Not many teenagers in the 80’s chose to have a Caucasoid afro. I certainly didn’t want one either, but I had thick bushy hair that could house a community of squirrels. I was the goofball kid dressed in tennis shorts, a Polo shirt, and boat shoes. I may have been a teenage Dork with a capital D but I had my own style.

Sometimes Recruiting is like hair. It can be bushy and thick. It can be thin and straight. It can be long, curly, and even bald. Sometimes you just don’t have a choice in recruiting. You have what you have and you make the best style of it.

So in light of our economic times, I’d like to break down the various recruiting styles you will see come and go this year.

Let’s start with the Thick and Bushy style. It was all the hair rage of the 70’s, but it is definitely not in fashion now and neither is this recruiting style. Thick and Bushy Recruiting is all about heavy volume. While some find it intriguing, most recruiters become frustrated in building a recruiting structure with this style. All you can do it pick at it, and during the lean times, there is not much to pick.

The Bee-hive was trendy for women in the 60’s and still is for Librarians across the country. However, the Bee-hive recruiting style is complicated with government regulations. Encircled in tight layers, HR is in the center piece. It is uninspiring, boring and not at all sexy, when HR departments call their programs “Recruiting Initiatives”.

The Mullet is part of the rites of passage down here in the south. At some point every Southern man will sport one. This recruiting model is quite common for corporations that have a short interview process upfront but followed up with a very long hiring process. This recruiting trend is here to stay. The South will rise again!

My last company used a Frulett style, which is a combo of the Mullet and Afro. Heavy volume, little upfront interview process, coupled with a long frustrating hiring process - most new hires were disenchanted before their actual start date.

Feathered hair requires a lot of maintenance. In the 70’s, women doused their hair with cans of hairspray and our ozone has never been the same since. A Feathered recruiting style involves a lot of Sourcers, Recruiters and Account Managers. Many companies were once attracted to this Fara Faucet like method, but today it’s too expensive and can do a lot of damage to the bottom line.

High and Tight is a hot fad these days. When the job market is about as stable as a one legged senior citizen on a sea cruise, High and Tight is a very trendy recruiting style. With this style Corporate Recruiters are lean and mean fighting war machines.

Bald is acceptable right now. Since there isn’t much hiring, there isn’t much recruiting. Plain and simple.

I am fascinated with all the recruiting trends. I hope to see more this year at ERE Expo. When jobs are scarce, people and companies still have a recruiting style of their own. If you would like to add your own Recruiting Hair Style, please do so.