Why I Love Recruiting

Hmmm. A better way to title this would be why I hate recruiting. Yes, I said hate recruiting. I have never been fond of something that has its ups and downs so drastically it makes me want either a promotion or to quit. The thing I always tell people who come into the industry is, "When it rains, it pours. I mean this in the positive and negative."

However, I can say this: I love every other part of this job. It not only allows me to help people get a better career path or save their family from financial devastation, but it allows me to stay in the business side of companies, allows me to continue learning, and keeps me up-to-date on technical trends. I can honestly say that everyday is different, and I couldn't say that when I was 100% developer. I enjoy it when I get to meet new people and make their lives better.

Let me draw out exactly what I like and don't like, then see if I still like recruiting after:

Love

Helping People
- I hear from candidates more so from colleagues that recruiters are out for the commission or that the candidate is just a product.
- That is not why I do this job...and I can't look at others as objects, so I am in it to help people either get back on track or find a better track.
Money
- Yeah, double edged sword. I make a lot of money doing this job, and it can be very fruitful when things are going great.
Freedom
- Some firms are not this way, but I enjoy the fact I get to run my own desk and make good business decisions for the company.
- I don't get micromanaged, and that is a huge plus for me
Network
- Wow I know a lot of people now! I don't think I could have the same size web doing development, or really anything else.
- I went from 100 contacts on LinkedIn when I started this new recruiting job a year ago...now am almost to 700.
Ups And Downs
- Another double edged sword. I love the highs when they happen. I get 4 placements in 1 week, I throw a party.

Hate

Ups And Downs
- The downs are awful! I can't stand losing 1 or 2 contractors in a week.
- I can't stand my sales team losing motivation
- I can't stand when candidate's don't accept obviously better offers
- I can't stand when a wife/husband is the one thing holding up a deal
- I can't stand when an HR Manager/Generalist/Admin doesn't give me feedback or ruins a deal (yes, I know there have been other blogs against this, but HR does hose up a process unless they are damn good at getting people hired, which isn't typical)
People
- Oh yeah, I can hate people every now and then. They are a living, breathing, mind-of-its-own product that can either be my best friend or worst enemy in a moments notice.
- They lie, they cheat, they are emotional, irrational, overly rational, and unpredictable

I guess, after this list, I do love recruiting. I can deal with the crap...as long as I can still enjoy the good in my job.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amber on February 7, 2012 at 8:07pm

Good post, Zachary! Have to say all your points really hit the mark, would be a good read for those considering a career move into recruiting.

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Permalink Reply by Lilia Tereshchenko on February 8, 2012 at 3:18am

Good post! Thanks, Zachary!

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Permalink Reply by Zachary Sines on February 8, 2012 at 8:31am

Well, realism is something that I like to share with people who are getting in to the recruiting industry. Every jobs has its ups and downs...recruiting is no exception. People need to realize what we go through and the stuff we deal with, just to get them to work!

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Permalink Reply by Lilia Tereshchenko on February 8, 2012 at 11:02am

Zachary, how do you fight Ups and Downs? It's very hard to fight with and it's boring and demotivating. We have tried to manage our service' sales process to produce a certain "critical mass" from clients/orders, what would cause on the end a good statistical picture, but... without any success at the moment. When looking in reports in Excel sheets we see....the same Ups and Downs.

Zachary Sines said:

Well, realism is something that I like to share with people who are getting in to the recruiting industry. Every jobs has its ups and downs...recruiting is no exception. People need to realize what we go through and the stuff we deal with, just to get them to work!

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Permalink Reply by Zachary Sines on February 8, 2012 at 11:14am

Well, one way I get through them is by the model I follow. Recruiters drive sales. That isn't typical of the industry. Typically the sales staff are the ones with the clout, and they know it. That breed complacency, and it will correlate over to the client relations and the stat reports. Are the people who are down on the stat report people who are high on the GM report?

We make the recruiters push because they bring in the product line. They have to push the sales staff to continue placing their people, because if they don't place them, what is the point? This helps me push us out of a pit, or continue down a path of growth. Sell this candidate, not find more orders. Orders are worthless without candidates to throw at them.

It also depends on the motivation of the management. I find that more hands off holds people more accountable, as opposed to micro management, which breeds resentment...and leads to more ups and downs. Double-edged sword (I haven't used that term in over a year, and have used it 3 times in this post alone) though...more hands off can allow for complacency.

Some of the ups and downs I wrote are more intangibles...things we can't control. They are just a shame when they happen :).