Say Something Dan

How to build relationships with recruiters?

2009-07-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

BLOG POST as FEATURED at Jobseekr.com.au

Building a relationship with a recruiter is essential in your job search. You need to have respect for your recruiter. No matter what you have heard about recruiters or what you think of them, they are providing you a service and they could be your vehicle to a new job. I honestly think this is probably THE most important factor in building the relationship, and something that has been lacking whilst the market has been so buoyant.

As a Corporate Recruiter now, I see a change in people’s attitude when they change from thinking I am an agency recruiter to knowing I am truly representing my company. I don’t understand this. Recruiters will represent you into perspective clients, companies with jobs you may never hear of. Recruiters are always good to have on side, you should be using their skills and networks to your advantage.

If you are applying for a role it is up to you to build the relationship, and this starts from the initial interaction. From my point of view, a conversation beats an email. However the conversation needs to have meaning.

Please don’t call with a “I want to know more about the job”. Think about the ad.. think about how you can excel in it, and have questions which will help you tailor your cv to the role. Then tell them you will call them to discuss your potential suitability (at a certain time, get agreement on that) and stick to it.

Know this, you will only form a relationship if you can show, straight off the bat, that you will ad value to that Recruiter. Sounds crass doesn’t it? It’s true though, Recruiters literally get hundreds of calls and emails a day. Remember you are selling them something… yourself, being different and able to ad value to them makes a difference.

Once you speak to a Recruiter, modestly sell yourself, allow them to get to know you. When you get that interview, WOW them. Be open and honest, avoid game playing (For example, I’ve never seen the value of avoiding the salary question, as a Recruiter, it annoys me more than anything). No matter what you hear, I’m not convinced playing a game will give you an advantage one way or another, and I’m not sure you want a one up man ship, competitive style relationship with your recruiter. The more you get paid the more commission they make.. It is in their best interests to get you more. But also it is their job to help you realign expectations if they don’t match the clients budget. The Recruiters job is to find the right person for their client. Your job is to make them know that is you.

If your situation changes, (ie other job offers, the reason you were looking for a job disappears etc)let them know, give them honest feedback from your client interview, good bad or indifferent.

Again, treat them as you want them to treat you, but understand the dynamic of your relationship, you both have the same goal, just coming at it from different angles!

Online presence - Getting a secret identity

2009-06-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

It's true, everything you write on the web, stays on the web, somewhere, somehow.

You can imagine it can't you, (well I can) at the last stages of an election campaign, the year is 2030 (when I'm too old and Gen Ys assume the mantle of being the old people in control). Potential PM candidate A) in full debate in the lower house stands up and says, "Well, well well, the member for Curtain cannot be seriously considered as a future leader of our fair nation. When back in 2009 you were tagged in facebook (remember that) being drunk in a public place and kissing someone who clearly is not your now wife! You twittered about the fact you took a sick day when you weren't AND you were a vampire on facebook and recruited demons to your team!"

With that in mind and in an attempt to keep my flagging political aspirations on the straight and narrow (OK I have none, but you never know). I have started Tweeting with a pen name! an alter ego if you will. With my role as a public face of my company, and a need to ensure my personal brand (I had to throw that term in) doesn't get too tarnished, I need to self edit a lot when it comes to posts, the good the bad and the ugly. It is tough to say what I really think sometimes, as I don't want things to reflect negatively on my company. Plus I penned our corporate social media guidelines :)

I am interested to see how this will evolve, if I will get the freedom I crave and if I would ever have to reveal my true identity... and if fake Dan over takes real Dan hmmmmmm

Virtual Recruitment Pride March!

2009-06-08T06:15:00.001-07:00

Let's have a parade.

I was reading a reply to a question I posed on the Australian Corporate Recruiters site (blatant plug)around why people do Recruitment. A response I received by David Talamelli got me thinking. He responded with "I am still amazed when I see people calling themselves Senior Recruiters with 3-4 yrs exp."

I believe this is due to the fact that people drop out of the industry relatively quickly, it is rare to see 20 + year veterans still recruiting. I know they are out there, I'm quickly becoming one scarily enough, however there is still a very high level of churn out there, in both the agency world and corporate in-house Recruiting.

There is a huge churn in this industry, people on recruitingblogs.com are quoting that 90% of the industry have disappeared in the last year. That is a startling idea. Imagine that in any other industry? 90% of doctors leave their industry! 90% of Production workers don't show up one day to work! Imagine the world then. Chaos!

Why is there that churn? Why don't people stay in this industry for long? Are they all just smarter than me? Know something I don't know?

I think one of the main reasons is that expectations are just not met. People are seduced by the apparent "easy" money in the Agency side of the world, get suckered in "Boiler Room" style. Make a few bucks initially and all of the sudden the world is your oyster and this life business is great. You're on an OTE of more than your parents could ever have dreamed of, and this is the best business in the world. All of the sudden, you have to start making the revenue to hit those numbers to achieve your OTE. Your in the focus of Management as you have to deserve your OTE, people start asking you for activity stats, how many cold calls have you made? how many cv's have you submitted? How many interviews have you booked? How many client meetings have you scheduled?

If the markets hits a downturn, like it has, this pressure becomes extremely intense. I'm sure those of you in the Third party world reading this know what I mean. I feel you. One of my early bosses told me something when I was a young and cocky Recruiter. I went to him asking for an increase, I was hitting my numbers, and wanted to change the structure for over achievement. He told me this. "Son, I can give you whatever OTE you want, no problems. You want a million dollar OTE, done! Just bill me 10 million and it's yours! The more you earn, or can potentially earn the more pressure you'll get"

I think a lot of people entering the industry don't get that, they forget that this is a sales role, and you are only ever as good as your last month. So when the pressure gets to much.. they go. Most leave the industry and find a real job, others flee to internal Recruitment.

