Tag: Executive Recruiters

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You Can’t Always Get What You Want

You can't always get what you wantThis past year, I experienced three rather unique, but similar search assignments. I found them to be interesting if not a little odd. The employers were established and profitable, but not necessarily on anyone’s radar screen as a highly desirable employer.

 

The searches in question were for a Controller, a Director of Business Development, and for a Payroll Benefits Manager, otherwise known as a Human Capital Manager. In each case, the client advised me that these would be difficult searches. They believed this to be true as they called me after they had failed to recruit these positions with internal resources. One client told me that he doubted that his ideal candidate even existed. As I came to learn, the difficulty of these assignments was due to the experience and attributes required by these. In other words, the candidate requirements were more rigid than I thought necessary. These employers were looking for people to be immediately productive. I get it! This expectation has become commonplace even if less realistic in a low unemployment environment.  Unfortunately, the compensation packages offered were average for the market, but not so attractive to entice one to leave their current employer.

 

As a practice, I begin my assignments by helping my client develop a Position Spec. This document combines the Job Description, desired candidate profile, skill-set required, and public relations. This document helps me sell the opportunity to prospective candidates. It is a useful tool to gain close alignment with the client and better understand their needs. The process of developing the Position Spec serves to validate the importance of each profile attribute and to assign a metric to its priority. It prepares the client's expectation as to the caliber of candidate available for consideration. With this process completed, I can qualify more candidates for my client's consideration. Seldom do I find a candidate that is a perfect match to the search criteria. Intangible factors around personality and chemistry usually hold sway.

 

As measured by the Department of Labor's U-3 metric the employment situation has improved, and most professionals, by now, have found work. In fact, the current unemployment rate for Professionals is about half the total unemployment rate. The current labor market for Professionals is composed of people who lost their jobs due to mergers and acquisitions, or reorganization; and employed folks looking to improve their situation. Most job seekers will find employment after an average amount of time. Baby-Boomers are still struggling, however. The market has shifted so that employers don't have the leverage they had a few years ago. One would expect that, given a tightened labor market, employers would become somewhat more flexible in their hiring standards. In the current job market, management should expect to make hiring decisions that will get them to within 80% or 90% of their requirements. This should be acceptable, so long as the candidate can close the gap through training and experience.

 

In the end, I was successful in two out of three of these assignments. One search was not that difficult as I found plenty a viable candidates, completing the search within my norm. The second search took twice the normal duration to complete. In the third case, the client who did not think his ideal candidate existed, changed his mind and promoted from within. They were not impossible searches, just a little out of the norm.

 

At this time, to get closer to a 100% match to expectations the employer must be prepared for a
longer search; to pay more to attract viable candidates, or to bridge the gap through training.
What does this mean for candidates? I will discuss that issue in the next post.
 

“You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes well you just might find,

You get what you need.” Rolling Stones

 

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.  

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com
Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

 

 

 

 

Current Assignments

1. COO – Atlanta-based Casual Dining Company – New
2. Director of Business Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Complete
3. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company:  Offer extended.
4. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. In Process
5. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company:  New

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Working With Executive Recruiters: Conclusion

 

 It is rare for me to work with candidates who lack experience working with recruiters.  After 18 years in the executive search business, most of my work is with senior executives who know the drill. However, from time to time I am asked to perform a lower level search to help a client.  In those cases, I often work with candidates who lack experience working with an Executive Recruiter.  The vast majority of these folks are interested in learning how the process works and how to work most effectively with me.  Instinctively, they know that I am there to broker the transaction and to help them to the extent that I can.  There are times when the candidate is unable or unwilling to work within the system.  Invariably, those candidates fail to land the job.  In fact, they tarnish their reputations with the client and with me.

 

Without a doubt, the most egregious example of a candidate's bad behavior is going around the recruiter, contacting the client directly, an end run so to speak.  In my Executive Search career, I have had three candidates try to bypass me to ingratiate himself into the mix.  In every case, it ended poorly for the candidate.  My first incident was working on a search for a Corporate Director of Taxation.  One of my candidates was not forthcoming with important background information, so I put him on hold.  I advised him that I could not move him forward in the process until he provided the required information.  This candidate became incensed and actually told me that he would be contacting the client directly.  So, with that information, I gave my client a heads-up.  Predictably the candidate embarrassed himself and was eliminated from consideration.  Actually, the situation further enhanced my relationship with the client as they appreciated my judgment and communication. The second situation was somewhat similar, except for the fact that the candidate did not come close to fitting the client's profile.  Again, the results were predictable.

