By its very nature, recruiting often creates a sense of contrast and contradiction. Hiring managers want the perfect candidate for the lowest price; candidates want the perfect job for the highest price and the government attempts to legislate a fair and level playing filed. Stuck between these conflicting forces, egos, and politics, is the recruiter: a person who is charged with the overwhelming task of identifying, attracting, and hiring the people required to create a great organization. (What is a great organization?)

Here are a few characteristics required to successfully do this job?

• A Strong Desire to Make Things Happen. Recruiting is a push business, and if you wait for things to happen, you will be sorry down the road. Hiring new employees is no easy task but if you press on and do what is required, you will be able to come into work and see the results of your efforts in the form of shinny new employees. If this type of satisfaction, born of seeing tangible results makes you smile, this is a very good sign.


• Strong Nuanced Thinking. Seeing the world in black and white is dangerous. The shades of grey we miss are often where the real hiring decisions are made. Ever wonder why a perfect candidate does not get the job? Ever look at the candidate they finally hire and wonder why they made that choice? If so, I suggest that you step back look more deeply into the organization’s culture: its dynamics, politics, personalities, and long-term survivors. Learn to read between the lines and the smiles and the polite conversation. Hires do not arise from simply matching qualifications with requirements but from complex political, emotional reactions to a given candidate. Recruiting is a place where nuanced thinking can help you to be successful by understanding the real attributes managers want before they pull the trigger.


• A Thick Skin. Recruiting is not for the faint of heart. Recruiting is not for those who wish to be loved. (If you want unconditional love, get a dog.) Recruiting is not for those who can't manage conflict and/or ambiguity and/or stress. Recruiting is a contact sport whose rough and tumble playing field can leave us all with the occasional battered ego and feelings of self righteous indignation. If we are to be successful recruiters, we must be OK with that day in and day out type of a life while never giving in to cynicism or losing our sense of humor.


• Political Savvy. This characteristic has always been my Achilles heel — my inability to relate to the politics. It is not that I did not understand them. It is simply that I did not care about them as much as I cared about doing my recruiting. I lived under the belief that if I did good work, everything would fall into place. Sadly, that viewpoint is naïve and I suggest that you do not make that same mistake. For us to be successful, we must know where the power lies, what is acceptable, what is not acceptable, and how to get the job done without stepping on the wrong people’s toes. I can tell you from experience those in power do not like being told they are wrong, especially when they are.


• A Sense of Responsibility. Endless things can stand in the way of making a hire. Poor communication, compensation issues, unclear requirements — the list is endless. Successful recruiters will drive the process though any and all obstacles because they feel a sense of responsibility. They feel a sense of ownership for what must be accomplished as well as their specific role in its completion, because bottom line, you either make the hire or you don't.


• A Sense of Urgency. Always in a rush? So am I, and that characteristic creates results. Most of the great recruiters I know are not exactly patient people. They understand that deals have a shelf life and burning daylight will do nothing for your career, your hires, or your value to the organization. Take the time to know what is required, make your plan, and execute, because there are the quick and there are the dead. Being quick is a prized characteristic and dozing in your chair can get you wheeled out the door.


• A Disdain for Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is means-over-end while great recruiting is end-over-means. Personally, bureaucracy makes me crazy. Forms on desks waiting for a signatures (What do you mean she is traveling? Have someone else sign the damn thing...); compensation people to run numbers again; and diversity people to review who was and was not interviewed. (What do compensation people do all day?)

Other characteristics? I am sure there are, but it is 1:30 a.m. and I need to close a VP of sales for a startup tomorrow!

I don’t need to fight

To prove I’m right

I don’t need to be forgiven.

–Baba O'Riley

“Why is this taking so long” is one of my favorite hiring manager questions. The best answer is to not have it asked in the first place. Sadly, it makes the recruiter have to justify their existence with a flurry of undocumented and ill-prepared remarks on past activity while feeling awkward and flat-footed. All in all, it is not a fun time.

I believe that we can avoid this awkward question in almost all cases, but before we discuss how that is done, let’s look at four sample answers to that question. These answers are not good ones and should be avoided. (The answers below might be accurate, but we need to be sure that candor and objective conversation take a back seat to organizational politics.)

1. It is taking so long because it took you four weeks to finalize the position profile. Not a great answer. Managers like to see themselves as decision-makers (especially those who so clearly are not) as opposed to individuals who need input from 37 team members before they approve a position profile.


2. It is taking so long because you take forever to respond to the candidates I submit. Not so good either. Managers have endless reasons for taking too long in terms of response time, but personally, I do not care what those reasons might be. Twenty four to 48 hours is all it should take. If you need more info on the candidate, I will get it for you. If you do not need more info, make a decision; do you want to see the candidate or don't you?


3. It is taking so long because you do not get back to me after candidate interviews. Avoid this answer! Having the candidate die of old age waiting for the manager to think, discuss, compare, contrast, evaluate, reflect, confer, plot, map out, or my personal favorite, "sleep on" is pitiful. (DOD, big pharma, and biotech can be glacially slow). Once again, 24 to 48 hours to make a decision. Do you want to move forward or not? (A client once told me he had to "ponder." I hate ponderers.)


4. It is taking so long because you change the position profile twice a week. Once again, no good! I have far more respect for managers who tell me they are not sure of what they want or they need assistance in defining the position or whatever. Under those circumstances I can help in a host of ways, but don't keep changing the profile because hitting a moving target makes recruiting all the more difficult. (Beware of the manager who tells you the profile changes endlessly due to the "fluid and changing needs of our organizational objectives.” Those people are clueless.)


5. Bonus Answer! It is taking so long because of all of the above! This is the worst possible answer because it simply points out the horrific shortcomings of many managers that do not seem to go away. Recruiting is a partnership, and partnerships do not work unless both parties pull their own weight and come to an understanding of what must be done, when it must be done, who is going to do it, and a clear sense of urgency.

