SittingXlegged

Top 10 Ways to Identify and Eradicate a Pest

Simon Meth — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:20:17 -0500

Some candidates are pests. They just bug you. These are the folks who work hard to take up as much of your time as they can. Here's how to identify them and how to deal with them:

1) Pests apply to every job on your corporate job site. They reason that if applying to one job is good then applying to 200 is even better. They don't realize that this is a sure fire way to be identified as a pest. Where I work we disposition every job that a candidate applies to. That results in a long list of rejections which is like a neon sign to recruiters that says "Don't hire me!"

2) Pests track you down every way they can. They email you. They leave multiple voice mail messages. They send you messages on LinkedIn, twitter or facebook. They call other people in your company to let them know how great they are. Pests don't understand that taking a shotgun approach does not cause them to be viewed in the best light. They are viewed as spammers or junk mailers and nobody likes them.

3) Pests drop by your office and ask for just a few minutes of your time. They bug your front office people who may not know how to deal with them.

4) Pests tell you that they were referred by someone at your company. Oftentimes you eventually find out that the person that "referred" them doesn't even know them or perhaps doesn't recommend them.

5) Pests show up at every job fair. They tell you that they met one of your colleagues at a previous job fair who told them that they were a great fit for your company.

6) Pests write cover letters that have two columns: one that lists your requirements and another that shows where their skills match up. This would be OK if they didn't stretch the truth so much or make nebulous associations.

7) Pests think that listing everything they have ever done on their resume is a good idea.

8) Pests think that providing a long list of references with their resume is a good idea.

9) Pests think that name dropping will help their case.

10) Pests just won't take "no" for an answer

There is a really simple way to deal with pests and it does not involve the use of harsh chemicals. When you identify a pest there is just one thing to do and that is to pick up the phone and call them. Genuinely let them know that you appreciate their interest and give them an opportunity to talk. Make sure that you really listen to what they have to say and that they know that you are listening. After that have a really straight conversation with them. Review their resume with them and the positions they applied for and let them know that you don't see a fit. You should never give them details so just keep it general. I've done this countless times and mostly I receive a thank you for taking the time to reach out. An amazing thing usually happens. The pest ceases to be a pest!

Your Career Change and Transferable Skills

Simon Meth — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:42:25 -0500

Don't do it! Yes, that's right, don't do it! You may hate your current job or there may be a declining demand or zero demand for your skills in our current job market. But does that mean that you should throw the baby out with the bathwater? I think not. Now, there are lots of career counselors, resume writing experts, life coaches, and other well meaning folks who will help you figure out what skills you have that are transferable to new careers. But is that the best approach? Read on to find out how I think you should do it.

Here's the challenge. Let's say you rewrite your resume to highlight all the really neat stuff that you can do that is transferable to your chosen new career. You find a suitable position and apply online. What happens? If someone like me sees your resume you're not going to go anywhere. You see I look for people who have been doing recently what I want them to do in a similar environment. That simple little sentence is the basis or should be the basis of what corporate recruiters do.

Now I'm not saying that people don't or shouldn't make career changes. I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is that going cold turkey on your current career is a mistake. It's a big mistake. Assuming that you already have a job, you should keep it. It may not be the greatest job but it is a job. Find ways to add value where you are, learn new things, and expand your resume. When was the last time you volunteered for more work rather than complaining about the work that you already have? If you're lucky, there will be work just lying around waiting for someone to pick it up and that work may actually expand what you know how to do.

Let's say you don't currently have a job. What are you absolutely best at? What have you got the most experience doing? Target those areas. Maybe you'll need to take a slightly lower level position than you had in past but that's quite OK. Get to work and start expanding your skills and making yourself more valuable.

Now that you're working, adding value, expanding your skill-set, and being a productive employee you can start thinking about that career change. My bet is that over 50% of people who follow this path will discover that they actually love their chosen career and will give up thoughts of making a change. But perhaps you're really good at what you do and just want to do something else? Go take some classes, volunteer in your spare time, network your butt off with people in that new area. Join societies, user groups and get out and meet some people. Create a really punchy elevator speech and share it with anyone who'll listen. Don't just talk about it, do something!