There is an old saying I heard from some agency mates of mine that In-house Recruiters are just agency recruiters who couldn't cut it in the cut and thrust of that market. Stating the main reason being they hated the sales part of their role. The constant need for numbers to justify their existence. Some want to use it (the move) as a spring board into the exciting world of HR.

When I interview these people, I have bad news for them. In my opinion, In-house Recruitment is still sales, sometimes it is hidden within an HR function, but in my world it is one of two main externally facing departments of an organisation. Business Development and Recruitment, both view the organisation from the inside out. How do we get stuff into the organisation, money, people? HR needs to view from inside. What is affecting the company today? what risks are there? how can we keep and develop our people? (I know superficial, but enough for now).

Successful In-house Recruiters need to be more externally focussed, than your average HR person, and I truly believe it is not a good match to have Recruitment and HR in the same department. Unless of course you need just process people to get through all the cvs etc.

Attraction is sales! or is it marketing? Headhunting, locating and attracting "passive" candidates is sales.

People don't think that the pressure of an internal Recruiter could be anywhere near as much as it is as a Third Party Recruiter. Do I have more bad news for you!

Recruitment is one of the easiest quantifiable areas in the business. I have a simple mind, I keep it easy to understand. If we need 10 people and we hire 10 people in a timely manner! Great, a job well done! If we don't.. why NOT? Why are you holding up the business?

I started thinking about the opportunity cost of not having someone in a job, the opportunity cost of having the wrong person in the job, and the cost of a bad hire. Hmmm it's an expensive business this. Over $1000 per day. Therefore 30 people is $30,000 a day. $150,000 a week. Those numbers gets you a big profile with all business leaders, C Level executives and even board members I tell you. I know I didn't have a $7.2 million budget when I was in an Agency. (and no I never did go for that million dollar OTE) Try telling all these people that you won't have anyone for them tomorrow, or the next day or the perfect person you offered took another role.

You can shrug your shoulders and keep moving, but eventually these real business imperatives will hit you square between the eyes. This pressure builds up and sees many a person move on, into HR, or even back to sales where at least there is more than just a salary on offer for their hard work. Not many people want to do it. Trust me they'll all tell you how to do it, but not many want to sit at your desk, get on the internet or (god help us) the PHONE and work through all those cvs or sit through all those interviews.

This is just how it is. Is it explained to people fully when they join the industry. It sure wasn't to me.

Let's face it, I'm about to let the cat out of the bag here, (kind of like those spoil sports who shocked the world with the facts that WWE wrestling is not exactly a real sport, it's "Sports entertainment") now listen carefully.... "Recruiting is not rocket science. The process can be repetitive, boring and mind sapping. The process is not easy. But it's not that hard." (I think the majority of the industry still rely soley on placing ads on job boards and awaiting the response.) The challenge in Recruiting is to survive through these functions and still find a way to achieve great things, to innovate and to drive. To do things better and faster than your competitors at all times, even in this new world of collaboration.

For those of us that do this and do it well. We help people find the next stage in their career, we help companies hit their corporate goals, we give organisations some of their competitive advantage, in a rather thankless, under appreciated, under valued and sometimes under respected role.

I vote for a parade of Recruiters. Those who will tell newbies to the Recruitment world what it is all about, to open their eyes to this "real" world of Recruitment and what they should expect. I would love to see a gathering of Recruiters who are proud of what they do, who they do it for and are open as to what they get out of it. A group happy to march up main street proclaiming what they do to all who peek out their windows. Marching with our Twitterbird flags, on cloud computing floats.

STOP THE CHURN!
"I'm here, I Recruit... Get used to it!"

A bit of fun and a plug for DWS

2009-06-03T22:14:00.001-07:00

GoAnimate.com: DWS is HIRING by dnuroo

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Don't be seduced with the dream of easy success

2009-06-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

Weird times we live in huh?

A few months ago, I was sitting in my office, thinking of ways to keep my department relevant. So much time and brain power was used in thinking of ways to keep the Recruiting team out of the firing line (literally) in times when hiring wasn't happening as quickly as it had in the past. I knew it was tough times, but fought hard to keep my team in tact. Not that it was specifically targeted by my company, however I know investors and market analysts asked the question repeatedly to my Directors.

I was dying to get my teeth into the market, salivating at the idea of all that talent out there waiting for me to hire them, Super Dan to the rescue, handing out jobs to those who need them and helping the company rise above this recession at the same time.

And now? Well, guess what? I have my opportunity! Here it is Dan, we need the people, out you go. Don the super gear, put on the cape, (underpants on the outside, well that's optional) and find us all that talent!

Cool, easy, this'll rock. Right? Wrong! Man was I surprised. Ready, set, post ad, sit back and wait for all the great talent to line up at your desk begging for a job for half the salary they would have earned 1 year ago.

The applications did flood in, and flood in and flood in. My Inbox is almost alive, I think it is breathing, and I know it is watching me. I'm filtering through it and honestly.... the expected line of A candidates, must be stuck at someone else's desk.

I find myself being meaner than normal, meaner is a harsh term, I'm expecting more of my candidates at the moment. I'm fighting harder to manage the businesses expectations and hit my own expectations with the realistic shovel. I didn't think I'd have to hunt for passive candidates for a while.. but guess what? Just did, couldn't get the skill set via ad and had to find another avenue to deliver.. What the?

Don't be seduced with the dream of easy success if you only had the requirements to work on. Quality is of even more importance at the moment, don't sacrifice!

