Uncle…I give up. For years I’ve resisted the new call of nature: hashtags, likes, SEO, SEM, crowdfunding, microsites, 140 characters, bots, bits and trending. Force fed by the immersion in technology and a tsunami of everything digital, I became convinced we had exchanged quality for quantity; that we had become a society obsessed with seeing everything and knowing nothing. Saying something to prove we’re at once current and smart. But now I’ve seen the light and given myself over to the dark side. That’s right: blogging.
What happened? After 8 years of recruiting, maybe I have something worth saying. Why now? I’ve discovered that despite all the talk about whitespace, corporate strategy, new business and channel models, demand generation, revenue optimization and most importantly employee engagement, most corporations need tighter focus on identifying what the profile and DNA of a good hire really look like. For their part, many candidates—and shame on those in sales and marketing roles whose success relies on telling really good stories—are so short-sighted in their career planning and lame in their story-telling that it is little wonder many meander from job to job. Spoiler alert…I’ve been guilty of all of the above! I’ve hired senior people simply because I liked them, and on a whim left jobs that many people would envy. How stupid of me! So here we go, I’ll do my best to offer up a variety of observations and opinions that may add a little to the most important element of business: how employers and people come together and align to create really good workplaces, and satisfying career choices. We’ll talk about how Employer Brand and Candidate Experience combine to deliver magic. But first, some observations on what you’ll see in future blogs:
For Employers
- Have a plan. Before you start any search, have a discussion with your internal team and define what the winning hire will look like. What experience, traits, previous experience, success, soft skills will they have? This will help paint a picture that everyone on your team can refer to. Do not confuse this with a job description.
- Pay attention to your employer brand. Every interaction your internal staff or external recruiters have with every candidate reflects on your image. Negative experiences spread in a hurry. Think about who you send to represent your company.
- Choose the right people for the job. Junior recruiters should stick to junior roles. Don’t ask them or contingency recruiters to have a meaningful career discussion with a senior candidate.
- “They’re just not a good fit” is common feedback from an interview, but unfortunately not very informative. Try to think of the interview as a mini-performance appraisal for a direct report. Provide feedback that the candidate can use for future opportunities. If you start with a plan and clear role definition, you can provide accurate and meaningful feedback.
- Be timely and have a sense of urgency. In far too many companies, when the hiring manager says “Nothing is more important than this hire”, his actions really say that “I’m too busy with my day job to get to this today (or tomorrow, or next week).”
For Candidates
- Smart people have a career plan. If you haven’t thought about your ambitions, potential, path and development plans beyond your current role, one of 2 things can happen. You may get lucky or just as likely, make a wrong turn and get what lands in your lap.
- Quality shows. As a recruiter, I live for conversations, and the opportunity to represent smart, ambitious people who take their careers seriously, who want to grow, and who deliver great results.
- Lack of preparation or acting indifferently in an interview make you—and by extension me—look bad. That will not happen a second time in a business where reputation is everything.
- Story telling is everything. Think about what defines you as a person, and differentiates you from the dozens of other people who want the role we’re discussing. More on developing your Personal Value Proposition in future blogs.
- Drop the buzzwords. Anyone who calls themself dynamic, visionary, exceptional, outstanding, transformational, inspiring or a change agent is missing the purpose of a resume. Think about real-life conversations, most people would never talk about themselves in those terms. Let your actions lead, and then let your peers and manager use these words to describe you. Loading them all into your resume diminishes your achievements.
Next time, an important discussion from the recruiting food chain. A car salesman, life insurance agent, lawyer and recruiter are in a rowboat that is taking on water….