Why Headhunting is Exactly like Dating.

So, let's say you are happily single. Life is going well: the job is good, your friends are fun, your half-marathon training is going well, and your cat, Mr. Jingles, is good company during those times you have nothing else planned. 

Then, one day you are at the local Whole Foods, trying to decide whether or not you will be able to get through two cartons of the two-for-one organic blueberries before they spoil. Suddenly, you notice that someone on the other side of the blueberry display is watching you.

Startled, you give the Jeremy Renner look-a-like a half-smile. He's not wearing a wedding ring. He smiles back. You notice organic dog food in his basket. He likes animals too.  

"I find that when I buy both cartons, I end up wasting the second one, " Jeremy Renner says. You know it's you to whom he's speaking because you've turned around, assuming someone else is behind you - like his physicist-swimsuit model girlfriend. But nobody is there but you. 

"You know, I could buy the berries and give you the free carton," he continues. 

And you freeze. You went to Whole Foods expecting blueberries and that Jerk Tilapia they do so well. You did not go to Whole Foods expecting Jeremy Renner. 

A call from a headhunter is not unlike this: the earliest stages of courtship.

It's unexpected. Think of the active job search market as online dating. Companies are aggressively looking, candidates are aggressively looking, and, at the end of the day, it's a numbers game. Plenty. Of. Fish. It's also time consuming and exhausting. When companies hire a search firm like mine to find candidates for a position, it's a bit like hiring one of those high-end matchmakers on TV. Think of me as Jeremy Renner (though frankly, I'm more of an Amy Poehler in real life): It's my role to hang out at the Whole Foods, keeping an eye out for good people. As I identify people who are a good potential fit for the role, I give them a call. The jobs I fill are good ones: I'm offering candidates a proverbial box of free organic blueberries.  But still, candidates can be taken off-guard when, in the middle of minding their own business, they are invited to explore a new possibility. Try to be open to new things. There is no reward without some risk. 

It's a time to get to know each other. OK, so let's say you allow Jeremy to buy you the blueberries and now you are sitting at the little area in the front of the store drinking your fair trade coffee with him. You find out that he's a divorced software sales manager who loves french bulldogs. You are a cat-loving hat designer who called off your engagement to your long-distance Swedish paramour Sven. And you both love The Eagles, Indian food, the colour persimmon, Ayn Rand books, and Jerk Tilapia (Jeremy bought some too.) You have some things in common, enough to arrange for another coffee meeting. This is how you should view the interview process with a search firm. You have a job: life is good. What you are trying to find out is if life could be better. Perhaps this new job would give you more autonomy, a broader scope, a heftier paycheque. At this point you are just exploring possibilities. Relax and have some fun with it. 

It's a time to not rush forward (even though you really want to.) At some point in the process, it will hit you: OMG, I have just met Jeremy Renner and he loves animals and is employed! Depending on your age, you might also realize that you are statistically more likely to be hit by lightning than to have had this happen to you and you want to close the deal now now now. Before you get Vera Wang on your speed dial and have poor Jeremy running for the hills, you need to take a deep breath. If it's meant to be, Jeremy won't go anywhere. He'll realize that there are not many of you - Gwyneth Paltrow meets Tina Fey - on the planet. Companies are probably interviewing a number of candidates, but if they have hired a search firm, it's because there are not that many people who can do the job. Relax. If it's a good long term fit, it will happen. 

Don't have a one track mind. The first thing most candidates want to know is what the job pays. I have a mortgage too: I get it. But salary discussions are a bit like sex. Wait a few dates before bringing it up. A search firm will be feeding the client good information about what the market is paying. If they are willing to pay to hire a search firm to fill your role, they are not going to lose you over a few dollars. If you seem too fixated on the topic, your motivation may be called into question. Again, relax.

