Based on responses to recent blogs and LinkedIn threads I wrote, I learned there is a lot of anger and vitriol directed at recruiters. When I was a recruiter, I was a valued member of the business community who worked with investors and executives to build their companies and departments. They consulted with me, dined with me treated me with respect. We worked together on boards, forums and industry events.
When I hear horror stories about how some recruiters behave and conduct their business and the resulting anger their behaviors provoke, I am disheartened.
Folks in job search mode need the best resources available; that includes recruiters known to be reliable, honest and effective. Considering the hundreds of recruiter-bashing comments I read, I decided to help folks make a good effort to weed out the good from the bad and suggest a few warning signs to help avoid getting involved with a recruiter who will not help you cross the finish line.
Good recruiters are part of the business community and how you treat them may have an affect on your opportunities. Always be courteous regardless of your interest in the job they call about. Statistics vary but the estimated range of executive level placements made by recruiters is between 25% – 35%. Learn to spot the good ones.
Ask these questions:
- Is this a search you have been invited to conduct?
- Who is your contact within the company?
- Have you worked on behalf of this company before?
- What sort of searches? When?
- What part of my experience tells you I’d be a fit?
- Do you have a job description?
- What will you do with my resume?
- What is the name of the hiring company?
- What is the name and contact information of your company?
- Will you supply references to me?
- May I see the job description with which you are working?
- Is there a charge to me for your services?
Notice the kinds of questions the recruiter asks. Is she fishing? Are his comments too general? Does she understand the job description and how your background relates?
Warnings:
- They ask names of your bosses or direct reports
- They charge for representing you
- They ask for personal information not pertinent to the job
- They have no idea what you do
If you are not satisfied with the answers, be polite and end the conversation. If you are satisfied and want to proceed get the basics.
Your best protection against disreputable and inexperienced recruiters is to avoid the job boards; their favorite hunting grounds.
What’s wrong with recruiters?
A recent post on LinkedIn regarding what to ask a recruiter when they cold call about a terrific job opportunity generated so much recruiter-bashing that I am compelled to learn more.
Why do so many people have such bad things to say about recruiters? Are there that many bad practices? Are there not enough good recruiters to cancel out the bad ones? This is such a hugely emotional issue I hope this post can serve to air some of the issues and some of the solutions. I will make it available on LinkedIn as well.
The reasons I hear most often are
- Recruiters don’t get back to you
- I am just a paycheck to them
- They don’t tell the truth
- They don’t really have the jobs search they contact me about
What do you have to say? If you are a recruiter, be sure to chime in on how candidates can avoid interacting with recruiters who won’t treat them well.
Ritathejobcoach@gmail.com
The delight with being recruited sometimes eradicates judgment. If you are a six-figure income executive, chances are you will be recruited on the telephone by recruiters not known to you. The recruiter calls with a terrific job opportunity and the timing is right, the position exactly what you want…and you forget to get the details about with whom you are dealing.
Here’s a check list of important information you should get when a recruiter calls:
- Get all the contact information immediately. Ask for correct spellings, web sites, phone numbers and any other details.
- What is your relationship with the company? This is another way of asking if they actually have the recruiting assignment. You’d be surprised how often recruiters go on fishing expeditions.
- Are you working with the hiring authority directly? You want to know how valid the information is. If it is filtered through HR, the answers are watered down and often, not current.
- Don’t ask if they are on retainer. Do ask if they have an exclusive arrangement for this search.
- Have you worked on behalf of this company before? This gives you a clue about the validity of the information and the probability they have the ear of the hiring authority.
- What should I expect? This is a way to learn the time frame, the recruiter’s style and how you can make the recruiter’s job easier. This also alleviates the stress of wondering when you will hear back. Set that expectation up front.
- Ask what the recruiter believes is the most compelling part of your background for this job. This opens a discussion that reveals the recruiter’s understanding for the position. It also gives you what you need to write a proper cover letter.
Establish a professional relationship at the beginning and much of the anxiety of working with someone you don’t know dissolves. If you are still leery, ask for references. You don’t want to disclose all your personal information to just anyone.
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Rita Ashley is a career and job search coach for executives. In the last two years 98% of my clients achieved their goals within six months. Is it your turn? Contact me directly to discuss a customized solution.
IS IT A JOB SEARCH OR A CAREER DECISION?
Impatient to land a new job, many six figure candidates neglect to evaluate the long-term affects accepting the wrong job can have on their career.
“I just want a job,” is heard from coast to coast. It takes an amazing amount of self-control and long spousal conversations not to jump at an opportunity just to pay the bills. It is often a short-term solution. Long-term damage to your career can affect future earnings and job satisfaction.
