Recruiting, Propaganda and Persuasion

Last week, Jerry Jerry and I were talking about recruiting and propaganda.
This, in essence, is what he said.

The Average Recruiter is like a bore at a party. He talks you listen.

Average recruiters tell their candidates "This job is great and you're gonna love it."
The candidate is a passive recipient of information.

A Top Recruiter, however, is like a Svengali. She gets her candidates to buy-in.

After you listen to a top recruiter, you're saying
"~~Where's the kool-aid?~~ This job is great and I'm gonna love it!"

Now, what is Propaganda?

According to wikipedia propaganda is not
an impartial presentation of information. No.
Propaganda presents information in order to influence opinions and behavior.

"Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission)
or gives loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational
response to the information."

Recruiters don't do that, do they? No, never!

Film: Jerry at work.. Exact Quotation: Animal - you've unwittingly stumbled upon a key difference between average/lame recruiters and those at the top. Average recruiters tell their candidate the job is great and they're gonna love it. Top recruiters help their candidates say "The job is great and I'm gonna love it!" Normally that kind of info would be available only to those sitting in a seminar or buying the training material. But here on RBC it's FREE!!!!!!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Slouch on March 31, 2009 at 3:41pm

ok.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Nuroo on March 31, 2009 at 6:01pm

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Permalink Reply by Amitai Givertz on March 31, 2009 at 6:56pm

Steve, in reply to yours...

Ami, You have obviously never bought a lemon or been through a divorce. I congratulate you on both

I'm rather pleased I'm not the only one who thinks of those things as being related achievements. Thank you.

But quote "Average recruiters tell their candidate the job is great and they're gonna love it. Top recruiters help their candidates say 'The job is great and I'm gonna love it!' " pretty much sums up the jist of this conversation.

Are you attributing that quote to me? I didn't say it and cannot support it. That's not to suggest I don't understand it. I do.

The issues I am pressing are about persuasion and deception:

1) Most people's denial that they are involved in some level of deception on daily basis;

2) That once a person becomes self-aware deception can be deployed as a strategy, and often is;

3) Those who flat-out reject the possibility of my being right [while I conceded the possibility of being wrong] can rarely demonstrate the levels of transparency and authenticity that would suggest they never engage in any level of deception, ever;

4) I don't think one can avoid being deceptive unless they first recognize that we are hard-wired to do it, often pulling it off without even recognizing it for what it is: a deception.

As I have read this trough, and many similar blogs that you've taken part in, I fail to see where the candidate is considered anything but a "Star performer" or an idiot. There seems to be no in-between with you.

I cannot reply to this without specific examples. Do have any?