Bearing Fruit Consulting

Recruiting Is Not For You...Or Is It?

Recruiting is a great profession.  I would say it is a calling.  I say this because YOU rarely find recruiting.  Most often it is RECRUITING that finds you. 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?  Me, I wanted to President of the United States.  Good thing for all of us that didn't happen.  I can promise you this; you probably didn't want to be a recruiter when you grew up. 

Little kids don't grow up wanting to be recruiters.  They don't call their friends and invite them over for a nice game of "Headhunter", "Sourcing" or "Let's Hire Someone Today". 

This is a calling that seeks YOU out. 

It is not for the faint of heart and it's not a place to tread water until something better comes along.  It is also not a place to start your "HR Career", though sadly many do just that.  Many companies throw gas on this misinformation fire by making recruiting the entry level position to human resources when exactly the opposite should be true.  HR roles should be the entry level roles to recruiting. 

So many start recruiting and try it and so many fail to succeed.  It is the Ironman Triathlon of careers. 

Recruiting provides unsurpassed and unlimited opportunity for anyone who is prepared to commit themselves.  This is especially true in third party recruiting. 

In this "opportunity" lies the great trapping of recruiting.  It lures in the uncommitted with promises of large fee's, excitement and adventure; the thrill of the hunt. 

It teases you into "giving it a try".   "I love to work with people so I decided to be a recruiter" are words like nails on a chalkboard to seasoned recruiters. 

Those drawn to this craft without a firm grasp of real commitment, without knowledge of the ups and downs, close their eyes and visualize success as though it has already happened.   

But guess what?  Your degree doesn't matter.  Your profession doesn't matter.  Your title doesn't matter.  Your specific industry or position specific expertise doesn't matter.  Who you know doesn't matter.  What you have read doesn't matter.  Your qualifications and test scores don't matter.  Your resume doesn't matter.  How much money you have made doesn't matter.  None of these will be of help to you in the recruiting world.

What matters is you - how committed are you?  How hard will you work?  Will you focus on recruiting activity development (being RAD as I call it) or just focus on activity?

Only YOU can help YOU.  It is YOU. 

This is what levels the playing field.  This is what separates those that DO and those that DON'T; those that win and those that lose in recruiting. 

It all comes down to YOU. 

How hard are YOU willing to work?  How often will YOU pick yourself help when you fall or make a mistake?  How much perseverance do YOU have?  How thick is YOUR skin?  How willing are YOU to learn and try new things?  How much time will YOU invest in being RAD?  How do YOU value meaningful relationships?   How many times will YOU pick up the phone to build those relationships?  This  list goes on for a while as you can well imagine.

Because it is about you, the individual, so many fail.  So many come here and leave; so many have recruiting on their resume with a date in the past.  They come, they fight and they fail.  They fail because there are no excuses to be made when it is you.  You can't pass the buck, there is no one left to blame, entitlement is out the window and old man accountability is in your face.  You don't eat, pay bills or live unless you perform. 

Do you love it or do you fear it? 

Maybe a little of both? 

It should be a little of both if you are honest with yourself. 

It is YOU!

Lipstick On Pig Over At Carnival of HR

Just wanted to point everyone over to the latest Carnival of HR hosted by Inflexion Advisors.  The Lipstick On A Pig post defining the key differences between Talent Acquisition and Recruiting is included in the carnival.

Some others I like and you should read (taken right from The Carnival):

• For smaller (and less politically correct) bacon, Chris Ferdinandi of Renegade HR instructs you to, “Use your employees as guinea pigs“. Please note that no animals were actually harmed during the application of the Guinea Pig Method.
• Laurie Ruettimann of Punk Rock HR follows a shoulder-tapping bar encounter with, “Social Media, Recruiting & Millennials“. This reminds me of our young tightrope walkers who constantly updated their Facebook status (may they rest in peace).
• Michael Haberman of Omega HR Solutions asks, “Want to Learn How to Sell HR to Your CEO?” Boy do I! The last thing sold to my CEO came with it’s own Wolf Boy.