It's a time to look for red flags. Confession time: The reason things did not work out with Sven is he took a strong liking for Bjorn. All of those ABBA posters on his wall that time you visited him in Stockholm should have been a clue. Live and learn. Take your time to get to know Jeremy. See how he treats his dogs. See how he treats his mom. Does he tip the waitress? Is he respectful? How is he under stress? How is he when he meets your busty friend wearing that white tennis dress in the rain? Believe me, Jeremy is looking to see how you behave in a variety of situations. The dating process is a two-way street. The job interview process is no different. If it's a publicly traded company, read what the analysts say about management. If it's privately held, find out about the owners. Why did the last person leave? Why is the role hard to fill? The earlier in the process you find out about the bad stuff, the easier it is to go your separate ways. And if there are no deal-breakers? Nirvana!

Consider cultural differences. Perhaps you come from hearty stock who would only take a rest from work if someone were hospitalized. Maybe Jeremy was the baby in a laid-back family who believed a lot in napping. This might be a problem down the road. The same applies to the workplace. If you come out of a hierarchical, rule-bound organization, working for a creative start-up with a bunch of 20 year olds might just blow your mind. Unless you've been itching for a change, in which case it will rock your world. Don't be bound by what you've done in the past. Think about what you want now. 

Consider balance. Maybe you'd like to see Jeremy three days a week. Maybe Jeremy would like to see you once every three weeks so he can work, work out, hang with his posse, practice with his band, and date other girls. This could be a problem. Ditto if you are a nine-to-fiver who is about to take on a job with a 24/7 culture. Work-life balance is key and a valid point to discussion during an interview. Remember, we called you. You have a good thing going already. You can choose to be picky. 

This is the time to run. If Jeremy, cute as he is, starts to bring up topics such as astral projection, that time he was in prison, or his need to stock up on anti-itch creme, don't hesitate to run for the hills. If you mentioned these things, he'd be running. Nobody will be upset if you discover that a job is not a good fit early in the process. When you've accepted the job, the paperwork has been drawn up, your office has been repainted and your predecessor let go, they might get angry when you declare, "maybe I'm just not that into you."

If you just got married, fess up. To be clear, I am not Ashley Madison. If you have just joined a new company to take your dream job, you should not be interested in what I have to say. Yes, I'm Jeremy Renner: new on the scene and kind of exciting. But you're with Brad Pitt. He's promised to stand by you through thick and thin. God bless. And if you have the name of any eligible single friends, please pass them on. 

Happy hunting!

Nancy

LinkedIn Love

OK, so everyone know that if you want to find a new job, you should be on LinkedIn. But are you using the tool as effectively as you might? Here are some tips to using LinkedIn from a recruiter's perspective.

Better no profile than a poor profile. When I'm networking in the marketplace and someone gives me the name of a potential candidate,  the first thing I do is check to see if there is a profile on LinkedIn. If it's not there, I'll probably place a call. If it's there and looks as expected, I'll definitely place a call. If it's there and is poorly done and rife with errors, I won't place a call. When Woody Allen said "Eighty percent of success is showing up," he was not referring to LinkedIn. 

Use standard terms. As recruiters, we have all sort of cool software at our fingertips to help us identify fantastic candidates for a position. This software can comb through LinkedIn and identify potential candidates based on skills. If, for example, we are looking for an Account Manager for a digital agency, we will look for people with SEO and SEM experience. Maybe your company calls you a Search Wizard. That's really cool, but you won't turn up in a keyword search for SEO. You might be the best account manager in the world, but if we can't find you, our clients can't hire you. Use standard terminology. 

Use appropriate photos. Repeat after me, LinkedIn is not Facebook. The best photo is a decent head shot with you looking friendly and professional. If the only photo you have of yourself involves alcohol, a Halloween costume, or a cat beard, please stick to the little grey-scale avatar. No photo is better than an unsuitable one.

Join relevant groups. One of the ways recruiters learn about a particular field is to checkout LinkedIn Groups. Join industry and functional groups and post comments that show that you have expertise in your field. Show that you are passionate about what you do. 

