Recruiter Chicks

I’ll be honest, I am a little tired of hearing all the complaints and finger pointing I hear from Recruiters and Candidates alike. But today, I am not going to make any apologies for anyone — though trust me, I have my share of Recruiter and Candidate horror stories too. Today I just want to share some simple advice and insights — and I truly believe if you follow this advice, it will make a difference in your job search.

Don’t just “post and pray” – this method doesn’t work for Recruiters OR Candidates.  It is no more reasonable that a candidate would send some generic, one stop shop resume than it is for a Recruiter to throw up some job responsibilities and skills — and really expect that the person on the other end will just magically get it.  This is just lazy.  Please understand this process is work on both sides. Making it easier for the other in the long run makes it easier on you as well.  But today’s focus is advice for Candidates.

Take a targeted, thoughtful, focused approach.  Know the companies, teams, or people with whom you want to work — and where you would add value.

Look on their web site to see if they have job opening(s) for which you are best suited and most interested.  If it is a bigger company with many possibilities, it is still best to limit this to no more than 3-5 of the best fits based on person/team (a specific hiring manager or team) or job.

Mold your resume to each job – think of it like a business proposal.  It should clearly demonstrate that you understand the nature of the business and industry, the job function itself, what needs to be done, and how your being employed there will add value.

Network.  Find someone you know at your target company — or use a tool like LinkedIn to make a connection through your extended network.

Apply online. Indicate you are a referral, and use the name of your connection/contact.  Applying online is important – even if you email as well.  You have a better chance of getting lost in someone’s inbox than in their tracking system.  Today’s need for tracking, laws, and compliance makes it likely that your candidacy is not even truly “official” until you are in their system anyway.

Don’t avoid or ignore the Recruiter.  The plain fact is that you will almost certainly have to deal with an internal recruiter in most companies of size and scope.  So even if you’re connected with the Hiring Manager direct, know the advantage is it will get to the Recruiter already with their blessing and you will likely get in process faster (versus sitting in a ‘black hole’ somewhere — or a recruiter unsure you are qualified or not because your resume is too generic or not job specific).  But you will likely not be able to avoid the Recruiter, if you want to COMPLETE the process.

Follow up.  Don’t JUST apply.  Take control of your search.  Use your contact to get in touch with the Hiring Manager or Recruiter — or again, use Linkedin and do a simple search on the company and find SOMEONE in Recruiting.  Reach out and ask to talk to the person recruiting for that position.  Remember the business proposal concept.  Arm the Recruiter with the information to “sell” your candidacy to that Hiring Manager — especially if they haven’t asked you the right questions to ascertain this.  Don’t assume your resume is so well-written that they should just know.  Good, bad, right, or wrong – the simple fact of the matter is they may not truly understand the role, business, or function.  Help them, help you.  Stay in touch with them, but stay respectful.  I know this all seems like a lot more work on your side, but it is very effective.  The beauty is YOU have better control of the process and thus have a better chance of controlling the outcome.  And specifically the best outcome suited for you…

One last word of advice — Please consider checking your attitude and bias about Recruiters (and your job search process) at the door.  I get it – you have had horrible experiences.  But you have to wipe the slate clean with each new company and each new Recruiter.  You have to remember that you are dealing with Human Beings, not Job Titles.  Remember innocent until proven guilty?  And even when you are not sharing your past Recruiter and/or Job Search horror stories with them directly — they can almost certainly sense it in your attitude.  Every company, every person IS different, and you owe it to them — and to yourself — to start with an open mind.

For the people who I have seen follow this advice, it does make a difference in getting your foot in the door — from there, the rest is up to you.  I truly wish you the best of luck!!!

Have any more constructive advice to share?  Please weigh in…

You know if Justin Timberlake, Alec Baldwin, or Christopher Walken are going to be on SNL, great skits are sure to follow!  One of my favorite Christopher Walken skits is when he is teamed up with Will Ferrell et al on this infamous ‘More Cowbell” segment – if you haven’t seen it, please fix this ASAP…

So, great Recruiters put their pants on the same way as average Recruiters…but what is it they do that makes Gold when they do it??  A little more cowbell…that is what.  What can you do to “explore the space” a little bit more?

Take the time to understand the business – know the goals, objectives, and direction.  Get the fact that yours are now the same — so best to find an organization/team you can believe in and for which you can and are willing to add value.  Know your competitors and what makes your organization and team stand apart.

Know the team and the roles you are recruiting for inside and out — and what kind of people will be happy, productive, and successful in those roles.  It is not what you will find in the average job description from the HR system.  Work with your hiring teams to define the profiles — and then don’t keep it a secret.  You, your hiring team, AND your candidates should understand them.  Teach your teams how to assess for these profiles and hold yourself and your hiring teams accountable for doing this properly.