As you can see, the answers to this question are not pretty. With this in mind, let’s look at some ways to avoid it.

1. Agree to a contracted time to fill. Meet with the manager to discuss the position profile and set an agreed-upon time to fill. Agreed upon means that you and the manager agree to a timetable. For example, if 45 days to fill an engineering position is agreed upon, that's fine, provided nothing foreseeable will interfere with progress. On the other hand, 45 days is not OK if the manager is taking a thre-week vacation during that agreed upon time-to-fill window and will not be available to interview. Make sense?


2. Start aggressively. If you have a 45-day agreed time to fill, don't wait 30 days to begin to source candidates. Start fast and start hard. Keep in mind that it is always easier to slow things down than to speed thing up. No one is ever sorry they are ahead of schedule.


3. Keep it moving. In recruiting, the ball is always in someone's court, so do your best to see that that ball is not in yours. Do whatever you need to do as quickly as possible without compromising quality. Be sure that you are always waiting for the manager as opposed to the manager waiting for you.


4. Document activity. In my career, I have learned that I was never sorry that I documented activity even if I never needed it. In a world where data points can be very helpful, it is a great idea to just keep a simple running log of key activity on candidates, timetables, and anything you deem as important. Not a ton of work; just 4 or 5 minutes a day. You might not need it, but if you do, it will be a great thing to have handy.

Now, why not seek out and ask your most uncooperative hiring manager my favorite question:

Why is this taking so long?

Pretty cool, eh?

If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to. –Parker

The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be happy as kings; and you know how happy kings are. –Thurber

I am not sure of why, but many recruiters I know are not very good with money, myself included. Perhaps it’s the stress of the business or our belief that we can always make more that allows us to use money as a balm to soothe our aching souls. This is unfortunate because there is nothing less valuable then money you have just spent. (Honestly, which first-year agency person does not have his Porsche picked out?)

The following ideas can preserve precious resources and give you a sense of control and dominion in these difficult times. This list is by no means comprehensive but it is good starting point in terms of employing the belief that a penny saved really is a penny earned. If you try to do this and it is not painful, you are not trying hard enough.

1. Coffee. The days of hanging in expensive coffee houses connected to ear buds looking the part of an out-of-work writer in deep thought is over. Furthermore, the days of bizarre coffee concoctions sold at silly prices are disappearing rapidly as value is the new ideal. Find good coffee at a good price and save hundreds a year in the process. Forget that they claim to support rain forests, wild jackals, and icecap stabilization. If you are that concerned, send them your own money.


2. Buy Nothing. I mean it just as it reads. Absolutely, positively nothing. Do without, make it last, or get it fixed. You have enough clothes, gadgets, and everything else one needs in your overstuffed closets. No one will be impressed with your new watch. You will not look European, cool, or like a connoisseur or all things fine. You will simply look like a person who spent too much on a watch. Want to go one step further? Toss or donate everything you do not need, and get a tax write-off like the big criminals (Sorry; I meant to use the word “company” — honest mistake) and enjoy the Zen of having less junk.


3. Consolidate. Consolidate all your credit cards into one and then look for another card that has a low rate for one-year and transfer the funds over to that card. Many cards will now give you one year at 2.9%. That’s a good deal. (It should be a good deal; it’s your tax money that bailed them out.) This will involve some phone work and the great negotiating skills that recruiters use every day, but it is worth it. Honestly, do you want them to have even one more dime of your money?


4. Cable. Many of us have a threesome of Internet, cable, and phone. Call your cable company and see exactly what you are paying for and determine if you really need it. Make it your goal to get that bill down by a third, and make them your partner in doing so. If you can get a better deal from another vendor, do so, because if they could trade you for a more profitable customer, they would do it in a New York minute.


5. Dine In. I love going out to eat as much as the next person. Corinne once cooked so little that field mice ate the lining of the stove and we had to buy another one. (I kid you not.) If you really want to have great food and cut your bill by 50%, order food to go, pick it up, and just do your drinking at home. Paying $7.50 for each glass of wine and $8.50 for each martini is bizarre, adds up fast, and makes for a dangerous driver.


6. Cook. This is a close relative of number five. Can you even imagine how much you might save if you not only drink at home but also cook your own food? As a society, I wonder why we seem to have lost the ability to cook our own food and seem to be OK with others doing that for us on an almost daily basis. Make something you love and make enough for two days.


7. Insurance. Few things are as boring as meeting by phone with those who broker/sell/manage your insurance. I personally am insured for everything; home, auto, accident, dismemberment, workers’ comp, and Martians abducting my kids. This is crazy. Shop around for competitive rates and see about putting all of your insurance with one agent. Look for wasteful overlap of multiple coverages. Be sure to shop around to get competitive rates in writing. Do not let anyone sell you anything!


8. Maintain and Repair. All of us would love to buy a new car, but that might not be a good idea. Beware of the low interest rates, rebates, and showrooms with big balloons. If your car needs maintenance, bring it in and get the work done as soon a possible. If you do this, you will not have increases in excise tax or insurance, and best of all, you will not be making car payments until you die.


9. Your Car is Dead. Can’t repair? Buy a Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry. These cars in the four-cylinder model are a great value, comfortable, fast, and good on gas. Truth be told, I suspect that 80% of the drivers out there would have their needs met with either of these two cars. American cars are getting better, but the shaky financials of the big three frightens me. When GM folds, do you really want to own an Impala?


10. Banker. Do you know your banker? You should be on first-name basis with first-line management at your bank, and should at least know the branch manager. Banks are getting very innovative in terms of new products and services, so I strongly suggest that you get a bit chummy and make the bank your partner in supporting your efforts to survive this economic downturn. If you adopt a “what can we do” as opposed to a “what can I do” approach to finances, you will discover more options.