Go there and read up...there are a bunch of other really smart and interesting posts but these were the few I wanted to highlight. 

Make it a great day! 

American Hero Darrell "Shifty" Powers Dies - Featured in Band of Brothers

Every once in a while I am jolted by the price of liberty and freedom.  Being a student of the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg I am reminded each time I walk that battlefield how blessed I am to be free.  I am also bluntly reminded that my freedom came at a huge expense and that the men who fought and died on that battlefield, both North and South, did more to secure my freedom and liberty than I can imagine.

Watching Band of Brothers, the HBO film that shared the story of Easy Company - 101st Airborne during WWII, was just such a jolt to my senses.  These men did things we can not even imagine and stared down death, evil and horror to win our freedom.  They fought and died for each other moment to moment but they fought  and died for freedom and liberty always.  

I learned today that Darrell "Shifty" Powers, the best shot in the company according to his brothers in arms, died on June 17, 2009 of natural causes.  He was a major focus of the film and he, along with the rest of Easy Company, fought in just about every major battle of WWII.  They were called upon when the task was most difficult and each time these men, part of the greatest generation, rose valiantly to the call to arms and did their duty. 

I was touched by Band of Brothers and I am grateful to Mr. Powers and the other members of Easy Company for what they did for me.  For all of us. 

Please take a moment out of your day to remember "Shifty" Powers.

"We few. We happy few.  We Band of Brothers. For those who shed their blood with us today shall always be our Brothers." 

He's Back - Jeff Hunter and Talentism

One of the real thinkers and minds in the recruiting space appears to be back at his blog Talentism.  Jeff Hunter is really one of the greats in the recruiting and talent game and if you aren't already back on his bandwagon and all over his feed you need to be. 

One of my favorite blog posts of all time is a Jeff Hunter classic called Recruiting BS - And How To Get Rid Of It.  Jeff and I agree on many different topics related to talent, acquisition of talent and management of talent so I guess that is why I like him so much.

Read him!  Follow him!  Soak it up!

A Really Goode Job - Great Recruiting In Wine Country

I love it when you can combine several of your passions simultaneously.  This is one of those times when I get to combine my love of recruiting and my passion for wine. 

On several occasions in my recruiting life as a recruiter, recruiting leader and now consultant I have recommended the contest or competition recruiting strategy.  Essentially the idea is to have a wide open contest or competition to determine the best candidate for a particular job.  Sort of an Apprentice (though I can't stand Donald Trump) meets Survivor meets Amazing Race.  This works really well when trying to hire sales professionals or sales leaders but really it can work for ANY job.  There is no substitute for real world measurable results when evaluating talent for a position.  

The folks over at Murphy Goode Winery in Sonoma County clearly get it and are doing  just that.  Honestly this is recruiting brilliance! 

They are having a contest where they are offering "A Really Goode Job" to the winner.  They are looking for a social media whiz to tell the story of Murphy-Goode, their winesand the lifestyle of Sonoma County Wine Country. 

I have never tasted any Murphy-Goode wines so I can't speak to the quality of the product but I am thinking I need to give them a go soon.  Heck, maybe the "Goode" people at Murphy-Goode will send me some bottles to try out and review - are you listening Murphy-Goode?  Shameless I know, but wine is involved so it can't hurt to ask. 

Sorry to have gone off on that tangent.  So Murphy-Goode is asking interested prospects to submit a video that is a maximum 60 seconds in length.  You are limited only by your creativity and normal boundaries of decency so it really is a competition to find the person who can get it done for the winery.  They will then narrow down the competitive field of candidates to 50.  It seems they will be making that announcement 4 days from this writing. After that they will have an interview and selection process.

