A Friday Quickie

Attention Agency Recruiters: You are NOT in Human Resources. You are NOT in PR. You are not in
Employment Branding, Social Work, Social Media, Job Hunting Tips, or Candidate Experience
Consulting.

You. Are. In. Sales. Get it?

If you are not making presentations all day, every day, you are going to fail. You know what a presentation is, don’t you? It is talking to someone about your product. And I’m sure you know what I mean by product, right? Open positions or qualified candidates. That’s it. Period!

Maybe failure is an option for you. Heck – if you keep up with all the feel-good junk on Twitter you may very well think failure is a requirement to moving forward. Here’s some news for you though – it’s not. Failure is NOT good. It is not a stepping stone. It is not a feather in your cap.

The further you get sucked into following irrelevant links, reading about the latest Google news or discussing the latest Facebook trends – during the middle of your business day - the further away from making presentations you get.

Now – go call someone you don’t know and introduce yourself.

Comment by C. B. Stalling!! on September 20, 2010 at 10:44am: i need to find this article from tony byrn....how to confirm your client...

Comment by Sandra McCartt on September 20, 2010 at 1:03pm: I think it is hilarious that it has to be said that recruiters, to be in the game, have to find candidates and get them in front of our clients, get them interviewed and hired. I think that is the definition of what a recruiter does.

Jerry is a bit nicer than i am about how he says things. My literal translation of this post is...if you are not finding, presenting and getting candidates placed you are not a recruiter. All of this social media, twitter, branding (a bastardazation of the meaning of the word by the by) candidate experience, passive/active candidate, yada, yada, yada is in fact a time wasting bunch of hogwash.

However we find them and however we present them is a matter of choice and client preference. Our clients do not hire us to tell them how to run their business, build their social network, consult with them on what is wrong with their process. They hire us for one reason and one reason only.

To find qualified candidates and get them in front of them to fill a job. Period.

So quit bitching about how hard it is, how indecisive the client is, whether the candidate is invisible or sitting on your front step. Go find a candidate and get them in front of your client...NOW

Comment by bill josephson on September 20, 2010 at 1:44pm: I disagree that being a great recruiter is solely defined by filling a position/results. That's obviously our sole goal. But getting to that goal is usually working a process and failing to get someone hired in the end doesn't reflect upon one's recruiting ability. There are circumstances beyond our control and times during or at the end of a process you discover the assignment was impossible, not tough.

We can only control our own efforts, not the end result, IMO.

Comment by Jerry Albright on September 20, 2010 at 1:55pm: I might have to agree with Bill to a certain degree. Yes - the goal is always a placement in the end. I think part of being a "great" recruiter is the ability though, to recognize when something is going the wrong direction and make the right decision. I've chased more than a few wild geese and don't feel any less of a recruiter having done so.

A great recruiter values their time and is ALWAYS trying to make sure that time is spent productively.

Comment by bill josephson on September 20, 2010 at 2:20pm: I agree. Productive time spent is critical working a process. Bottom line, though, and the point I've been trying to make is finding productive time spent situations to work on in the recent past/present are much fewer and farther between, in my experience.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on September 20, 2010 at 6:22pm: No results, no filled positions = no paycheck. How great is that? A great recruiter who can't fill a position now and then or get any results is probably peddling webinars, ATS systems or writing "how to" books.

Comment by bill josephson on September 20, 2010 at 6:31pm: You can control giving an assignment your best effort. You can't control whether you ultimately fill any one position since you can't control others actions or if the situation ultimately requires a "magician" as Jerry stated.

In my 30 years of recruiting I've found that no results always hurts, no question.