MY MOUSETRAP WORKS JUST FINE!

It is my observation that the recruiting industry, more so than most other industries or professions, is rife with folks who are hell bent for election day to build a better mousetrap. I think that's great. All professions evolve with time, technology and new ideas. But...only in the recruiting industry does one see the new "Mousetrap Builders" hyping their latest, greatest idea about how to turn the industry upside down by postulating that all life forms in recruiting as we know them are DEAD, DYING, UNSUSTAINABLE except of course their talent community, twitter outreach, social media revolution, niche as an expert in green widgets, analysis of social networks or whatever the hell they thought up when business sucked under like the Bermuda Triangle.

A Flash for you GURUS. My Mousetrap works. It works because i put it in places where i know there are mice. I set it everyday. I put the cheese in it. It's been catching mice for over 30 years. Yours may have more bells, sirens and whistles on it. You may twitter about it, blog about it, throw it in a talent community ( whatever the hell that is). I think that's dandy if it works for you, get after it. Niche it, twitter it, blog it, post it, rave about it. I hope you make as much money as i have over the past 30+ years, enjoy your career and grow up to be one of those pedantic thought leaders who write "how to" books. Or for god's sake, invent the "Hooker" ATS that really is fast, cheap and easy.

Would it be too much to ask that you just hype your revolutionary end all to be all answer to the recruiting world without having to make idiots out of yourselves screaming about how thousands of recruiters are going out of business," sourcing is dead"," job boards are dead"," third party recruiting is "unsustainable", "great candidates don't respond to ads", "passive candidates are better than active candidates". Blah, Blah and more blah. If it works for you...do it.

In the real world, My Mousetrap Works Just Fine. Job Boards are making money, sourcers are making money, thousands and thousands of recruiters are reporting an increase in business.

Until all business grinds to a standstill because global warming melted all the icebergs , recruiting is about a company needing a person that they can't find or don't have time to find. That would be why God made recruiters, or maybe it was the other guy.

However we do it, that would be the basic of what we do. So if you think my mousetrap is dead or dying, lean over here and have a little bite of cheese , it's snapilicious....

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Permalink Reply by James Todd on October 4, 2010 at 2:11pm

Thank You Sandra, your post made my day. I often feel like a flat earther when confronted with the latest recruiting tools, it is nice to know that others are also succeeding with the fundamentals.

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Permalink Reply by Margo Rose on October 4, 2010 at 2:52pm

Good post Sandra...p.s. I love the hat.

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Permalink Reply by C. B. Stalling!! on October 4, 2010 at 3:21pm

My mouse trap is my phone. If the phone works then I work. All otthers get out of my way...

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 4, 2010 at 4:10pm

James, in my part of the world the earth is flat. We like it that way cause we can see for miles, so we know where we are going and who is coming at us. So much better than being lost in the underbrush or the forest.

Margo, Hats are good. Love hats, wear hats. Some of them even have "John Deere" on the front of them.

C. B. Funny thing happened to me this morning. Internet was in and out. Amazing, i faxed a few resumes and called everybody else on the phone. I have been watching this better Mousetrap crap since we mailed resumes with a stamp on them. No i do not want to go back to the olden days. The nicest thing about them is that they are over. I take a look at every new thing that comes down the pike, try it and if it adds to the ability to do what i do i use it. If not i kick it to the curb.

I had a great laugh last week. Talking to a recruiter who works for one of the big franchise chains. Due to somebody attending some guru training, they are being forced to turn off the lights in the office, work in the dark for several hours a day and are not allowed to access their computers for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. He is leaving because he thinks this is about the dumbest thing to come down the pike and figures that next week they will be asked to use a tin can and a string instead of the phone. Isn't it wild how when all the gimmicks and gizmos don't change production the gurus want to scrap all the new mousetraps. Get real, we dont' go back to plowing behind a team of mules because the ground is hard or the price of diesel goes up. Balance my friends, it's all about balance. They make ice cream in at least 31 flavors , vanilla is still the most popular flavor, we just dump different stuff in it on different days and call it something new. I dont' think that means vanilla is dead. If it were what we dump all that other stuff into?