My apologies to all if anyone thought the world as we knew it has changed irreversibly.... THE GAME HASN'T CHANGED, the rules haven't changed, there is a few more players in some parts and a few less in others. You still have to work hard to get the right talent in. (I'm yet to find that magic wand, if anyone has it out there, please share)

It's great though, I love the buzz of hiring. Being allowed to hire is what sustains my team. Hiring people gives us strength and allows us to build momentum to really add value to the organisation. We are really glad we kept filling the talent pool.

That would be my biggest tip to anyone out there reading this in the Recruitosphere, if your market hasn't turned.. keep working that talent pool, be honest with your candidates, be ready to deliver when the time comes.

Need an excuse for a silly grin on your face?

2009-06-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

Blame Maren Hogan for this :)

Monty Python hit for the day...

2009-05-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

I have to try this.. Happy Tuesday all

Sucking Eggs, correctly

2009-05-25T17:50:00.001-07:00

"Yeah I've Recruited before. I had to hire people for my team. I know what you do, its your core job, what do you mean you cannot hire everyone we think we need? I mean I know how difficult it can be at times. But I read the news, I know what is going on in the world, this isn't one of those times. You're job must be easy now. There must be candidates everywhere, I mean how hard can it be to hire in a recession"

Ahhhh I love being in the Recruitment world. Especially in a Corporate environment, we're lucky really. We have so many people who can and will offer you advice. In fact nearly every single person in the organisation will have an opinion as to how and where and how quickly you should be hiring. There seems to be an omnipotence as far as a knowledge of this mythical thing called "the market".

One of the most challenging parts of any Recruitment role I believe is client education. Getting them to listen to the real version of the market (well according to me anyways) as opposed to the media beat up, hyperbole and assumptions that people are prone to. Don't make excuses, just tell it how it is. Do you know it is not "just you" who can't find the people they want? Try to back it up with more than just anecdotes. They'll think you are just making excuses.

This has been one of my bug bears for a number of years, here are a few points I've used to try to combat my lemon sucking lessons. (My other Bugbear, joke! I've always wondered what a bugbear was.. thanks Google)

1/ Listen
2/ Be open and transparent
3/ Be honest
4/ Be factual and clear, most C level people have a decent BS monitor.
5/ Get some facts and stats to back up your argument
6/ Forward articles agreeing with your point of view.
7/ Remind people that being made redundant is not a blot on your career. It's like blogging. It just happens.
8/ Advise to not opportunistically hire people at a lower rate than you should do, just because you can, keep your employer brand intact. (Bad business karma I think)
9/ Find different ways, mediums to get your message across
10/ Be consistent and strong, don't be bullied into agreeing into something you don't agree with.
11/ Actively look for effective cost savings
12/ Get C levels involved in using technology to help (ie show possibilities of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc)
13/ Know (and be active in) your "market", your demographic, your region
14/ Prove you know it. Be involved with all areas of the business, add value to discussions which will show you understand the market, the movements and the players in it. (ie know client or competitor is laying people off in a certain area or hiring even)
15/ Don't be afraid to annoy and challenge some people
16/ Be Patient and calm
17/ Find a sponsor in the business
18/ Don't be arrogant, defensive or too aggressive
19/ BE RIGHT!
20/ FIND A WAY TO FIND AND HIRE THOSE IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND PEOPLE ANYWAY

I'm sure there would be more, but these are the ones off the top of my head. Please let me know ideas

There is also the final little known clause... avoid the "I told you so dance" when you are proven correct.

Two things to live by... Add VALUE, let your bosses look good by giving them all the information they could require if pushed by Boards or other C level executives.

DELIVER, find a way. Continuously being able to solve business problems with your skill in finding the right people at the right time, will give you and your theories (or excuses if you want) that much more credibility.

.........and finally, remember, you all want the same thing, to hire quality people, at the right quantity at the right time for the future success of a project, a team, a department, a business. Find a way to start acting like it.

Is "SORRY" really the hardest word?

2009-05-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

I love my football, I love my Carlton Football Club, and my mood on the days they play, effectively mirrors the way the team plays. I understand it is a game, but it is a release, an escape if you will. It is a great leveler, CEO's and Parliamentarians and truck drivers and people without a job, pensioners and students are all the same. It doesn't matter who you are, if you are personally invested (not so much financially) in some way. The ramifications of those 22 players (AFL team) has on your general state of mind (and voice) is amazing.

The highs you get from a victory, those devastating lows from a defeat, and the constant analysis of your team, where they are now v where they should be, is all consuming.

My team broke my heart this week. Its not like I'm not used to them losing.. however it was the way they lost that was disappointing. There was an obvious plan. It just didn't work. Plain and simple. Bottom line my team got killed.

Understandably the team got criticised heavily from all corners. However, the coach responsibly said and not to quote but... "we got it wrong. The game plan didn't work."

Hopefully, they'll learn from it and get better from here.

How many of us are strong enough to draw the line in the sand when things aren't working out. Stand up to your critics (internal and external) and say.. "Yep, that was my mistake. It was a bad call. We tried but it didn't work. We'll learn from it, put some more plans in place and continue to get better!"

Admitting to a mistake is the ideal time to make some changes, to gain buy in, and to deliver something. The buy in is normally there because when you make a mistake in the Recruitment world, it has business impacts and the business will want to help you achieve results to help them achieve.

I was once at a Management weekend away, and somehow got myself in the spotlight. It became obvious to all that the theme for the first day was "How Recruitment is ruining our business!" FUN! as I was the only Recruitment person in the room. It was a tough day, the toughest one in my career actually.

Turning up the next day, dragging my sorry behind to the first session, felt like a death march to me, I couldn't be late, but I couldn't seem to make myself walk forward. One of the Directors at the time sidled up next to me and asked me how I was doing?