And another thing, is your job really that bad? Check out my favorite Dirty Jobs episode in which a Las Vegas pig farmer recycles waste from the casino buffets. Enjoy!

Ten Things I’ve learned about Corporate Recruitment

Simon Meth — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:15:55 -0500

After many years in corporate recruitment I've learned a few things. At least I think I have. Read the following ten things I've learned and see if they resonate with you. Please add some things you've learned as a comment.

Hiring managers often complain about not receiving enough good resumes from you but they often either don't review or don't respond to the resumes you send them.
Candidates apply to jobs that they have no business applying to. I'm a plumber so I'll apply for a brain surgery position because it's like plumbing.
You can't satisfy everyone all the time so satisfy as many people as you possibly can.
People love or at least appreciate feedback both positive and negative.
It's boring to look at hundreds of resumes and attention often wavers.
Being a good administrator is critical to being a good corporate recruiter.
It's much better to let a hiring manager know that you're searching for qualified candidates and not send any resumes than it is to hide from the hiring manager and send junk.
Closing top candidates starts with the first contact you ever have with them.
At most companies, great candidates are dying on the vine. First pick the low hanging fruit.
Referrals are the number one source of corporate hires and the quality of referral candidates is, at best, no better than other candidates and maybe even lower.

Does Your Resume Help You or Hurt You?

Simon Meth — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:16:57 -0500

I was talking with a career counseling client the other day. He's a smart guy with a PhD and loads of great high tech experience. And still there were some basic things about his resume that were hurting him. So I got to thinking about that and wondering about how widespread this phenomenon is. As a corporate recruiter, you could say that I look at resumes for a living. I've got loads of experience reading resumes and I see all sorts of funny things each day. At least they would be funny if they didn't cause me to reject the resumes and move on. I've written before here on the subject and I point my new career counseling clients there first with a recommendation to read the article, to make any changes they see fit, and to send me an updated copy of their resume. Here are some new ideas:

1) If you're originally from another country and you are now a citizen of the country where you are looking for work, let the reader know that. Nobody wants to deal with someone who needs a visa to work unless they are desperate for talent. If you have the right to work and are not a citizen, then say that.

2) Your objective should state clearly what it is you want to do. It is not a catch-all for everything you may want to do. If you don't know what you want to do then do some work on that before you write your resume. Corporate recruiters want to know what you want to do.

3) If you have technical skills, you must integrate them into the experience section for each job where you used them. It is not enough to provide a long list of skills elsewhere on your resume. Corporate recruiters want to know what you used when and what you did with it.

4) If you submit your resume to a corporate site it will almost always end up in an applicant tracking system (ATS). If the ATS butchers your resume the corporate recruiter will ignore it and move on. So keep your formatting clear and simple. Almost all ATSs will handle an MS Word doc well unless you add lots of lines, multi-columns, and graphics. If you don't have MS Word then save your resume in a widely used and transportable format. Pdf is fine for email but often not fine for ATSs. Simple is best!

5) Some candidates believe that if applying for one job at a specific corporate site is good that applying for every job is better. All this does is makes you look desperate and non-discriminating. I see this all the time and it's a waste of my time to disposition the same candidate 20 times. This is not the way to encourage a corporate recruiter to look favorably at you.

6) It's a great idea to include hyperlinks on your resume to companies you've worked for and to samples of your work. Hyperlinks give the reader an easy way to find out more about you if they are interested in learning more. Consider adding links to your blog, your Linkedin profile, your twitter profile, and your Google profile. What? You don't have all of those? You'd better go read another article of mine that covers that and some other ideas on finding a new job.

7) Some candidates are just pests. They apply online, they call all their friends who work at your company to make internal referrals, and they call everyone they can who may be able to get them in the door. Is this bad? Well it surely shows enthusiasm and persistence and that's a good thing for some jobs such as sales, corporate recruiting, and account management. But nobody likes a pest and too much of this will hurt you. My practice is to return every call and email and every now and then I'll find a pest that I'll eventually ignore.

8) When you do secure an interview, make absolutely sure that you complete all paperwork clearly and completely. See resume is not an answer to a request for details of your past job experience. Incomplete or missing information will be interpreted as a strong indication of the quality of your work.

