Todd Kmiec's Blog – January 2009 Archive (5)

The Client Side - Even a workaholic loves the Super Bowl

I love the Super Bowl. I love it for the party with friends, the buffalo wings, the beer, the fact that the best in their profession get the spotlight, and I even love the game. The whole event is an American Institution. But the workaholic in me loves it as well. Our industry has a real history with the Super Bowl. Monster.com was launched into the national spotlight with Super Bowl ads. One of the great business risks and successes in history in any industry. Careerbuilder had some fantastic… Continue

Added by Todd Kmiec on January 30, 2009 at 11:19am — 1 Comment

The Client Side - Cut our fees? NOT!

Every once in a while (in good times and bad) I have a conversation with a prospective client like the following which happened earlier this week.

"We are looking for a licensed mechanical engineer with heavy experience in HVAC. We will pay a 10% commission and expect a one year guarantee."

(response: Are you kidding?)

I didn't say that out loud but I did have to laugh to myself and those were my thoughts. The subject of reducing fees also came up this week in… Continue

Added by Todd Kmiec on January 23, 2009 at 10:57am — 1 Comment

The Client Side - Put Yourself In Their Shoes

An interesting situation came up this week with one client. I talked to them in the morning to review their needs and was told how important a certain position was and that they did not have good candidates in the mix. We got to work on our end and went on with our day. In the meantime, they went into meetings to discuss their business and the direction they are heading. They came out of the meetings later in the day and I got a call saying they are switching gears, closing that position and… Continue

Added by Todd Kmiec on January 16, 2009 at 10:40am — 1 Comment

The Client Side - Mixed Bag

We came into this week hoping for a January bounce. What we got, was a mixed bag.....so far. Activity has definitely picked up. We are seeing more new jobs, interviews, processes moving along, and more clients' perspectives returning to normal. However, we are also still seeing a significantly higher than normal level of fear and reserve.

The economy and business conditions still have a lot of business leaders scared, concerned, or frozen. When looking at business conditions in… Continue

Added by Todd Kmiec on January 9, 2009 at 10:31am — 1 Comment

The Client Side - Hoping for a January bounce

Since my business is focused on the Client Side of permanent placement recruiting, I thought it would be valuable to share what we're experiencing on this end on a regular basis. So here goes...

The last half of December is typically very slow and this year it was the same as it has been in the past, thankfully. To the contrary, the September - October - November period was not even close to anything we had seen in the past. During that period the level of fear that clients… Continue

Added by Todd Kmiec on January 2, 2009 at 9:50am — 1 Comment