The Sex Test for Recruiters

I had two guests today. First, a short visit by Charles Krugel, the employment lawyer from Chicago.

My contention is that hiring for culture and hiring for diversity are diametrically opposed. It seems to me that HR people think that race and ethnicity determine your culture. They also think that hiring people from different cultures enhances a business.

When people hire for cultural fit, however, they want to hire people who share their culture.

So I asked Charles to come on and tell me if I am right and if people who hire for culture are going to end up breaking diversity laws. He said I was wrong because race and ethnicity don't determine culture. You can have a different skin colour or ethnic background from the majority and still share the same values.

My other guest, Marty Snyder, agreed. He said that class is the key factor. He said people feel more comfortable with other people from their own background but that middle class people will relate to eachother as members of the same group no matter what their race or ethnic background.

Marty Snyder is the CEO of PCRecruiter. Marty is a frustrated academic but I forced him to tone down the professorial routine and we had a good conversation.

I thought that his most interesting ideas were about sales. He claims that recruiting is sales and that a good sales person does not merely pass on information.

She creates a feeling of certainty in the candidate that this move this is a good thing. And this is a feeling that is not based solely on rational calculation. It's intuitive.

How does the sales person do it? Courage to make the approach seemed to be one factor. Another key element was empathy. But here's the interesting thing. Empathy is understanding the candidate's situation and a sales person can demonstrate empathy to some extent simply by appearing to be an authority in her field because this tells the candidate that she understands her situation.

Marty even offered to tell us how we can identify a good recruiter. It's the person who got laid a lot in college (LISTEN TO THE CLIPS HERE).

Mike Astringer agreed. He said that someone who isn't especially good looking can have much better luck with girls than other guys if he has the guts to make the approach.

Amy Ala objected to Marty's vulgarity so he said, okay, if you are hiring a sales rep in a group of Jehovah's Witnesses, you're going to go after the one who brings the most people to a meeting. Same thing.

It would have been nice to drill down a bit more and see what exactly gives the buyer the feeling of certainty but the general ideas of empathy and assertiveness were as far as we went.

Marty also had some other ideas that I dispute. He said that recruiters create jobs by marketing candidates. I don't think so. Not really. Amy said she had created a job that way but only because she knew the company was going to need someone like her candidate fairly soon.

Marty also says that recruiters know how to downplay or dismiss the stigma of unemployment better than other people. Again, not really; in fact, they have the same prejudices as everyone else.

One more: Marty says that recruiters have a greater ability to see potential in people. I guess he only knows recruiters I haven't run into. We didn't get to discuss all of the claims of this recruiter-booster so maybe I'll have him on again soon to blow them up.

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5 MINUTE CLIP - SEX TEST FOR RECRUITERS

@darrylrmsg @animal Only a complete idiot would associate the discipline of recruiting w/"getting laid" as a qualifier of a good recruiter.
— Valentino Martinez (@valentinoBenito) April 10, 2013

Do I make placements? Yes. Did I have fun in university? Yes again. Do I think one was a predictor of the other? Hell no. @animal
— Darryl Dioso (@DarrylRMSG) April 10, 2013

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5 MINUTE CLIP - SEX TEST FOR RECRUITERS - LISTEN HERE

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on April 12, 2013 at 4:26pm: If the statement or observation had been "all the great recruiters I know have huge charisma - the sort that could get laid a lot if that was their thing" would be one thing, but I believe what you actually said was all the good recruiters you knew did indeed score a lot in college.

For what it's worth I asked a few GOOD recruiters I know and respect if they scored a lot in college. One right out asked me what that had to do with his 95% offer acceptance rate. The rest just looked at me like I'd sprouted an extra head.

Comment by Recruiting Animal on April 12, 2013 at 4:28pm: I had coffee today with an excellent recruiter. A big earner. When I told me about this he said Marty is right for sure.