9) When you do secure an interview, do some significant preparation. Research the company and find out what they do. If you know the names of the interviewers then research them. Don't know how to do that? Better get busy finding out!

10) Throughout the whole job search process you are being judged and evaluated. "I didn't see your email" or "I didn't get your voice mail" is just lame. If you get an email from a corporate recruiter then take great care in how you respond. Typos and grammatical errors in email correspondence are just as damaging as on your resume.

If you have thoughts, comments, or other ideas please let me know.

America...

Simon Meth — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:03:41 -0500

What Makes a Great Corporate Recruiter?

Simon Meth — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:25:31 -0500

Exactly what personality, competencies, and experiences make a great corporate recruiter? No one person could possibly exhibit all of the qualities on this list. Each of us will exhibit some of the qualities but not all of them. The opportunity is to notice the areas where you excel and those areas where you could develop yourself.

Before we dive into the list, a quick word on the major sources of this information: I posted questions on LinkedIn, RecruitingBlogs.com, and ere.net. Follow the links for the great and varied responses from many of our colleagues.

And now, the list:

Customer service mentality-however you care to look at it, it's undeniable that we're in the customer service business. We have two groups of customers: our hiring managers and our candidates. Ideally we'd all keep everyone happy all of the time. That may not be possible but having a strong customer service mentality will go a long way to achieving that.

Compelled to provide an outstanding candidate and hiring manager experience-this is really more about customer service mentality but it's good to look at it from the perspective of the experience that others have.

Excellent organizational skills-corporate recruiters are responsible for a lot. When you consider the hundreds of resumes we review each week, the countless emails we read, the interviews, the meetings, and inevitable interruptions, it's a wonder we're as productive as we are. The only way we can be this productive is to have excellent organizational skills. Otherwise things will continually drop through the cracks, will take too long, and our customers won't be happy.

Strong administrative skills-our work must be accurate, complete, detailed, and prompt. We must understand that everything flows from the paperwork we generate while we're hiring a candidate. We may be audited by the OFCCP, EEOC or some other organization. Will your files be the ones that cause your company to pay a huge fine? Are you creating messes for others to clean up?

Great at working with people-we're in the people business. We must love working with people and look forward to each and every interaction.

Exceptional at assessing people-we're not just processing stuff here. One of the things that exceptional recruiters have is the ability to truly assess a candidate's abilities and to know what a candidate will do when we extend an offer.

Good listening and interviewing skills-are we talking most of the time or listening? Truly great recruiters listen far more than they talk but when they talk they have something truly valuable to say because it's based on what they hear. This is equally important when working with candidates, hiring managers, and team mates.

Perceptive-being perceptive is a key part of assessing people. Have you ever had a candidate tell you one thing and do the complete opposite? The more perceptive you are the better you'll be at telling when someone is just blowing smoke.

Inquisitive-it's difficult to be a great sourcer if you aren't inquisitive. Digging through databases, running different searches, puzzling over possible places the ideal candidates may be hanging out are all things that light up an inquisitive person.

Works smart-there's a lot to do. Are you doing the most important work first or are you doing busy work and pretending that you're working hard?

Time management skills-do you have a plan to get done what needs to get done by when it needs to be done? If not you're just flapping in the wind.

Business oriented-we must satisfy the needs of the business. We're not a charity here and we exist, in part, to make a profit. Understand that unfilled, key positions are costing the company money.

More extraverted than introverted-we recruiters tend to be outgoing people. We have a thirst for human contact and we're natural networkers. It's difficult for us to stay holed up in our offices for days at a time.

Technically savvy-to be truly efficient we need to be expert users of all the available recruitment tools. Are your Boolean searches really searching for what you think they are searching for? How fast do you type? Clearly the faster you type the faster you can update your ATS and send emails and the more work you'll get done.

Ability to understand the requisition-Clearly we can't possibly be expert in everything we recruit for but we should be quickly able to grasp the essential parts of the requisition.

Ability to understand the skills and competencies required to do the job-skills and competencies are more than just words on a page.

Sourcing skills-as corporate recruiters we often have no bandwidth for sourcing as opposed to screening. When we have a critical, hard-to-fill requisition we need to find candidates. There's a lot more to this than running a few searches on your ATS.