 

The most recent situation was a little different, but the results were the same.  This candidate was qualified to do the job and was in the queue.   We had several steps yet to complete before I could present him to the client.  I needed to do an in-depth phone interview to understand fully his background and capabilities to be followed by a face to face meeting.  Unfortunately, the process was not moving along fast enough to suit this guy.   He thought I was deliberately blocking him. So, this candidate executes his end run contacting multiple employees, via phone and email including the hiring manager.  I knew that he had a contact inside the company, but it was not a strong enough connection to really help him.  His behavior was viewed as unprofessional and unwarranted.  He disqualified himself as the client decided that he was a poor cultural fit.  If he had worked with me, the outcome might have been different.  He clearly did not appreciate the strength of my relationship with the client.

 

In each case, the candidate failed to understand or appreciate my bond with the client.   When a client hires a recruiter, they do so with great care.  The recruiting and selection process is critical to the client and full of risk.  There is a significant level of trust between the client and the recruiter.  There must be!  The stakes are too great.   The client looks to the recruiter to manage the process in an effective and efficient manner that reflects well on the client's brand.  In support of this goal, before I begin a search I get clear direction from the client as to the job requirements, the experience required, and the skill sets they want to see in a candidate.  We also become aligned as to the client's culture.   I design my searches to ensure that the candidate can do the job, will do the job, and will be a harmonious fit with the client's culture.   It is not in my best interest to eliminate a candidate that meets all of the client's criteria.  Likewise, it is not in my best interest to move an unqualified candidate forward.  My work reflects on my credibility and on-going relationship with the client.

 

If a recruiter contacts you with an opportunity which you decide to pursue, your responsibility is to work within the parameters established by the recruiter.   You may or may not like the recruiter, but the recruiter is driving the bus.  Your job is to be a good passenger and enable him to get to the required destination.   One must understand that circumventing the recruiter is a high-risk proposition that seldom ends well for the candidate.

 

Key Points to Consider:

1.     Nurture relationships with recruiters.

2.     Work with, and through your recruiter.

3.     Understand the relationship between the recruiter and hiring manager.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.  


Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

 

Jim Weber, President

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

 

 

 

 

Current Assignments

 

 

1. Strategic Partner – Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company – Complete
2. Director of Business Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Complete
3. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company:  In Process
4. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. In Process
5. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company:  New

 

 

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Working With Executive Recruiters: Be Prepared For Every Conversation!

Your ability to express yourself in an effective manner is critical to landing a job. In this post, I focus on your communication skills with the Executive Recruiter. [Tweet “As you now understand, the recruiter is the gate-keeper.”] You must do an effective job selling her before you will have an opportunity to sell the hiring manager. So let’s discuss the critical touch points and your responsibility during each.

 

My preference is to make my initial contact via email. It is more productive for me to do so and eliminates the embarrassment of catching someone off guard. In that email I will indicate the basic parameter for the search, I am working and ask the recipient for their interest or referrals. If there is interest, we will schedule a preliminary phone conversation. The preliminary call is my first opportunity to take the measure of the candidate. I want to assess the individual’s ability to communicate their interest, enthusiasm, motivation, and personality. This will be a short conversation so it requires that the candidate (not really a candidate yet) get to the point and resolve the most pertinent and immediate questions. Vague, non-committal responses will eliminate the person from further conversation. If we decide to move to the next step, I will provide more information so the candidate can begin his due-diligence on the opportunity. If he is still interested after his due diligence, we will agree to a more in-depth phone call. At this time, I will become immersed in their background, strengths, and skill-set. This is usually a 60-minute conversation.

 

As I discussed in the my last post, I want to understand my candidate’s complete work history. I like to listen to them tell the story of their career and then ask questions that focus on specific accomplishments that dovetail with my client’s needs. The savvy candidates have given a lot of thought to their career and know how to present their history in an interesting way. This is my second opportunity to evaluate their communication skills for context and language. If an executive has difficulty telling their career story, they will likely have difficulty selling their thoughts and ideas on improving the client’s business. I expect the candidate to talk in complete sentences and to use the appropriate grammar. Communication Skills matter! The questions I ask about specific accomplishments are meant to reveal the candidate’s approach to problem solving and project management. Questions about job changes reveal how the candidates are thinking about career management.

 

I usually allow time, so the candidate to ask a few questions. Often, I do not have the answer if the question is related to broader corporate strategy, but can be helpful with questions related to the specifics of the job. The questions asked by the candidate and the timing of those questions is also revealing.

 

Phone conversations have their limitations. However, the best candidates understand those limitations and overcome them. I have found that some otherwise solid candidates do not perform well on the phone whereas some weaker candidates have a very good telephone presence. Each of these types is outside the norm so generally speaking, good telephone skills follow the better candidates.

 

Key Points to Remember:

1. Understand your recruiter’s validation process.

2. Prepare for each contact point.

3. Ensure that your telephone skills are sharp.

 

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Assignments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Strategic Partner – Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company – Complete
2. Director of Business Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: New
3. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company.
4. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer.
5. Controller – Orlando, FL-based Restaurant Company: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text To Join Our Mailing List:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Send the following text message:  NEWCENTURY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To:  22828