Recruiter Chicks

I often wonder with the current process and recruitment methodology in corporations and search firms, are we missing out on sharp candidates?

Think about the current process most companies have in place – post and pray.  The typical job candidate in today’s market is being treated like their time is less valuable than the company’s time.  Few companies have yet to realize that the pond is drying up.

Candidates are treated the same, for good reason.  It is imperative that we have a consistent hiring process for compliance reasons.  This process, however can sometimes leave candidates feeling like they are being herded like cattle.  Especially those passive candidates.  A Recruiter or Hiring Manager will do a great job of finding that person and selling the opportunity to them.  The “passive” candidate submits their resume and becomes part of the general interviewing population.  The candidate that you’ve been courting is excited about exploring a new role.  Now it’s up to your organization to leave a lasting impression on them throughout the interviewing process.  They arrive to the interview and it’s game face on for you and your company.  This candidate that you heavily recruited to come interview with your company is now being herded through the process.

The age-old saying is, “You only get one chance to make a 1st impression.”  In the interviewing process both parties are making a 1st impression at each step in the process.

So, as astute Recruiting & HR professionals we need to up our game!  We must make an extra effort to get everyone in the hiring process on the same page so we don’t lose the best candidates because of our broken, cookie cutter process.  We must learn, sometimes the hard way, that we need to change the process.  By that I mean, learn how to treat people the way you’d like to be treated.  Like a person.  We’re not implying that you should treat the active and passive candidate any different, I’m saying put on your best face and give people a reason to want to come and work with you and your company.  Create a uniform process that is progressive, personable and leaves a lasting positive impressive on every candidate.  There can be a tendency to treat people like cattle until they are identified by the key stakeholders as the top candidate, then they’re treated like a European Truffle.

It is our job to provide suggestions that spice up our interviewing process and take a page out of the Ritz Carlton hospitality handbook.  Make changes that will leave a special, positive, unique and lasting impression on each candidate that interacts with your organization.

If your recruiting process is the same way it was five years ago, I challenge you to take on a new and exciting project – recruitment process enhancement.  One person can make a difference.

As a recruiter, I am often asked by those that are looking to transition to a career in Recruiting or recent graduates about characteristics of a great recruiter.  Let’s face it, every Recruiter is different and we all bring different styles to the table, but when it comes down to it there are some basic elements that must be present to succeed as a recruiter.

Recruiters have different personalities, backgrounds, industries and functional expertise as well as expertise levels.  Chris Havrilla and I have the great fortune of living in Atlanta where there is a rich recruiting community — one that has organically grown and is seen as one of the hotbeds for global recruiting talent.  We both are honored to live in a city with Talent Acquisition experts like Eric Jaquith, Glen Cathey, Tom Darrow, Jon Bryant, Michael Marlatt, Shally Steckerl, Leslie O’Connor, Jenny DeVaughn, Michael Glenn, Stephanie Lloyd and Jim Stroud to name a handful.  Each of these individuals have a wealth of talent acquisition knowledge and expertise — and they have each given back to the global talent acquisition community in many significant ways.

This elite group possesses all of the characteristics of great recruiters.  What are those?  Let’s explore them further.

Characteristics of a Great Recruiter:

• Credibility
• Effective communication skills
• Results-oriented
• Consultative approach
• Business knowledge and industry expertise
• Collaborative
• Ethical
• Intuition and instinct
• Persuasiveness and influence
• The will and drive to shatter the competition (in a healthy, non-confrontational way)
• Tolerance to the ambiguity of this profession
• Passion and heart!

The Applicant Tracking System gets a bad rap – really.  It takes the blame for everything except providing good information in a timely manner.  In my third-party recruiting world, the ATS is my best friend and go to place when sourcing talent for new open requisitions. 

Some firms use their ATS as a tracking tool to pay out commissions to the right individuals and enter information after a search has been filled.  I utilize the ATS during every step of the process from resume entry, internal interview, client presentation, client interview tracking, entering offer information and references.  

I was recently working on a retained search for an HR Director in the Atlanta market in the real estate investment industry and I immediately went into the ATS to see who we were already connected to in that industry.  I found 35 candidates and company contacts with the preferred industry experience and data supporting the salary range the client and I nailed down as the target range for this role.  All of these individuals may not have been at the specific level that I was sourcing for, but they were either going to receive a call or email to discuss the opening for themselves or to ask for referrals of sharp HR leaders that they worked with in the past.   I’ll jump straight to the result of the search; the referral source of the person I placed in the HR Director position was (drumroll please)….our ATS!

In many conversations with Recruiters, I ask them what is their go to tool for sourcing and many of them say they go to a professional networking site first before sourcing their own internal database and sending the position to their network.  I can’t begin to tell you how many positions I’ve filled in the past year by going directly to our database and picking up the phone or sending an email to either talk to someone about a role or ask them for referrals of their friends.

If you spend time entering quality information into your ATS, gold will come out!

I recently had a one-on-one meeting with someone who is actively looking for a job and my first question to that person was “how often did you build relationships outside of your company while working there for 20+ years?”  The answer was one that I didn’t anticipate.  I planned to leverage those connections and ask that person to reach out to those individuals, etc.  This person stated several connections with individuals outside of their company, however the relationships were all affiliated with the previous employer through a formal partnership.  This person is in Talent Acquisition [whispering].

Networking is an important tool in a Recruiter’s arsenal.  It is an essential component to your value to an organization.  Great Recruiters are always on the prowl for great talent for their current organization and companies they’ve previously worked for.  Some even look out for their Recruiting friends in other industries and organizations.  It’s the fertile and golden ground of friendships, referrals and great experiences.

It’s easier these days to build and nurture relationships using email, phone and social media tools, with perhaps an occasional in-person visit.  Many of our Recruiting friends are always networking and giving back to the Recruiting community by speaking to job search networking groups, gathering referrals for others and sitting down one-on-one with a friend of a friend to provide free job search advice and counsel.  Those individuals are also a few emails or phone calls away from landing opportunities faster than lightening when they are looking for a new role.

Networking is the only constant for career success.  If you’re not currently networking outside of your organization, today is the day to start.  It’s not easy, but the people you’ll meet and those that you help along the way will enrich your life in a way that nothing else can.  And a few might even introduce you to your dream job/employer.