Resume review skills-we could say that we look at resumes for a living. Great recruiters can review resumes quickly, identify strong candidates, and eliminate the unqualified candidates. Often it's what's missing from the resume that is most telling.

Closing and negotiation skills-it's a lot of work to move a candidate through the recruitment funnel. Strong closing skills maximize the percentage of candidates who accept our offers. Closing starts with the first conversation with the candidate and usually ends when they start work with us or decline our offer.

Be able to truthfully sell the company-closing isn't about making stuff up and convincing candidates to do things that they don't want to do. We all need to understand what's great about our company and where we have opportunities to improve so that we can sell the company in a fair and balanced way.

Persuasive-you'll use your powers of persuasion whenever you attempt to close a candidate on an opportunity or encourage a hiring manager to interview a candidate.

Hire for the future and for scalability-with every hire we make we are building teams of people. It's important to hire the right people that will make a positive difference for years to come. Today's candidates often turn into tomorrow's hiring managers. Are you hiring people who can continue to grow and develop their skills?

Relationship builder-our work is all about building relationships with our candidates and internal customers. Build strong bonds and great things will happen.

Flexibility-wait five minutes and something will change. We've all experienced doing a lot of work on a requisition only to have it be put on hold. As they say, "them's the breaks!" When something like that happens, do you let it ruin your whole day or week or do you get to work on the most important thing on your desk?

Tolerance of ambiguity-sometimes you won't have all the information that you believe you need and you won't be able to get it. You have a choice, stop work and wait or take some action and see what happens. Great recruiters will do the latter.

Understand the company culture-some candidates will thrive here and others will fail dismally. It's our job to understand what works and what doesn't.

Create business value-do your internal customers see you as an administrator or as a trusted business partner? You can't create value unless it's the latter.

Sense of urgency-Part of our job is to instill a sense of urgency in our hiring managers and our candidates.

Able to keep confidential information confidential-this is self evident

Integrity-in a corporate environment, any cutting of corners, untruths, or sloppy work will eventually be discovered.

Methodical-we have a lot to do and a lot of process to follow. A haphazard approach is not the best way to get the most quality work done.

Makes mutually beneficial hires-we're not just filling requisitions here! Every hire that we make should be the right thing for company and the new hire.

Knowledge of state and federal employment regulations-this is self evident.

Candidate control-is often associated with agency recruitment but it's equally important in a corporate environment. For example, do you know what other opportunities your candidate has, what their motivations are for relocating to the area, if they have support for the change in employment from their family? If you don't then you have little candidate control.

Have a thick skin-people say and do things that we often can't believe. It isn't personal and it isn't about you.
Ambassador-be an ambassador for your company in every interaction you have at work and away from work. You may be surprised what comes your way as a result.

Expert on competitors-the more you know about your competitors the better you'll be at working with candidates. Your closing percentage will increase and your sourcing abilities will improve with the more you know.

Understand that time kills all deals-this is the classic last but not least statement. Candidates have a shelf life. Business needs have a shelf life. To put that another way, if you wait too long your competitors will hire the best candidates and your business areas will find another way to get the work done without you.

Up-tick in the Employment Market Due Soon

Simon Meth — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:36:09 -0500

One of the most reliable indicators I've found for the employment market is job postings for recruiters. It stands to reason that if companies are hiring recruiters they are planning to add to their staff. I post corporate recruiter positions in the Jobs for Recruiters forum on RecruiterSpace San Diego. Here's the data from the past few months:

Month, Number of corporate recruiter posts

June (to date), 3
May, 9
April, 8
March, 1
February, 4
January, 3

Most of the posts are either education or medical related but I suspect that we're about to see a significant change in the market as a whole.

I don't pay any attention to recruitment agency posts but they would be an excellent indicator too.

Tactical Strategy or Strategic Tactics?