Link to other social media. You can share your Twitter feed with LinkedIn users but only do this is you tweet about work-related matters. It's great that it's #FajitaNight at the local #nudist resort. Your LinkedIn followers do not need to know this. 

Reach out to recruiters. One of the great things about LinkedIn is that you can see who viewed your profile. If you see that recruiters are looking at your profile, feel free to send them a message telling them that you'd be open to helping them network in the future. (This is code for: were you looking at my profile to see if I'm suitable for a job that is amazingly fulfilling and pays ridiculously well?)

Use the postal code of the city where you want to work. Often we will use postal codes as a way of finding good candidates for a search. If you live in Pig's Elbow and are happy to drive the 3 hours to Chicago each day (or are happy to relocate), use a Chicago postal codes so you are not excluded from our Chicago-based searches. 

Check your inbox. Recruiters will send you mail through LinkedIn if we think you have an interesting background. Use the notification function to trigger an email when someone sends you a request or message. And check the system a couple of time a week. Finding out that someone wanted to talk to you about a dream job after the job has been filled feels a bit like finding an expired winning lottery ticket in the pocket of your winter coat. There are enough "if only" moments in life as it is. 

Happy hunting!

Nancy

Résumé schmésumé

Ok, so with the advent of LinkedIn and Skype and Bullhorn Reach and all sorts of other ways of connecting with employers, has the résumé gone the way of the detachable shirt collar and the cassette tape?

Nope.

Résumés are a very useful tool for job seekers, but not for the reason you might think. Yes, recruiters want them. And HR usually insists on a copy to keep in your file. But more importantly, pulling together a good résumé and cover letter (remember those?) forces you to think about your current skill set, your career goals, and what you bring to the table overall. It's easy in this world of online CVs to simply add skills without ever stepping back and seeing you career as it's seen by others. Even if you end up staying in your current position, going through the exercise of seeing what skills and experiences are valued in the marketplace and then seeing how you compare can be valuable. This insight can help you position yourself better come performance review time, or convince you to upgrade your skills to make yourself more marketable. If you do end up finding a role that looks interesting, all of that work preparing a new résumé will make the interview a snap. If you walk into an interview with only a cursory glance at the LinkedIn profile you created two years ago, you might not find it as easy to talk about your skills.

If you are writing a résumé for the first time in a while, here are some tips from someone who has read far too many bad ones.

1. Don't over-jargon things. I'm sure that when you and your buddies gather around the water cooler, it's cool to talk in acronyms. To an outsider such as a recruiter or someone in HR, buzzwords don't make sense. At best, you'll come across like one of those over-zealous Star Trek convention attendees who like to order their beer in Ferengi. At worst, we'll wonder if you actually know what you are talking about. Almost all jobs require good communication skills and a résumé is a great place to show how you can make your industry-specific knowledge more accessible to others.

2. It's not Match.com. It's awesome that you like walks on the beach, BASE jumping and long-haired ferrets. I don't need to know that, however. Résumés focus on employment-related skills and experience. Period. If you are the treasurer on the board of the local hospital, that would be relevant for a job with some finance responsibility. If you have an Olympic medal kicking around and you are interested in a job that needs fortitude and achieving goals, by all means share. Beyond that, we do not need to know a whole lot about your personal life. And please, no photos. One of my former colleagues used to collect terrible photos featuring job-seekers shirtless on vacation, falling off horses, and surrounded by empties. Life is hard enough without appearing on someone's wall of shame.

3. Proofread. There is nothing worse than reading about someone's attention to detal. Use spellcheck and grammar-check and then actually read your résumé. I'm pretty sure you'd want your tattoo artist to pay attention to spelling. This is no less important.

Happy hunting,

Nancy

Why me?

