The “Athlete”

What makes someone an “athlete”?

This question randomly came up in a recent conversation with a friend. When she responded, her answers were purely physical, “Someone strong, someone [muscularly] built”. Her definition of an “athlete” centered around physical capabilities.

Google the word “athlete” and you get a slew of dictionary-term definitions — a person who is trained or skilled in exercise, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina. By this definition, I grew up — and am — an “athlete”. I played competitive water polo, ranked nationally as a swimmer, and continue to push my physical limits.

However, when my friend flipped the question back to me, I found I have completely different take on being an “athlete”. To me, being an athlete is about one’s mindset, not physical capabilities.

Being an athlete is:

• Striving for constant improvement. Kaizen.
• Knowing that there will be days/weeks/months that suck but pushing through it anyway
• Knowing that setbacks are just that
• Taking one step backwards to take two forward
• Showing consistency and perseverance.

If you have ever done any hiring or recruiting, I’d be willing to bet you have been told to “hire the best athlete”. But, what does this mean?

“Hiring the best athlete” does not mean that you should go look for D1 football players, Boston Marathon runners, or the next Serena Williams. The underlying common trait that these world-class athletes possess, after the super-human genetics that bless them, is that they all have that mindset that sets their drive… their driving motivators.

When you’re told to “hire the best athlete”, hire the ones with the intangibles listed above.

… Then tell them to flex so hard that their sleeves fall off. 😉

 

What did I do wrong??

Have you ever:

• Sent an email to a recruiter… and never heard back?
• Applied for a job… and never heard back?
• Interviewed… and never heard back?

Let’s face it, the answer is a resounding “YES” to all of the above.  Don’t be shy.  We have all been there.  Even the best of us have struggled in our job searches.  And that’s ok!  So many times, I get asked “What did I do wrong?”

I can sum it up into one word: PRESENTATION.  This applies to anything and everything involved in an interview process.

Imagine the following scenario.  You email a recruiter, “Hi there, I’m intrested in the sales postion your posted on LinkedIn.  Selling SaaS software is my life, and I can’t wait to here from you!”  What’s wrong with this?  You want me to believe you’re great at what you do if you can’t use spell check?  Your crazy. (See what I did there? :))

Let’s try another scenario. You sent your resume into the “resume black hole”.  Why didn’t you get a call back?  I can go on and on and on about reasons why you didn’t.  But, let me list the most common.  1)  You weren’t a fit for the role.  Did you read the job description?  Do you have the required hard skills?  2) Your resume says another company’s name in the Objective.  “I want to help build NOT-YOUR-COMPANY’S brand to it’s potential.”  Great, good luck with that!  3) No contact information.  Surprised?  Don’t be.  A lot of times, candidates do not provide a good phone number or email address for us to reach them.  If we can’t reach you, how can you be considered for the role?

Ok, one more.  You got the call back!  Congrats!  You interviewed with the team, thought it went well, and… nothing.  I will say that it is NEVER ok for a recruiter/company to not provide you with an update to your candidacy.  But what could have possibly gone wrong?  You thought you had it in the bag!  Again, PRESENTATION.  Did you research the company?  Were you an off-the-wall bundle of energy interviewing at an old-school, play-by-the-rules corporation?  Did you wear jeans and a t-shirt to a super formal workplace?  Perhaps your thoughts were all over the place, or maybe you were a nervous wreck.

The moral of the story is: presentation.  Be diligent with you who present to your potential future employer.  How do you want them to see you?  What kind of person do you want them to view you as?  What is it they will gain by hiring you?

As always… head up, chin down!  Good luck!

Working with Recruiters (Hiring Manager version)

Hiring Managers, this post is for you.

As your recruiter, my job is to help you hire your perfect candidate.  My job is to understand your group’s weaknesses, faults, and areas that you need to improve upon.  My job is to help you fill the gaps and inconsistencies.  My job is to help you.  I have said it a couple of times in previous posts, “help me, help you”.  We work as a partnership.  We need to be friends and each others’ most critical colleague.  

In my career as a Corporate Recruiter, I have come across different Hiring Manager types:

1. The “Helper”.  In my opinion, this is the best type of Hiring Manager to work with.  This is the one who wants to help the Recruiter do their job.  Responding to emails, answering calls, providing feedback, being readily available for interviews… all in a timely manner.
2. The “Do It For Me”.  This is the Hiring Manager who thinks that the perfect hire comes without work.  That they will just appear.  Typical behavior of this Hiring Manager is a “do what you want with the candidate” attitude.  Everything is done … albeit, slowly, and at their availability. 
3. The “Ghost”.  This Hiring Manager is the hardest to work with.  They are the ones who never respond to emails, calls, text messages.  They don’t provide feedback on candidate resumes, interviews, or questions about their open positions.  They are the ones who get angry at you for not filling their position three weeks ago, when you otherwise hadn’t heard a peep from them.  