And finally, don’t listen to the haters that say you can’t provide a better candidate experience because of lack of time and resources – set and manage expectations, do what you say you are going to do, and treat candidates the way you would want to be treated.

It may be a bit annoying that you are adding more upfront work to you and your hiring teams to go this extra mile to bring some “wellness” to what has historically been an unhealthy process in most organizations.  But look at it this way, if your recruiting process has a fever, then the only prescription may be more cowbell.

Below is part one of a two-part series.

In my experience, there are three key areas for successfully finding good candidates in a timely manner:

• Well defined position profiles
• Strong pipeline and blended sourcing strategy
• Strong, well-designed interview process

Because finding and hiring great employees in a timely manner is the ultimate goal, in Part 1 of this 2-part series, I will first focus on how to effectively profile a position and why it is so critical to this whole process.  As a hiring team, if we don’t know — and agree on — what we are looking for, we have already done our best to ensure an inefficient process from an assessment and a time to fill perspective.

How many times are you as recruiters finding that you are getting critical information about the position or the “right” candidate during the interview process (as opposed to prior to the search). Or you find that the interviewers disagree on candidates because their view on what is important in the person or the role is different?  Creating a position profile that looks beyond a job description can keep everyone on the same page as to what is important.  It should drive

• your recruiting/sourcing efforts.  Obvious, but helps ensure you have the right specs upfront and not after the interview process begins.   Not only must Recruiters understand these things when sourcing and screening the candidate pool, but so should the interviewing team.  This part of the process will have a huge impact on your cycle times because you are not having to hold multiple interviewing days where you have had to go back and refine your profile in between. 
• your interview questions/techniques.  Because you now have detailed evaluation criteria — and again – upon which everyone on the hiring team has reached consensus.
• your interview feedback forms.  You should have candidate “score sheets” designed to support these profiles and interview questions – ensuring all assessments are measuring against the same, pertinent criteria

An added benefit is that these profiles can be shared with candidates.  With a realistic picture of the role and what the hiring team is seeking, the candidate can effectively demonstrate how they do “fit” — or remove himself or herself from further consideration if not. 

I think it is important to note that I do believe the hiring team should be involved in this profiling process, not just the hiring manager.  I will talk more about how to build your hiring/interview team in Part 2, but for the purpose of this process, we do want more than just the hiring manager’s perspective of the role — unless of course, this hiring manager is the only person/department/team that will be interviewing or working with the person to be hired.

So , what’s involved when you are profiling a position with your hiring team?   Of course, there are all the usual/basic pieces of  “job description” information that we need:

• Roles/Responsibilities
• Skill and Experience Required/Desired
• Compensation & Reporting Structure

But beyond the “usual” knowledge, skills, and experience, how will performance be judged?  Other questions I would ask include:

What is the culture of the team?  Are you a more static, structured, formal environment?  Or is your environment more dynamic, unstructured?  The type of people who work well in these environments will differ. 

Who (or what other functions) are key connections to this person/position?  These connections can provide valuable information as to what is important for the successful person in this role, as well as valuable insight during the interview process.

What issues or challenges will this person face?  Understanding these problems and challenges can be extremely important in determining how a person can handle them and their ability to be successful in this position. 

What behaviors will we expect from the person in this position?  What abilities and traits?  Examples can include:

• Strong problem-solving abilities
• Intelligence
• Confidence
• Knowledge of limitations
• Organized thought processes
• Thinks “Outside the Box”
• Sense of urgency
• Passion; Eagerness; Energy
• Resourcefulness
• Self-learner 

Finally, it is also important to establish the “Sell Info”.  Why would someone want this job?  Often overlooked, but also very insightful as to the right fit for the position.  It is also critical in this war for talent to be able to help the candidate decide if the position and company is a fit for him/her.

What would you add to this list??

I don’t know why it still surprises me when people make bold sweeping statements about Recruiters.  Last week Dan Schawbel wrote a follow up post to a Forbes post he did the week prior — which I think was supposed to be a bit of a commercial for a recently announced “Apply With LinkedIn” button by LinkedIn to submit profiles as resumes to HR/Recruiting Management Systems.  Though frankly it really read more like an indictment on Job Boards and the “Lazy” Recruiters who source from them.  The follow up post attempted to quiet the commotion that had followed by acknowledging the general opinion of many in the Recruiting Community that Job Boards are not quite dead yet.

Interestingly no further comment on those “Lazy” Recruiters that use them though.  That is okay, everyone is entitled to their opinion – and most of us know he is not the first and won’t be the last to think or voice it.  The interesting thing to me is that there are plenty in HR/Recruiting who have already been on this bandwagon, shaming Recruiters and even Candidates, into thinking they have no business having this tool in their tool kits.  I beg to differ.

