Recruiting In 3D

Networking, Why its important

Depending what side of the fence you are on – recruiter, corporate honcho or job seeker – you have different perspectives about what everyone should bring to the table in the hiring process. Recruiters want candidates quick, and for them to glide with ease through the hiring process. They also want managers to respond quickly. Managers (AKA honchos) want everything 3 days faster than it is today, and job seekers want to either find their next landing spot or obtain employment ASAP.

Yet, each of them follows a different path of getting there. What if we combined wonder-twin forces, and all realized the power of our NETWORKING capabilities? Are recruiters asking everyone they know for referrals (after they’ve built the relationship of course, otherwise they just look like candidate hoarders), are managers asking new hires if they think former co-workers might be a good fit in the organization, then passing any leads they get to the recruiting team? And are job seekers following the “pay-it-forward” mentality of passing along good opportunities to friends and colleagues about an opportunity that sounds good but isn’t for them? What if all of those cylinders were firing in unison? Would we see drastic reductions in cycle time? Maybe. Referrals are always about quality, not quantity.

But herein lies the dichotomy – if we are all working off of the same mindset of networking with those who are in front of us, and who we know from past lives, we’ll build quantity, which by law of averages should bring some quality with it. Yes, I know there will be those who want to fillet me for asking for quantity and expecting quality, but if you don’t cast a wide net, you’ll catch less – simple math. And recruiters need to drive activity. Job Seekers need to promote themselves, and managers needs quality employees to fill critical roles.

We should all be using whatever tools are available to us in order to network for our openings, our team or our next gig. Do that, and life becomes exponentially more simple. The technology is there, and it’s user-friendly. We can never get away from the personal touch, but combine all your resources and you’ll see the results.

The world of work and how people get work and employees is increasingly becoming less about what sites you know, and more about who you know in the places you want to go.


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 Posted on March 26, 2010 by

 candidate relations, Job Hunting, Life, networking, Recruiting, The Hiring Process

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Being a Candidate of Choice

Recruiters are in a unique position, in that what we do is neither purely art or purely science. It isn’t always about the ‘best’ resume, the pedigree school, or the numerous accolades. Occasionally different attributes cloud the clear cut decision based on skills, especially if that is critical in the position. Sometimes it’s really all about the intangibles that keep you in the running for that position. (Wait, you mean it’s not about that I was the #1 recruiter/sales-guy/excel spreadsheet ninja in my office?) Nope. It’s sometimes about the small stuff, and contrary to the book, you need to sweat this small stuff:  Read More

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 Posted on February 4, 2010 by

 Bizarre But True, candidate relations, Job Hunting, networking, Recruiting, The Hiring Process

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Cover letters? Are We Thin-Slicing Recruiting?

What is it with the love affair people have with cover letters? Is it professional? Sure. Is it a nice way to give a complete presentation of your professionalism? Check. Does it show you completed a basic course in business writing in college? Probably. But is it absolutely necessary to have in order to be considered a top candidate for a role? In my opinion, no. But that would differ from a great deal of opinions from people in the Twittersphere and Blogosphere right now.

There are a number of people out there who feel the cover letter is an essential piece of the puzzle, and key in determining the validity of a candidate. Just this week, there was banter out there on Twitter about how one Twitster would toss out the resume of a candidate who did not have a cover letter! Really? Are you that flush with candidates that you can just arbitrarily throw out potential stars because they didn’t have the obligatory “pick me” letter? I’d be hard pressed to believe that is the case with many companies in many areas, where the pool for talent is being thinned by everyone, and in a market where a large percentage of seekers are top performers, hit hard by the economy.

What I don’t get, is what are you getting from the cover letter that ensures that this candidate is better than everyone else who doesn’t have one? Writing skills? Ok, sure, but won’t the resume give you some inclination of the writing skills? Or the e-mails you have traded back and forth with them (assuming you DID e-mail with them). Most importantly, won’t their previous experience, and the phone call that you have with them tell you a bit more accurately if they are the right choice? Thing is, I think we’re becoming to focused on the quick hit, the “thin-slicing” of the recruiting process, to steal a phrase from Malcom Gladwell’s book, Blink. Don’t mistake me, recruiting is a quick moving, minute-by-minute profession, but we also need to step back at times, and make sure we’re taking in the full picture. Too often, we see no cover letter, and think “oh well they are not professional”, or “they couldn’t take the time to write me a personal cover letter?”

Lest we forget, that in this day and age, it’s becoming profitable to be a cover letter or resume writer. Do a quick search on Twitter for “cover letter” and you’ll get a minimum of 5 services in the 1st 25 tweets, for people peddling their services. (I’m not knocking it as a profession, it’s actually quite a needed service for some folks.) But, let’s remember that there’s a better than average chance, the cover letter you covet (too much ‘cov-” there? Ah, I digress) so much has a good probability of being written by someone else anyway, so it’s still not giving you the indicator of the candidate you want.

We need not kill off the cover letter. I think it’s a nice touch, and I’ll read it if there is one. But that said, let’s not let it become the determining standard. As with social media, it’s not the end game, its not the sole strategy, but more of a tool in the arsenal.

