*** Please note this post originally appeared on The RecruitLoop Blog ***

A few weeks ago I attended a Talent Acquisition and Selection conference in San Francisco.

Having been playing in ‘the recruitment game’…

I’ve said it before, and I know I’ll say it many times again. Whether you like it or not,recruiting is sales.

Often it’s hard to describe, but there’s something about the ‘thrill’ of winning a new client. Perhaps you’ve had…

*** Please note this post originally appeared on The RecruitLoop Blog ***

He promised me an upgrade.

“It looks pretty empty up the front, sir. Just be out at the airport a bit earlier than normal and it should be a sure thing. They’ve overbooked economy…

Last week I was driving to a meeting and my phone rang. I didn’t recognise the number but I answered the call anyway.

“Oh hi, Paul. It’s Francis here from [I honestly didn’t catch the company name]. I tried to connect with you on LinkedIn last week but you didn’t accept my invitation. I was hoping we could set up a time to catch…

*** Please note: This post originally appeared on The RecruitLoop Blog ***

Last week I was in Kuala Lumpur running a workshop for a group of predominantly internal recruiters.

Although the workshop was specifically focused on ‘recruitment metrics’, I noticed…

I’m sure we all have a few “life lessons” that we have learned or picked up along the way that, for whatever reason, have made a particularly strong impression.

When I was in 1st grade I distinctly remember Mrs McIntyre telling us that it was rude to point at other people when you spoke to them. Sitting there in front of her on the “mat” we…

*** Please note this post first featured on The RecruitLoop Blog ***

Many years ago I was sent along to an external training course. A group of us had supposedly been identified as ‘rising stars’ and the seminar was going to help us reach our career…

There are ads on TV featuring turkeys spinning dreidels; carols are piping through the shopping malls; people are wearing those crazy reindeer antlers in the streets; it’s already snowing in parts of the USA while temperatures continue to soar across Australia …

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …

Last week I even…

*** Please note this post originally appeared on The RecruitLoop Blog ***

I have a confession to make: I only joined Facebook about 2 years ago (having resisted for manyyears).

A few days after I joined, a friend of mine posted the following…

One thing I learned very early on in my career looking after teams of recruiters is that every single new consultant needs to know that, as their manager, you truly appreciate where they’re sitting in terms of their level of competency.

I also quickly learned that their perceived level of competency then had a direct impact on their actual…

I have trained thousands of recruiters in my time. So I would like to think that I know what works and what doesn’t.

Recruiting is sales.

There. I said it.

Sure it’s about helping candidates get jobs; or finding the best talent for employers. But when all is said and done (and whether we like it or not) we’re all in the…

There are literally thousands of articles available for candidates on how to leave a lasting first impression throughout the recruitment process. Everything from how to craft an engaging cover letter; to how to make a résumé stand out; and even to what not to wear to a job interview. I even wrote …

Please note this post originally appeared on The RecruitLoop Blog.

I actually wrote this post on a plane from Australia to Singapore.

Before my flight I had a bit of time in the airport so I went for a wander through the bookstore and found myself looking at some of the latest releases…

Mr Client,

I apologise in advance for the somewhat generic greeting, but it’s been ingrained in me from way back when I first got into recruitment.

I still remember all the role-plays and all the training manuals. Every scenario seemed to involve an interaction with “Mr Client”. Hopefully they’ve all been updated by now to…

My flight home from San Francisco the other day was delayed by over an hour. It felt like every 10 – 15 minutes the boarding time would be pushed out, resulting in a mass sigh or groan of frustration from the all the passengers waiting in the departure lounge.

I wasn’t paying too much attention to the people around me. It was late, I was really tired, and I…

With the explosion of social media networks, we have all become content creators, networkers and spectators, and we end up spending hours online in networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, both creating and consuming content.

Over 500 million photos – not to mention several billion updates – are posted every…

I’ve seen far too many people fall into this trap over the years and you may well have found yourself in a similar situation either as a hiring manager or as a recruiter.

You’re inundated with applications. You skim through the plethora of cover letters or maybe have a quick glance at the front pages of the resumés starting to clog up your inbox.

A few…

Please note this post originally appeared on The RecruitLoop Blog

Don’t worry. I know exactly what you’re thinking.

Surely in this day and age resumés are becoming obsolete! I mean who even has a CV these days anyway?

Gosh even we …

Congratulations on finding the perfect person for your role! Now, what are you going to do with all those resumes that you no longer need?

Here’s some advice: Burn them. Seriously. Who cares? That person made a connection with you, your company, and your brand; but none of that matters now. You don’t need them. You’ve got what you need and over 50% of them weren’t…

I can vividly remember starting a new job many years ago.

The place was a bit of a shambles and just between you and me my boss was a patronising prick. He’d seemed so nice; so approachable … during the interview process. But from day one it was as if Dr Jekyll had left Mr Hyde alone in the building!

One morning about a month into the job, I happened to get…