Simon Meth — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:28:27 -0500

For years now I've heard people use the adjectives strategic and tactical. In most cases I believe that people who use these terms are unclear about what they mean. I'm certainly unclear too. Often they are used interchangeably. First, let's look at what the Random House Dictionary says:

stra-te-gic
1. pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of strategy: strategic movements.
2. important in or essential to strategy.
3. (of an action, as a military operation or a move in a game) forming an integral part of a stratagem: a strategic move in a game of chess.
4. Military.
a. intended to render the enemy incapable of making war, as by the destruction of materials, factories, etc.: a strategic bombing mission.
b. essential to the conduct of a war: Copper is a strategic material.

tac-ti-cal
1. of or pertaining to tactics, esp. military or naval tactics.
2. characterized by skillful tactics or adroit maneuvering or procedure: tactical movements.
3. of or pertaining to a maneuver or plan of action designed as an expedient toward gaining a desired end or temporary advantage.
4. expedient; calculated.
5. prudent; politic.

So they are different? Right?

Not so fast! Just for fun, I checked the definitions of the corresponding nouns:

strat-e-gy
1. a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result: a strategy for getting ahead in the world.

tac-tic
1. a plan, procedure, or expedient for promoting a desired end or result.

The nouns are so close in meaning that I can easily see my source of confusion. One has to do with obtaining a specific result and the other has to do with promoting a desired result.

So what?

For me tactics are short term and strategies are long term. I think of a line with tactics at the start and strategies at the other end. Everything we do is somewhere on that line but very little of what we do is at one end or the other. To put that another way, everything we do is somewhat tactical and somewhat strategic.

Do you have any thoughts on the matter? Care to share? Could be an interesting discussion...

Dave Mendoza Featured Me on Six Degrees from Dave

Simon Meth — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:23:32 -0500

Dave Mendoza was kind enough to feature me in his series where he profiles people in our industry. If you’re interested in learning more than you probably need to know about me, please see his post here.

Thank you Dave. Nice work as always!

No Respect - Human Resources Don't Get No Respect

Simon Meth — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:55:11 -0500

I blogged recently about Things I believe in the Recruitment Space in which I asserted that Human Resources doesn’t get the respect of upper management because it doesn’t deserve that respect. Before I expand on that thought, please watch this quick video:

My assertion isn’t really a criticism of HR, it’s just an assertion. There has been a lot written over the years about the lack of respect by upper management for HR. I’ve wondered why that is? Clearly every organization of any substance has an HR department. HR is essential for many reasons. Perhaps the primary one is to keep organizations out of trouble. In the U.S. and in many other parts of the world, employment law is a veritable minefield. It’s almost impossible to follow every law. HR is usually focused on ways to protect the organization. HR is often responsible for staffing, employee relations, employee development, and the inevitable firings and layoffs. If HR doesn’t handle these areas then who does?

Upper management clearly sees the necessity of having a strong HR department or it wouldn’t have one. But still HR doesn’t get respect. I suspect that the main reason is that HR doesn’t contribute directly to the bottom line. HR doesn’t produce any revenue. In many organizations HR is perceived as the folks who take care of the touchy feely stuff. Just leave the business of running the business to the executive team.

I have worked in one organization where HR did get respect. The VP of HR was clearly a valued member of the executive team. But he wasn’t a typical HR VP. He had multiple engineering degrees and experience running a substantial business unit. The executive team clearly related to him as an equal. In fact he was often given non-HR related special projects to run. That situation is unusual but it shows that it can be done.

Bottom line is that I stand with my original assertion that Human Resources doesn’t get the respect of upper management because it doesn’t deserve that respect. Respect is something that must be earned and earning that respect takes time and focus.

Mike Rowe Celebrates Dirty Jobs

Simon Meth — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:05:18 -0500

Laurie at Punk Rock HR posted this video of Mike Rowe. I think that it is excellent!

