KCRecruiting

Preventing Counter Offers

Counter offers are career poison. As a recruiter it's paramount to know that. Even more important is how well potential hires know this. It's common for any good employee to get a counter offer when they leave their employer. No employer wants to lose a good resource or intellectual property and odds are they will offer a raise or promotion to prevent it. Odds are just as high that it won't fix the problem. Go ahead and google "Counter Offers". The articles are out there in spades, like this clip from TopCareers.

According to national surveys of employees that accept counter-offers, 50-80 percent voluntarily leave their employer within six months of accepting the counter-offer because of unkept promises. The majority of the balance of employees that accept counter-offers involuntarily leave their current employers within twelve months of accepting the counter-offer (terminated, fired, laid off, etc.).

Recruiters do themselves and their recruits a disservice if this isn't made very clear from the start. The worst thing in the world is to have a recruit accept a counter offer, then call back three months later to look again. Chances are they've burned a bridge and lost an opportunity.

Handling a Stressed Recruit

A recent post over at JibberJobber is debating the value in taking breaks from the job hunt. Some of the more interesting points are found in comments such as this:

"I have found spending many hours sending resumes and filling out applications to be mostly a waste of time. The more time I spend, the more stressed I feel, and the more desperate I probably come across to people."

This is a dangerous point of view and all too common especially with passive recruits. If a prospect feels they need a break and can't handle the stress of searching, make it easy for them. Take the extra time to take them to a casual lunch in a neutral environment and resist the urge to send them 5 emails a day. It's not worth burning out a good prospect that doesn't have time to go by your office, reformat their resume and take your 5 part online whatchamajig assessment. Slow down big fella, "need a break" is just code for "need some space".

Is It The Shoes or The Suit?

Preparation for an interview can be rough enough even if you're not a fashionista.  Business Dress Codes are diverse, ranging from business casual to, well, is anyone but lawyers and bankers wearing suits anymore?

One tip to remember is to ask what you are supposed to wear.  Recruiters usually prefer their candidates wear suits to an interview, even if the office is dressed down, because we know that a candidate in a suit is on their best behavior.

If you're not wearing a suit, you ought to consider at least springing for the nice shoes.  Our dress code for recruiting used to be, if you're not in a suit, at least wear "shiny shoes."  Shiny shoes was our code word for dress shoes with a solid sole.

I've thought about it for years, and finally realized it wasn't the clothes that made the difference, it was the shoes.  It is my contention that the kind of shoes we wear has a direct effect on the manner in which we compose ourselves in an interview, or in business in general.

Try this experiment:

Put on a suit, and instead of the wingtips, wear sneakers.

Now try on a pair of slacks and a polo short, but wear hard-soled shoes with a shine.

How does each make you feel.  Wearing the polo shirt and dress shoes, don't  you just feel like you're at work, or at least dressed up?  The suit and sneakers may make you look silly, so take off the shoes and go barefoot.  Aren't you missing something?

The difference is more obvious like this, but the truth is a good pair of shoes, laced up and shiny, puts you in a "business" frame of mind, while a pair of loafers, slip-ons, or,  really anything else encourages you to act casual.  I don't know the rules for women - but for a man, the right pair of shoes makes a difference in the way we carry ourselves. 

Your Resume Can't Help You

We've all seen it.  Your friend lost their job, either through a layoff or a difference of opinion with the boss, and they've been having a hard time finding a new one.

It's not that they're not trying.  They called the people they knew to commiserate.  They search the job boards.  They even sent in their unemployment papers to make sure some checks were coming in when the accrued vacation pay ran out.

Each morning, they get up early, and head off to the coffee shop with a laptop, to get some work done early.  They need to get the work done, because they've suddenly found themselves with some extra time to do chores, meet with friends, see their sister, and even have lunch with you (and they graciously pay for their own meal).

When you ask what they are doing, they tell you the search is going well, they have several good leads, and all they have to do is get their resume together and they'll be set.

And that's when you realize they're sick.  Your friend has come down with job-seekeritis, a condition common to all ages

Common symptoms include;

1) A full schedule that includes everything but actually looking for a job
2) An unrelenting desire to present the perfect resume before starting a job search
3) An inability to actually start working on said perfect resume
4) Constant worrying about paying for small items like gum and coffee while...
5) Expensive vacations taken on credit cards to "get their head right."

If you see your friend in this condition, please do them a favor.  Head down to the local Starbucks and grab an application.  Fill it out, and tell them you have an interview for them with a major, major brand, that includes great health insurance and requires minimal sales training.  Six months from now, when the health insurance kicks in, they'll be grateful.  I promise.