No, I'm not whining. I'm trying to explain why you might want to hire a research-based recruiter like me. First, I need to tell you what I do for a living. It might not be what you think:

The easiest way to show the space I occupy in the recruiting world, is to tell you about some other third-party recruiting business models you might have used in the past. 

Contingency  

With contingency firms, you only pay the recruiter when they find someone. Sometimes you will use one recruiter exclusively and other times you will have multiple recruiters race to find you a candidate. The first guy across the line gets paid.

This can be a good thing. If you are trying to fill a junior role or what we refer to as a commodity position (any position where only a certain technical skill set is required e.g. someone writing code or following a telemarketing script) there is often a large pool of candidates from which to draw. Many people could fill the role quite well. What a client needs is a quick turnaround time and contingency firms have huge databases of candidates who are seeking employment. Since you only pay for success, this can be an economical way to hire too. 

The drawback is that you are providing a financial incentive for the recruiter to provide quantity over quality. Your HR department or hiring manager may feel inundated with unvetted resumes. Also, databases pull candidate names based on skills rather than fit so you may meet a lot of people who do not fit into the corporate culture. 

Retainer 

Retainer-based firms work on a exclusive basis and often charge a flat fee based on the hours they think it will take to complete the search. Generally these firms are used for senior level roles where fit is key or for hard-to-fill roles where there are not many qualified candidates. 

The advantage to using a retainer based firm is that a reputable firm will put in the time to cover the marketplace to find you the best people for the role. Also, they are accustomed to dealing with senior level people and will represent your company and the role well . Search consultants have a solid business background so they can understand the intricacies of a position. They will stick with your search until the job is done and provide a lengthy guaranty that the hire is successful. You also get marketing intelligence from your competitors or companies in your industry. My background is in retained executive search and I have a huge amount of respect for the value they can bring to a company. 

The drawback is that good search firms are expensive to use. Also, sometimes a partner will sell the search services that will be executed by someone more junior. It is important to make sure you know who will be doing the work and representing you in the marketplace. 

Research Recruitment Companies

I started Re:search as a way to fill the gap between retainer and contingency recruiting firms. The advantage of using someone like me is that you get the research services of an executive search firm but at a fraction of the fee. I unbundle my services so you pay for exactly what you need. Usually clients will handle creating the job spec, the interview process and reference checks themselves. Because I focus on the "headhunting" aspect of the search rather than the HR elements, I am able to charge significantly less than a retainer firm needs to charge. With me, you are guaranteed good coverage of the market to find the best candidate and you will be represented and marketed in the best light. I also provide marketing intelligence from your competitors or companies in your industry. 

The drawbacks are that I do not provide a guaranty the way that a full-service firm does since I am not part of the interview process. There is more work for HR or the hiring manager so very small firms or busy start ups might not have the human capital to spare. 

That being said, the Re:Search business model is becoming very popular for firms that have the HR resources to manage the search process but simply need someone to uncover who the best candidates are in the marketplace. 

(Not that I'm biased!)

Happy hunting! 

Advice for Clients: Improving the odds

One of the best parts of my job is when we find a great employee for one of our clients. It's kind of like being at the wedding of two people you set up on a blind date. It's all good. What's even better, however, is when the client calls us a few years later to inform us that the employee we placed has been promoted and the role needs to be filled once again. This is like being at the 10 year anniversary of the couple you set up. While finding the best job candidates on the market is what we do, clients can play a big role in helping us find the very best person for the position over the long term by doing four key things:

1) Make the job spec as representative of the job as possible. It can be tempting for clients to give us the ad or job spec from the last time they filled the position, but it is much better to rewrite the job spec every time one commences a search. Rarely does a job stay the same from year to year. Not only does the technology change (mimeographing skills are not as critical these days) but so does the way one does business. When you hire someone new, it's an opportunity to rethink the role. Take the time to make any changes before you make a hire. There is nothing more frustrating for a candidate than to feel like they were subject to the old bait and switch.