11. Pay to join. Barnes & Noble has a deal that allows you to get lower prices on purchases by giving it $25 for a membership. Perhaps I do not get it, but paying for the privilege of getting a lower price is insane. (See Retail Anarchy by Sam Pocker.) Like a book at B&N? Get it on the Internet at its lowest price and get it used in its poorest condition. I know it works because I do it every single day. Alibris is wonderful.


12. Look Closely. Examine every charge and every line of each bill for 60 days. Do not pay for anything you do not understand without a clear and definitive phone conversation. Ask how you can reduce the bill by one third. Look for programs, deals, or special incentives. Make the person you are dealing with feel your pain. If you do not get what you want, it is time to crawl up through the organization to higher levels. Be pleasant. Be relentless.

To the untrained eye, this might look like a plan for those in poverty. It is not. From a numbers standpoint, it is a plan for those who appreciate the maxim that it is not how much you earn: it is how much you keep. From a philosophical standpoint, it is a plan for those who need to feel empowered, as there is something noble, something extraordinary, about hanging tough from day to day and refusing to give into fear and frustration.

“It’s a really unique situation where you have someone who is at a crossroads personally and professionally.” — Elliot Wilson

If living and working in this economy of disappearing jobs, tiny budgets, and little recruiting is getting a bit old, then perhaps you have arrived at your own personal crossroads. This metaphorical location is the intersecting point where what used to work for you in the past ends and what you will need to change in order to be successful in the future begins. As I see it, you have only two options:

1. You can continue to do what you are doing and wait for the economy to “get back to normal.”


2. You can make some fundamental changes to your core assumptions of how businesses that survive will operate so you might survive as well.

Personally, I have grave concerns about Option 1 because no one knows exactly what the new “normal” might be, and for all we know, this aberration might be the new “normal” and will remain such for years to come. If you share my concerns, please consider the following thoughts:

Expect Less. It matters little if you work as a contractor, agency, or corporate person. The face and very composition of work is changing radically. As such, the rewards normally tied to work will probably change as well. Consider the work-a-day existence of your past and acknowledge that it is probably going to remain in your past. Perhaps benefits will disappear. Perhaps the concept of “full time” will be based upon organizational need as opposed to “employee” legal standing. Perhaps you will trade value for money to be paid every Friday with both parties reevaluating the relationship every few months. Either way, expect less and smile.

Expect More. This is an opportunity for the cream of the crop to do great things. (It is also an opportunity for those who are not yet the cream to get there.) Regardless of what our flat, highly politicized world becomes, capitalists and entrepreneurs will always need to build great organizations in order to do great things. Those who effectively traffic in the procurement of human capital will always be paid for the talent they bring to the table because that is real value. Can’t get a job with one company? How about 60 hours a week with three or four companies? The time to get creative is now.

Don’t Freak on the Politics. I read a post on ERE saying that if the site went political, “I am out of here.” This thinking will not help your cause, your career, or your wallet. Show me something that affects your profession/business today and I will show you something that was political yesterday. The time to become aware and involved is now, because you can’t benefit from the political aspects of business with an “I-am-just-a-recruiter” mentality. Don’t get me wrong: I hate long, lunatic pointless ranting posts that blame all of this misery on one party/person/group or the other. The time for blame is over, and the time for awareness and action has arrived. Exactly how you do that is your decision, but pointing out the importance of being politically aware is mine. (In all of my years, I have never seen a recruiter with a copy of the Wall Street Journal. Why is that?)

They Told You They Have No Money? Are you an agency or a sourcer or some other vendor selling peripheral recruiting services? If so, let me tell you a little secret; all organizations have money. When they say that they have no money, they mean they have no money for you. That means, that they do not see real value in what you are selling, because if they did, they would find the money; they would stay up nights looking for it. I strongly suggest that all of us dramatically increase our value proposition. How? For openers, lower your price, because as cost goes down, value goes up. As an example, If I were in the agency business, I would reduce my fees. Most agency people hate this thinking for endless reasons but doing placements at 15% a pop is more sensible then non-stop conversations with clients about why your candidates are worth 30%. Those individuals who allow money to stand in the way of doing business are making a grave mistake.

Paradigm Shifts Are Good. Use Them. Many years ago, the Swiss owned the watch industry. Then the Japanese began to make watches using cheapo quartz innards that were far more accurate as opposed to expensive Swiss movements. That was a paradigm shift and all paradigm shifts bring the marketplace back to zero as the race begins again! The Japanese made bazillions of these watches and decimated Swiss domination. The Japanese found a better way, and the world bought. The lesson here? The future of recruiting is up for grabs. Radical new ideas in conjunction with creative, global, and scalable solutions will change everything! If you have an idea, shoot for the moon now or spend your life wishing that you did.

Leave Recruiting. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Please remember that recruiting has no bar to entry. If and when recruiting “comes back,” regardless of how good you might be, your competition will be every 24-year-old kid with capped teeth and greased hair looking to make a buck. What’s that you say? They will recognize your years of experience and talent? Hmmm … Some will, but more will not, as their lower pricing will be a strong lure. Tired of being part of an industry that gets squished ever five or so years? Are you an agency person who is beginning to hate the grind and 75 cold calls a day? A corporate person who despises the politics and the games? If so, perhaps now is the time to realize that recruiting does not have to be a life sentence. Good recruiters have terrific skills and they can do so many other things. As an example, about three or four years ago, I was with Dave Lefkow doing a presentation in NYC for a fortune 100 client. Look at Dave now. Who knew? Hopefully, you can see there is more then one way to bring home the bacon.