As a Candidate, can you find a job without using a Job Board?  Of course you can.  As a Recruiter, can you find candidates without a Job Board?  Absolutely.  But does that mean you shouldn’t use a Job Board, or that you are lazy, uninformed, or ill-advised if you do?  Ridiculous.  This notion that only passive candidate that are happy in their jobs and not looking are the only quality candidates is simply not true.  Job Boards are clearly not dead.  And the tools available to Job Seekers and Recruiters are not mutually exclusive to each other.

As a Candidate, whether you are passively looking or in the heat of an active search, job boards can be a great resource to see who is hiring now and a host of other information and services.  When you are unemployed, time is usually of the essence — utilize your network for contacts in those companies and you have effectively and efficiently put the wheels in motion.  Now you can start the more methodical targeted job search — finding  potential employers, leads, and unadvertised opportunities from this research to also use in conjunction with your network.  Structure your day around managing your active job leads/interview processes, doing follow up, working your network, continuing research and making new contacts.

As a Recruiter, the approach can be much the same.  A position opens and you can post it internally and externally (Career Site, Job Boards, as well as your network via social tool(s) of choice).  Run a search of your database(s)/pipeline and email those appropriate with a call to action to check out the new job and apply if interested.  Many Recruiters do not have the luxury of time to fill their positions.  These actions are a quick way to capture the attention of internal and active candidates, who are interested in your company and may already be motivated to make a change, about this new opportunity.  With wheels in motion, you can now start the more methodical candidate search — finding potential candidates, leads, and passive candidates from research and your network.   Structure your day around managing your active qualified candidates coming in and in process, working your network, wooing your passive candidates, continuing to make new contacts, etc.

This doesn’t sound lazy to me – it sounds like working smart.  If you were building a house, you wouldn’t just use a hammer – you would combine the strength of multiple tools and methods to get the job done.  Networking is very valuable and also very time consuming.  It is built over time and clearly the bigger and better nurtured and managed, the more you can benefit.   Everybody’s situation is different and all you can do is find an approach that works best for you, making the most of what is available and accessible.  Ignore the judgers and haters  – work smart and use whatever combination of marketing, networking, or sourcing/research works for you.

Go forth and conquer

I am sure that got your attention – it certainly got mine when my friend Laura B. handed me the book Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni.  While the book was written with management consultants in mind, it is really applicable for any service providers – internal or external.  I remember thinking when I read the book, that this would be a great read for Recruiters, especially in dealing with their Hiring Managers/Teams.

The premise of the book is simple – it is about being vulnerable and transparent.  You do this by overcoming the fear of losing the business (or the client), the fear of being embarrassed, and the fear of being inferior.  In turn, your ability to truly serve the client’s needs increases tremendously – as does their loyalty and trust.   It is not as easy as it sounds and really does require putting your clients’ interests above your own.  It is risky and I can assure you from personal experience, it won’t always work out the way you want or intend.  However, it will likely work out the way that it should.  Personally, I believe being confident in that fact is half the battle.

These are common fears we all share.  I have worn many hats – Software Engineer, Consultant, Recruiting/HR – but in my mind I have always been a Consultant, and it is how I have approached each role.  Early in my consulting career, I struggled most with the fear of having the difficult conversations that might cost me the relationship or the trust I was building with my clients.   With the experience and confidence I have gained through the years, I probably struggle more now with the fear of being wrong or looking stupid — or as I prefer to call ‘uninformed’

But I think “getting naked” with your Hiring Managers/Teams is critical to uncovering what you need to know to successfully address the talent needs and challenges of your teams.  Ultimately their goals and objectives should also be your own.  I believe the key takeaways for Recruiters are:

• Always consult instead of sell – don’t just push candidates, let them benefit from your knowledge of the market, the candidate, competitors, etc.
• Don’t be afraid to address the elephant in the room and have the difficult conversations ( “tell the kind truth”) – you can’t solve the real problems without doing this
• It’s OK to ask dumb questions or make dumb suggestions – this is how you learn (and trust me, someone else in the room has thought the same thing, but lacked the confidence or courage to raise)
• Be able to laugh at yourself – its about learning and helping, not looking good
• Believe in your client’s work as much as they do – it is hard to “partner” with them without feeling it

I encourage you to read the book — its a fast, easy read.  I hope it empowers you to take some risks to build a new level of trust and loyalty with your clients.  Some clients may take advantage or not be ready, willing, or able to tackle the real problems, but the risks are worth it — and will reveal when the relationship was not meant to be or is no longer right.  Please share your stories – I’d love to hear when these principles have worked for you (or helped you move on when necessary)…

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