University national outlook is very positive both in terms of average enrollment and national employment in Postsecondary Institutions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the post-secondary employment market will grow 23% through 2016. While The National Center for Education Statistics projects Enrollment numbers to increase over 9% 2007-2017.

Although the full SWOT of the National Market would be a larger discussion, some higher level issues are evident based on the growth mentioned above. Institutions need to focus on:

• Maintaining the organization culture, mission and vision
• Increase enrollment numbers with regard to transfers, new students and retention
• Reduce the impact of lower international student enrollment
• Understand the impacts and movements toward international campuses
• How to meet the demands of the adult continuing education and online student
• How to fund an already under-funded facility

This list of focuses goes on and on. This growth is both a strength and weakness in the National Market. In order to meet the employment growth, institutions are incorporating more part-time, non-Tenure track positions to meet the demand. This equates to about 382,000 new jobs according to the BLS.

In 2008, a Sloan Survey of Online Learning revealed that enrollment rose by more than twelve percent from a year earlier. The survey of more than 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide finds approximately 3.94 million students were enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2007.

The growth has created a two-edged sword. Growth in non-traditional staff and growth in non-traditional programs is positive. However, growth in these two areas means that the institution needs leaders that can communicate and protect the integrity of the organization culture, mission and vision.

BobKat's Evaluation of the Search and Screen Process

Your search assignment is given the utmost priority by an entire project team consisting of three individuals: an Account Executive, a Search Consultant, and a Project Coordinator. Therefore, more prospective candidates will be recruited, interviewed, screened, and qualified in less time. An attempt is made to leave "no stone unturned" in finding the best-qualified candidates to meet your company's specific qualifications and criterion.

Working with multiple recruiters encourages haphazard and shoddy work. Why? The "who gets the candidate there first" approach results in a track meet mentality encouraging many recruiters to send in candidates without prescreening them first. At best, it results in poor screening because it takes time to screen a candidate properly. In a track meet, time works against the contingency recruiter. Therefore, more marginal candidates are presented, which creates more work for the client.

BobKat's Advisement to the Search Committee

Research has shown that one of the significant reasons for failure and dissatisfaction of Executives by the Board is related to a conflict between the Executive and the Board’s understanding of who the decision maker actually is. Often the Executives often do not see the Board as a partner and resource to overcome the organizational challenges.

To reduce these conflicts, BobKat will work to ensure that the candidate understands the organizational culture, responsibilities, communication process and stimulate a strategic team mentality whereby both parties work together to identify key strategies, objectives, tactical initiatives and accountability.

In addition, we will provide the search committee with a personality profile that helps to identify the candidates key personality indicators that will lead to a successful career with the organization. These characteristics will be identified during the Evaluation process but often include: Assertiveness, Political Ability, Vision, Strategic Thinking, Quantitative, Communication skills etc.

BobKat Partners with the Institution:

Each search begins with a pre-search study in which Academic Search spends extensive time on or off campus, researching the distinctive history, culture, strengths, and challenges of your institution. The Consultant team will take the time to ask strategic questions as they relate to the prospective position and then listen to your team of Board Approved trustees, faculty, students, and staff.

We then provide a profile of the ideal candidate for approval before we begin providing the client with a short list of prospective candidates. Areas of assessment include:

• What are the key benchmarks and key strategic indicators
• Short Term Goals
• Long Term Goals
• What defines the organization
• What defines the integrity of the organization
• Definition of the institution’s culture, vision and mission
• Definition of what prospective characteristics will lead to success
• Definition of what prospective characteristics will lead to failure
• What is important to the Board

After this assessment, BobKat will create a tailored recruitment process and candidate assessment form that will assist in removing the “gut” feel of the interview process and provide the institution quantitative information as we narrow the search.

Tailored Recruitment:

Based on the analysis and profile we create, Your consultant will work with the search committee to develop a position profile that includes:

• A presentation of the institution’s distinctive strengths;
• An analysis of the opportunities and priorities facing the institution, and
• A description of the specific attributes and leadership characteristics sought in the successful candidate.

Application Pool Diversity:

Our researchers work diligently with the information provided by the client interview process identifying issues such as what area the search should be (regional or national), education, characteristics, experience etc.

BobKat’s philosophy and commitment to each client is that the search process is performed consistently; the same level of service, attention, professionalism, responsiveness and result. BobKat’s search methodology is based upon the search being led by seasoned HR professionals from beginning to end. This means to have a 100% success placement ratio there needs to be in place a duplicatable process, with a proven methodology, and established benchmarks that goes beyond theory. This makes certain that all stakeholders are informed and updated with the search process criteria.

Advertisement:

Many recruiting firms use web based advertising to develop a list of candidates for your need. Although this is a tool that can be used to develop interest in the position, it is not the most effective tool in the search process. Our team interviews your organization’s search team to understand the organization’s needs. Our Research team then begins an aggressive search process looking for candidates that fit the culture, education, experience and skills necessary to be successful.

If necessary, we will place advertisements in web based sites such as Higheredjobs.com, Universityjobs.com, Insidehighered.com, Linkedin, or Careerbuilder

BobKat's Search Process Model:

BobKat’s philosophy and commitment to each client is that the search process is performed consistently; the same level of service, attention, professionalism, responsiveness and result. BobKat’s search methodology is based upon the search being led by seasoned HR professionals from beginning to end. Our process is proven methodology with established benchmarks* that goes beyond theory. This makes certain that all stakeholders are informed and updated with the search process criteria.

This shows established benchmarks search model*