These ideas are but the tip of the iceberg in looking at new ways to think, act, and do business. I do not see any real option to making these changes, because either business will adjust to you, or you will adjust to business. Which one do you think will happen?

(Hanging around Minnesota this Friday? See Howard Adamsky speak at Best Buy headquarters in Richfield. The presentation is entitled “Brave New World/The Emerging Role of Tomorrow’s Recruiters.” Cost is $12,500 per person but it’s free if you mention Howard’s name. Donuts included of course. Register at http://www.mntrn.org/ )

DETROIT — General Motors Corporation Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House. –Comcast.net Finance

I always liked Rick Wagoner. He is the quintessential Boy Scout. Probably makes a great neighbor and a wonderful friend, so I take no glee in his departure. On the other hand, he was not the right person for the job and hasn’t been for endless years. GM made cars few wanted and it hemorrhaged cash. (This should bother you just a tad, as it is your cash they are currently hemorrhaging.)

As an example, rumor has it that when GM unveiled the Aztek in 2001, there was only a gasp and then dead silence; an unspeakably ugly car instantly hated by one and all. (John Sullivan’s Aztec is for sale by way; e-mail him on pricing.) How, in all that is holy, could Wagoner allow a car like this to see the light of day? He should have laid his body in front of it sooner then having it hit the press.

As you can see, poor leadership devastates us all. But wait: put down that latte and read on. I am not at the good part yet.

It appears that he was forced out by the Obama administration. Is that not as embarrassing as it gets? It took an act of government to do what a board of directors should have done a decade ago. The fact that his board did not remove this sadly ineffective CEO is a glaring example of leadership that has failed miserably. This board had a moral as well as a fiduciary responsibility to do what was in General Motors’ best interest, and it proved to be absolutely worthless. If you think it gives a damn about GM, I suggest you smarten up. (If you think they care one iota about your bailout money, you need your head examined.)

So how does this little tirade relate to the emerging role of tomorrow’s recruiter? (See A Return to Recruiting: Notes, Thoughts, and Commentary.) Glad you asked. The future of recruiting is all about leadership and doing what is right for the clients you represent. For recruiting as a profession and for recruiters as individuals to thrive, it must add far more value. Recruiting, both individually as well as collectively, must develop the vision and the courage to act as leaders. We must move way from the concerns of politics, the pathological need to be liked and, as Jeremy Eskenazi put it, the “at your service” mentality that hurts us more then it helps. We must insert our opinion and thoughts where reinvention is required and lead through example. We must be willing to be unpopular. Please consider the following:

• Be a leader. Going along to get along is a sadly compromised existence. It kills careers, companies, and, apparently, economies. The opportunity to lead — to make a real difference in your future and the futures of those around you — has never been better. The world of business has been decimated and needs individuals with the courage and creativity to do what is right. If we worry less about what is popular and more about the actionable items that have real meaning in terms of supporting organizational objectives, we will become leaders and we will be great!


• Give them what they need: Yes; what they need, not what they want. Everyone knows what they want but few know what they need. (I want a Maserati Bora, but that’s not happening.) The difference between what they need as opposed to what they want is the sweet spot of leadership’s value. Take hiring managers as an example. They can be unspeakably inept in terms of how they handle candidates and conduct interviews. Become a quick study as it relates to their strengths and weaknesses. Give them positive reinforcement for what they do well (ranking candidates, for example.) Coach and carry them for the things they do not do well (making hiring decisions, for example). Short of shooting someone, do whatever it takes to provide the type of support they really need.


• Innovate big time/question everything. The future of recruiting belongs to those who are willing to invent it. (See Recruiting, Innovation, and Thinking Differently.) I am not sure how things will look down the road, but I have a strong feeling they are not going to look like they did before the world came to an end. I suggest that all of us need to rethink what we do and how we do it. Are the best practices of the future the same as the best practices of the past? Do we really need to hire the best candidate every single time for every single position? Does diversity really create a better final product and how is that measured? Get my drift?


• Don’t hire your friends. Like to spend time with your friends? Take them bowling. Recruiting is not a profession that lends itself well to cronyism as it colors one’s judgment. (Unless you work for the government, of course, because when you hire people with no brains and little experience, they better be your friends.) I can assure you that there is nothing I would enjoy more then doing a big project and hiring all of my friends. Sadly, some of my friends are not very good at what they do and to hire them would only demonstrate poor leadership. Think of your job as a recruiter to build a company one brick at a time with each brick being important. You wouldn’t use a brick that had a big crack in it because you liked the color, would you? Of course not. Think of your friends in that same way. If you have a friend that you think fits the job, toss them into the hat and have them evaluated along with the others. Do not push to have them hired because it goes against your role and mission.

As we enter the second quarter of 2009, I believe this country is in a financial mess that will not end anytime soon. The future is up for grabs and those individuals who demonstrate the ability to create significant value through courageous leadership will be on the road to real and meaningful success.

Can you hear that sound? It is the groaning reverberation of a deep and protracted recession. It is the sound of layoffs and loss. Of homes foreclosed, 401(k)s decimated, and of violent shifts in the professional and financial worlds. It is the sound of unsinkable companies … disappearing. It is deep and it is wide and it is ugly, and it has either already affected you or it will. No matter; Les Brown said it best. “It does not matter what happens to you. All that matters is; what are you going to do about it?”

So let me ask? What are you going to do about it?

I will tell you what most recruiters I am communicating with are currently doing. They are putting one foot in front of the other and existing each day with the hope that tomorrow will be a better day. They are scraping together bits of work and hustling like never before in order to make things happen. They are hanging tight and surviving, creating what are sure to be a breed of some very tough, street-savvy recruiters who will do well when things get better. Very well.