The official corporate type title is "Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent" but after looking at what the role entails and the culture of Murphy-Goode the title is far too stuffy to be reflective of the role and the winery.  This is a really awesome gig for anyone who knows how to use web 2.0, social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc.) and loves wine.  You can read the overview and more information here (including the FAQ'S) but here are some of the "Goodes" (get it, Goodes? - Ha!) taken directly from the website: 

Let's Be Direct About Direct Sourcing

Over the last two days I connected with 6 long time friends and former colleagues in corporate recruiting.  A few of them have been clients and a few others are professionals in the corporate recruiting space that I routinely chat with about various issues, challenges, strategies and tactics.  Pretty much these are open discussion sessions where I learn a ton from each of them and I like to think they learn a little from me as well. 

Often these conversations turn to various topics related to recruiting metrics and how an organization evaluates the success, results and impact of recruiting.  I really need to do a series of posts on that.  Anyway, one topic related to metrics that came up continually is how Source Of Hire (SOH) is tracked and what constitutes Direct Sourcing. 

To define it in simple terms, Direct Sourcing is using third party recruiting tactics internally within a corporate environment.  Essentially it is going after candidates who have not applied or might not apply to your company unless contacted and compelled by a relevent opportunity via phone, email (though I think email is bad form when contacting passive candidates) and other forms of communication by a recruiter in your organization. 

In many cases these 6 companies included contacting prospects whose resumes were found in various job board and niche board databases to which these companies subscribe.  I completely reject the notion that this is Direct Sourcing. 

The Year The Media Died - Or Was Killed

Great video on the death of mainstream media and advertising.  Without question this lament would apply to the death of traditional recruitment advertising and methods.  Don't you agree?

Collaborate By Wigging Out - Wiggio

Who loves working in groups and on group projects?

Yeah, not so much!

Who really loves working on a group project when YOU are the group doing all the work while your friends are all hanging out at Ray's Place drinking beer? 

Ok, yes, 16 years later and I am still a little bitter about doing all the work on my Politics and Mass Media project by MYSELF. 

I digress...sorry!

If you are looking for a really cool new tool to help organize group projects, schedule meetings, review and edit documents, effectively communicate and get your friends back to the work table after 3 pitchers at Ray's (not really but wouldn't that be cool?) then Wiggio is for you.  As I see it this web application will work for all sorts of organizations of any size in any industry.  In my humble opinion this is a really cool and effective tool. 

What makes this even better is that they have a very simple and straightforward video that explains it all.  I love this video because it uses claymation which takes me instantly to my childhood.  Good stuff!

Michael Specht On The Value of Social Media in Recruiting

In case you have managed to avoid and miss the great debate brewing in recruiter wonderland Michael Specht offers a fairly quick, lucid and common sense entry into the discussion.  Michael is from Australia which, by way of making one of my favorite wines (Penfolds Grange), makes him totally alright in my book

I digress. 

Here are the basics.

Peter Weddle, someone I respect tremendously in this business, said that the proliferation of social media as a recruiting tool is nothing but a SCAM.  This sent some of the social media recruiting advocates into a bit of a defensive mode (and in my humble opinion they make some excellent points).

Go read all of this to get the context but I really appreciate how strong Michael Specht's thoughts were on this raging debate.  Here is the money quote from Michael:

I have said it before and will continue to say it social media does have a place within your recruiting strategy but it is NOT a recruitment strategy on its own! The key is to understand where the talent hangs out online and then develop a strategy to engage with them on their terms.

The Sklar Brothers on Recruiting Calls...err...Telemarketers

Yesterday I revealed some of the results from the prospect and candidate survey data we have collected over the last 3 1/2 years.  The focus in that post was on what prospects and candidates really think about recruiting calls.  I had several direct emails and calls asking for more details and I have set up some follow up calls with those individuals to discuss the findings in greater depth.  There is another post coming on what professionals say about their experiences once they are engaged with a recruiter and then at least one summary post. 

One email I received yesterday mentioned a funny video by The Sklar brothers on telemarketing and thought I might get a kick out of it since many of our survey respondents felt like they were getting telemarketing calls from so many recruiters. 

I watched it and thought it was pretty funny so I am sharing it with you.  Enjoy...but realize they could just as easily be talking about recruiters making their calls.

Jokes.com
The Sklar Brothers - Telemarketers
dians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games