Mentorship – The Recruiter Mission Statement

As a senior Recruiter, I have had the priviledge of being a mentor for numerous junior Recruiters.  I’ve had a few mentors myself and their advice and example continues to be an inspiration for me today.  To this day, my mentors have influenced the way I conduct myself, the way I do business, the way I interact with people, the way I solve problems for my clients.  Along the way, Recruiters that I have mentored have moved on to other firms or started their own.  What follows is the “Recruiter Mission Statement” that I send to all my mentees:

• Take care of the candidate; take care of the client; the money will take care of itself. 
• Look out for the best interests of your candidate and your client.  Looking out for your self-interests is a career-killer
• This world is too small to treat people like cattle. 
• Respect people’s time.  But don’t waste your energy on people who won’t respect yours. 
• What you do for a living has a real impact on people’s lives.  You’re helping them make their mortgage/rent payment, car payment, put food on the table, pay for their kid’s education, take a step closer towards their dream job, etc…  Don’t underestimate or undermine what you do for a living.   
• There’s nothing wrong with fighting the good fight; as long as you remember why you’re fighting and who you’re fighting for
• If someone leaves you a message, return their call.  Return every call that’s made to you.   
• Recruitment is about relationships; take the time to get to know your candidates.  The candidate you meet today could one day be your client or your employer.
• Be a Recruiter – not a “staffer.”  This means being able to find a hard-to-find candidate.  This means being proactive; not passively waiting and hoping a candidate will appear 
• There’s a reason a candidate takes the time to send their resume and meet with you; they need help finding a job.  Help them.  You might not get the immediate payback of spending an extra 30 minutes with a candidate to help them with their resume, but they won’t forget it because so few other firms will take the time to do that
• Act like a Consultant.  You know more about building a resume, finding a job and interviewing than most of the people who will walk through that door.  Be the subject matter expert.  Educate your candidates. 
• You’ll have more success as an outstanding Recruiter in a few areas, than to be an “ok” Recruiter in a wide range of areas.  Pick 2 or 3 fields that are of particular interest to you and learn as much as you can about the industry and the professions in that industry. 
• Candidates and clients don’t care who you work for.  If you’ve done a good job building relationships with candidates and clients, they’ll stick with you, regardless of the company name on your business card. 
• Recruitment is constantly evolving.  If you’re not up-to-date with the latest tools and trends in recruitment, you’ll be obsolete before you know it.
• Email is a good tool.  The phone is a better tool.  Both are essential in your success, but neither is as effective as a meeting.  Meet with candidates you’ve placed (even the ones you haven’t placed).  Meet with as many clients as possible.   
• The market is saturated with recruitment firms.  Most of them are crap and most of the Recruiters working for them are crap.  Be better than most crap.

Recruiter Sitcom?

Why isn’t there a sitcom about the day-to-day life in the world of third party Recruiters?  It would be hilarious!  Anyone who has had any interaction with a third party Recruiter would find it funny.  I’m sure every Recruiter has a “What the… ?!?!” story to tell.  It would be an opportunity to poke fun at the industry (and let’s face it, we sometimes take ourselves a little too seriously), poke fun at ourselves, as well as candidates and clients.  Hey, is Charlie Sheen available??  He’d be agreat to cast as a Recruiter!  Some episodes could be:

