One of the Worst Meetings of my Life

Well 2nd worst. The first one was when I landed a meeting with this startup in NYC that gad this preposterous idea to start a whole channel devoted to Food!? We didn't get the account but as I got in the elevator with my associate I said "Yeah, like anyone is going to watch a 'Food Network' "

This past Friday we were called in to make peace with the HR department of an old client. My partner has been recruiting for them since they were 20 people and now they have 2000. So the Executives call her directly when internal recruitment isn't doing the job for them. Then she ends up filling the role and HR has a hissy fit. Which is what happened this time.

They have a new Recruitment or Talent Acquisition or the nom du jour that they like to go by. We met with him, and the internal recruiter with the problem.

Well this guy filled my bullshit bingo card in 5 minutes.

I-9	Clean Stream	Workers Comp	Full Time	GSR
Hiring Manager	COBRA	Payroll	Blocking and Tackling	Rightsizing
Interview	Part Time	HUMAN RESOURCES BINGO (free square)	Stakeholder	Survey
Bandwidth	Centers of Excellence	Best Practices	Efficiencies	Orientation
Employees	Background	Underwater Options	Strategic	Job Postings

I usually stay quiet at these types of meetings (believe it or not) and only speak to protect my partner's interest.

Their entire gripe centered around this one candidate who said he was confused because he was being reached out to internally and by us. After they brought this up for the 4th tim, I'd had enough. Finally I said "What is the big deal about this candidate? He didn't even get the job! So what if he was contacted by 2 different parties. THAT's A GOOD THING! That means we are on the same page. What is the problem here??"

Anyway, it went on and on. And nothing will change. The execs will still call my partner directly. She will fill their roles and HR will have a hissy fit. This is really our only big company client and we're not good at playing by the "rules."

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Comment by Amy Ala Miller on September 27, 2011 at 6:08pm: Oh Scott... you're too kind. But thank you. :) I think it's all the years I spent in agency, I have not forgotten where I come from or the lessons my mentors taught me.

Cloning me, while an intriguing idea, could lead to a severe shortage of Yellowtail Shiraz....

@ John, I think I'm going to work on that list. :)

Comment by Bill Schultz on September 28, 2011 at 1:50am: Amy, we have to go wine tasting. Why are you importing? There's perfectly good wine in your own back yard and certainly in mine.

Comment by Jeremy Spring on September 30, 2011 at 4:26pm: It's crazy. Some of our clients have massive ATS's. I mean, seemingly everyone who has left a business card in the raffle jar at the coffee shop in the last fifty years is in these systems. I've ended many qualified candidate conversations when I found out they'd sneezed in the same zip code as the client's HR department.

Comment by Jeremy Spring on September 30, 2011 at 4:27pm: @Amy, there will never be a shortage of Yellowtail Shiraz. I promise.

Comment by Bill Schultz on September 30, 2011 at 5:10pm: lol@sneezed in the same zip code. i will borrow that.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on September 30, 2011 at 5:11pm: @Bill - let's go! And mostly because it's the best stuff you can get for $5.99. :)

@Jeremy, thank goodness! And on the ATS thing... I have never gone back into our horrible (Taleo) ATS to "re-find" candidates. They're all yours.

Comment by Bill Schultz on September 30, 2011 at 6:19pm: @amy- if you'll go to $7 or $8.99, i can make suggestions. Just cut your 3rd party fees to make up the difference. ;)

Comment by Francois Guay on September 30, 2011 at 6:53pm: Amy I am with you on the ATS especially Taleo,,.awful stuff. My pet peeves is corporate ATS solutions although I am softening to some of the new CRM systems out there, quite a smart approach if done right.

and Bill is right on the California wines...my favorite wines are the robust Zinfandel's from California. Mention Zinfandel to most and they think rose...but a California Zin is a holy experience. Try 7Deadly Zins or something at that level...wow. Have one or two bottles on your next key placement.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on September 30, 2011 at 7:34pm: @Bill - end of qtr = bonus time! I'll double down on one of your pricey suggestions - what you got?

@Francois - I'm going to try that this weekend... I have FIVE people starting Monday and we all know the deal isn't done until they show up, right? I'll go ahead a crack a Zin in expectation that all goes well. Stay tuned for my review. :)

Comment by Bill Schultz on September 30, 2011 at 9:30pm: Hi Amy- if the bonus is big enough, come down here to Healdsburg with your man. We'll choose what you like best by process of elimination. May take a few days, I warn you.

I usually post my wine suggestions on Facebook, far from the eyes of clients and candidates. Sometimes google + as well. Although I haven't shaked that out as to whether it will be for business or pleasure. I don't like my worlds colliding.

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