Viewing November, 2008 Archive

Business Wisdom for the Recruiting Department

An article in today’s USA Today spoke to the lengths that retailers (specifically electronics companies) are going to to “keep customers”.

 ”now is when I most want to keep my customers, because it’s much harder to get new ones”. 

Is anyone taking this stance for candidates?  Probably not.  It seems that in our world of too many job seekers for too few jobs, we are more than willing to treat our candidates as if they are in infinite supply.
 
But this is a dangerous mistake.  The candidate who applies for a role at your company today may turn out to be a customer or even worse, someone you desperately need to hire in 2010.  How you treat them today WILL dictate how the perceive your company in every interaction in the future.

I’m not advocating sending fruit baskets to everyone who takes the time to apply to one of your open positions (chances are they applied for the wrong job for a myriad of reasons) but at the very least, you need to close the “black hole” and communicate with everyone, both thanking them for applying AND letting them know the final disposition of their application.

You can do it, your ATS can automate it for you.  You just have to realize that it’s not a burden to do it.  It IS the right thing to do and it’s just common business sense.

Giving Thanks

Today many of you will take the day off.  This means that MOST of you won’t be reading industry blogs.  That’s OK, it’s my opportunity to give thanks for all the blessings in my life.

Thank you to the Soldiers. 
Whether you believe in the two wars we are fighting or not, the fact is that there are neighbors of yours willing to die so you can keep getting the Vanilla Latte for $5.  These are really the only heroes left in the world.  Once your comic book days are gone, you realize that pro sports figures are really just overpaid meglamaniacs and your business “heroes” have run the best companies in the country into the ground – Soldiers are the only ones still living up to the title.  On many flights I take these days the captain comes on and recognizes soldiers on the flight and the whole plane erupts into cheers and clapping.  Thank you for keeping my homeland safe.

Thank you to the American voting public. 
You took the unprecedented step of electing our first African-American president and stepping outside the box.  I have faith that this courage and commitment to change will be rewarded, I’m really thankful that I get to see the outcome of the decision.

Thank you to my network.  All 7,020,900 of you. 
Through my years I have been lucky to know and stay connected to many amazing people; generous, funny, brilliant and caring people.  My network grows and I know that I have this network to count on whenever I need to call out for help.

Thank you to my Co-Workers and Boss. 
I have the great fortune of working in a job I love for people who are a cut above.  I feel like this team can conquer the world and in fact, I believe we will.  These are difficult times for many people so to be able to work with you all every day makes me eternally grateful.

Thank you to my wife and family. 
There are blessings you take for granted ($5 latte) and then there are the blessings you hope you NEVER take for granted.  My family is my DNA and it’s my DNA that put me right where I am.  How do you thank someone for DNA?  Call, email and spend time with them when you can.  My wife is my greatest fan, my rock and the person who keeps me humble.  I crave balance and she can tip the scales just so and put me back on course.

Thank you all.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008.

Joe the Plumber

I was thinking about Joe the Plumber from the election this month and why he’s a perfect analogy for the typical recruiting process.

Joe the Plumber comes to prominence by voicing concerns about being taxed under Senator Obama’s tax reform.  He’s worried that the plumbing business he is buying will put him over $250K in earnings and he’ll be punished by new tax laws proposed by the Senator.

Now Joe is a national figure; mentioned in news articles, tv shows, and a very public debate.

Only, Joe isn’t what he says he is.

He isn’t a licensed plumber
He’s had cursory conversations about taking over a 3 man plumbing business that nets $100K a year (not $250K)
He’s had two tax liens in the last year, one that is still outstanding
He’s signed up for a plumbing apprenticeship but has never finished it
He makes about $45K a year.

His celebrity was nothing by hype.

Sound like any candidates you’ve dealt with? 

The McCain camp says they can’t possibly check out the backgrounds and stories of every person that may reach conversational status but they do admit that Senator McCain’s standing up for him and calling him “rich” on national TV may have been a mistake.

Hiring managers and John McCain have a lot in common.  They buy the hype, they believe what they want to believe and they more often than not, hire on the news and end up firing on the facts.

As Recruiters, it is OUR responsibility to weed out the Joe the Plumbers from our process.  We have to stand up to the hype and be willing to point out that all that glitters is not gold.

Paying it Forward

It is good to see that in this tough economy, people have not lost their ability to sympathize with those who are conducting a job search.  Great post by Kelly Dingee on Fistful of Talent on this subject.

That said, I am amazed at how many recruiting departments are OK with continuing to let candidates sit in the “black hole” of recruitment.  This “black hole” is created by not communicating with candidates outside of the original “we got your application” email that is sent by the ATS.  I estimate that anywhere from 50% – 85% of the candidates that apply each year to Corporate America hear NOTHING after this acknowledgment! 

Now back to “paying it forward”.  Recruiters don’t want to deliver the “no thank you” message for fear that they will be inundated with calls from candidates asking “why not?”.  These are long held beliefs that seem to be driving business process decisions even though it is unfounded.  I know of several F100 companies who communicate with ALL candidates after the initial aknowledgement and close the loop with 100% of the applicants – WITHOUT this imaginary call volume.  They simply give the candidate information that they are longing to have AND are offering them help in continuing their job search.

Pay it forward is as simple as choosing to communicate with your candidates and giving them information about their application.  Really, it is very simple.