What a lovely segue to my follow-up post.


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 Posted on January 8, 2010 by

 candidate relations, Job Hunting, Recruiting, Resumes, The Hiring Process, Twitter, Uncategorized

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2009 – Whew, I am EXHAUSTED

Quite a year. Quite a decade, come to think of it. I’ve had some time to reflect recently on the last year, and also the last decade – Having to drive up and down the eastern seaboard does that do a man. I’ve come to know quite a bit in the last decade, my first one in the recruiting industry. But first, the year in review:

  • Changing jobs is never going to be easy. No matter how many times I’ve done it, or will do it going forward, its never easy. It might be right, but never easy.
  • 2009 was the year Social Media truly crossed over into acceptance. You know why? Data. And data doesn’t lie. It also helps you to get budget money.
  • There is a balance for work life and personal life. I’m not sure I’ve found the crux of said balance, but I got much closer this year.

All in all 2009 was a good year, per se. Hey, I’ve had worse. But raising a 16 month old, trying to be a good dad and husband, all while working, and doing all the things that life entails is truly exhaustive.

From the rest of the 00’s, or whatever the hell we’re calling this decade, I learned/determined, or was otherwise informed:

  • Recruiting without passion for it, is just not the same. I’ve seen great passion and great lack thereof. Great passion wins out every time, and makes more money.
  • The best recruiting bosses, are the ones who have been recruiters. Those that have not, well,……you know.
  • Social Media changed the way I do my job, the way I approached it, and grew my love for it. Calling resumes and scouring Monster, CareerBuilder, and the like, would have driven me out a long time ago.
  • This is a people business – if you can’t work with people, get out now. You don’t have to LOVE people, but you need to be able to sell, relate and empathize – everyday.
  • Be curious. No one is asking you to be a generalist, but know how all the pieces move together. With that, comes respect from others.
  • Let your career take you. It’s an exponentially more fun ride, that forcing everything.
  • Find a mentor. Be a mentor. Both help you to be your best, and having one helps you find the joy in the darkest of recruiting days.
  • Speaking of dark days – this profession is the worlds wildest roller coaster. The highs are high, and the downs are as low as you can imagine. Just remember at each end, it always shifts back and forth.

The best advice anyone gave me? Two pearls of wisdom:
“Remember, you are dealing with people, its the most unpredictable commodity in the world.”

“Treat people as though you were sitting on that side of the phone, because one day you just may be.”

Cheers in the New Year all. Do what you love, and do it well.

Twas a wild and wacky decade


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 Posted on December 31, 2009 by

 Life, Recruiting, The Hiring Process, Uncategorized

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To Test or Not to Test? THAT is the (Eternal) Question

Ever had to give or take a test while you were in the application or interview stage for a job? Chances are, if you’ve made a job change in the last 5 years, that’s likely the case. And no, we’re not talking about some wacko Rorschach Test, where and ink blot will revive that long suppressed memory of your icky Aunt Ida at Christmas time. I’m talking about the major players in the marketplace: Myers-Briggs, Wonderlic, Gallup, and the like. Many people wonder what those tests actually tell you about the likely future success of the employee. Others, they swear that it tells them who the A, B, and C players are without having to spend a dime on them.

Maybe my next best hire is here?

While, there is data to support both theories, it varies by company, industry, and heck, it even varies down to department and team levels. Here’s my quick and dirty theory on it (and it’s just a theory, so let’s not fire off any burning arrows at my door if you disagree – after all, that’s what these “interwebs” are for, good banter):

Pros:

  • Yes it gives you some insight as to the work style, cognitive ability, or basic skills that a person may require for a given role.
  • You can use it as an inital benchmark for who you want to pursue further in the process, and also eliminate people who may not fit right away.
  • These tests have been through a battery of assessment and validity tests, by qualified, accredited psychologists and I/O shrinks.

Cons:

  • It’s just a test. What if you get someone (say someone who looks like me with the same name!) who is not a test taker, but a paper-writer? Do you pass on a superb candidate because they don’t “test” well?
  • Nothing will ever, (I’ll repeat that) EVER, replace the power of an interview, and what you can tell from the person sitting across the table from you.
  • People can still fake their way through a test.

In the end, I’m not necessarily beholden to being PRO or ANTI-testing in the recruitment process. I think it has it’s merits, but as a TOOL in the process, and not the end-all-be-all in the selection process. There are companies that use it as the primary indicator, and while they may get good test-taking robots, they probably have a competitor who has a rock star employee working for them, who could have been theirs if not for that ol’ test.

We need to encourage the Company powers-that-be, that this is a tool, but it’s not the only tool. As Yoda said, “”The Jedi use the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack”. Let’s use testing as part of the greater solution in finding the best talent out there, not as a way of truly evaluating talent on a multi-level basis.

Side Note:
Clearly, I took the wrong path in life, because a smarter version of me would have become one of the test peddling companies. (Have you ever seen the PRICE on these things?) OY.


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 Posted on December 24, 2009 by

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Recruiting In 3D

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