•  The candidate who shows up for an interview wearing short-shorts, that say “juicy” on them
• The candidate who explains the gap in her experience was because she was an exotic dancer at the time and didn’t think she should put that on her resume.  Though it shouldn’t be a surprise considering she showed up wearing stiletto heels, a short skin-tight skirt and a blouse that plunged a little too low.  Cue the loud music and strobe lights! 
• The client who says, “I’m not a racist or a bigot, but could you find me someone whose heritage is from one of the northern European countries or the UK?”
• The client who says, “We can’t hire her.  She told me she was pregnant during the interview.”
• The client who shouts profanities at the Recruiter because he didn’t realize that a 30% fee on a $100,000 salary would mean he’d have to write us a cheque for $30,000; then subsequently fires the employee because he doesn’t want to pay the fee. 
• The Recruiter who believes they deserve half of the commission because they received a call from the client to coordinate an interview with a candidate that you had presented
• The candidate who shows up for an interview at one of the less-than reputable staffing firms and are subsequently treated like cattle when they arrive
• The Recruiter who begs and pleads with the candidate not to resign until at least a day after the guarantee period is complete
• The candidate who gets fired after her first day because she thought it would be a good idea to walk into the Director’s office (whom she’s never met before), grab a coffee and newpaper, slip her shoes off and prop her bare feet on his desk and have a casual conversation about the day’s headlines

The list of episodes could potentially be endless!  As long as there are Recruiters, Candidates and Clients being ridiculous (as people tend to do) then you’d never run out of episodes!  I’m sure it would be a hit and would go into syndication!  Now, what do we call the show??

Surefire ways your resume ends up in “Deleted Items”

They say (whoever ‘they’ are) that the first impression counts a lot and to have a good, firm handshake.  Well, before you can even get to the handshake, you need to make a positive first impression on your resume.  Your resume is the real first impression that you will make; so make sure it’s a good one!  Take the time and care to make sure your resume best represents your experience and, perhaps more importantly, your accomplishments.  Take the time and care to make sure your resume doesn’t end up in ‘Deleted Items’ for reasons that have nothing to do with your ability to do a great job for a prospective employer.  Following are surefire ways to have your resume end up in “Deleted Items”: 

•  Spelling mistakes/typos: This is an obvious one, yet we continue to receive resumes with spelling mistakes.  We have clients who won’t bother interviewing a candidate who has spelling mistakes on their resume.  It shows a lack of attention-to-detail.  It’s not enough to run your resume through spellcheck.  You can still have the correct spelling of a word, but completely out of context.  For instance, ‘Mach’ is not the same as ‘March.’  ‘Pubic’ is not the same as ‘Public.’  Understand the differences between ‘there,’ ‘their’ and ‘they’re,’ and use the proper one.  We’ve even received resumes that had the incorrect spelling of the candidate’s own name!  Read your resume over a few times, then send it to a friend to double-check it.   
• Poor grammar in your cover letter and resume:  Proper spelling isn’t the only thing you need to be conscientious of.  Even though your resume may be in bullet point form, the sentences still have to be coherent.  Be mindful of punctuation and run-on sentences.  The way you write a cover letter can speak volumes about the way you would write a business report.  Approach your cover letter the same way you would a business report, by being mindful of punctuation, grammar and spelling.   
• Not including contact information: If you don’t take the time to include your contact information – specifically your phone number and email address – what makes you think an employer is going to take the time to look up the original email you sent your resume from?  Make it easy for employers to contact you.  You can put your contact information on every page of your resume as a header or footer. 
• Not attaching your resume:  You’d be surprised at the number of emails we receive with no resume attached.  As a Recruitment Consulting company, we’ll always respond back, asking you to attach your resume.  However, most employers won’t bother.  It’s a lot easier and quicker to hit the ‘delete’ button than it is to reply back to you, asking you to attach your resume.  Before hitting the ‘send’ button, make sure your resume is attached.  Better yet, attach your resume to the email before doing anything else. 
• Inappropriate email address: Don’t expect to get a call back if your email address begins with, ‘ilovetoparty’ or ‘letsgetwasted’ or ‘hugnkisses’ or anything else that would be deemed inappropriate.  Set up a professional email address through any number of free email providers.  Bottom line: if you have to think about whether or not your email address is unprofessional or inappropriate, then it probably is.  
• A picture of yourself (or your pet):  Yes, we’ve received resumes with pictures of their pets.  Unless you’re applying for a job at a pet store, keep the pictures of your pet in a photo album.  While it’s quite common in other countries for applicants to include a picture of themselves, in Canada it’s a potential human rights issue related to discrimination.  Unless you’re applying for a job as a model, leave pictures of yourself in a photo album.    
• Having inspirational and/or religious quotes in your cover letter and/or resume: What you might find inspirational of motivational, someone else may find nauseating or offensive.  Don’t take that chance.  Anything remotely argumentative, such as politics or religion, has no place on your resume or cover letter.  If it’s part of your email signature, delete it before sending your resume. 
• Over-the-top graphics: Unless you’re applying for a job as a Graphics Designer, leave the fancy graphics for your portfolio.  Graphics will simply be distracting and will make it more difficult for an employer to read your resume.  Employers don’t have more than a few seconds to scan through your resume.  Make sure you’re not detracting their attention away from the real content of your experience. 
• Addressing your cover letter to “Mr. Employer” when “he” is actually a “she” (or vice-versa):  Unless you know absolutely, 100% for certain, that the person receiving your resume is male or female, leave out the salutation.  Don’t take the chance of potentially offending the first person who will be reviewing your resume.  