With the intense competition of a tight job market, preserving one’s resume is paramount. The first thing hiring authorities and gatekeepers look for on your resume is your tenure. If you have bounced from one employer to another every two years or less, they look for other candidates with more staying power. That said, you can see why finding a job where you will stay, excel and become known for your expertise is critical.
There is more harm done to your career when you leave an employer after, say nine months, simply because the fit was wrong or the resources for your success were missing. No amount of explaining changes the fact that you made a bad decision.
To avoid contaminating your work history thus, create a go/no-go list to rule in that which you need to be successful and rule out that which will impede your career. Then use it. Say no to any opportunity that doesn’t include your ‘go’ list variables.
What else can you do? Vet the company. Use the same criteria investors use: If you wouldn’t invest $150,000 of your own money in the company, don’t take the job. Why? Because that is exactly what you do when you accept a job. You are investing your compensation amount that the company will be able to pay you and offer continued employment. For specific metrics used by investors read, Job Search Debugged.
Short tenure is especially harmful to VP level candidates. As officers of the company, they are especially vulnerable to being overlooked if they can not demonstrate long-term fiduciary responsibility and strategic planning and execution; things not apparent with a short stay. Short stints at two or more companies will take you out of the running for most VP level jobs in solid companies; a real blow to your career.
You did all the right things and followed all their advice. They promised a response and the air is still dead. What can you do?
Five complaints about hiring authorities and gatekeepers who don’t follow up in a timely manner:
- “The recruiter said she’d get back to me yesterday and I still haven’t heard.”
- “I know I nailed the interview, why haven’t I heard back?”
- “I submitted my resume and I know I qualify. Why didn’t someone call me?”
- “She told me to call her and I did. That was last week and she hasn’t responded.”
- “I really want this job. What is my next move? No one responded to my last three pings.”
The hardest aspect of a job search is you have so little control over other people’s actions and the outcomes. You work very hard to be a good candidate and even have all the right credentials. How on earth can you get the promised feedback?
Mostly, you can’t. The more frequently you ping your company contact, the more annoyed they get. Consider how you feel when you are hiring someone. Do frequent emails or phone calls from candidates change the outcome? Gatekeepers and hiring authorities are generally so focused on hiring the right candidate they often fail at the simple courtesies.
But don’t take any of this personally. Here are but a few reasons you didn’t hear back:
- You are dealing with a recruiter, not the hiring manager. She may not have the mind share and face time required to push this through
- The hiring managers may be otherwise occupied
- This may not be a high priority hire
- They may be trying to arrange schedules to bring you in and have hit rocks
- There is an in-house candidate they are giving first shot
- The recruiter is not a favored nation and other recruiters with other candidates get priority
No matter what the reason, there is little you can do or say beyond your second outreach to spur these folks to action. There is a lot you can do to annoy them and take you off the list. Even if you do get through and they tell you of a genuine reason they didn’t get back to you, it behooves you to pursue all your employment opportunities in parallel. Hearing back will feel good, but it should not affect what you do every day to uncover opportunities.
All this having been said, your experience informs you how to behave when you are once again hiring people. The simple courtesy of an email saying, “We are still working on filling this position and are pleased with your continued interest,” will go a long way.
Your friends appreciate your advice and tell you you should become a coach as a profession. You are flattered and tempted because you really love telling people what to do.
Just as mothers encourage their children to aspire to their dreams, so do friends we coach encourage us. They are seldom the best barometer of our talents. For myself, I have degrees in Psychology, Counseling and a 25 year history in management, recruiting and coaching: All of which lend serious credibility to my coaching advice. Other than a lot of job searches, what credentials do you bring to the party? Are they substantive? Do they instill confidence?
Ignore your friends’ advice. Instead, find three very different strangers in your geographic area who are in job search mode. Offer to coach them for free. You can ask for a testimonial later which is extremely valuable. Work all three at once to gauge your energy and tolerance.
Try your techniques, your communications style and advice to address their needs. Periodically ask, what can I do to be more successful coaching you? If all your new clients get results within three months or shorter, consider coaching. If not, find another business. Ask them for feedback and listen without being defensive. They are telling you how they see you which is how others will see you. No amount of explaining on your part changes that.
Coaching is very difficult and requires adapting to a lot of very stressed out people. Coaching requires excellent listening skills and the ability to leave yourself out of the equation. The employment support world is a crowded space and finding new clients is time consuming and difficult. It is a business, not a charity, but most people close to you will expect you to help for free. If people are not willing to pay for your services, it is not a business no matter how flattering their interest is.
