Jeffrey Burkhardt's Posts - RecruitingBlogs2024-03-29T02:09:00ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardthttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1526911264?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2ijuh45jcgywp&xn_auth=noWhat is Past Is Prologuetag:recruitingblogs.com,2009-11-05:502551:BlogPost:7894992009-11-05T14:53:05.000ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardt
With nearly 10% unemployment and almost 15 million people out of work, more and more individuals are seeking the services of recruiting firms, resume writing companies, networking websites, and personal coaches to help them identify and find new positions.<br />
<br />
While I feel utilizing these ideas are certainly a good one, I contend that most unemployed people fail to utilize one particular source when seeking a new job.<br />
<br />
That source is themselves.<br />
<br />
We all have had careers with industries and firms…
With nearly 10% unemployment and almost 15 million people out of work, more and more individuals are seeking the services of recruiting firms, resume writing companies, networking websites, and personal coaches to help them identify and find new positions.<br />
<br />
While I feel utilizing these ideas are certainly a good one, I contend that most unemployed people fail to utilize one particular source when seeking a new job.<br />
<br />
That source is themselves.<br />
<br />
We all have had careers with industries and firms where we were the ones that got ourselves in the front door in the first place. So how did we do that before the dawn of coaches, resume writers, Facebook, and staffing firms?<br />
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Print out a copy of your resume. Look closely at the firms you worked for and ask yourself some questions:<br />
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1. How did I prepare myself for interviews?<br />
2. What did I learn in college and post-college that was able to utilize on the job with ‘X’ firm?<br />
3. What experiences did I have that helped me perform well and then take those life lessons to my next employer?<br />
4. Why was I successful? Why did I learn from the failures and mistakes I made? How did I ensure I did not make those mistakes again?<br />
5. What did I do every day at my job? How many hats did I wear?<br />
6. Clearly, I sold myself to get in the door – so how did I do that? Did I rely on the help of others? If so, where are they now and how can they assist me?<br />
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If you take a few minutes and really study what you did to get where you were, you may truly find the best person to help you market yourself and find a new job is you. So what’s stopping you?The Fine Line Between Follow Up and Harassmenttag:recruitingblogs.com,2009-10-22:502551:BlogPost:7829312009-10-22T19:00:00.000ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardt
It’s happened to all of us.<br />
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As a Recruiter, you send the job description to a candidate to review for consideration and potential submission to your customer, have a “great” phone conversation, lock up the details, psych up your Sales Guy with the “perfect” candidate and boom…after sending the resume to the Sales Guy to send to your customer, you hear crickets. Chirp, chirp. Your candidate falls off the face of the earth.<br />
<br />
Or as a Sales Guy, you send the “perfect” candidate against your…
It’s happened to all of us.<br />
<br />
As a Recruiter, you send the job description to a candidate to review for consideration and potential submission to your customer, have a “great” phone conversation, lock up the details, psych up your Sales Guy with the “perfect” candidate and boom…after sending the resume to the Sales Guy to send to your customer, you hear crickets. Chirp, chirp. Your candidate falls off the face of the earth.<br />
<br />
Or as a Sales Guy, you send the “perfect” candidate against your requirement and after discussing it with your customer and agreeing to follow up tomorrow to schedule interviews, you also hear crickets. More chirps. Now your customer has fallen off the face of earth.<br />
<br />
What do you do? Where is the fine line between Follow Up and Harassment?<br />
<br />
Well, I like to think there is a degree of assumed accountability in the staffing business where sometimes you need to shake the rust off of and remind your candidates and customers of their responsibilities. Candidates and customers hold you and I accountable for details and information – on job descriptions, rates, and on feedback – where it is only fair that staffing firms also have the right to hold candidates and customers accountable for information, like resumes, references, and of course, feedback.<br />
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Relationships don’t work too well when only one side is holding up their end of the bargain.<br />
<br />
What are you doing to improve your relationships with your candidates and customers to ensure mutual satisfaction and success?<br />
<br />
What are you doing to make sure your candidates and customers improve their relationships with you?Taking Timetag:recruitingblogs.com,2009-09-22:502551:BlogPost:7702572009-09-22T10:43:30.000ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardt
Taking Time<br />
<br />
We spend so much time as recruiters and salespeople in developing relationships with candidates that sometimes we forget just how far we can actually take that relationship – for mutual benefit.<br />
<br />
1. Take time to explain what your firm offers but also listen to what your candidate wants.<br />
<br />
When we speak with candidates and sell them on how wonderful our firms are, on how outstanding our processes are, and on how great it is to work with us – we as recruiters and sales people tend to…
Taking Time<br />
<br />
