Recruiting Perspective

Great results come from doing good work consistently over a long period of time.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that a heroic effort will generate a quantum leap to greater success. In recruiting or any other business it takes a build up to break through to generate truly great results and a sustainable high level of success. todd@toddkmiec.com https://toddkmiec.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/ http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profile/ToddKmiec

As in right now.  If you know you want to hire the candidate, make the offer.  If this may be the right candidate, set the interview.  Immediately.  If you know you are going to need to fill a certain role, start the search.  Right away. Too many times a good hire doesn’t happen because someone drags their feet.  Sometimes it’s a very short delay, but that’s all it takes.  Desired candidates, those that fit important roles, are in high demand.  If you don’t move then someone else will. todd@toddkmiec.com https://toddkmiec.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/ http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profile/ToddKmiec

The recent trend with NBA stars is to try and team up with other stars to create Superteams.  The Golden State Warriors who recently won the NBA title certainly qualify and other teams and players are trying to find ways to catch them.  Today Chris Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets giving them two superstar point guards.  That’s a unique approach and a very serious attempt to create a Superteam that can compete with the Warriors and others. Having a Superteam is great.  In sales, manufacturing, management, or any business.  You recruit the best talent you can land in order to build the strongest team possible.  Stronger team equals more success.  Greater profits.  How good is your team?  How great could it be? todd@toddkmiec.com http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profile/ToddKmiec https://toddkmiec.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

My son just graduated from high school and will be entering college this Fall as a freshman.  Since the prestigious university that he is attending is close to home he decided to take a class this summer to get a head start.  The other day I dropped him off for class and was surprised to see so many other students clearly heading to and from classes on campus. These are our future candidates (and hiring managers) and there are a lot of them spending their summer getting ahead.  There is a lot of motivation out there and a lot of young people who put a ton of extra effort into their futures and careers.  Worth keeping in mind. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/ http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profile/ToddKmiec

There has been a lot of talk over the last 7 or 8 years about those not participating in the labor market.  People who are not working and not trying to get back to work. For recruiting purposes they don’t matter.  They matter to our economy and to society as a whole, but they aren’t part of the recruiting equation.  You need to be qualified enough and motivated enough in order to really matter to the businesses that are working to grow and improve. todd@toddkmiec.com https://toddkmiec.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

We get trapped into the short view.  Someone resigns and we’ve got to fill that position now.  Something changes in the business and we now have an urgent need. No doubt, we are under pressure to fill positions in a lot of cases.  The short view.  We need to get this done now, or else.  But recruiting is really about the long view.  Building a great business doesn’t happen in the short run.  It happens because of great work done over a long period of time.  Consistent effective recruiting over the long run is what really makes it happen. todd@toddkmiec.com https://toddkmiec.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

A fundamental truth about recruiting is that the person you need to find for a particular role does exist in all but a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the searches. Recruiters like to claim that the hiring manager is looking for a purple squirrel (doesn’t exist).  They aren’t purple.  They’re just hard to find and connect with.  But that’s what we do…….find and connect. Todd Kmiec Todd Kmiec and Associates LinkedIn Recruiting Blogs - Todd Kmiec

The candidate pool for any search is constantly changing. An available candidate accepts a new position, no longer in the pool. Qualified potential candidate who won’t respond to new opportunities because they are happy where they are has a sudden change and is now open to considering a change, enters the pool. Candidate with too little experience crosses that line so they now have enough, enters the pool. The candidate pool is a living breathing thing.  Effective recruiting is a continuous process that reaches the deepest parts of the candidate pool and takes advantage of changes as they happen. Todd Kmiec Todd Kmiec and Associates Recruiting Blogs - Todd Kmiec LinkedIn

Resumes are used to find reasons to eliminate.  After that, they are used to find reasons to separate. So look at your resume and try to eliminate reasons to eliminate.  Job hopping is a good example and is consistently used to eliminate.  It takes time and diligence to avoid that one.  Others, like grammar and spelling errors or confusing presentation, can be easily fixed any time. Reasons to separate are harder.  Take care of the reasons to eliminate first and then look for things that can separate you from the pack.  Add them and make sure they are easy to see if you have them.  If you don’t have them, figure out how to get them. Todd Kmiec Todd Kmiec and Associates LinkedIn

Sometimes candidates miss interviews.  Unforeseen circumstances do occur.  That’s okay and most of the time the hiring authority will understand.  As long as you communicate. Car accident, just found out that a relative is sick and needs you right away, dog buried your car keys…….just call right away and let the recruiter or hiring manager know.  If you don’t show up and don’t communicate for a day or two then your excuse will fall on deaf ears.  They’re not that dumb.  Everyone interviewing for a job these days has a cell phone. If you don’t have the ability to handle a difficult circumstance with respect for your potential employer, they’re not going to be a potential employer for you any longer. Todd Kmiec

Sales trainers used to train you to pin down your prospect. “Which do you prefer, the green one or the blue one?” “Who do you know that’s a fit for this position right now?” Getting pinned down is uncomfortable.  Many people who get pinned down are going to avoid communication with the source of the pinning in the future.  When networking for candidates it’s much better to inquire honestly making it easy for the person you’re asking to help you now or at any time that they come across someone who may be a good fit. “If you know of anyone who is a good fit for this role, let me know.” Networking for candidates is about expanding reach, keeping the doors wide open so you can find and connect with the right candidate.  People have to know what you are looking for in order to help, and you have to make it easy for them to help both you and the candidate. Todd Kmiec

The tools we now have for recruiting are incredible vs what was available just 10 and 20 years ago.  The internet, email, job boards, networks, databases, analytics, and on and on…. But good tools are of minimal value on their own.  It’s how you use the tools that matters.  That’s both a skill thing and an effort thing.  Give the right guy a good set of tools and he’ll build a great house.  Give me the same tools and you’ll have a real mess.  Recruiters have the tools to greatly expand reach over what they could do a short time ago……if they have the skill and make the effort to really use them. Todd Kmiec

In “How Google Works” by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, they devote a significant amount of time to hiring stating that hiring is the most important thing you do. Look at any great company, or even a single branch or unit of any great company, and then imagine that business without it’s best employee.  Then imagine it without it’s best two or three employees.  The impact is incredible.  Great hiring builds great businesses. Bad hiring builds bad businesses and businesses that fail.  In the day to day work of recruiting, don’t lose site of how important it is. Todd Kmiec Todd Kmiec and Associates LinkedIn