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Permalink Reply by JobsforKarma on March 20, 2009 at 12:56am

Business Savvy, Technology friendly, Fiscally conservative, Passionate about helping people, and believes in Karma.

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Permalink Reply by Gino Conti on March 20, 2009 at 10:33am

Well said, Jerry.

I have to agree, the tools we use are just that - tools. There will constantly be another new, faster, cooler, trendier way to communicate with candidates/customers. What people tend to miss out on is that the message is the important piece. Who cares if your twitter feed reaches 20,000 people if you constantly sound like an idiot?

IMHO, the ideal recruiter is going to put even more of a focus on the relationship building end of the business because I think a lot of people have forgotten about it. They are either too wrapped up in updating their Facebook status or too bummed out by what is going on to take the time and get to know the folks they do business with. A recruiter who understands the human element of the work we do will always fare better and I doubt any amount of tech will ever change that.

The only thing I feel the need to disagree with a little is the personal brand comment, although I will agree it is less important to a candidate than a customer. I won't go to the extent of those who claim your brand should be on everything you send out or that recruiters need to launch a marketing campaign, but I think branding yourself is important. To me, a recruiter's brand is closely tied to his or her reputation, which is closely tied to his or her performance. I think any independent or agency recruiter (perhaps even corporate folks) want customers to view them as somebody who operates with good ethics, works hard, responds quickly, and produces quality candidates on a consistent basis. To me, this is a brand, and it does have some value especially in a down economy.

Signed,
Much less intimidated to post now that Steve's picture is his face and not his menacing pipes

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on March 20, 2009 at 10:47am

Yeah - as I go back through that it's not what I was meaning to say. I'm going back to correct it now.......

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on March 20, 2009 at 10:49am

The ability to actually talk (IRL) to people. For this you'll need more than Marketing 101 Hype and "catchy phrases that fit into 140 characters".

Candidates are far less concerned about how much time you've spent developing your "personal brand" or Twitter ranking. They care about the JOB you can introduce them to. They have a "what's in it for me" perspective on your relationship.

Clients are not reading your blog. Do you seriously think they are? I mean, really? But they are going to read the RESUME of the candidate you introduce. You are actually putting people in front of clients, aren't you?

So what does the ideal staffing artist of the future need? Absolutely NOTHING more than they ever have needed. A good job. A good candidate. The ability to talk to each about the other and move each forward with a series of small closes gaining "yes" at each stage - and when a no is encountered - they'll need the ability to uncover the objection/obstacle and deal with it.

The technologies for communication continue to evolve. Don't get hung up on the tool - it's the message you need to concern yourself with.

None of that is, has been or ever will be new.

OK. Going to grab some coffee.................

Love,
Jerry

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on March 20, 2009 at 11:37am

Doesn't content knowledge make any difference? My pet peeve is the recruiter who sees only acronyms and phrases and views this as being knowledgeable about the position. Am I wrong to believe that recruiters should know more than simply what is offered in the job description?

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Permalink Reply by Gino Conti on March 20, 2009 at 11:51am

No - in fact you're absolutely right and it makes me realize I wasn't entirely clear in what I wanted to say. Any fool can look at a bunch of letters in a job description, see the same meaningless bunch of letters on a resume and say the two are a match. If it were that easy I'm sure we'd all either be swimming in money because our jobs are so simple, or be nonexistent because nobody needs us.

What you're talking about requires doing some digging, asking questions, researching what you are working on. To me, this is related to building a good relationship with the customer because you know enough about them to speak intelligently about what they do and how they do it. I suppose this also goes along with having some pride and passion in what you do. Knowing the background and detailed information shouldn't be viewed as going above and beyond, it should be viewed as a recruiter doing his or her job and doing it well.

Steve Levy said:

Doesn't content knowledge make any difference? My pet peeve is the recruiter who sees only acronyms and phrases and views this as being knowledgeable about the position. Am I wrong to believe that recruiters should know more than simply what is offered in the job description?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on March 20, 2009 at 12:04pm

Another question... the last time your organization onboarded a recruiter was any time spent on knowledge education or was it just assumed that the recruiter would take care of it?

Gino Conti said:

Knowing the background and detailed information shouldn't be viewed as going above and beyond, it should be viewed as a recruiter doing his or her job and doing it well.

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Permalink Reply by Lynda Booth on March 20, 2009 at 12:15pm

Today a Recruiter must network, network and network. Networking to find potential candidates and networking for community contacts. Build up that candidate pool for when hiring begins. Establish and keep up relationships (internal and external). The more you are supportive to your community, the more it helps in the long run. They will remember you and want to work with you in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Gino Conti on March 20, 2009 at 1:03pm

Oddly enough, when I was hired the people who would normally do this type of thing there were so busy that I never got a comprehensive training or orientation. That said, I had already been working as a supplier to the company for three years and had a pretty good handle on things. I definitely had support when and where it was needed, but no formal process. We've only hired one additional recruiter since, and yours truly flew down to her location to impart as much knowledge as I could in one week.

Steve Levy said:

Another question... the last time your organization onboarded a recruiter was any time spent on knowledge education or was it just assumed that the recruiter would take care of it?

Gino Conti said:

Knowing the background and detailed information shouldn't be viewed as going above and beyond, it should be viewed as a recruiter doing his or her job and doing it well.

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