"Honestly? I feel really really bad" Said I
"Really? why? drink too much last night?"
"Nope, yesterday felt like a whole day just attacking me, and I'm not sure how today is going to go."
"Well", said the Director "The bad news is that you were right. However the good news is that you were right! If the Executive didn't think you had what it took to deliver, quite simply you wouldn't be here. You have the opportunity now to implement all those plans we've spoken about, to give solutions. They want you to achieve, you just need to now tell them how you are going to. They will afford you the tools and resources. now you can do it."

I have to say one of the more powerful little walks I've ever had. Liberating if you will, and it turned into a really high level of activity and success for the Recruitment team and the business.

I had to stand up and say essentially OK, what we have been doing isn't working. As the Manager, I'll accept responsibility and this is how we solve it.

I've heard a lot, people saying don't apologise, it shows weakness. I really don't agree, I think it shows strength. It is easy to deflect blame and raise your hands saying.. "it wasn't me, not my fault etc", it is way tougher, to stand up straight, hold your head high and say "Yeah, it was a mistake, my mistake. I'm sorry it happened, we'll rectify this, learn from it and move ahead."

Is apologising a sign of weakness? Admitting fault or blame a limiting thing for your career?

Campaigning for people to lose jobs. Shame media

2009-05-19T06:45:00.001-07:00

I rarely get up on my soap box, but man.. this has really annoyed me.

I love my football, I love my sport, I love hearing about it, I love reading about it and basically I cannot get enough. However this month, there has been a couple of issues arising which really sticks in my craw.... (where is my craw by the way?)

Anyway, in the media here, there seems to be a pre-occupation with people losing their jobs, specifically coaches of football clubs. Aren't we in a recession? Isn't unemployment way up from where is has been the last few years? It really seems to me that the media seems to be celebrating (or asking for) the downfall of certain people from their jobs. (Google Terry Wallace or Mick Malthouse to see where I'm coming from)

The villages have their pitch forks, and fire torches and seem to want to burn their witches. It's goulish, making me sick to be honest. And in this climate of swine flu, that makes me nervous.

I mean they are talking about someone losing their job. I understand it happens, and poor performance cannot be tolerated at the moment anywhere.... but how many of us have actually had people campaigning for your demise? (I have once... those people don't work for my company anymore :))

Imagine this happening in Corporate life. You company Newsletter announces that Recruitment haven't hit their numbers, and Editorialises that the Head of Recruitment must be "feeling the heat". They interview people around the office, to get their opinion and run a poll on Yammer... "Head of Recruitment - stay or go". All of the sudden your job seems to be at the mercy of public opinion.

Walking into work and people are waiting or asking for comment, taking your photo or filming you, and making your responses public knowledge. Now that's pressure. What happens if you don't hire more people next week? The drums beat louder and louder.. how can you effectively operate in this environment. Some will go the "well I'll show you" attitude, but I'm sure most will go into their shell or purely fall on their sword.

I'm sure this happens in the rest of the world.

But just imagine people campaigning for you to lose your job. Undermining you, making you a discussion point at many dinner tables, coffee tables, pubs across the land. Living through that, every eye in the office, looking through your windows waiting for your next move.

I think it is just irresponsible in these economic times that's all, even if they are public figures, you are talking about people, with lives, families and feelings.

I have respect for those going through this at the moment.

Question to self.... are you a fraud?

2009-05-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting day. A busy busy day, which started in a flurried search for a phone hiding in my car and ending with me questioning my very worth... as I said... interesting day.

The flurry of the morning was compounded by an innocuous little quote in the book I'm reading. Now I won't quote it directly as it is fiction, and I cannot be bothered finding it again. However, the crux of the quote was that all professionals have a fear that they will be found out as a fraud. That their clients, colleagues or bosses will dig that little deeper and find out that they aren't as good as they make out.

Powerful stuff... I know I've felt like that, and I have a fair sized ego. Even in writing my blog, adding comments to discussions etc, does what I have to say have relevance? Will people even care or comment. Will what I say show me up for the fraud I feel at times. It is always hard to believe I'm supposed to be a grown up now. I'm married and have 2 kids for goodness sake, I've been working since I was 16 (coming up to 20 years soon), in my career for the last 12, I mean really, this is ridiculous. I should know what I am on about by now, I should be confident.

Most of the time I do, and I am. Just every now and then, that little cloud of doubt sneaks in and hangs around for a while. It is exacerbated by a number of factors, tiredness, (constant) negative feedback, lack of success, poor morale etc.

The good thing here... I know who can fix it. Simple, just follow these simple steps. (look out Letterman, I'm doing another list!)

1/ Wake up tomorrow
2/ Drag yourself out of bed
3/ Wander into the shower
4/ Finish shower
5/ Towel off
6/ Walk over to sink and mirror
7/ Grab towel
8/ Close you eyes
9/ Use Towel to wipe the mirror clean
10/ Say hello to the person most likely to help

Wanted: Inspiration... DEAD or ALIVE

2009-05-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go again... doing my nightly blog reading, and it seems it is the same stuff, different day. Hold on... did I just see a Groundhog?

Articles on Gen Y, v Gen X v Baby Boomers. Gen Y's "you just don't understand us!" Baby Boomers "and we really don't care!" Gen X's where is the money in this debate?
Articles on Thought leadership, who is one? how do you become one? and just because you say you are one.... are you really?
Articles on the next big technical advance (AKA twitter me this Batman! Does Twitter work for you)
Articles on the Recession. Are we close to the end? Of life as we know it or the Recession... depends on what you read.

Or variations of the above...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Honestly, I'm getting a little jaded. I must be, I'm getting into conversations about the validity of a cover letter in a job search (again).