Comment by Valentino Martinez on April 12, 2013 at 4:43pm: Marty is now demonstrating the "moonwalk" made famous by Michael Jackson...the art of walking smooothly backwards which mirrors his attempt now to walk back what he actually said on the Recruiting Animal Show.

Own what you said, dude...otherwise Amy may sprout a yet another cabeza.

Comment by Will Thomson on April 12, 2013 at 4:53pm: Ok. Fine. Valentino, Animal, Marty, Amy, Sandra, Jerry here are my two cents. This is an absurd conversation. I would rather hang out and be affiliated with a good recruiter who has good moral and ethical values. Having sex with anyone who comes in your way does not define you as a good recruiter. It disgusts me to think that we are defining a good & successful recruiter as someone who makes a ton of money and scores.

Things can be taken out of context. Marty, I am the one who said a monkey can recruit. This has been an entertaining read and conversation. People are entitled to their own opinions, but I have to side strongly with Amy & Jerry.

Over and out.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on April 12, 2013 at 5:01pm: If the only thing I learn from this thread is that I hang out with a different kind of person than Animal and Marty, I'm ok with that. There's a lid for every pot, as the saying goes.

I just don't like the idea that a job seeker or newbie recruiter would get the idea that our industry is for those who's idea of success is THIS. It's not.

Comment by Recruiting Animal on April 12, 2013 at 5:06pm: This is an absurd conversation because only Marty, Mike Astringer and I realize what we we're talking about. And I'm willing to leave it at that.

Except to say that a professional fundraiser or a successful volunteer fundraiser would probably make good recruiters as well. And for the same reasons.

Comment by Valentino Martinez on April 12, 2013 at 5:13pm: Animal--context has meaning and trying to make sow's ear into a silk purse is not going to fly.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on April 12, 2013 at 6:42pm: If there is anything to be learned from this it is perhaps that "frat boy" examples are best left in frats amongst those who can jab elbows, snork and appreciate them.

What you think i meant, because of the way i said it, is not what i really meant because you are too dense to understand it and took it literally based on what i said, is what makes this absurd. Or maybe the absurdity was the way it was said to begin with n'est pas?

Comment by Valentino Martinez on April 15, 2013 at 9:29pm: Jackie Robinson - AP File

@Animal — your contention that hiring for culture and hiring for diversity are diametrically opposed is a weak argument when you consider the Jackie Robinson story (http://www.jackierobinson.com/about/bio.html).

Today, April 15, 2013 is Jackie Robinson Day commemorating the 66th anniversary of Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in major league baseball. In fact, on that note there’s a new movie that started in the states on Friday called: “42” (http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2013-04-11/film/the-brooklyn-museum/...) – chronicling Jackie Robinson’s unique impact on major league baseball and the civil rights movement vs. 60 years of segregation in that sport which is big business the United States.

I’m going to suppose you’ve heard of Jackie Robinson so I’m not going to expound on his bio beyond saying he was a gifted athlete who proved he could not only play in the Bigs – he could excel there against all odds. So where does your argument hold water? The “culture of baseball” prior to Robinson’s arrival was essentially a white-establishment – one that immediately rejected, spat upon and otherwise made Jackie Robinson’s arrival one of YOU ARE NOT WANTED HERE. Threats on his life were common so talking about being diametrically opposed is an understatement. Yet, the baseball gods saw it differently – they ultimately saw that such a culture could benefit from diversity once and for all. Robinson turned the tide and now, today – is honored as one of the greats – and the one who showed what the culture of baseball was missing – top performing players of COLOR.

Jackie Robinson's door-opening impact in professional sports; on the Civil Rights Movement; and on the concept of respecting performance and potential in individuals underscores why VALUING DIVERSITY matters in recruitment for any employer

Comment by Peter Ceccarelli on April 16, 2013 at 5:45pm: The topic of this post has got to be the biggest waste of time and the most pointless piece of garbage I've ever read. It's not even remotely sarcastic which would help it just a tiny bit. Really? You have time for this type of stuff! Get back to work! Or work on your sarcasm.