Each profile has their pros/cons, as with everything in life.  But as YOUR Recruiter, here are some suggestions on how to work with the ones who are trying to hire for you:

1. Be responsive.  All the time, on time.  We work hard for you.  We cold call, research (some call it “career stalk”!) candidates, extensively screen candidates for tough information (ie: salary and compensation structure, reasons for leaving, what they hate about their current position).  We spend a LOT of time trying to find the best candidate for you.  Please respond timely to emails/phone calls.  Your company’s Candidate Experience relies on it also.  
2. Provide feedback.  Did I send you a candidate profile that wasn’t a good fit?  Tell me why.  Was it his personality?  Was he missing a programming language?  Did he not show up to the interview?  Wrong background?  Too tenured, too junior?  The more feedback we get from you, the more refined our search becomes for your perfect hire.
3. Accept interviews.  We understand you are busy doing your “real” job… the one your title suggests.  But, to build out your team, you will need to accept interviews at odd hours (sometimes after 5pm).  If you don’t make time to interview these candidates, how can we get to the point of extending an offer?  Bottlenecks are not good.
4. Be open minded.  No candidate (and I repeat … no candidate) that is 100% what you are looking for.  Be open, and willing, to think outside the box.  You never know who may surprise you, and with what. 
   

As always… chin up, head down!  Work hard, stay humble.

 

Going About Your Job Search

I had drinks with a former colleague of mine last night who, unfortunately, is on the job hunt.  Over the course of two hours, we sat talking about the types of companies that are popping up, the ingenuity (and sometimes, pure chance) of the people creating these companies, the opportunities he’s interested in, the companies he’s interested in, and what he’d love to be doing.

In listening to him talk about how he is going about finding opportunities for himself, it made me realize how many different approaches people take to navigate the job market.  Maybe you are using one of these strategies.  Maybe you aren’t using any of them at all.  Perhaps you could use a fresh set of techniques to assist you in your search.

I’ll outline some of the most common…

Job Boards.  Oh, the tried and true job boards.  There’s something to be said about them.  They’ve existed this long because the strategy works.  There’s a demand and a certain means to find that supply.  Easily searched, easily found.  It is a win-win for both employer and job seeker.

Target Companies.  Who wouldn’t want to work for a sexy “brand name” like Facebook, Google, or Pinterest?  We all know those companies and many want to work for them to have the company name on their resume.  In the same regard, however, there are smaller niche companies that tend to attract certain candidates.  In the same way, those job seekers specifically target opportunities at those companies.

Corporate Recruiters.  As a Corporate Recruiter, I say with certainty, that people search LinkedIn for “Corporate Recruiter” and connect with all of them with a note saying something in the likes of “I’m interested in working for your company. Please contact me so we can chat.”

Agency Recruiters.  An agency recruiter is one that is contracted out to many companies to fill roles.  They usually have a book full of listings they are trying to fill.  While they are acting as these company’s recruiters, they are also building relationships with people like you.  Learning about your likes, dislikes, career history, career progression, and dreams.  I see them as match makers.  If you are in a niche market, find a recruiter that specializes in your trade.

Networking.  How often have you heard the phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”?  There’s a lot of truth that rings behind this statement.  Someone you meet today, could very well be tomorrow’s founder of the next-big-thing.  Your dad’s old high school teammate and now fellow Board Member, is now the CEO of *insert big company name here*.  And your ex-girlfriend?  Well, she’s the lead recruiter for that position you so eagerly have your eye on.

LinkedIn.  LinkedIn is a great way for job seekers to follow companies, find job postings, figure out the people who posted the job posting, and network with people who currently (or formerly) worked there.  Using LinkedIn to network (see above) is also a great use of time for job seekers.  One day, it’ll certainly come in handy.

Social Media.  With the popularity of sites like Facebook and Twitter, finding an opportunity via this medium is becoming a new trend.  There are millions of people and companies that have accounts on these networks and “social recruiting” is a growing trend in the recruiting world.  Find, follow, and interact with those companies/individuals that interest you.

Now, you are probably sitting there thinking “Which technique works the best?”  My honest answer: All of the above.

Happy hunting!

Generation: Technology

When I started recruiting, LinkedIn had just started “taking off”, LinkedIn Recruiter had not yet gained its momentum, Facebook Pages didn’t exist, and neither did #hashtags.  Over the course of my career, I’ve had to adapt to new technology, new applications, new ways of thinking.  What would happen if I didn’t?  I’d fall behind and become irrelevant to my career.

I oftentimes get questions about why people are getting overlooked.  One quick glance at their resume usually provides me with the answer: they haven’t kept up with technology.  By example, if you’re in accounting and still keep the books by pencil and graph paper, your “kind” is becoming extinct. 

Companies want to hire the candidates who are up-to-date on systems and technologies they are currently using. In this day in age, it is an expectation (not a qualification) to: operate a Windows operating system with ease, know how to use MS Office (at very minimum Word and Outlook), know how to operate an office phone system, know how to use a smartphone.  

Technology is always changing.  Industries are ever evolving.  If you don’t keep up, you will be left behind.