Things I believe in the Recruitment Space

Simon Meth — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:45:44 -0500

Human Resources people hate agency recruiters.
Agency recruiters hate Human Resources people. Now we're even so get over it and get back to work.
Corporate recruiters hate whatever Applicant Tracking System they are using.
Agency recruiters say they have access to the hidden pool of candidates but they work with the same pool of candidates that everybody else does.
The passive candidate is a myth.
Every candidate is an active candidate.
Corporate recruiters say they are great at sourcing but the amount of time they spend doing it is dwarfed by their heavy administrative load.
Most metrics that attempt to describe recruitment are worthless.
Human Resources doesn't get the respect of upper management because it doesn't deserve that respect.
Corporate career sites are mostly out-of-date and difficult to use.
Technology geeks in recruitment may be on the cutting edge but they are spending time that could be spent better being in communication with candidates and customers.
The OFCCP has a lot to answer for.
The EEOC has a lot to answer for.
Before investing much in the thoughts of an industry expert, first check their credentials thoroughly.
Read as much as you can and believe very little of what you read.
Complaining about how busy you are is a waste of time.
A clean desk is much better than a messy desk.
The most important thing is to have fun doing whatever you're doing.
You can't do it all. What you did is what you did. Did you do the most important stuff?
Find out what you are really good at and ensure that you are doing a lot of it.
Contributing to others is a way of life.
Treat everyone with respect and I do mean everyone!
When in doubt...laugh!

LinkedIn Network Size -- Does it Matter?

Simon Meth — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:17:41 -0500

It’s hard to keep up with the tweaks that the good folks at LinkedIn are making to their calculations of network size. Mid-December I noticed that the total users I could contact through an introduction plummeted by 8 million from 15 million to 7 million. One day later it was up to 18.5 million which was more than ever before! For the past few weeks I’ve been inching closer and closer to 20 million. Imagine my surprise when it plummeted again to just over 15 million! I wondered just what was going on so I headed over to LinkedIn online help and found this entry:

Network Size ChangeWhy has my network size changed?LinkedIn is a website with millions of members having close to a billion real world contacts. These numbers are constantly changing. We've always provided an estimate of your third degree network size and we have recently changed the way that we calculate that estimate. This formulation can not be shared as the calculations will continue to be refined. Network size is not viewed by LinkedIn to really be a useful measure of capability on LinkedIn. Your third degree network no longer limits who will be included in your final search results. Your search goes across all LinkedIn members at the same time bringing back both in network and out of network results.

I have no idea if this entry is new since it isn’t dated however it seems to explain a little about what is going on. More interesting is the statement that “your third degree network no longer limits who will be included in your final search results.” I hadn’t noticed that before but sure enough I was able to run some test searches that turned up a few people who weren’t in my network. Those people were displayed as Private with no name listed. The only LinkedIn way to contact them was by sending an InMail (a paid feature private message) since I had no links to them. Interestingly I had to work fairly hard to find people who I wasn’t connected to.

So does LinkedIn network size matter? Is sure does if you want to search for people within the bounds of LinkedIn. Of course you could use one of Shally’s LinkedIn hacks or other methods to search the LinkedIn database from the outside.

Job Fairs -- A Recruiter

Simon Meth — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:53:21 -0500

One of my closet recruiter colleagues says that job fairs are for the “unemployed and unemployable”. That’s pretty harsh but there is definitely some truth to it. Of course, if recruiters didn’t actually hire people from job fairs then one would have to question the existence of the job fair industry. There is value for both the job seeker and the potential employer. I recently attended the SPIE Photonics West Career Fair in San Jose, California and noticed some interesting things.

Following are my observations:

For Candidates

1) Candidates were often almost completely unprepared. Most but not all had printed copies of their resumes in-hand. Attending a job fair without printed copies of your resume is not smart.

2) Many candidates asked me what my company did. This question is the equivalent of saying “I did absolutely no preparation and are you interested in hiring me?” If you’re headed to a job fair then you should research the companies that will be there.

3) Some candidates dressed in rather bizarre ways. I’m all for business casual dress and you’ll rarely find me dressed any other way but come on people! Meeting a company representative at a job fair should be considered an interview.

4) If you’ve ever been to a job fair you should have a fairly good idea of the kinds of things a recruiter will want to know. Be prepared to give short and to the point answers to questions. Lots of people are looking for work. How will you distinguish yourself from the masses?

5) Respect the job fair recruiter’s time. If there is a line of people behind you, it doesn’t make sense to try to monopolize the recruiter’s time. Sell yourself, get to the point, and ask about the next step. Then get out of line. You can always return during a slow time.

For Recruiters

1) Prepare your table in an appealing way. You’ll need some sort of display to feature your company. You’ll also need something to give to candidates with your company name and contact information featured prominently. Let candidates know how to apply online at your site.