A Safe Place To Talk About The Boss: WurkPal

WurkPal has been in the news lately - well, they left a comment for me and I saw them on TechCrunch, which counts as news.

This latest variant on the old Vault system of talking about companies is betting that information on the real state of a company is valuable to employees, executives, and job-seekers.  When I logged on, the special function assumed I worked for Charter (they are my cable service), but presumably, if you logged in from Sprint or Hallmark, those companies would pop up.

They have a blog up - it has a post on Sunday - we'll see if they follow the trend of one post and done - but I have to say that I understand why companies keep pitching the idea that shared information is worth paying for.

The idea is that people want to share information, and if they did, the workplace would be a better place.  I'm not sure that is true, but it's worth trying out.  At least, it's worth it for recruiters and sourcers to try and track people down.  Of course, they're anonymous...

If Recruiters Were Los Angeles Gangsters

If I ran my own recruiting firm, all of my recruiters would be required to memorize the speech Marsellus Wallace gives to Butch (Bruce Willis) in Pulp Fiction.

The day of the offer, you might feel a slight sting. That's pride messing with you. To heck with pride! Pride only hurts ... it never helps. You fight through that stuff 'cause a year from now, when you kickin' it in the Caribbean, you gonna say to yourself, my recruiter was right."

I'm not saying it would be legal, or even advisable, but it sure would be a lot of fun to see the reaction you would get.

And if any of my candidates ever backed out of an offer, you know what speech they would get.

Great Interview Question

There is no one silver bullet interview question, but there are some great ones that I like to throw out.

My favorite this month,

"What was the last big mistake you made, and what did you do to correct it?"

The best employees will describe a mistake they made at work and give you details on what they did to make it better.

The mediocre employees will give you a lame answer about a copier breaking down, or

The rebellious employees will tell you about when they shot their boss in a paintball game.

The incompetent employees will tell you they never make mistakes.

The employees just taking a paycheck will talk about their spouse or children.

The young employees will talk about their social lives.

What would you do?

Don't Use Confidential Resumes

Mike Tiffany over across the state writes about the use of confidential resumes and has some advice for you.

DON'T DO IT!

Recruiters are substantially slowed down by you marking your resume as confidential on the job boards. Slowed down means everything from they may not want to take the time to contact you through the email addresses 50 characters long, or they may be working a position that only allows 1-2 candidates which means they'll take the first ones that respond.  Remember, recruiters also may be working with 25-50 candidates for various slots, so they may easily lose you in their process.

If you worry that much about a confidential search - why are you posting your resume on a public job board, anyway? 

8 Ways To Use Social Media To Get A Job

1) Do a Google search for the company you want to work for and the word "blog."  If there is a company blogger who writes regularly (once a week), e-mail them and use them as your contact point to a hiring manager.

2) Go to MySpace and look for groups in your industry (There's a tab for group search).  Look for groups both on interest and geography (recruiters in the Midwest, for example).  Also search "MySpace + Kansas City + (your industry)."  Remember to use KC, Midwest, Kansas City Kansas, Kansas City Missouri, and any other permutations you can think of.

3) Start a Facebook account and search for people in your area.  Send them Friend Requests.

4) Join LinkedIn, and search for by company, zip code, and interest to get names.

5) Login to Yahoo and search Yahoo Groups.

6) Buy the Domain, "[Yourtargetcompany]hire[yourname], or create a free one on Blogger.com.  Post your resume, and describe why they should hire you.  Ask other bloggers, especially employment bloggers, to link to your site.

7) Go to ERE.net and register.  Look for groups that would be interested in you.  Use both geography and skillset to find recruiters, and ask them if they know recruiters in your area.

8) Go To Jobster and sign in to their AT Community.  Use it to research companies in your area that you are interested in joining. 

Never ask people for a job.  Just tell them you're interested in learning more about the company, and ask for their opinions on who to talk to.

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Visit DiversityJobs.com for information on Diversity in the workplace.

The Ghost Of Comp Plans Past

Some wiseacre decided to set off a bunch of firecrackers in the cul-de-sac that faces our backyard woods last night.  It was 1:00 in the morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep after that.

As I lay in bed for hours, my mind started calculating the difference in comp plans between my first staffing company and the last one, occasionally ruminating on the middle employer.

You know you spent too much time in a corporate office when six years after you left a company, you still remember your Gross Margin Percentage, the number of contractors you had on staff, and how much you were payed.

I won a award for Highest Average Net per Tech back in 2000.  It was $14.40. I had 32 employees billing.  That's $460.80 per hour.  You don't want to know how much I was payed that year.  It's a lot lower than you think.