We spend so much time as recruiters and salespeople in developing relationships with candidates that sometimes we forget just how far we can actually take that relationship – for mutual benefit.<br />
<br />
1. Take time to explain what your firm offers but also listen to what your candidate wants.<br />
<br />
When we speak with candidates and sell them on how wonderful our firms are, on how outstanding our processes are, and on how great it is to work with us – we as recruiters and sales people tend to be so focused on what we have now in terms of opportunities that we neglect were else we can consider utilizing a given candidate’s credentials. Where does your candidate want to work? What other skills can your candidate offer?<br />
<br />
2. Take time to know what your candidates offer.<br />
<br />
Do we take enough time to get to understand our candidate’s needs because we are so set on our own? It’s natural to contact a candidate and pitch them an opportunity with us that we have NOW, but what about where we can also consider utilizing this same candidate for other potential opportunities? Do we take enough time to think how this same candidate can open doors for us with other customers?<br />
<br />
3. Take time to teach your candidates to become recruiters for you.<br />
<br />
Your candidates are likely getting calls from other staffing firms in your region. They are likely getting presented other employment options that you may not be aware of. If you are treating your candidates so well in a manner where they really want to work with you, you can teach them how to be another recruiter in the field for you. Ask your candidates that when contacted by other firms on opportunities to contact you to see if you can present them to those different positions. Maybe you have an agreement with that potential customer where you can support the candidate there as well. Bottom line is this – There is nothing worse in the business than losing your candidate to your customers – or even your potential customers. Make sure you have covered every potential staffing opportunity you can with your candidates and treat them so well that they do not want to work for anyone else but you and your staffing firm. Make them want to come to you with every staffing opportunity they see. Your chances for staffing these candidates will go up exponentially.<br />
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4. Take time to communicate before, during and after the sale.<br />
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How many times do we hear from candidates that they hear no feedback once their resumes are submitted to a customer? And then how often do we say to them “Well, at our staffing firm, we NEVER do that.”<br />
<br />
Really - we NEVER do that?<br />
<br />
We forget to communicate sometimes with our candidates and always dislike being the bearer of bad news if our candidate is passed over for a position. However, we owe it to our candidates to be truthful and up-front all the time. Communication is under-valued and misunderstood in the staffing business – it does not have to be lengthy but it does need to be frequent. When you communicate with a candidate, you are solidifying your relationship with them in good times and bad times. Don’t think your candidates won’t notice.Referencing The Referencetag:recruitingblogs.com,2009-09-09:502551:BlogPost:7404562009-09-09T14:30:00.000ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardt
Sometimes the most obvious things are right under our noses, aren’t they?<br />
Take leads. In this business, Account Executives and Recruiters alike live and die by the leads they develop. The old ABC’s of generating referral contacts (A = Ask for Referrals, B = Beg for Referrals, C= Call for Referrals) rings true now more than ever as firms work harder to develop new business in this challenging economic landscape.<br />
So why not start with Referencing The Reference?<br />
Simply put, when performing the…
Sometimes the most obvious things are right under our noses, aren’t they?<br />
Take leads. In this business, Account Executives and Recruiters alike live and die by the leads they develop. The old ABC’s of generating referral contacts (A = Ask for Referrals, B = Beg for Referrals, C= Call for Referrals) rings true now more than ever as firms work harder to develop new business in this challenging economic landscape.<br />
So why not start with Referencing The Reference?<br />
Simply put, when performing the obligatory (and nowadays more necessary) references for candidates during your firm’s submittal to customer process, why not take a minute to truly introduce yourself, perform some basic intelligence work with the person on the other end of the phone that your services are available personally and professionally, if warranted?<br />
This does not require a hard sell, an elevator pitch about how your firm is better than anyone else’s, or the promise of more money and a better life. It simply is a subtle way to show value and “thank” the person with whom you are speaking in a way that shows you are there to assist them just as they have taken time to assist you. Done well, you can easily and quickly amass hot sheets of leads for you and your colleagues and become a referral standout in your organization.Truth In Advertisingtag:recruitingblogs.com,2009-08-29:502551:BlogPost:7364272009-08-29T19:02:25.000ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardt
Imagine this.<br />
<br />
A new customer introduces you and your firm to an opportunity where, if you successfully fill their most challenging requirement, it will open up numerous doors to other opportunities within their organization. If you land the placement, you will regarded as a “Staffing Firm above all Staffing Firms” – one that not only found their hardest to find resource but also one that uniquely separated themselves from the packs of other staffing vendors that have struck out on this same…
Imagine this.<br />
<br />