2) Be honest if you've been trying to fill the role for a while. If you have been looking for someone to fill the role for six months with no success, please let us know. There is nothing worse than calling someone with a new opportunity only to have them say "oh, are they still looking for that?" Some positions are very unique and tough to fill and that is why you are hiring us, but we will amend the script we use when pitching the job to prospective candidates if we have this information. As we talk to people, we will also find out why the role has been hard to fill. Perhaps you are paying below market rates, perhaps there has been some reputational damage (see below), perhaps the job's location is an issue. Once we have this market intelligence, we can often tweak the role to make it more attractive to candidates. Then when we call back our prospect list, we can tell them the great news!

3) Be honest if the job is hard to fill. Perhaps your CEO has just done the perp walk on national TV. Perhaps the person to whom the role reports is nicknamed Chainsaw or Neutron or Queen of Mean. Perhaps your last quarter was dismal. We are used to filling hard-to-fill positions, but again, information is helpful. If I know that I'm swimming upstream, I can be prepared to address the concerns a savvy candidate will have. There are candidates out there who love a challenge as long as they know everyone is being upfront.

4) Be open-minded. Rarely do candidates have the exact experience called for in a job spec (and if they do, they are often wanting more money that you are prepared to offer.) While we do our best to find candidates who are as close to your wish list as possible, it's really good to have a clear sense of what qualifications the candidate needs to have and what they'd ideally have. Unless there are regulatory requirements calling for someone to have a particular educational or professional background, this is often an area where flexibility can be shown. Instead of outlining the number of years experience you require, it can be helpful to focus on what kind of experiences you need them to have (if you are growing your team, you might want someone with proven mentoring experience; if you are experiencing pressure to cut costs, you may want someone who has had to downsize their group.) The more specific you can be about the needs of the role, the more flexibility you can show on the wants. With a wider pool of candidates, you are much more likely to find someone who can do the job and fits  your corporate culture, making for a successful long-term hire.

Happy hunting!

Five reasons why the headhunter did not put your name forward to the client

Job seekers. As recruiters, we want to like you. We really do.

At 3am, when I come across your twitter feed, or resume on LinkedIn, or your name on a list of potential candidates which came from a hard day of networking, I really, really want to like you.

You see, I already know that - on paper - you have many of the skills that our clients need. Our clients have often put part of their business plans on hold, waiting to hire someone just like you. And our clients are eager for us to talk to you. Boy, are they. They call us weekly, or daily, or even hourly sometimes, asking if we have found their perfect candidate. Even though we have explained that the recruiting process takes time, they give us gentle encouragement to find you.

Image courtesy of stockimages /via/ 

So, please know that when we finally track you down and talk to you, we are predisposed to want to like you. And we are looking for your best qualities. That being said, sometimes, even though a candidate looks perfect on paper and even though our client is really eager to see resumes, we cannot put them forward to our client. Here are the top five reasons I will not put your name forward for a particular job.

1) You don't have the skills. Yes, it's great that your dog obeys your command to sit. Trust me, that's nothing to sneeze at. But if that's the only management experience you have, and our client needs you to step in and manage a group of 300 employees right away, I cannot put your name forward. We love that you have a great attitude and are willing to learn but we are hired to find someone who can walk in and do the job on day 1. If you feel that you are not moving forward in your career because you lack a certain skill set, acquire it. If you lack management breadth at work, perhaps you can join a Board of Directors for a charity you support. If you do not know a certain piece of software, take a course.

2) You don't have the right experience. You might wonder why job specs ask for 3-5 years experience or 5-10 years experience. If you've been giving a job the old college try for six months, surely you know everything there is to know about that position, right? Wrong. While there is nothing magic about the number of years (only a fool would reject someone for a 5 year manager position on the basis that they'd only worked 4 years and 364 days) when you have worked in a role for a number of years, you tend to have encountered a wider range of situations. A five year sales manager has probably lost an account and has learned from that. She has probably had to fire an employee and has learned from that. She has probably helped her team land a few major accounts - and knows how it's done. A ten year manager has probably experienced an economic upswing and downturn and knows whether or not he can stomach that ride. He may have had to handle morale after a downsizing. He's probably had to staff up a new team. This is why we ask for a certain number of years of experience. It may seem arbitrary but it's not.