2) This may sound crazy but you should always have at least one company representative at the table at all times. This can be a challenge if you only have one person at the fair but it doesn’t work to have candidates coming by to speak with you if you’re not there.

3) Leave your laptop and other electronic devices at the office or the hotel. Your focus should be on the candidates and not on your email.

4) Greet everyone in a friendly and courteous manner. This should be easy for recruiters since we’re naturally outgoing people.

5) Ask for a resume from everyone.

6) Ask every candidate to apply online at your corporate site.

7) Make notes on the back of resumes so that you’ll remember the strong candidates who you’ll want to contact after the job fair.

8) Be careful what notes you write just as you would be back at the office. You are careful what you write about candidates aren’t you?

9) Remember that job fairs can be fun. Keep your focus on right now and not on your trip home.

Job fairs can be hard work for recruiters and candidates. However, if you’re going to invest the time and effort to attend you may as well make the most of it!

Five Best People-Search Engines

Simon Meth — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:14:25 -0500

Lifehacker took a user survey to find the five best people-search engines. The results are in:

Go find some people!

Not 2009 Predictions

Simon Meth — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:33:49 -0500

Making predictions is fun and lots of people do it. We all want to know what's going to happen in the future. We love hot stock tips because of the potential to make some easy money. If we're out of work we want to hear that our skills will be in hot demand. If we're in a cutting edge business we want to know that our business segment is just about to go white hot. But making predictions is really just a crap shoot.

Consider stock market predictions. The market can do one of three things: go up, go down, or stay the same. I used to watch Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser. One of his regular panelists was an inveterate bear. The market could be going through the roof and he'd say that it was about to turn around and go down for the foreseeable future. He always took that position and he was right whenever the market went down. So when people make predictions it's important to have a "by when" attached to the prediction. For example, the DOW Jones Industrials Average will close below 9,000 on June 30, 2009. The prediction will be either right or wrong. Contrast that prediction with the following: There are significant challenges that we're facing currently and the stock market will have a difficult time in 2009.

For many years I read PC Magazine in print long before anyone read magazines on the Net. One of the columnists commented that technology predictions are always wrong. The predictions he referred to were those made in white papers. Those same white papers were almost always sponsored by a technology company pushing some agenda. Any research that is paid for by an organization that has something to gain is suspect. Consider the source.

I'm reminded of Moore's Law in which Intel's co-founder, Gordon Moore, predicted that the number of transistors on a chip will double about every two years. The astounding thing is that he's been right for about 40 years! So sometimes predictions can be right and stand the test of time.

So what about our industry? Some industry pundits seem to just have "the touch". They're ahead of the curve and perhaps they draw the curve. If I had to name just one person who's in this category I'd name Jason Davis. How he does it is almost a complete mystery to me. Somehow he has his finger and probably several toes on the pulse of our industry. Other pundits, unnamed here, make predictions that are, at best, self serving. That's not a criticism but you, the reader, should keep that in mind before taking any action based on their predictions.

I remember something that Zig Ziglar said years ago. The problem isn't out there in the world but is right between your ears! So let's create a banner 2009! Let's work to make it a breakout year by all measures.

How to Find a New Job--Thoughts and Tools You Can Use

Simon Meth — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:39:43 -0500

If you're unemployed you already know that it's tough out there in the job market. If you want statistics then check out the following information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics here, here, and here. If you're unemployed then you probably don't care about statistics. You just want to find a new job. Following are some thoughts and tools you can use.

Looking for a New Job is a Job!

If you're out of work and want to find a new one then you absolutely must treat your job search as your current job. You'll need to spend a significant proportion of your time on your job search. What's the appropriate amount of time? It depends on how motivated you are and how pressing being reemployed is for you. I recommend a minimum of 20 hours per week. More is better. Spend the rest of your time productively too. Get some exercise, eat well, and spend time on the things that you love.

Networking

Most people don't network very much at all. Networking is the single best thing that you can do to find a new job. Networking puts you in contact with people and gives you opportunities to have conversations. If the people in your life don't know that you're looking for a job they can't help you. Talk with people every day. Take this downtime in your life to look up old work colleagues, friends, and acquaintances and get back in contact. Attend industry events, conferences, job fairs, and any events where you can talk with people.