What will you do when things get better, and more importantly, what will be expected of you when the business of recruiting returns full force? What new breed of recruiter will evolve from this misery and what will they bring to the table to meet the still undefined future all of us must face? What gritty strengths and skills will be required to jump in with both feet in order to stake your claim to be successful?

• Ability to search for passive candidates? (I think not)


• Experience with applicant tracking systems? (Nice but not a big deal.)


• Number of connections on social networking systems? (Jury is out)


• Your blog? (Don’t hold your breath)


• Use of video in recruiting? (Possible, but not of staggering importance)


• Metrics and branding? (To a degree. Lets say yes and no…)

Here is what I think you will have to master/do/become in order to be in the first wave to return to full capacity and more importantly, to stay there: To paraphrase Kenny Moore, “Those specializing in the impossible will do well.”

Do more then understand what the client wants; Grok it. It will no longer be enough to simply understand the requirements a candidate must possess. You will have to amass a deep understanding of the subtitles, nuances, and specific content knowledge necessary to make a candidate successful. As such, you will have to develop much tighter relationships with hiring managers in order to ask enough of the appropriate qualifying questions to develop an unmistakable picture of exactly what the client is expecting you to deliver. Gone are the days of 10-minute chats about what a manager requires.

Say goodbye to political correctness. Your services are not being used to be politically correct. The promotion of fairness is a fool’s errand. You client is depending on you to support the acquisition of the very best candidate. End of story. Discriminate with passionate abandon against anyone who is not qualified to do the job and let HR sweat the numbers. Do this one thing and you can rest assured that you are doing your job.

You will have to become a political animal. Most recruiters, present company included, are not all that good at the politics of the workplace. (I can assure you that my disinhibition has made some see me as less then charming.) Politics is not a dirty word; it is a reality of businesses everywhere. Taking advantage of organizational politics is an opportunity to do what you have to do in order to do what you need to do in order to be successful. Hold your nose and play the game; successful recruiting is worth that effort.

You will have to pick up the phone. We must never lose sight of the fact that recruiting is a gregarious and rollicking business of people relating to and engaging other people. Social networks, talent pools, and other pockets of potential ability are wonderful but until you pick up the phone and drive the candidate side of the process, it is all pixels and IMs. When it is person-to-person contact you need, the experience of picking up the phone can be magical.

You will have to drive and execute the deal. It is imperative that we take charge and set the recruiting process in motion, keep it moving, and manage the overall dance. Drive the client to action, move the candidate towards acceptance, and close the deal. This is easier said then done, as so much is an art as well as a science. My advice is to be bold, take risks, and do whatever is required to create an intelligent hire that will benefit the organization as well as the candidate.

Are these five points the end all in terms of what recruiters must become? No, but let us begin there. When hiring commences in earnest again, we must not come back as the same people we were. We must pounce on talent and claim it as our own. (If you do not know what this means, you have never worked for an agency.) I feel strongly about this because if you do not think that organizations can engineer recruiters out of their existence, you are very sadly mistaken.

One more thing. Be nice. You will be interfacing with a desperate, angry job market. Every call and e-mail you do not return is linked directly to a real person just like you. Keep a kind and encouraging word for those still lost and frightened.

Do you have problems keeping your internal clients happy? Do you arrive at work first thing in the morning dreading e-mails and phone messages from certain hiring managers? Do you ever have the urge to chase some of your internal clients around the office with a blunt instrument while screaming something like, “More candidates? I’ll give you more candidates you miserable &*%&*,” as they scatter in fear of their lives? Does any of this sound familiar?

If this charming reality is even a part of the story of your recruiting life, you can change that story by adopting a radically innovative mindset and you can do it today. I urge you to consider the following fact: it is not your job to make your internal clients happy. Never was and never will be. You might have thought it was because we were all trained to think that way, but that is not our goal from a business perspective. Our real objective is to present them with two or three qualified candidates who could be hired. End of story. If your internal clients are not happy after that, the problem is theirs, not yours, because you have done your job.

Let’s take a closer look at this concept of “happy.” Consider the following words: “profit, objective, performance, leadership.” The omission of the word “happy” in that group of words is not accidental. That is because those are business-oriented words, whereas “happy” is an emotional state of being. As recruiters, making people happy is not our job. Good, proactive, and effective recruiting is our job. Locating, attracting, and presenting candidates for the positions we are trying to fill is our business, and that is the only business with which we are involved.

Taking it one step further (Sorry I’m on a roll…) Keeping internal clients “happy” is a fool’s errand. Recruiting is difficult enough. Crazy expectations, poor response time, and un-communicated changes in requirements just scratch the surface of the recruiter’s typical day. We roam the halls with this creepy feeling that a good many of our internal clients are not happy. We struggle to do the best we can; we locate and present qualified candidates; yet, we still have this sinking feeling that they are not happy. Forget happy. Just do your job as a recruiter and that will have to be good enough.

With that in mind, let’s see how we can execute on this new way of doing business.

1) Present only candidates who could be hired. In terms of definitions, a hirable candidate is one who has a reasonable chance of accepting an offer if one is tended. For example, do not present candidates, however qualified, if there is no good reason for them to accept the position. Case in point: the comp range on your position is $80,000 and your candidate is earning $79,000 with a raise due in a month. Your commute is 45 minutes and theirs is five minutes; they get four weeks; vacation, you give two. Get the point? You have a candidate who might be qualified but generally speaking, not likely to be hired. All this candidate will do is get a hiring manager excited about someone they can’t have. Honestly, why should they change jobs?

2) Present only qualified candidates. This is a basic, but it bears repeating: never present a candidate who is not qualified. For the more senior recruiters, I know that you can get creative at times and try to present off-label candidates to create an innovative hiring solution, and that is OK. On the other hand, be advised that you really need to know what you are doing to get away with that. You need to have both a good relationship and track record with the hiring manager if you wish to swim in these waters.

