Stop Trying To Reinvent Recruiting

Seriously. Just stop. STAHP. You’re embarrassing yourself and the community at large. If I see one more ridiculous, self-serving post about the “recruitment agency of the future!” and how y’all are going to CHANGE EVERYTHING I will probably just burst into tears out of pure frustration. You. Are. Full. Of. Crap. Recruiting, recruitment, whatever the hell you call it is a pretty freaking simple process. Get paid to find people for jobs. THAT’S IT.

Social Media is not going to save you. Your false promises about personally hand delivering every single resume you ever receive to companies DESPERATE for your services stink to high heaven. I am beyond irritated with your nonsense. A recent post on here (I refuse to link to it - I will NOT provide click bait) promises that recruitment agencies treat every individual differently and only short-lists after each and every application is examined, thereby insuring only the most talented candidates get first preference.

You sir, are full of caca.

Here’s why. Most recruiters, including yours truly, will use a variety of methods to identify qualified candidates. I will review applications that come in. I will source on LinkedIn, various job boards, social media sites (sometimes) and anywhere else I think people with the right skills might be found. I will then make contact with said candidates, hoping they’re interested in the role as well. And so it goes. The funnel tightens, with people being rejected or rejecting the opportunity. It happens. I will use Boolean strings, key words, any number of ways to narrow the pool. Because that is my job. I will do my best to get back to everyone who took the time to apply and CERTAINLY everyone who gets a 2^nd look – if you’ve interviewed you deserve the courtesy of closure, you better believe it.

We have to stop making false promises to candidates. This pisses me off more than anything else. I do what I can to help candidates get visibility in my (very large) organization, but I also try to be very honest about what I can and can’t do. I’ll give advice on resumes, always with the caveat that it’s one recruiter’s opinion, your mileage may vary. For special skill sets I’ll do everything I can to create an “opportunity hire” – basically finding a home for someone AWESOME that my company can benefit from. This is more common on the agency side, let’s face it. Still, most hires happen because there’s an open position.

As both a former agency recruiter and current corporate recruiter, let me tell you what I REALLY want from you. Find qualified people in a timely fashion for a decent price. As a former candidate who’s found plenty of gigs over the years through agencies, let me tell you what I expect. Be honest with me about the companies (and kinds of roles) you can present me to. Give me honest feedback on my resume, interview skills, and presentation. I know you’re being paid by the client, but I also know it’s possible we can help each other out by making the hiring manager happy.

I’ve been doing this for almost 15 years, and with the exception of the internet making information easier to come by, the basics of finding jobs, finding people, and bringing them together has not changed. Stop trying to make recruiting something it’s not.

Comment by David Wells on February 5, 2014 at 11:07am: Thanks for the laugh.

The last year I have spent more time on the phone and meeting candidates live than at any point in my career, consequently I had the best year of my now seven year career. I am all for incremental improvement at the margins, i.e. more efficient used of tools like linkedin, better understanding of what networking events I should spend my time at and so on but I am so tired of all the puffed up nonsense about something brand new, it makes me think of snake oil salesman. My number one weapon is still the telephone and I definitely dont see that changing.

Comment by Alan Fluhrer on February 5, 2014 at 11:33am: @amy Way to go girl

Regarding Nehez 140k database. Not defending anyone here.....but....yes there's a butt today......I would rather have a 140k database that is mostly useful, than a 2 million that's just so-so.

Comment by Alan Fluhrer on February 5, 2014 at 11:34am: Sorry Amy I forgot to mention. WE have built a team of hunter-killer recruiters at my firm over the last yr. The one thing, THE ONE THING, we wanted to hear them say during the interview was anything around the phrase, "pick up the Da#n phone"

Comment by Robert Dromgoole on February 5, 2014 at 11:34am: I have to make a major correction on your story. We're not paid to 'find' people for jobs. We're paid to close deals. Finding people are easy. It's less about process and more about relationships & sales. We're the facilitator of that offer transaction. The rest is administrative less important stuff.

Comment by Pete Radloff on February 5, 2014 at 11:35am: Agreed Alan. My issue with that "140" database line, is that I've heard it from every and any agency. And my first question is what is your continual communication strategy to cultivate and engage that database. If it doesn't exist, it's as useful as the white pages.

Comment by Alan Fluhrer on February 5, 2014 at 11:38am: Pete, agree with your comment. Heck, I have over 500k, in one file folder. Big deal says I.

The question here is........How good are you, your team, your company, at find THE BEST candidates, period, in a timely manner.

The rest of my rant would take up too much space on the internet

Comment by Amber on February 5, 2014 at 11:51am: Really, Amy - this is so true! The other day a potential client called to ask about our services, etc. One of her last questions (from a list, it sounded like) was: "how are you different from other recruiting firms?" My answer: "I'm not, really. There are great, good, so-so, and terrible recruiters out there. There's no magic trick out there - we just find out what/who you need and then go find them. We talk to them (sh, don't tell our competitors that!), see if what they have done and want to do are a match for you." There was a 2 second moment of silence, then a little giggle, and a signed contract the next morning.

Comment by Stephen Nehez, Jr. on February 5, 2014 at 11:52am: Look. The guy said all he needed was a database. I offered him access to my database plus was going to feed him five real JO's and give him a week. He declined. What more can I say?

I'd continue the rant but I need to snow blow....

Sincerely,

Steve

Comment by Myles Phelps on February 5, 2014 at 11:57am: We have to stop making false promises to candidates.

Well said, Amy. Well said...

Comment by Paul DeBettignies on February 5, 2014 at 12:13pm: I had to look it up... my last comment on RBC was in August and before that almost 4 years ago. This post caught me on the right day and in a "mood"... I had written a long reply that agreed with Amy and that slammed a bunch of ideas that I have seen spewed lately by either "commentators" (those folks who talk about this stuff but not done it in a long time) or "newbies" (those who are going to change the world).

I decided not to... I would have felt better for the moment and in the process damaged my name.

I do want to say this... we need to challenge (in the right time and place with an appropriate tone) the things we see and hear. I miss the "good old days" when folks would disagree... when we would say "I think that is BS and here is why" and then folks would exchanges ideas.

And a mini rant...

I am tired of marketers, commentators, speakers and consultants who are "authorities" on recruiting who give advice but have never actually done what they suggest. They may find out what the rest of us already know... it sounds good when you are in front of the room but in reality you're full of hot air.