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Permalink Reply by Tim Prillaman on October 4, 2010 at 4:19pm

Great post and refreshing to hear!

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 4, 2010 at 5:46pm

Thanks Tim
Recruiting is really a very simple business. There is an empty chair, it needs to have somebody in it who can do the job, get along with the folks they work with and not be a problem. If a recruiter listens to the client, listens to the candidate and has the sense god gave a goat to be able to match the two a placement results. In my experience it is not necessary to reach around one's elbow to scratch one's nose. While all that scratching and posturing is going on another recruiter is going to put somebody in that chair.

Competition is wonderful. The more companies there are that use recruiters, the more companies there will be that will use recruiters. Don't price yourself out of the market, quit bitching, pushing, driving people crazy with cold calls and new gadgets. Your client does not care what color your mousetrap is or if it can whistle Dixie. They want good candidates and they wanted them yesterday. Don't waste time with goofy stuff if it doesn't produce good candidates. Period. If somebody tells you that you have to do it their way or die. The answer is...Hogwash!!!
My Mousetrap works just fine!

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Permalink Reply by David King on October 4, 2010 at 6:39pm

Outstanding...thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Keith Goodwin on October 4, 2010 at 6:49pm

I totally agree with you. For those who are new or feeling overwhelmed with the mountain-size load of web chatter/tools/ideas out there, I think that we should all remember the basics but spend a little time with our eyes open reading about/learning from the mountain. But, in the end, it's all about relationships and TALKING to people. Web tools can be great, but it's not the world that makes or breaks us. It's almost never easy to find great people (mediocre people, yes) and that's why recruiters exist.
This was a very refreshing and much needed post Sandra!

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 4, 2010 at 8:21pm

Thanks David. It made me feel good to write it.

Keith, thanks, i think we need to take a step back and take stock of what we really do every now and then. For those who are new or feeling overwhelmed with all the noise ,just find a job order and focus on getting a candidate interviewed or find a good candidate and focus on getting them an interview. If you can't do one today do the other or do both. That's what we do.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Stedman on October 5, 2010 at 8:01am

A good post - I agree Recruitment is a simple thing. I do operate a vertical market however and that is because... I can - there is so much work out there. I dont think you can slate anyone for trying new ideas though? Recruitment has effectively been the same thing for the past 30 years whether you are- faxing a CV or sending it by email, calling a candidate about a job or sending a spec through linked-in. Its all about how proactive you are as an individual and how you can best serve your clients by getting them the right people.

I like how passionate you are about your experience Sandra and its great to hear the thoughts of someone who has been there and done it. I wouldnt slate the new age recruitment techniques though as they are also clearly working as well as the old ways!

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on October 5, 2010 at 10:19am

Miles, thanks. I am if nothing else normally good for a laugh. By the way, what is an "an something"? :)

Matthew, Thanks for the read and most appreciate you taking the time to comment. Please do not misunderstand, i think it's great if someone wants to niche, a lot to be said for it. My beef is those who do niche and expound ad nauseum that if everybody doesn't niche they are going to wither and croak or are a lesser life form. Many of us work several niches. Like i said, the nicest thing about the old ways is that are gone. My point here is that it's great to try all the new stuff, if it helps productivity by all means do it. Just because there is something new does not mean that everything else is dead, dying. I have an iphone, ipad, four linked computers that only i use,linkedin profile, twitter account and facebook profile. I've tried 3 different ATS systems. They don't replace my mousetrap. Could i live and prosper without them? The iphone and computers are here to stay. Social media and the ATS ..if they went away tomorrow i might miss the fun of social media, the ATS ..to hell with that.

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Permalink Reply by Beth Havens on October 5, 2010 at 3:13pm

30 years? and here I thought recruiting was the oldest profession in the world. One of my favorite candidates used to call me his Technical pimp. which I personally find amusing. Isn't it all about connecting people and negotiating however you do that. Phones, faxes, computers, just speed up the process and make it easier for us to do what we do, which is putting the right people together to make the world turn. Well my two cents. Great Article!

And yes I must admit, Love the Hat Sandra, very Saucy!

MissBHavens as usual