3) Understand the position. Once again, a basic that’s worth repeating. Understand all that you need to know before you source your first candidate. You can’t sell what you don’t understand.

4) Understand the candidate. Do interviews that are deep enough to understand not just the candidate’s qualification but what they really want/need in their next position. Take the extra 15 minutes to really know your candidate and you will never be sorry. (See “10 Things Recruiters Should Know About Every Candidate They Interview” for some real depth on this topic.)

5) Never make them wait. Be sure that your internal client never has to wait for you. If you have an action item as it relates to a position, a reference check, a question on their comp, whatever, do it as soon as humanly possible and get back to them with the results. Never, ever, make them wait.

6) Drive the process. You are either a driver or you are a passenger. Be a driver! If the internal client has to contact you to find out what is happening with their position, that is bad. If you contact them to ask what is happening with the candidates you have sent, that is good.

7) Document everything. Phone calls and quick hallway meetings are OK, but getting it in writing is even better. Send a “cc” to yourself on all e-mails and in the event you get verbal instructions, put it in e-mail to the hiring manager to keep it all straight. It is called CYA and yes, it is a sad way to live, but it is one of life’s realities.

8) Worry less about being liked. All of us want to be liked, but recruiters seem to carry it to an extreme. I know because I want to be liked as well as the next person. Do not let your judgment or activities be affected by this malady. There are times you will have to drive hard and make noise to get things done. Better to fill the position and scuff a few egos then fail to fill it and be loved by all. They do not pay us to be loved by all. (Looking for unconditional love? Get a dog.)

I know what you are thinking. Clients need to be happy. No — clients need to have their needs successfully met based upon the parameters established in the beginning of the relationship. If you are a driver, your job is to get them to the airport safely and on time. If you are a recruiter, your job is to present good candidates. “Happy” is an entirely different world whose meaning conjures up images of group hugs and bumper stickers that say “Have You Hugged Your Recruiter Today.” (Creepy huh?)

Personally, I think that internal clients should very happy if you manage to locate two or three candidates who are qualified and could be hired, but that’s just my opinion. All the rest is unnecessary drama; we are not in the drama business either.

Let’s start with MJ’s reality first. He is 45, brilliant, accomplished, and well-spoken. He is politically savvy, knows the right things to say in all situations, and even looks the role of a corporate executive. (Truth be told, he is almost as strikingly handsome as I am.)

He is technically up to date, communicates well, and has all of the requisite educational credentials. There is only one small problem. He can't get a job.

To quote Ron Jenkins, “Something is wrong here; something is terribly wrong."

If there is a war for talent, why can't a highly skilled, amazingly talented overachiever who lives in a major metropolitan area find a job after one year of searching?

What expectations, position profile, ATS, political ramifications, compensation structure, communication protocol, workforce planning initiative, talent acquisition strategy, or lord knows what else has broken down so miserably, so totally and completely that all of the companies that are warring for talent have not hired MJ?

If the war for talent is as portrayed, companies engaged in this war should be beating each other with sticks to hire MJ. So, why can't MJ get a job and how does it relate to this war on talent? (Please don't tell me he needs to do more social networking or I might just have to get on a plane and slay you.)

We have heard for endless time of the war for talent. I remember the war on poverty, but we lost that one. We have a war on drugs but that seems to be a losing proposition as well.

But a war for talent? I find that to be an interesting war because there seems to be no winners, no losers, and little set out to define specific battle plans or terms and conditions for victory.

Yet we are so glib as it relates to this war and so accepting of its existence. Tell me, when will it end and how will we know it is over? When all of the organizations that want the very best talent, have the very best talent? Talent by whose standards? For how long must this condition exist? How is it measured and by whom? Is that the win? I hope not, because that is not going to happen. Not ever. Never, never, ever!

Who do you suppose is in charge of this war for talent? Please allow me to introduce the cast of characters:

We have thought leaders and futurists as our field generals (few who really agree on anything but will consult with you for a fee) and recruiters as our foot soldiers who spend most of their time “runnin and gunnin” in an attempt to find great candidates.

Tossed into the mix are those in management who sweat more than the rest of us because no matter what they do, it is never enough. The reason for this, of course, is those darn recruiters who are clearly guilty of the following:

• Not identifying candidates who are quite as good as management had hoped for. (Surely, there must be a Java programmer out there who also understands composite iron tensile capacities and plays accordion.)


• Not able to meet the sheer number of qualified candidates for which management had hoped to pick through. (You only found four PhD toxicologists local to Shaboine? What do you do all day?)


• Not capable of finding the qualified candidates as quickly as management was hoping they might. (What do you mean it is going to take a month? Don't you use Facebook? Where are the programmers with the pierced tongues and cleverly concealed tats? (Tattoos to those of you in the Midwest.)

Wait...perhaps it is time to get new recruiters to help us to win this war. But who hires new recruiters? Other recruiters? Hmmmmm.

Ok, to quote John Updike, "I have had my say," but let me highlight one important point. MJ is not an apparition. He is a real person who has no clue as to what is going on and why he can't land a job.

More important, I have no idea either and therein lay the problem. A war for talent perpetuates the myth that great talent will be gobbled up as fast as it hits the street. Truth be told, we don't even wait for it to hit the street. We unearth passive candidates and try to pull them in as well.

Wait! What about "the recession?"

Are we in a recession? The government seems to think not, but for those of us with an IQ over 34 and 11 cents worth of common sense, it seems as though we are. Layoffs are either the reality or the rumor and the other signs are there as well. (Got fear?)

So tell me, what happens to the war for talent in a recession? Is there a cessation of hostilities? Less recruiting? More use of Friendster? OK, enough with the questions. Let’s look at what I see as some answers.

