Confessions of a Recruiter - Part 1

Some time ago I attempted to shed a little light on what goes on in the murky world of recruitment. In talking with job seekers - both employed and unemployed - I realize that many are frustrated and angry at a number of things involving the opaqueness of the recruitment process. More often than not, these cases are limited to people who spend the majority of their time applying to jobs online. The main frustrations I hear are:

1. Why didn't the company acknowledge receipt of my application materials?
2. Why didn't the company respond quickly to tell me if I'll be interviewed or not?
3. Why didn't the company contact me for an interview?

All very valid questions. And in a perfect world we would all receive prompt replies to our job applications with a box of chocolates hand delivered to us the next day. But let's be clear on one thing. The recruitment process was not designed to build your self-esteem or quench your ego's thirst. It was designed by the company to hire the best (or most available) applicant. Of course, one could argue (and rightfully so), that a company's recruitment process should be designed to make sure that even rejected applicants are treated with a modicum of dignity and respect. After all, one could argue that rejected candidates are still viable consumers of the company's products or services; as well as potential brand advocates.

Confession #1: Recruiters DO NOT care about your job-search anxiety.

A harsh, but true confession. But if you really think about it, why should they care? They don't even know you! It's like asking Mick Jaggger to personally answer your fanmail. Sorry, not gonna happen. You'll be lucky to receive a copy of an autographed photo of him if he has a good public relations office. And your average company definitely doesn't treat their job applicants like rockstar fans. Your average company does not place any value on contacting every applicant that applies to a job. They only place a value on contacting the ones they want to interview! Your job-search is on your own timetable, not the company's. They didn't open a recruitment process just for you.

One of the reasons for the disappointment job-seekers feel is that many don't understand what the recruitment process is about. Let's break down what "recruitment" is - and what it isn't. According to businessdictionary.com, recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organization) for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner. Definitions for recruitment will vary but from my own personal experience in recruiting and from talking with other recruiters this definition is very accurate.

Now, let's talk about what "recruitment" is not. Recruitment is not a hard science. Nor is it a liberal art. To my knowledge, there is no Newton's Law of Recruitment. There is no formula that exists where you can plug in the characteristics of a potential employee and predict their work success with 100% accuracy. Universities don't offer Bachelors or Master's degrees in Recruitment. So I'm pretty sure you won't meet anyone who tells you that he has just completed his Doctoral degree in Recruitment. And you definitely don't need a professional license to be a recruiter. In reality, the recruiter can be anyone, and no one.

What does all this mean? Well, it means that there is a lot of variance in recruitment practices from person to person, company to company, industry to industry, country to country, etc. Some people have extensive training and experience in recruitment while others don't. Some people involved in the recruitment process have various university degrees and work experience while others hold no degrees or special training at all. Some companies have dedicated recruiters and defined processes while many others have no recruiters at all - not to mention processes! When you submit your résumé online to a job posting or send an unsolicited résumé by email, then there is no way for you to verify who is going to actually read it - if anyone!

Confession #2: Recruiters DO NOT read every résumé they receive.

But surely you already knew that, right? Surely you didn't think a recruiter's favorite hobby was to kick back in his favorite chair and read your résumé line by line like a best-selling novel. I know it's harsh, but believe me it is true. What recruiters like to do is "scan" résumés in as little time as possible to see if anything is there worth following up on. Recruiters are in constant search for "The One" - the candidate whose résumé is the proverbial needle in a haystack. Every recruiter has his own "scanning" style but I can guarantee you that for the experienced recruiters it's less than 20 seconds! So if you have a poorly written résumé, you actually would be better off if a non-experienced recruiter received it.

In this three-part blog series, I promise to reveal the hidden - and often misunderstood - lifestyle of the professional recruiter. It's not as glamorous as lifestyles of the rich and famous and you won't envy the recruiter's professional lifestyle in any way. Hopefully after reading the entire series of confessions you will be better prepared to conduct your job search campaign. But before I write the next blog in this series, I'll leave you with one more little confession...

Confession #3: Recruiters' lives DO NOT revolve around the job posting you applied to.

Beyond the Glory...of Your Last Job!

There was a popular series in the USA called Beyond the Glory that chronicled the lives of legendary sports superstars. Many of these athletes made significant contributions to their respective sports. But at the same time, some stayed in the game well past their prime. Some of the best athletes in the world knew when to leave the game and adapt their skills and experiences to a new career. While others stayed in too long and suffered irreparable damage to their bodies...and personal brand.

How is this relevant for Job Seekers? Whether you are currently employed or not, you need to know when to leave the game. Always doing what made you successful is not a formula for continued success. The world changes too quickly to simply try to "copy and paste" your skills into a new job. You'll need much more flexibility than that my dear job seekers. It can be a humbling experience to know that the very skills you built your career on are no longer valued by the market. But don't despair! Adapt!! Who says you have to be a dinosaur? At a minimum, follow the three easy steps below to get yourself back on the road to success.

Step 1: Go back to the drawing board and realign your passions and know-how with the new realities of the job market. This may require some additional formal training but oftentimes it only requires that you "self-educate" by joining professional associations, reading industry/skill-specific materials, and spending some time discussing your career options with trusted friends/family. Notice, I said realign your "passions" and not "experiences". Sometimes you can't realign your work experiences to the market but passion have no such boundaries. Discover your true passion and find out how to channel that energy into your career choice. Understand the motivating factors behind your passion and the feelings they give you. And then look for ways that you can use the skills that motivate you and ignite your passion to meet job market demands."Know thyself" first and you'll have a much easier time in getting others to know how you can be an asset to them.

Step 2: Target the customers/clients (employers) who are most likely to value someone with your unique abilities. This will definitely require some work but it is worth it! Think about extending the personal brand you've built in your past experiences into other venues. Companies do this all the time. Apple didn't start out as a mobile phone company. But they sure are making a lot of money in that business! They were able to extend the brand they built over the years as an innovative company into multiple areas. How do you do this? Market research. You have to get out there and find people similar to you who have repositioned themselves into new careers. This can be done very easily via LinkedIn or any social networking website that allows you to do keyword searches on their members. Once you find people with backgrounds similar to yours who have repositioned their careers, reach out to them and learn from them. And then you can start building your own path.

Step 3:  Give it away, give it away, give it away now! Like the popular song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers says. But in this third step, I mean for you to give away your passion for free. That's right, I said free! Think of it as the free product/service samples that companies give to prospective consumers. Sometimes people need a little taste of the goods before they commit to a purchase. Don't be afraid to offer your services for "free" BEFORE you can offer them for a "fee". Volunteering your time and services to an organization that will put you in front of prospective clients/employers would be very smart and will pay dividends down the road. Many professionals get their lucky break when doing something for free. Just make sure that your volunteer work is aligned with your passion so that it is truly a part of your core. People will quickly take notice and you'll find that many doors will be opened to your new career path!

So there you have it. Three steps to put you on your career path beyond the glory. So what are you waiting for? Get started today! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.