John Sumsers TOP 100 INFLUENCERS in the HR/Recruiting world may spark some interest, some great reading and some high level debate (or some low brow name calling, Jerry Spring style, which we all love). Hopefully John will have a good mix of the generations and where they sit in the HR/Rec value chain. Having been an avid reader of John's over the years, I'd expect nothing less in what will prove to be a huge excise for John. (But will make him a great resource for those people Recruiting in the HR/Rec niche!)

Maybe it's me. My life seems to have hit 4th gear, with holiday finished, commitments with the children and work commitments firing up across the country. Don't get me wrong I am so appreciative for this and I value every minute. It's just that I enjoy this part of my life, the late night blog reading, the learning about Recruitment and the frivolity between the participants. I seem to be missing that. It has left the building Elvis style.

Maybe it's the missing chat area from one of my favourite sites. Maybe I'm a little more tired at the moment and don't get around as much anymore, so only see those certain discussion/blog topics.

I'm obviously not a thought leader, as I cannot at this time of night come up with something fresh or alternative to what I've said, although a new kids book article could be on its way soon.. be warned.

I am happy, comfortable and challenged in my life and work.

So herein is the challenge blogoverse, give me something new! Get me thinking, inspire me... please.

Positive job news in the States? Really?

2009-05-10T04:25:00.000-07:00

I have been an avid reader of the great people over at ERE.Net for many years, and even have a group there full of Australian Recruiters. I saw an article today by Todd Raphael, who is the Editor in Chief over there, which was some silver lining, which we all need a bit more of these days.

It's not cheesy Pollyanna style writing, about how things can be positive, if we all stick together and think good thoughts. It is a video talking about the actual number of job openings as opposed to job losses.

The issues of location of jobs, and skill shortages, sound vaguely familiar.

I wonder if the relocation issue is a global issue? I'm not sure housing prices have dropped that significantly over here in Australia to be such a deterrant

The times we live in.....

2009-05-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

Interesting thing happened to me this week. I ran into an old colleague in a coffee shop (that's not the interesting thing) but he said something to me which resonated a bit. He said "Nuroo.... man, I feel I know more about you now that I did when we worked together, with your blogs, your twittering and your facebook stuff."

We laughed it off, however it got me thinking. "That's pretty sad isn't it?" Was I not open enough? Was our communication that poor? or is it just a comment on the brand new world2.0 now? Where information is more easily shared and found, and sometimes given to you even when you don't want it.

Has the world for communication changed forever?

Small Children and Recruiting

2009-04-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh what a couple of weeks, I've been quiet on this I know.. for great reason, I have been sunning it up in Malaysia with the family for the last 10 days. But, hey, I'm back, and apart from seeing the sites, looking at some fantastic views, sunsets and meeting some wonderful people, I found some relevance to Recruitment. Yes I'm sad. Firstly, the part of Malaysia I was in, Borneo, is the home of the Headhunter, the real ones, you know the ones, who actually hunted heads and kept them as part of their dowry. I was assured by locals this doesn't happen anymore, I laughed at him, said he should log onto recruitingblogs.com you'll find some there. Needless to say I had to buy a "Headhunter" T-Shirt.

Secondly, and the main part of the post, is I saw some similarities between being a parent traveling with your young children and being a Recruiter.

Let me pull on this bow a little further.

My top 10 reasons why being a Recruiter is like being a parent traveling with young children (eat your heart out Letterman!)

1/ Those that aren't (parents or Recruiters) look at you and wonder why in the world you are doing it? (and prefer not to associate in public... think HR or any single traveler in the plane sitting next to a family of 4)

2/ You have a shared bond and a competitive streak with others of your type. My kids are behaving better (ha!).. my candidate is way better than your candidate

3/ Experienced people will look at you and think (and sometimes even say).. "that never happened in my day. I didn't had those advantages, and I performed better." Think DVDs, ipods, or applicant tracking systems.

4/ Your kids and your candidates will ask an endless amount of banal repetitive questions... "How old is god?" "Do they have comfortable chairs?"

5/ As a parent and a recruiter, you are very protective of your kids and candidates, always watching them to stop people from stealing them.

6/ You have to be a step ahead of them both. OK if my son/daughter/candidate sees that bright shiny object over there, this will happen (Do I want that to happen?)

7/ If your kids (and candidates) are good, others will look at you with envy. Wanting what you have.

8/ They are very hard to make them do anything they don't want to do. Negotiation skills are a must.

9/ They ask for unrealistic stuff. Knifes, monkeys, carparks, health insurance, that large 4 foot lollipop over there etc :)

10/ When everything is working out, there is not much in the world more rewarding.

(OK successful Recruiting makes you money.. traveling with kids costs a heap, but let's not kill a good story with facts OK?)

Job Boards... Not dead yet

2009-04-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently in an interview I did with Phillip Tusing on his site Destination Talent about the main source of my hires.

I know it seems to be en-vogue to proclaim the death of Job Boards, but I'm not convinced they are dead yet. Is it just because I am an internal recruiter and don't know any better? To show as proof the declining ad numbers must be misleading... there isn't the work at the moment to advertise for.

I thought the crew at Monty Python summed it up nicely

Would you hire this guy?

2009-04-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Just saw this video on Youtube. It shows a young man trying "something different" to get a job.

My question is... what does it really say about his personal brand?

Would you hire him? You have to say though, as a Marketing person, he sure created a buzz!

Is this the Death of the Revolution?

2009-04-07T03:37:00.000-07:00

I saw a video today which re-ignited a thought of mine, which has been bubbling away in dormant fury for the last few years.