Is there a war for talent? Not as I see a war because you go to war to win and no organization will ever have the capability to simply turn on the faucet and get as many of the great employees they want when they want them. Quite frankly, their childlike carping as to not being able to have exactly what they want as quickly as they want it is almost embarrassing at times. (Not to mention that fact that one can't apply a liquidity metaphor to new employees. That is creepy at best and dehumanizing at worst. They are human beings, not things.)

On the other hand, if YOU believe there is a war for talent, consider the following five ideas to ease your pain and anguish:

1. Look at older workers. By older, I mean over 45. Take me seriously, because what goes around has an almost cosmic ability to come around. If you are 33 years old in a happening company on the left coast that gives out free lattes, with cargo pants as the dress code, do not pass on the older folks when you make hiring decisions. If you live long enough, you will make it to those ages as well and suddenly see what it is like to be left out in the cold. Print out this message and bronze it because you heard it here first. (If you think OFCCP prevents this, I have a bridge to sell you; email me for details.)


2. Develop reasonable position profiles. Loosen up! Perhaps you really need 10 people as opposed to 8. Don't have headcount for 10? Go get it. (Budgets are artificially imposed. Build a business case to have it changed.) To be understaffed and not meet organizational objectives as you whine about those bad recruiters who can't find you the people you want is laughable.


3. Pay an agency. Folks, at times you have to simply bite the bullet and pay an agency because they have the person you need. Tell me, would you sell your best salesperson or Java programmer to the competition for $25,000? No? Then why would you not buy them for the same price? (Have you spoken to Shea Putnam at Cool Hires lately?)


4. Do you deserve great talent? Being from Brooklyn, I seldom get overly philosophical, but I can't help wondering if your company deserves great talent. I have been asked to go out and find the "best and the brightest" by teams of leadership losers that were so inept, so devoid of any ability to create a great company, I did not know if I should laugh or cry. On some level, it is sad because these folks will forever be in a war for talent.


5. Look closely at active candidates. In recent years, a number of people have made big money beating the passive candidate drum. They plumb the deepest depths of the solar system (at times as far as Pluto) to uncover the candidates no one else can find. (Attend a workshop for $399.00 and you can learn this, too.) That's ok at times, but what about the good, active candidates who apply to the postings for which you pay? Too busy to read those resumes? I do sympathize, but looking at resumes is part of our job and the sooner we stop complaining and get to it, the faster we will fill positions with candidates who came to us.

Is there a war for talent? Hard to say, but I think not. I do believe there is a perpetual need for talent; a supply-oriented balancing act that is in endless flux.

But a war? Only if you make it one.

I believe that business processes of major importance should move toward excellence. Simply stated: from bad to good to better to best. I don’t think that is asking too much of something as important as recruiting.

However, I have concerns about whether this is actually happening. Allow me to illustrate three disturbing examples in this article.

Recruiting Does Not Get the Respect It Deserves

To many, it is seen as a necessary evil. Few organizational leaders understand what recruiters do, and it is hard to respect what you don’t understand. As such, they often put people in charge of recruiting who have never actually recruited. (I kid you not!) If this is not disturbing to you, then other than having your hair suddenly burst into flames, I can’t imagine what is. I can’t tell you how many times recruiters have told me that so-and-so won’t change this or get that because they don’t “really understand recruiting.”

“Why do they not understand recruiting?” I ask, with an incredulous look of concern and encroaching horror.

“Because they have never actually done any recruiting,” is the usual response. Why would any organization put a person in charge of recruiting who has never done any?

• Has your CFO ever done any financials?


• Has your VP Sales ever done any selling?


• Has your Chief Scientific Officer ever done anything scientific?

They have? Interesting! So why is it ok to have a person who has never recruited managing that function?

If you have never known the pain of losing a candidate to a counteroffer, never dealt with a hiring manager who doesn’t respond, or never struggled to close a deal using only your street smarts and your ability to sell a vision, you should not be managing the function.

Sourcing Is Often Done By Others

I do not write this to offend any sourcing friends, as I know they have a role in the recruiting function. On the other hand, there was a time when recruiters used to do their own sourcing. If you could not source for yourself, you simply did not make it as a recruiter.

Now, there are many recruiters who do not know how to source candidates. Perhaps some see this as progress; I don’t. Having others doing your sourcing on a consistent basis dilutes the overall power and the effectiveness of today’s recruiter by removing an important dimension of what is required to fill a position in the first place.

Tell me, what do you say to the candidate when they ask how you got their name? That it came off of a list your sourcing department developed? That it came from a Third World country researcher who gets 90 cents per hour to use technology? Sure sounds like a great way to start that all-important recruiter/candidate relationship, doesn’t it? Kind of makes you feel all warm and tingly inside, huh? (You could tell them you got it yourself but lying is so last year?)

With technology that brings a fresh batch of new candidates each day, do you know how to reach out, connect emotionally, and start that all-important conversation? I hope so, because if recruiters no longer source, perhaps the day will come when they will no longer make the first call to the candidate either. Perhaps that too will go away and we will have a new function called “first phone callers.”

Should we continue to slice entire sections off of this profession and make others do it? Will we soon have closers as well? Specialists who just focus on closing the candidate? Assembly-line recruiting anyone?

Be careful out there; continue to butcher this noble profession and someday, it just might be neither noble nor a profession. Think about it, because for many of us, this is all we have.

Email Has Replaced the Human Touch

Recruiters seldom hand-deliver candidates. This is unfortunate. Great recruiters are usually on fire due to the thrill of the chase. When there is a new candidate who has been screened and is ready to present, this should be a really hot moment for a recruiter. I understand there are hiring managers who are too far away to hand-deliver a candidate’s resume. But if they are close by, hand-delivering is great because if not, the candidate is just another email they will get to later in the week.