Lorica provides individual consulting as well as group seminars on resume development.  For more information, please visit us at www.lorica.ca.

There’s No Shame in Work

As third-party Recruiters, we’re only human and subject to our own biases. We don’t have to like the candidate in order to find them a job – but it certainly helps. We don’t have to share the same opinion and attitudes about your job search – but it certainly helps.

The other day, we were working with a candidate in his search for employment. He is a senior level manager who was recently laid off after many years with the same firm. He came to us because his job search was proving to be unsuccessful. We’ve now had a relationship with this candidate for more than a year. The initial meetings we had with him were spent on re-working his resume and discussing job search strategies. After being employed for so long with the same firm, he’d had no reason to work on his resume (and it showed). It needed a lot of work! After a few months, we found him a contract opportunity for about 6 months. It was a step back in pay and the level of responsibility he is accustomed to, but it was an opportunity to work; and an opportunity to get his foot in the door of a very large corporation. The contract ended after 6 months due to budgetary constraints and the employer was not able to extend the contract or offer him a permanent position. About a month after his contract ended, the employer came back to us to see if the candidate was still available and if he’d be interested in coming back for a few more weeks. When we spoke with the candidate to ask him if he’d be interested in going back for a few more weeks, he’d responded, “No. That work was beneath me and the pay was an embarrasment.” We asked the candidate if he had managed to find work on his own, to which he responded, “No.” He was still unemployed and actively looking for work, but he wasn’t willing to go back to a, “menial job for crap pay.” We promptly informed our client that he was no longer available for that position because he felt he was being underutilized and wasn’t interested interested in returning. Our take is this: There is no shame in work. In this incredibly competitive job search environment, it’s better to be working, than not. And you never know what doors will open when you start any new job. While others might disagree with our opinion on this matter, we think it says a lot about a person’s character when they express things like, “That job is beneath me” or “I’d rather be unemployed and remain on Employment Insurance rather than do that job.” Let’s put it this way: You cannot put “Employment Insurance” on your resume. It adds no value to your experience, but it does say a lot about your character. Going back to the candidate, while we still do maintain a relationship with him, we have to admit that we don’t feel the same level of commitment in assisting him in his job search than we did about a year ago. Being human, we simply don’t feel the same level of confidence in representing him to potential clients. It may not be fair, but it’s the reality.

Lorica provides individual consultation and group seminars on job search strategies. For more information, visit us at www.lorica.ca.

Wouldn’t it be nice…. (Employers)

Wouldn’t it be nice…

• If you could tell a candidate the real reason he/she did not get the job
• If candidates were simply open and honest about their strengths and weaknesses, instead of giving you rehearsed answers.  Would it be better or worse if a candidate told you, “I’m not a morning person.  Don’t bother having a conversation with me until I’ve had my coffee.” 
• If candidates presented themselves the way they would really be like in the office, instead of simply trying to put on their best show at the interview.
• If candidates were simply open and honest about why they didn’t stay with a particular employer.  Would it be so bad if a candidate said, “I was in way over my head and I couldn’t handle the job.  They let me go as a result.”  (Perhaps the opportunity at your company is a better fit).  Or perhaps a candidate tells you, “My colleague was a manipulative, back-stabbing SOB and I couldn’t take it any more.  I had to get out of there.”  (Haven’t we all worked with someone like that).
• If you could assess a candidate based on a 30 minute casual conversation over coffee
• If candidates were simply “candid.” 