And last, but certainly not least, be mindful of your writing skills. You will write long emails and help clients with their messaging. If you are not an excellent writer, you hurt rather than support their efforts.
Coaching is primarily an after-hours job. Most people focus on their job search at odd ours. Their coach must do the same. Ask yourself, why would anyone want to work that hard?
My friend Eric loves to ski. He spends time at Whistler and Crystal in Seattle area. Every time he goes, he returns with new business. I tell him to keep skiing.
You never know where you will meet new contacts. Successful executives work very hard and often duck out mid-week for a mental health day and can be found on the slopes, bike trails and golf course. Include these venues for your job search and you benefit twice: Once with new connections and the other, a bit of R & R.
Come prepared with your Elevator Pitch, business cards and an open mind. You never know where help for your job search will come from. Creating a bond over a shared experience is a solid maneuver to get to the right people. Plus, you share a guilty secret.
So get on the slopes mid-week. Play a round of golf or race down that mountain bike trail. Hang out in the club house and 19th hole. It’s all in the name of a sophisticated job search.
*Since I wrote this original post, several people have offered other unique places to meet the senior executives and hiring authorities. Here a just a few:
- Thermal Baths-seems being mostly naked loosens folks up a bit.
- Create your own job search group.
- The gym, especially in classes.
- Doing what you love.
- Meetings at your kid’s school.
- Groups found at meetup.com.
Ok, so the focus is on the bottom line and reducing staff is the easy way to accomplish that. Or is it?
‘A’ players in six figure jobs are always in demand. When they see their resources cut back, their staff dwindling, they recognize their own success may be impaired. Inevitably, they start paying attention to those frequent calls from recruiters.
One bloke I know who works for a highly visible company gets six or seven inquiries a month. The urban myth there are no jobs does not visit those with an outstanding track record and apparent personal brand. If these important employees, and every company has a few, no longer have faith their company will endure or will further their professional ambitions, these ‘A’ players often leave.
The results? Companies who used a lay off to shore up their resources just lost a key player thereby weakening their prospects for success. Downward spiral, anyone?
LINKEDIN ADDRESS BOOK, YOURS, MINE AND THEIRS
Last week I asked four people if they gathered their LinkedIn email addresses into their main address book. Not one knew that was an option.
In case you have not stumbled on the tool to accomplish the export, take a look at this:
Go to the contacts page and find the export tool in the lower left corner. Simple instructions pop up and the deed is done. Because it duplicates what may already be in your address book you may want to create a new category before you import.
This is a nice feature that makes it easy for you to contact your LinkedIn connections directly; no longer do you have to depend on LinkedIn to deliver messages or respond using their services. It is especially nice if you want to broadcast a message to a subset of your connections.
LIONs, those LinkedIn members with as many as 30,000 connections can also use this tool. (LinkedIn limits connections to 30,000.) One wonders at the avaricious behavior of those determined to be “open networkers” and who acquire names like children acquire baseball cards and my little ponies. Is this a game? Is someone keeping score about who has the most names? It certainly isn’t a real network because it is impossible truly to connect to so many people. Why do they do it?
I asked a few connections with a large network to notify job seekers about companies that are hiring. I created a blog and a website with listings. I don’t make money from either and there is no downside. The lists are simply my way of giving back. Not one of the large network connections even responded to my request. They will be removed from my contact list.
Removing them will be a minor blip on their numbers. They no longer have access to my first and second and third degree network which is only about six million or so. But at least I know I am no longer facilitating those who do not understand quid pro quo.
Not all highly networked entries will be removed. There are certain employment based individuals who have a large network because they interact in some way with their connections. But their presence begs the question, why do people want to acquire random names?
One reason may be is that they sell those easy to export email addresses. Yes, LinkedIn users, you may have volunteered your contact information and other important data to multi-level marketers, phishing scams and all manner of International not-so-nice Internet scams. Let’s hope you used your free email account rather than your personal one. Gmail and Hotmail, for example, have terrific spam catchers and you certainly will need one if you connect to LIONs whom you don’t know.
Job search for that six figure job just got easier. You have been using LinkedIn and you know how important networking is to land a job.
When you have an introduction to the hiring authority you go to the head of the pack. LinkedIn offers you that chance. The search people feature has a drop down menu to search jobs. Type in the name of the company in which you are interested and a screen with all the open jobs appears. On the right side is the question, who do I know. Once you click on that names of people in your extended network associated with the company appears.
Your job search just got easy. All you have to do is contact one of those connections and ask for an introduction. If you are not connected you can find someone in your own network who does know those people. The door to your new job is now open. All you have to do to walk through is follow up with a classy request for an introduction.
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