I have got fed up with generation generalisations. In particular the constant genuflecting to the Gen Y's of the world. Get ready world, change everything here they come! They need to be treated different, they expect more, more quickly, they care for the environment, the crave community, they are more fluid in their employment ideals, they are new, fresh, the likes of we have never seen before etc etc etc... blah blah blah...

What awakened this idea in me was a blog post by Veronica Altemus which featured this video.

Is this a real work place Revolution? Or is it the same as it always has been for new generations making their way in the world?

Here are a few of the thoughts that have been floating around in my head.

Is the Gen Y phenomenon that new? Doesn't every generation seem "different" to the preceding generations? The Baby Boomers "freaked out" their parents, the social discourse found in the 1960's is a badge lots of that generation hold onto. However they were born into an era of prosperity, which afforded them the freedom to think big, to dream and to expect those dreams to become reality..(sound familiar?) The world keeps evolving, but as they say the more things change the more they stay the same.

Older people will always think their way is the right way and younger people will think they know how to do it better, and will tell the other party that. My 5 year old is re-affirming this for me at the moment.

With the war for talent currently in a state of detente, will the apparent need to bend to the apparent will of the Gen Ys of the world, dissipate? I know it will in a number of companies with Leaders across the world thinking people will be thankful for employment, "they should feel lucky working for us."

I presented a talk to a Group of first year University students the other week, around the topic of "Consulting, what it means to me and should mean to you." Whilst I was preparing this talk, it occurred to me that this generation of students won't have the advantages of their predecessors (ie those graduating 1 or 2 years ago) when it comes to job search, I'll be surprised if employers are clamouring all over themselves to hire as many of them as they can (although I also believe that those who do will have a huge competitive advantage in the future, but that's a different post.) Their prospects in the near future are a little scary, they may have to work harder to find their first job, they may have to accept things like starting at the bottom and working their way up, of not just being the most junior person on site to actually being treated like that.

Will the perception of entitlement disappear or become more realistic now that we are in economically unpleasant times? Will that confidence we associate with that generation fade away?

Did Baby Boomers eventually tow the line when the economic climate changed and they gained more responsibilities? Did the Utopian ideals go the way of the Dodo when they had to deliver food and shelter for their families? Or did they become more like their parents (shudder) just morphed versions.

Obviously the world has changed, evolved if you will. Certain ideals are not common place anymore, technology has evolved and will continue to evolve. Things are different. However, is the generation gap any different now to what it was 20-30-40-50 years ago? The Baby Boomers would have had to put up with the questions around their "far out" ideals, of social etiquette, questions over their attitude to work, questions over their behaviour, questions over their music, questions over their hair cuts etc.

Is this just the human race version of collaboration and versioning? Everyone builds on what was done before. Some things better, some things worse, some things change, some don't. Very little is torn down, and rebuilt from scratch.

Social Networking and collaboration etc as just technical versions of what people had to do face to face previously. Same thing, just with a different spin. Does the way the world works have to revolutionise itself or will this new generation work their way into corporations and just continue to evolve the practices, over time, the way it has always been done?

Recruiting has to be more than a skills match!

2009-04-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting discussion I was part of the other day, which culminated from a blog post I read over on Recruitingblogs.com where Jane was questioning her own ethics and morals when put in a position to make a placement with a candidate she essentially thought was a jerk. (it was weird, refreshingly so, not a mention on Social networking, technology, or the recession anywhere in the post)

In the end it really questioned my thoughts as to what the role of a Recruiter actually is and how it differs depending on your point of view. Should it be different?

My view on the role of a Recruiter, in it simplest form. The Recruiter is the person who finds people, with the right attitude, aptitude, skills to suit a company and a position it is trying to fill.

Maybe this is too simplistic?

This discussion however, refuted this to a point. Questioning if considering someones attitude is part of their responsibility, "I don't think it's my job to try to predict whose personality is going to work and whose won't work." Really? Then what is it?

If Recruiting was just skills matching, why have interviews? Find a cv, which matches your needs, test the person on that skill, (maybe add water) and presto you have a new employee.

I understand the differing viewpoints from Agency to in house, as I have done both. I've been judged by my employer for the number of placements I've made and the money I have made the company and I have been judged on the number of hires I have made and the quality of those hires. The one truth for both roles have been that if people (ie people I've hired) don't work out, I, like Lucy, have some 'splaining to do!

I always felt that when working for an agency, I was representing that company, and thus had to look like their representative, understand the nuances of the role, their salary packaging, the manager and the wider team etc. On the flip side, I had to have enough information on a candidate to thoroughly represent them, a fine line we walked.

I left the Agency world when I felt that this was no longer valued by my organisation. "Why are you wasting time interviewing people face to face?" was a question I faced by new management, which sounded the death knell of my agency career.

Question again who was I representing? Who was my client? The person I who would pay my fee, or the person whom I got a job. To me, it was a no brainer, the person paying me of course. However, when I'd spent time with candidates, formed relationships, invested myself personally, this line got a little blurred.

However, working in house, this line was no longer blurred, when people didn't work out, it wasn't the case of "oops, sorry, but hey you made the decision, I only made the introduction. What? money back? No, sorry, but a credit note I can do!" No, things don't work out working in house, well, it kind of smacks you in the face. Ever had a Managing Director or HR Manager walking through the hallways asking loudly "who hired that guy?" (not fun!) Even if there is more than you in the process, ie hiring managers, tests etc, it does fall on your shoulders, nowhere to hide, no one to blame, it's you.

Now from what I have seen, the reasons people who don't work out, don't work out, is more from an attitude point of view than a skill deficiency. So why then isn't it the job of an Agency to look at these things? Am I missing something?

Pie Night Clarity

2009-03-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Wow... what a night.

A night of mayhem, madness, excitement, order and anarchy, and let's not forget, pride and fun and smiles.