Showing up unannounced with a great candidate is as good as it gets. You barge in, no appointment, and with the candidate’s resume in your hands. You exclaim, “This woman doubled sales in less than four months and reduced operating costs by 18%; signed two new strategic alliances; and flattened the entire sales organization. When can you see her? Let’s set it up now?”

The energy is palpable?

Can you see how this level of passion is contagious? Next thing you know, you have the candidate scheduled, the hiring manager is as hot on the candidate as you are, and you source for another candidate or two for backups.

Can you see the advantage to the human touch? To the sale? Candidates are not just steak; there is sizzle there as well, and if you bring both to the table, good things will happen. Who knows, you might even enhance your relationship with that hiring manager in the process. Can you see the difference between hand-delivering a candidate and merely sending another email? I hope so.

I hope you don’t think I am negative. I am just pointing out a few things that bother me from a standpoint of perspective, and experience derived over time. Recruiting is in the blood of those who do it well. There is a passion there that reaches out for the shortest ways to get things done, or the best ways to achieve an end and make real progress in terms of closing a deal and getting a great hire.

In order to make this happen, we must remain the masters of our own house, the builders of our own destiny. We must walk that thin line between being fiercely independent and following procedure. Not allowing what we do to become diluted is a great place to begin the ascent to greatness.

Please allow me to take a quick breather from my writing so I might ask you a question: Isn’t it time you wrote an article?

Surely you must be tired of my face by now, perhaps even what I have to say and how I say it. (Just wait until you see my new pic; Mac glasses and all…) Tell me, are you tired of any of the others as well? Truth be told, at times, I also get so weary of the same people writing variations on the same things (e.g., 8 Ways to Do This, 4 Things to Get That, and How to Supercharge Your Whatever).

So, here’s the proposition: If you have grown weary of hearing from the same old white guys, I suggest you write an article. You must have opinions you want to share. There have to be things that make you crazy about our business, such as candidates, hiring managers, processes, or the sheer madness of recruiting. You must have ideas as to how to make this profession better. Why not write an article and share them with the rest of us? After all, we do not just write articles; we read them as well.

Let me be a bit more specific and out a few people:

• Effie Magas: You are a shining star and will be one of the most influential recruiting leaders within 10 years. Where is your article?


• John Amodeo: Our conversations are terrific; your insights are seminal. Where is your article?


• Danielle Monaghan: If I had your brain, I would throw mine away. Where is your article?

To the rest of you: Where are your articles? Where is your contribution to the dialogue that will make this a better profession? Where are the new ideas that will make us think and discuss and change? The future will be invented by you, those in the trenches who live and breathe recruiting. So, perhaps now is the time to give back to the community.

For most of you, there are two reasons not to write:

1. No time; or


2. Can’t write.

To those of you who say there is no time, let me fix that problem for you right here. The time we have is the time we make. I am writing this article in longhand over lunch in Boston. It is stained with food, grease, and bits of a cheeseburger (honestly, it’s disgusting), but nonetheless it is an article. I will finish it late tonight and get it in for edit tomorrow. Find a way to make the time.

Now, to those of you who say that you can’t write, I have the answer. I call it Howard’s “handy-dandy-guide-for-writing-an-article.” (Look what it did for Sullivan’s career.) If you follow its formula, you will have an article. It might not be the most brilliant article ever written but it will be a start, the content of something in which you believe and wish to share. (Read my first article from 2002 if you like. It did not win a Pulitzer, but it made a point. I got better as I wrote more, as will you.)

Will people disagree with you? Of course, but that’s OK because you took a stand and put your stuff out there for the world to see. (Ever see some of the comments on “The Myth of the Passive Candidate?” I need a bodyguard just to run out for milk…)

For those of you willing to take the plunge, please look at the following guidelines and give it a shot.

How to Write an Article in 5 Easy Steps!

1. Develop an idea based upon something you feel strongly about and have enough knowledge to discuss. The article should be something in which you feel strongly, as passion can create an article that is riveting and persuasive (Let’s take “Recruiting out-of-state candidates to undesirable locations” as an example).


2. Create six to eight points that apply to the article. Let’s use the seventh point listed below as an example:
   
   
   
   • Getting the candidate’s attention.
   
   
   • Stress the opportunity.
   
   
   • Accentuate the positive.
   
   
   • Introduce the candidate to others who have relocated.
   
   
   • Develop a program just to sell out-of-state candidates.
   
   
   • Research and review best practices on world-class relocation.
   
   
   • Dealing with the candidate’s spouse and kids.
   
   
   
   


3. Create three or four ideas that support and illustrate each given bullet point. Using the fourth point listed above (”Introduce the candidate to others who have relocated”) as an example, these ideas can be things like:
   
   
   
   • Identify an employee who has relocated to the company.
   
   
   • Prepare the relocated employee as to the concerns of the candidate.
   
   
   • Have the relocated employee sell the company as well as the location.
   
   
   
   


4. Provide a beginning and an end. Write an opening paragraph before the 6 to 8 points of the story to get people interested. Tell them why your topic is important, and what is to be gained by reading it. Then, write an ending paragraph outlining one or two major benefits of your idea or concept.


5. Review and smooth out your work. The article should be about 1,000 words in length. Short sentences are best. Now, take the time to go through the article and remove every word that is not absolutely necessary to make your point. This will produce a stronger, more tightly-worded article with good impact and no fat. Next, have the article edited for clarity, grammar, and syntax by someone who can actually spell. (Few can self-edit, as it is not easy to catch your own mistakes.)

There you have it: an article for submission.

Is this an over-simplification? Of course, but it is a tool that will get you on your way to doing something that is out of your comfort zone and will help you grow professionally. (Now, if I can only convince you to join Toastmasters…)

Honestly, I really think you should write an article.

(Not bad for 1,002 words!)