Consider Me Your VERY own personal Jerry Maguire

Recruiter. Headhunter. Staffing Consultant. Placement Specialist. Talent Acquisition and Retention Specialist. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH! Let’s call it what it really is – we are your Agent. OH YES – think Jerry Maguire “Show ME THE MONEY” Cuba Gooding yelling in the bathroom kind of agent. And no – I will not scream into the phone for you. I love you – but that just seems weird and it’s been done already.

I’ve realized recently that candidates typically fall into one of two categories:

• The first camp, we shall call them the “I don’t believe in your value” team – call Recruiters when they are in dire straits and send half-done resume updates/portfolio samples because let’s face it – they are at the end of their rope and don’t see the value that we (THE AGENT) can bring.

• The 2nd group, I shall call them the “I TOTALLY GET IT and will CERTAINLY partner with you to make magic happen” team – they are responsive, helpful, updates resumes AND portfolios accordingly and view us (THE AGENT) as a valued partner and resource in helping them secure their next engagement (I know – it’s not a movie but we can’t all live in the world of Mark Wahlberg (HELLO! ENTOURAGE MUCH) and Rene Zellweger).

So the tough question (DUM DUM DUM….) – how do we shift the court of public opinion in group one to join the happily ever after of group two?

It’s simple – change the mindset. Build the relationship. Court a little. In this land of speed dating and internet match making – the same cannot be applied to creating a valuable agent/talent relationship. So let’s get back to basics people! Get to know one another and the things that make each member of the partnership awesome. And for the love of god recruiters – DO NOT EVER USE THE WORDS “TOUCH BASE.” Would you want your girlfriend/spouse/family to call to “touch base?” I don’t think so.

Comment by Craig Silverman on November 17, 2009 at 6:24pm: Nice Job! I like it.

Comment by Hassan Rizwan on November 18, 2009 at 5:15am: Well categorized.

Comment by mariam mcc on November 18, 2009 at 1:14pm: and this my friends, also defines the line between head hunting/resume shuffling from people in the industry who are experts and care about their clients/interviewees that they represent. well put, kelly.

Comment by Bill Sullivan on November 18, 2009 at 3:49pm: This is absolutely great. It really is unfortunate that the first group even exists to be honest with you. Unfortunately in the world of recruiting, just like agents of any kind, there are good representations and bad representations (right Scott Boras?) of what our industry is supposed to represent and the value that we as professionals can add. Great job Kelly!

Comment by Randy Levinson on November 19, 2009 at 1:39pm: Kelly. You make some awesome points here. I remember when the movie came out (jeez, everyone is doing movie-recruitment analogies these days), I was working for a headhunting firm at the time. We all began to consider ourselves "High Tech Talent Scouts" and "Agents of Technical Superstars". Unfortunately those tactics don't work as well as they do in the movies when applied to real life recruiting. You also make a great point about the types of candidates we come across. I have often said that the people without much work experience or real world experience often fall into the first category. The more experienced fall into the second category, and the really really really experienced fall into the "wait a minute - let me make sure my boss knows a recruiter is calling me" category. But in all cases it is true that the more they value what you bring to the table, the more successful their candidacy will be for any job. Thanks for a great post.