That was my night tonight. I attended my son's first football club meeting, in the form of a jumper presentation and pie night (A great Aussie tradition). It was Zach's first involvement in a footy club, and his excitement all week in the lead up, seemed justified with his facial expressions as he took the whole thing in. The highlight for him (and his apparently very proud Dad) obviously being presented with his first "real" football playing jumper, and a great kit bag full of stuff from the AFL and its sponsors nab. (I'm not endorsing nab, however the amount of money they must pour into this astounds me. If every junior club and every junior player got the same stuff, well, let's just say WOW!)

Another thing struck me, being in attendance tonight. How many people, freely give up their time for others. This is a volunteer/honorary organisation, run by people who just believe in it, and who want to contribute. Amazing!

I have always been pretty protective with my time. I find it hard to give more to anyone, as I save what I don't use for work for my immediate family. My parents were always there for me, I saw my Dad every night, he was always home for dinner, Mum was there every afternoon after school, and Dad attended every single sporting event I had as a kid (which I think was every weekend, summer and winter). I want to provide the same for my kids. But there are some amazing people out there, who, I think can do all this and more.

I have been learning about so many people giving of late, it is just great for the soul, and has me questioning myself and feeling a little guilty.

From those who have given for those horrific bushfires in Victoria recently, to people in my own recruiting circles, who have been putting their own special talents to assist those who are suffering in this recession. People like the Susan Kang Nam, (the PinkOlive woman) who heads up a Career Club called SaltyLegs (really have to find out the origin of that name), to the RecruiterGuy Chris Hoyt, who apart from being the Talent Acquisition Guru at AT&T is actively involved in raising funds, well at the moment the Big Brother, Big Sister programmes with "bowling for kids" and more recently the people from JobCamp (#JobCamp), Luke Havey Palmer from Buzzle, and Stephen Collins, AKA @Trib Honestly, what a great concept. Putting together Employers, Unemployed and Specialist Recriuters who really can do something about making jobs for people in a room for 2 days to see if they can make a difference. These are all inspirational people, who've had inspirational ideas, and more important is the fact that they ACTED on them.

Well what can I say, whilst not in their league, it did make me put my hand up, much to the surprise to those who know me. For what? may you ask.... Just remember, you heard it here first I am going to be a brand new Auskick coach for the 5-6 year olds at our local club. Maybe I was inspired, or maybe they just put something in the pies?

What is this Twitter thing anyways

2009-03-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

You cannot seem to turn around, look at a website, or even have a coffee without Twitter being mentioned.

What is it?

Here is the best explanation I have found.

Twitter in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Learnings from an evil boss

2009-03-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

Working in the HR arena is tough! Especially in bad times. Who likes sitting across the desk from someone explaining to them that as of now your livelihood has been taken away. (I have only met person ((and catbert)) in my career who actually enjoyed it)

We are hearing lots of stories about redundancies at the moment, I was talking with one of my colleagues today about this and how we (the collective "we") handle it. We must remember there is almost a whole generation in the workforce who have never seen a downturn. Sales people who have never seen an environment where budgets just weren't to be found, HR people who have never had the "I'm sorry, there is just no job for you here anymore... through no fault of yours", or candidates who have never had to find a job in a candidate rich market.. phew.

Thus the people delivering the bad news, may have never experienced the bad news before (or had to deliver it before) and may find it difficult to engender sufficient empathy to perform such a task adequately.

Poor handling of such events actually pushed me into this industry! Originally I wanted to be an HR professional. Why? because of the way a company handled my father and his redundancy. My father had worked for a company for 34 years (give or take), until in the early 90's it was time to rationalise etc (during what one prime minister of Australia called the "Recession we had to have") and his job was deemed redundant. How was it handled? Poorly from what I remember. Now what I remember may be a little inaccurate as it is seen through an emotional teenagers eyes. However, there was little council, little warning, little payout, little explanation, and less support. It was one of the rare times I saw my father in a very emotional state. The sole bread winner, having spent his entire working life at this establishment, only to get discarded like yesterday's newspaper. His identity had been taken from him in my view.

My fear is that the marriage of these two points, could mean that, in these most difficult times, the handling of redundancies may not have improved.

In one of my first jobs, as a console operator at a petrol station, my boss decided to teach me a lesson. Why? I still don't know, but the lesson was learned.

My boss at this time treated me like he was going to fire me. ALL day.. the entire 6 hour shift I had anyway. At the end of the day, he started the you're fired conversation... I was really scared, stammering and stumbling over my words, really struggling through the conversation.

He then stopped, and grinned. "Have you ever been fired before?" he asked
"Nope" I responded nervously. "Well now you know what it feels like!" "so now before you decide to take this option with someone you know how it feels and how to respect the people you will be doing it too." Powerful huh! This was almost 20 years ago. You know what, although harsh, and bordering on harassment, I've never forgotten it or the feeling.

For those of us who may have to sit in on discussions around redundancies, have the actual conversations, as well as those of us who now are charged with finding them new work, please keep a few things in mind.

Ensure you have thought of everything to prevent having to do this. Just because everyone else is, is not a good enough excuse.

Bring your empathy. Be human, and be aware that these business decisions will have real personal effects on the people hearing the news. It may not be personal to you, it will be for them... guaranteed!

Bring your respect, and give them dignity. Take your time in telling them, spell it out clearly and concisely (Don't get in an argument though).

Expect to feel bad. That's OK. The conversations are about them, not you. If people cry, allow them to. Give them space and time, silence is OK. Do not feel the need to fill a silent void with words.

Bring some options for them. Outplacement, agency names, something. Think about the people and what they may need before the discussion.