3) You cannot translate your experience to our clients' needs. Right now we am looking to hire 2 environmental designers, a digital account director, an SVP of sales, a product developer, some recruiters, a sales operations director, a director of communication and marketing, a brand strategist, a BD manager, and a creative director. Believe it or not, we have not personally held all of those jobs. This means that with most positions we are looking to fill, we have to learn about each job and what makes for a successful hire. By the end of the search, we sound like veterans of that industry and could probably step into the role in a pinch, but if you are the first call we make, we're still in a learning curve. If you speak in industry buzzwords and jargon, we have a hard time figuring out if you actually have the skills and experience required to do the job. The best thing you can do is to ask to see the job spec and then show us how your talents match. This is great practice for interviewing with HR who appreciate your ability to translate your skills to their job specs too.

4) You run down your company. Yes, we're sure your boss is a hybrid between Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. But trust us, we don't need to hear it. All we want to know is that you are interested in hearing about the opportunity. Perhaps you feel under-appreciated, or want a shorter commute or you are simply charmed by the sound of my voice (it happens.) I don't really need to know that. After all, I called you. Our clients want to hire happy, functional employees who will bring their skills and a great attitude to work. If you trash talk your current employer, I'm not sure you won't be trash talking our client one day. Keep it positive.

5) You are rude. If you are rude to me, I can only assume that you are a rude person. And in all of my years in search, I have yet to find a client asking to hire someone rude. Snapping at me, calling me from the bathroom, and dropping the f-bomb are not appropriate (even if you are taking my call via bluetooth while driving.) If you cannot talk when I call, but want to talk later, tell me. I'm happy to call you at home or at another number or to email you the job spec before we talk. You can never show too much kindness or consideration.


Happy hunting!

The Re:Search Process (or why you cannot find the perfect hire in 24 hours)

I wish I had a nickel for every time a brand new client asked me if I could find them an ideal employee by the end of the week: "Can't you just pull someone off LinkedIn?" they ask.

In a word? No.

Believe me, I would love to find you a perfect hire by the end of the week. The faster I find you candidates, the faster I close the search, the faster I get paid, and the better the boat I can buy.

Did I mention I race sailboats in my spare time? Believe me, I like to move fast too!

The reality is, finding an ideal person to work in your company is a little like finding a life partner. Now, I could go online and find you a life partner in the next 30 seconds. 

But I'm guessing you would not like the result.

/image courtesy artur84/

The quality of your employees is essential to the success of your company. Not only do you need them to have the skills to do the job, but you need them to be a good fit for your organization. LinkedIn is a great tool but sadly it lacks the "Find the Perfect Employee" app (believe me, I've looked.)

Finding the right person takes time. On average, finding the best potential employees for your company takes four to six weeks. Good candidates tend to be busy people who enjoy their work. We do active headhunting, discovering who the best players in the industry are and talking to them about why they might be happier contributing their talents to you.

In addition to finding better candidates, the time we take to thoroughly research the market can give you valuable information about what is happening in your industry. The market data we gather gives you an assurance that you are hiring the best possible candidate on the market at the time. Some firms will offer to work with you on a contingency basis, firing resumes your way until you find someone who is good enough to hire. With our approach, we present you with the people we feel are the very best potential employees for you. It's true, you won't see resumes as quickly as your might with some other recruiting firms, but you won't have to spend valuable time meeting unsuitable candidates. And you won't always wonder if there was perhaps someone better out there if only you'd been more thorough. 

Good recruiting takes time and to shorten the process means you short-change yourself. Why just hire, when you can hire the best?