Having the technical competencies necessary to perform a job function seems to be a pretty universally accepted requirement in order to be considered a viable candidate. However, it is perhaps equally important what the personality and attitude are in the package-deal that is a new hire. With more and more companies adopting behavioral or corporate culture-based interviews it seems the trend is to hire based on soft skills as well. The only question is, what makes a person a good fit for a… Continue

It certainly has been a while since I've done any active posting, and while I've enjoyed taking in some of the posts and discussions as a lurker figured it is about time I put something out there of my own again.



Over the past couple of months there have been a couple of big wins and some equally disappointing mishaps. Oddly enough, I find myself crediting and blaming the same thing in both instances...the process. My recruiting team has a very well-defined process by which a manager… Continue

Having friends and contacts in the industry (both recruiting and automotive) I've been involved in numerous conversations about layoffs recently. One in particular stuck out to me, though. A fellow corporate recruiter at another local OEM was groaning to me about how one of their contract agencies handled a recent round of staff reductions. I'll withhold the name of both companies since I'm not looking to drag any names through the mud, but it is worth discussing what happened.



This… Continue

Being on the corporate side I have both enjoyed the benefits and suffered the frustrations of working directly with hiring managers. I find that the two are very closely related, though, and I have the ability to impact some the of trouble areas. In fact, I feel it is my responsibility in order to be productive and effective in my job.



I speak of the responsibility to educate hiring managers as to what the heck I actually do as a recruiter. Even though the managers and I are on the… Continue

Whether due to a layoff, a firing, or a voluntary separation exit interviews tend not to be very enjoyable. Generally speaking people don't line up to be the company punching bag when an employee sounds off about what upset him/her enough to leave, or how he/she feels about being released. That said, I think as recruiters we need to be the ones making ourselves available for these sessions.



In many cases it was us who brought the employee on in the first place, so it is appropriate… Continue