Be prepared for criticism and finger pointing, but again, there is no need to buy into arguments, the decision has been made.

And of course have everything organised, current and covered off BEFORE the meeting.. triple check it.

Bottom line... REMEMBER you are dealing with people (with lives, responsibilities, and dreams), not employees, not numbers, not inventory.

I read an article a little while ago which stated that

"More than 40 per cent of the Australian workforce has been made redundant at least once in their careers and for most (70 per cent) it was extremely stressful...."

The stress mentioned will be for a number of reasons, the loss of income, the loss of identity, the loss of self confidence due to the stigma attached to a redundancy.

Redundancies are not just a clear out of dead wood anymore. Good/Great people are being laid off too. IT IS A REALITY. We have a responsibility to ensure that people being made redundant know this, and as Employers, we need not to look at people who have been made redundant, actively challenge the idea that only the "Dead wood", would be culled first. Hard business decisions are needing to be made everywhere.

OK, these are tough conversations to have, you have every right to feel uncomfortable and nervous about having them. If you are the person delivering the message.... Please remember these discussions aren't about you, they are about the person you are talking to. Give them the respect and dignity they deserve by present for them and not just a messenger.

I am not a religious person, however the term "Do unto others..." rings true to me.

Sunshine from the rain

2009-03-17T02:54:00.000-07:00

I was getting depressed earlier this week. Things were getting tough at work, the recession was knocking on the door, I had a proper look at my taxes coming due, I was tired and I read a few disturbing articles.

One, I must say I was pretty late on. It was an article from November which reported on the fact that an employee in Sydney for global giant EDS attempted suicide after finding out he was being made redundant. See more of article here. This if nothing else made the stark reality of our current times hit home for me.

Then as if on cue an article appeared in our local news paper about one of Australia's leading banks, spending half a million dollars on an Executive getaway, just before laying off 500 people. (More here). I must say, this made me question a few things too.... Maybe it was well deserved? If nothing else it smacks of an arrogance in an unsure market, and something that has to put a poor taste in the mouths of those who were let go, and perhaps the public in general. In truth, I read and re-read a few times to ensure I got it.

Then this morning happened. Nothing unusual really, woke up late... train on time (things looking up), got a free up sized coffee (things looking really up!) then as I cross the road to my office I see something pro-active and positive happening.

I see the good people of sixfigures.com.au camped outside a major ANZ bank building (and I must note a Telstra building, 2 of the major employers in Australia, who have announced lay offs recently) offering pamphlets and career advice for people who want it. They took the mountain to Mohammed. Awesome stuff guys. A great idea, not sure what the results will be or even what you wanted to get out of it, but it inspired me, and took a bit of the gloom and doom of the preceding days away to see companies out there doing something. Congratulations! Read more about this here and here. It's kind of funny... an online job board, burgeoning on Recruitment 2.0, here in downtown Melbourne going old school, hitting the bricks and making a big impression. And put some sunshine in my day

The Thumper Principle morphed into The Gambler edict

2009-03-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

"If you can't say somfin nice... don't say nufin at all"

Phew, what a week... I had to really battle hard to ensure I kept the "Thumper Principle" in check. I really do prefer to live by this... I rarely react well emotionally, and tend to go over the top and embarrass myself when hindsight kicks in.

That said, I have this week so far self censored out 2 blog posts, 5 forum responses and 9 emails. By self censoring out I mean, I wrote and then decided not to sent or post. Maybe everyone is under pressure, maybe I am just feeling it more at the moment?

OK quick run down:

a) I had one of my top five worst calls from a Recruiter. Man it infuriated me. So I blogged about it... I actually listened to my old advice, I saved it before I posted it. I looked at it the next day, and decided against it, it really made neither him or I look good.

b) I wrote a post about Corporate Recruitment battling for respect within an organisation, on the back of a long week of in-fighting, accusation battling and pulling knives out of my back. (This also accounted for a number of those aborted emails).

c) There were a mix of dumb posts, and plain written lies on a range of forums. I wrote strong worded responses, OK some stronger than others, yet decided to again, calm down before hitting that POST button. I'm glad I did, as again, I was way to emotional, one almost had the underlying well thought out notion of "I know you are, you said you are, but what am I?". Way to win your argument Dan. Things were posted, but tempered and rational. (I hope)

There is enough negativity out there, why add to it? If the battles don't really have any long term consequences in the war, why waste ammunition?

That said for a while I took this negativity and shouldered the blame that was placed on Recruitment for the woes of the world. And there were a few, if we didn't have enough people, Recruitment was costing the company a fortune, if we had too many people, Recruitment was costing the company a fortune. Any time people didn't work out, Recruitment didn't understand the business (and were costing the company a fortune), when we hired superstars, we were lucky (the superstars were too expensive and Recruitment was costing the company a fortune). The list goes on and on, Recruitment was an easy target, we were "lucky", everyone knew how to do it, and weren't afraid to voice an opinion.

It took me a while, to find the confidence to stop believing all this stuff, and to stand up for myself and my function. When I finally did, it was so liberating, and the respect came and I began to see the function move forward. That said, I couldn't argue with everyone, and bite at everything, I'd never get anything done.

Being cautious and quiet didn't help, arguing with everyone didn't help productivity, even if it did make me feel a little better.

I remembered Kenny Rogers singing about "you gotta know when to hold them... know when to fold them... know when to walk around.. know when to run!"

This one worked better... Thanks Kenny. Work life hasn't gone without the finger pointing, as there is always someone under pressure trying to deflect their ills, but responses are made appropriately and not in an emotional manner. Things are still going in the right direction.

For those of us technically challenged, this will blow you mind

2009-03-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

This was presented to a group of Sony executives last year.

Very thought provoking!