What Women Want?

It's been 10 years since the Mel Gibson / Helen Hunt, ‘What Women Want” movie was released. Mel Gibson’s character, Nick, a somewhat chauvinistic advertising hot shot may have found the answer when a fluke bathroom accident enables him hear what women think. Taking advantage of this special gift, he manipulates it to his advantage at work.

Having watched this movie recently, I asked myself, “I wonder what the 3 C’s in my corporate life want?” the 3 C’s being my Client, my Candidate and my CEO.

Because real life is different to reel life I decided to pick up the phone and ask them just 1 question, "What do you really want (from a recruiter)?" I figured this method would be better than going through Nick’s ritual of waxing, mascara and ending in the bath with the blow dryer switched on.

Bracing myself for a A4 sized sheet of expectations, I was surprised at the results.

What Clients want?

They want recruiters to partner them in selecting the best talent available.

(obvious isn't it? the key word being 'partner')

What Candidates want?

They want recruiters to answer their phone.

(yet so many of us hide behind voice mails and emails)

What (recruitment) CEOs want?
Just do it ! less stories and more productive activity.

(need I elaborate this one?)

* this blog is not a figment of my imagination, it's based on an actual phone survey conducted by me. 10 clients, candidates and recruitment managers each were spoken to in Oct '10. Sure there were other answers however the most common and the most important (to them) were selected.

Next Post >

Comment by Becki Dunaway on January 27, 2011 at 2:41pm: Alban -- wow! Amazing how a simple call to ask the question can lead you to what you probably already knew anyway, huh? Thanks for sharing!

Comment by Recruiting Animal on January 27, 2011 at 2:52pm: Alban likes Chick Flicks

Comment by Alban on January 27, 2011 at 5:10pm: @ Becki, you are most welcome. Simple is good, life's complicated as it is.

Comment by Scott Bruman on January 28, 2011 at 4:30pm: Great post, and right on!

@Morgan: not too busy to respond to all candidates, but to address Alban's 3rd point (less stories, more productive activity)- which couldn't be more spot on, btw - just too busy to waste with candidates trying to pursue what they aren't qualifed for and have made no attempt to discern what is. If they start signing my paycheck instead of my CEO I'll be happy to talk to them all afternoon! But, I digress into our last go around on that subject :-)

Gotta go, my phone is ringing ;-)

Comment by Scott Bruman on January 28, 2011 at 5:23pm: Morgan, you make valid points, and I dont pretend to have the market on all the answers.  I will say that I have a very solid reputation for communicating regularly with my network of candidates, and as I add ppl to that network they too get in the communciation rotation.   I agree with you 110% about the referral and candidate network value. I spend the vast majority of my time working that angle. I make those ppl and calls my highest priority (not just my network but also their referrals - I treat them like gold... not to say that I treat others badly, but I have to prioritize my time effectively to produce the results I'm held accountable for... which means I have to make some difficult choices as to who and what to respond to, at the expense of some that likely perceive me poorly).

(PS. my call, it actually was an applicant with a story :-) fortunately, the story was about the experience he had that was in fact a good match for one of my client manager's stated needs - but that mgr is not hiring currently... BUT, this is definitely time well spent in my mind, and you can bet I'll be keeping him in the loop and answering his calls as we move forward until that mgr is hiring again).

PSS. Congrats on the exclusive!! very cool when that happens.

Comment by Alban on January 30, 2011 at 5:36pm: @ Morgan - believe it or not, I'm mid way through my next blog (true story) about how quality time & help extended to a candidate turned into $$. Perhaps you should also blog your experience about your COO candidate. This great experience you had should be shared with the world, not just limited to the couple of us who have commented or read your comment.

Comment