Stephen Nehez - Successful 3rd Party Recruiter

I had a great show today. Because I had a great guest. Steve Nehez sent me a detailed list of things he wanted to talk about that laid out the plan for the whole show. I added questions but I didn't even get to most of his suggestions.

Not everyone thought it was a great show. Steve has made some frank (disparaging) remarks about internal recruiters (cubicle jockeys) and the regulars who work internally were out to get him.

A number of people who were commenting on Twitter didn't like his approach either. They said it depends on picking the low-hanging fruit in industries that have jobs for which there are lots of potential candidates.

They also said that his email blasts are spam. I don't think so. And to my surprise, Jerry and I finally agreed on something.

The only problem with the show was that there was so much extended arguing that Steve didn't have a chance to say everything he wanted to. People felt so passionate about the topics raised that they stated their objections and then felt a need to state them again and again and again.

In my opinion, though, this was one of my top shows.

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Comment by Tom Bolt on May 22, 2013 at 5:34pm: OK, I thought it was a good show too and perhaps some of my 140-character-limited comments were more negative than they should have been. My apologies for sometimes trying to say something cute instead of constructive.

I received MRI basic training like Steve, so I know where he is coming from. That background probably also tainted my viewpoint. He's got this down pat and will probably make a mint, but I have to say that if I had to do recruiting that way for any length of time I would go insane. It sounds like he has expanded the basic model and I for one would be interested in hearing what he does differently from the robotic basics if he does agree to do another guest appearance. This is an intense environment that is not suited to many people and recruiter burnout is usually high. Since his recruiters love it, he either has a special breed of recruiters or does something different to keep it human. Or maybe the engineering-type level of detail is necessary to train replacements?

Comment by Recruiting Animal on May 22, 2013 at 5:37pm: I love when you say anything Tom

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on May 22, 2013 at 5:39pm: Does constructive really have a place on the Animal Show? :) My training was Tony Byrne on VHS - Placement 2000.... as I said - good for Steve for being successful and knowing what works for him. That is terrific - I just get irritated when successful recruiters paint the rest of us with a broad brush or assumptions like "all internals are fat, complacent failures" (yes I'm paraphrasing). Because it ain't so. Not all agency recruiters are straight out of Glenngarry Glen Ross, even when they like to think they are.

Comment by Recruiting Animal on May 22, 2013 at 6:05pm: Good question about culture, Amy. We just didn't have time to focus on it

Comment by Recruiting Animal on May 22, 2013 at 6:17pm: Steve, Amy, Mike Astringer, Jerry Albright, Derek Zeller and the other people who spoke made it a very interesting show.

I finally had the opportunity to look at Twitter myself while the show was going on and there were lots of good contributions there too.

Comment by Stephen Smith on May 23, 2013 at 3:47am: I have to say that HTML email marketing campaigns are definitely not spam, as long as they've been designed professionally and adhere to brand guidelines. Whereas plain text emails, BCC'd from an office account are very much spam and should be hammered accordingly.

I feel that recruitment software should be embraced to a certain degree, but we shouldn't get rid of the personal approach entirely. Recruitment consultants are renowned for possessing the soft skills that forge long-lasting relationships, and that's of paramount importance.

Comment by Will Thomson on May 23, 2013 at 12:35pm: Keep doin' what your doin' Animal.

Comment by Recruiting Animal on May 23, 2013 at 12:38pm: OK but I've got to do it better. This guest yesterday sent me a plan that gave me some ideas as to how I might make it easier for 3rd party recruiters to be guaranteed of a good ride.

Unfortunately most of my problems come when I interview people who are not 3rd party recruiters and I don't know anything about their fields.

Comment by Will Thomson on May 23, 2013 at 12:45pm: Hell man, I don't know anything about coding Java either. Absolutely nothing. Your doing fine.