Asking for Referrals-People Love to Help

This is an adjunct to networking. Make sure that you ask everyone you speak with for referrals. The classic way to ask is to say something like, "Who do you know who may be looking for someone with my skills?" You may not even have to ask this question if you have enough conversations with people who care about you. People love to help!

Mailing Lists, Groups, Associations

If you belong to mailing lists, groups, and associations then let people know of your search. If you don't belong to any then join some that relate to your industry. Become an active participant and contribute to others. Always ask yourself what you can do for someone else. Maybe you can answer technical questions, provide resources, or give referrals. People will remember you as the person who helped them.

Resume

Of course you need a quality resume. There are lots of people with many and varied ideas about how your resume should look. You could start here.

Be Easy to Contact

Make sure that you provide a valid phone and email for everyone you meet and in every written communication. Get some business cards. You can do that here for almost nothing.

Online Profiles

Develop some online profiles. They are an excellent way for people to find you.

Google Profile - you'll need to open an account and then create a profile. Once you've done that you can build your own Web site for free here.

Various Other Networks

Join networks that relate to your industry. There are networks for just about everything on Ning. Search the LinkedIn Groups Directory here or the Google Groups Directory here or the Yahoo Groups Directory here.

Job Boards and Aggregators

You'll probably want to post your resume on the job boards. I purposely listed this last because I believe that it's the least important thing to do. It's not a bad thing to do it's just not likely to be as effective as the above suggestions. Possibly more important than actually posting your resume is to create job search agents that will email you when suitable jobs become available so that you can target those opportunities. Following are a few job boards and job aggregators. There are thousands of others. Pay particular attention to niche boards for your industry.

What Else?

This clearly isn't an exhaustive list of everything you can do and all the available resources. Please add a comment if you have something to add that can assist job seekers.

Real Job Loss Data...

Simon Meth — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:17:05 -0500

Thanks to SlighlyLoony over at JamulBlog for pointing me to Coyote Blog for a great representation of job loss data. It seems that our recent job losses, when expressed as a percentage of the total work force, are far less dramatic than in the past. Of course the absolute number of job losses is staggeringly large. It's all a matter of perspective. For example, I remember when a 50 point movement in the DOW Industrials Index was significant. Now it's a meer blip!

Network Science for Recruiters

Simon Meth — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:15:15 -0500

Rarely do I watch a documentary that has such deep implications for our world as this one. Titled "How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer", this almost 60 minute Australian documentary traces the development of network science. There are many implications for our work as recruiters. I now look at my networks in a whole new way! I highly recommend that you schedule 60 uninterrupted minutes to watch. It's clear to me that LinkedIn promiscuous linkers are the hubs: the people with huge numbers of connections. You'll see in the documentary that the structure of the Internet, power grids, transportation networks, disease and the human cell all follow the same principles and design as our own networks of people.

Watch the documentary and think about how you can apply the lessons to our world. Please add your thoughts as comments here.

When in Doubt Pick Up the Phone!

Simon Meth — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:12:45 -0500

Whatever you do in the recruitment space it's likely that a significant part of your day is spent on the phone (or should be). With the incredible technological advances we've all seen over the last 20 years, the phone remains our lifeline. And still I know many people who suffer from call reluctance. They can always justify why they should spend their time doing something else but the bottom line is that they are scared to pick up the phone and call. Following are a few ideas that may help:

Have you ever started dialing a number only to hang up and do something else?

Have you ever talked to a gatekeeper and hung up because you didn't have a good answer to their question?

Have you ever reached someone's voice mail and not left a message?

Have you ever reached someone and offered to send information by email or mail?

If you said yes to any or all of these questions then don't despair. I have too and I'll wager than everyone who isn't deluding themselves has also. It's not wrong or bad it's just a reflection of call reluctance which is a completely normal state since you are a human being.

So now what?

GET OVER IT!

Notice that you are exhibiting some signs of call reluctance and make the call anyway. When you reach a live someone at the other end of the line be great with them and see if you can forward the action. What's the worst that can happen? Is your life at stake? Probably not! They may hang up on you and even that is very rare unless your approach really stinks. Have fun. Make some calls. Let me know how it turns out.