The Art and Evolution of Professional Recruiting

Sourcing and recruiting is a highly competitive business, with many companies, and recruiters (internal and agency), chasing after the same candidates.  I know how hard most recruiters work, and how much energy and resources go into sourcing. There’s a similar pain for companies today, and it’s the time taken to hire, the quality of the hire, and the cost of the hire.  It’s challenging, if not impossible, to get all three. Here are some recruiters that are amazing, and watching them work is a thing of beauty. But, like any other industry, they represent a small percentage. Anyone in talent acquisition and recruiting can probably share stories about weeks of screening (internal and external) and with multiple agencies only to have the candidate take another position at the last minute! What about the wrong hire?   It could cost an organization a lot of money, not to mention the loss of productivity and stress on the rest of the team. There’s no doubt that companies are looking for a more competitive edge in talent acquisition, and exploring ways to lower the costs. The current costs and risks associated with hiring are forcing many companies to bring recruiting in-house and compliment the process with their applicant tracking system and social media campaigns.  Where’s this all going? The combination of costs, time, and quality are nothing new. , Most companies aspire to give you two of the three. The current mentality is that if they can give you quality and speed, it’s going to cost more. Or, you can cut costs and sacrifice quality, and/or time.

What about engagement?  Not just with candidates, but with an organization and it’s hiring managers.  Why isn’t there a standard process of client engagement? Most managers claim to be too busy, and the process can vary widely from one company to the next.   Why is that? One of the reasons is that talent acquisition has several stakeholders, and often their motivation is different. The hiring manager needs the help, the team needs the support, the candidate needs the opportunity, and the recruiter wants to be the facilitator (without taking compensation into account) I’m not throwing the recruiter under the bus, I’m merely explaining each stakeholder and the underlying motivation at each level.  I love the recruiting process and learning at a deep level what companies do and how they’re structured. I love interacting with talented people and having the opportunity to help in their careers. I highly recommend that each recruiter take time each week to educate themselves more on their clients. Learn a/b their founders, managers, teams, and of course their products/services. After all, as a recruiter, you’re often the first impression a candidate will have of the company.  

The war for talent is a real thing, and the access to data is incredible.  The data and the way it’s presented is part of the “problem” in talent acquisition.  Everything is predicated on a resume or a profile. Of course, these are self-created, and that’s okay.  As a candidate, you want to present yourself in the best possible way. As a recruiter, we owe it to you to use that and ask the right questions.  In other words, the focus should always be on the most appropriate representation of your abilities. The same goes for the company, manager, team, and position.  Job postings are ok, but often lack the necessary detail to get for proper sourcing and recruiting. Go to your hiring manager, ask for 30 minutes, and make sure they know that you want to present these details to the most applicable candidates adequately.  Explain to these hiring managers the importance of this! Trust me; they’ll thank you when that fantastic candidate becomes a high performing member of that team. As a hiring manager, as a candidate, and as a recruiter, this is a fantastic feeling! I’ve experienced it from all three perspectives, and that feeling drives me to do better, to learn more, to bring the most value I can do the people I interact with.  After all, as a recruiter, we have an amazing opportunity to help companies and individuals. Be the hero!

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