Alas, it’s not that simple.  But it sure would make interviews a whole lot more fun!  The recruitment and selection process takes time and costs money.  You want to make sure you are making the best use of your time and your organization’s money.  An interview really comes down to 3 questions:

1. Can this candidate do the job?
2. Does this candidate want the job?
3. Considering that I’m going to be spending a lot of time with this candidate, can I work alongside with them?

When you’re putting together a list of questions to ask your interviewees, the most effective use of your time and money will be to ensure that your questions address the above 3 core questions.

Wouldn’t it be nice… (Candidates)

Wouldn’t it be nice…

• to get a personal response to the resume you just submitted, instead of the automated ‘thank you’ message you received in your inbox, a split second after you hit the submit button.
• to get really honest feedback; to know the real reason you didn’t get the job.  Perhaps they didn’t think your tie matched your jacket.  Perhaps the answer you gave to one particular question was a deal-breaker.  Perhaps you were too short.  Perhaps they were threatened by your good looks.  Or perhaps (dare we say it) you weren’t from the country of origin they wanted.        
• to get constructive feedback; to have a prospective employer spend a few minutes with you to discuss how your interview performance might be improved or why your resume did not warrant an interview.  Or suggest another company that you might be a better fit for. 

Alas, all these things (and more) would be nice.  Having a real live person answer the phone when you call your phone company for assistance would be nice too, but those days are gone, for better or for worse.  All these things would be nice, but we live in a technological era of continuously improving efficiencies (ie. if a computer can do it, let the computer do it).  We also live in a sensitive and litigious era and for a potential employer to provide really honest feedback would open themselves up to human rights lawsuits and poor public relations.  This is the era we live in and you can’t change that.  But what you can do is live with it and work through it.  Besides, if an employer screens you out for any reason that would be a potential human rights issue,or anything that has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to excel in the job, chances are you don’t want to work for that organization anyways.       

Next blog: Wouldn’t it be nice (employers).

Message to Employers: “We’ll Let You Know”

Imagine if you will, going into one of your favourite home renovation retail stores, anticipating and hoping that they will have the specific item you’ve been needing to complete the renovation on your bathroom.  You go into the store, filled with positive energy and nervous excitement.  Because it’s a special order item, you ask one of the Associates for assistance.  You discuss all the details, specifications and pricing, then ask him when you can expect delivery.  To which he responds, “We’ll let you know.”  You walk out of the store with a little less positive energy, but still a glimmer of hope that he will indeed “let you know.”  As the days go by, the glimmer of hope fades and fades, until a few weeks go by and all hope is vanished.  And your bathroom is not quite perfect. 

                Ok, maybe it’s a bit of a stretch to compare a retail shopping experience to the selection process.  But the fact remains, too many employers leave candidates with the closing statement, “We’ll let you know.”  Perhaps it’s easier to say than, “You didn’t get the job.”  This goes back to our previous blog of having some courtesy.  Give candidates a specific date.  For example, “We’ll let you know by the end of the week,” or  “If you don’t hear from us before the end of the week, it means we’ve decided to pursue another candidate.”  Note: if you tell a candidate that you will let them know by the end of the week, make sure you let them know by the end of the week.  In either case, give your candidates an opportunity for closure on the opportunity.  Don’t leave them with that incomplete bathroom reno!

 Lorica: The Civil Recruiters, provides individual consultation and corporate seminars on recruitment and selection strategy.  For more information, please visit us at www.lorica.ca.