A new customer introduces you and your firm to an opportunity where, if you successfully fill their most challenging requirement, it will open up numerous doors to other opportunities within their organization. If you land the placement, you will regarded as a “Staffing Firm above all Staffing Firms” – one that not only found their hardest to find resource but also one that uniquely separated themselves from the packs of other staffing vendors that have struck out on this same requirement - one firm after another.<br />
<br />
You find the ideal candidate. Local to the assignment, missed by all other staffing firms mining for the same need, and with a rate that falls into the ever-restrictive rate ranges sadly becoming standard issue in the industry.<br />
<br />
After your recruiter performs general due diligence, confirming work experience and the like, you present the candidate to the customer who then proceeds to interview the candidate and BOOM!<br />
<br />
The customer likes him and is interested in proceeding to the on-boarding process to get the candidate on staff ASAP. What a Hero your firm has become. You have found the missing piece the customer has been seeking for so long. Your firm is truly a “Staffing Firm above all Staffing Firms”.<br />
<br />
Is this too good to be true?<br />
<br />
Well, if you are not careful, it can be.<br />
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As Sales and Recruiting professionals, it is not only essential, it is imperative to be sure to check and double check every candidate you consider to make sure what you see is what you are going to get. In this economy as we are all struggling to get new business, it’s easy to “forget” the important things. Don’t think cutting corners or relaxing processes is something people will not notice. Failure to perform standard background checks, reference checks, and probe employment holes and gaps in a candidate’s resume are all things that, in the excitement of wanting to submit the right candidate and present them to a customer, are mistakes that can lump you and your firm into the same boat as all the other staffing firms who are more interested in getting a quick sale instead of doing business the right way.<br />
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It’s not wrong to call out a candidate whose resume looks too good to be true, just like it’s not wrong for a recruiter to question a Sales Manager over a requirement missing recruiting details. Don’t fail to do the little things right with any deal you undertake. Handle each new deal as if it were your first.<br />
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And remember the old adage a wise staffing sage taught me 15 years ago: “It’s hard to land new customers. It’s very easy to lose them.”<br />
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Are you not doing the little things that could be costing you hires or more, future business? Do you know what you are representing to your customers?Speed Is What We Needtag:recruitingblogs.com,2009-08-22:502551:BlogPost:7316512009-08-22T12:58:47.000ZJeffrey Burkhardthttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeffreyBurkhardt
I often refer to the line used by Burgess Meredith (Mickey) in the Rocky films in the early 1970’s that, while training Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Mickey is insistent on the “need for speed.” “You need speed, lighting quick speed…” during my workday. A firm’s speed of delivery is one the best differentiators in how a company can stand out versus the competition.<br />
<br />
As Sales and Recruiting professionals in an economy where competition is fiercer than ever, staff augmentation firms need to get…
I often refer to the line used by Burgess Meredith (Mickey) in the Rocky films in the early 1970’s that, while training Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Mickey is insistent on the “need for speed.” “You need speed, lighting quick speed…” during my workday. A firm’s speed of delivery is one the best differentiators in how a company can stand out versus the competition.<br />
<br />
As Sales and Recruiting professionals in an economy where competition is fiercer than ever, staff augmentation firms need to get creative and pull out all the stops they can to get a leg up over their competition and get that needed “speed.” Is your firm guilty of any of the following?<br />
<br />
• You receive a requirement via a mass-generated VMO system and feel that, because there is so much competition against it that there is really no need to pay it much mind because the position is challenging or the pay and billing rates too low?<br />
• You and your staff take a “wait and see” approach to handling new requirements and will get to the new requirement and any subsequent initial strategies tied to recruitment, advertising and marketing, etc. the next moment you can – even if it’s 24 hours later?<br />
• Your firm is stuck in a “Form over Function” mentality?<br />
• Your firm is simply understaffed due to layoffs and downsizing as a result of the tight economy and as such, cannot respond as quickly as you once could or should?<br />
<br />
If the answer to any of these is “Yes”, well then maybe you need to take a look at your internal engines and see what needs to be done to add speed and get more out of what you already have. If you think you have done everything you could with regards to a situation – think again. Someone else probably has another solution to your problem. We are all faced to having to do things we never had to do in a tight staffing market such as this and it is also up to us to find our luck and create our own economies to succeed. Partnering with rival firms, sharing innovative concepts with partners and others, and really listening to ideas – any ideas that may give you and your firm a step up versus the competition. You then have to take real courage and implement those same ideas and work steadfastly toward a successful outcome. It’s up to you get smarter and quicker than your competition and utilize speed to your advantage.