I was working pretty hard when I heard the crash, and the sound startled me out of my focus. Because there is both renovation and street repair in my neighborhood, I had no idea that there had been a serious accident. So when I ventured out of my office to grab a bite to eat, it took a moment to register what I was seeing. A school bus had slammed into the front of a house across the street. It had just happened and the police and fire departments, though on the way, had not yet arrived.We were all very fortunate. The group of children that spend most of their time playing on that sidewalk were absent that morning, and no one in the school bus was seriously injured. Even the tree was unscathed. Other than the substantial damage to the house, it was the best outcome one could have hoped to see.
This completely unexpected stuff can happen out of the blue in both life and business. But I believe that proper preparation can often mitigate at least some of the most unfortunate scenarios. Earlier this week I was interviewed by the Recruiting Animal on his radio show. Animal is a standup guy, and I really appreciate his persona. I like to think of him as the Stephen Colbert of recruiting. Despite his best efforts to ground me and help me be ready for the show, I feel like I only did a so-so job on the interview. It was all my failure, Animal. Have me on another time and I'll be witty, erudite and full of absolutely concrete stories of recruiting trainwrecks - I certainly have lived them!
One of the interesting points, at least for me, surfaced during a discussion of my process and what makes me different from some of my recruiting brothers and sisters. A comment was made that I seem to make my candidates jump through a lot of hoops, and that I shouldn't, as it is my client's job to figure out who is qualified. I didn't parry that very well, and I really should have, as it has become a keystone of my approach. I am by no means in favor of jumping pointless, silly hoops for hoop jumping sake. That sort of approach gives me hives, and I am really bad at it. However, I do ask a great deal of the candidiates I represent. This helps me know what sort of position they want, will excel in, and increases my ability to represent them in such a way as to help them make that happen.
I also ask a lot of the clients who pay me to find talent. I need to know a lot in order to be successful. I need to build a pretty detailed and accurate profile of the individual they seek, and I need to have feedback if I am off track. There are many excellent companies who prefer working with recruiters with styles other than my own, and that is just fine by me. People who choose not to give me business make it easier for me to determine who is a buyer and who is a supplier. If everyone was my client I would be out of business, because I would have no companies from which to recruit.
I feel strongly that as a recruiter who is paid precious fees to locate talent for my clients, I must do everything I can to make the best matches each and every time. I do a lot of homework up front. I ask the candidates I represent anything I need to in order to make sure I don't waste time discussing positions that are not of interest.
It isn't just a quality check (though that is part of it) it also allows me to focus on how best to serve them. If a candidiate doesn't want to work the way I work, well, then he or she is not who I will represent to the clients who pay me.Establishing a level of trust with both the candidates I represent, and the companies who pay my fees is essential to getting the information I need. Once that is in place, there are a lot of ways to do it. I can be flexible, I can be creative, and one size does not fit all. However, a very strong level of due diligence is extremely important on both sides of the equation. If we as recruiters depend on "making the right match" to earn a living, why would we leave anything we can control to chance? That is just like asking a train, or a bus, to smash into the side of our business, and it doesn't do anyone any favors - the client, the candidate, or our pocket.
