If it was that easy everybody would be doing it. Half of the success of an individual is to mesh with the core of individuals that you work with. In order to get to step 1 you have to do step 1a first. Your success in interviewing well is to know what to say and how and when to say it. Whether you are a recruiter, software engineer or project management, the skill set is transparent through all careers.
 
A seasoned professional with the correct profile is easy to find but trying to find one that has a background and philosophy of a specific organization can be difficult. There are many little things that can lead to ones success or downfall as an interviewee or new hire within an organization, here are a few that if mastered can make a world of a difference.

So you want to get the job!!

You have to:

1) Listen, listen, listen, my teenage daughter gives me the bobble head all the time but I know she has not heard a word that I have said
2) What ever you do, DO NOT talk over someone. This can be extremely annoying (even If you are right and have valid points
3) Just like “measure twice, cut once”; “think twice, say it once”. Be careful of what you say, especially during an interview. You never have another chance at making a first impression (when in doubt be conservative).
4) Sell yourself!!
5) There are many different profiles of people that you will work with: Friends, co-workers, allies, people that do not like you, people that will mentor you. Never go against your intuition, make sure that you have an inner circle of people that you can trust and rely on.
6) “Failing To Plan Is Planning To Fail”
7) Money isn’t everything!! Sure helps but your quality of life outside of work and future career path are far more important
8) Admit when you are wrong and learn to move on
9) Where ever you go there will be people that fear you, are jealous of your success or feel threatened by you. Play the chess game correctly, when you make your move make sure that is not based on an emotional knee jerk response to something.
10) Last but not least, everyone has for a lack of better term “baggage” that they carry outside of work. Learn how to flip the switch between a work and home.

-The Warrior

Leia Mais…

There are many life lessons that sports have taught me over the years; how to win, how to lose, how to work within a group and most importantly, how to compete. Nobody goes into a situation or a game without preparing, scouting, doing their homework, and understanding all the players involved. This approach and attitude in the sports world also carries over to the corporate recruiting environment.
The time has come for a high-level consulting role that not only requires traditional recruiting know-how but also a tremendous amount of soft skills and polish. For instance, if I’m preparing to work on a deal I have a checklist:

1) Do my research: know the background of the company and other players involved

2) Know all the required and “nice to have” skill sets they are looking for

3) Understanding the corporate politics, the interview style and approach of every team member that has been put on the list

4) Be clear about the manager’s budget and the point at which his boss starts throwing the heat at him if we do not have a person in place

5) Learn the candidates wants and needs and prepare them for the interview accordingly


At this point, I know that I have done everything in my power to try to close the deal with both parties involved. I have negotiated rates and understand what each candidate’s interest are (money, opportunity, interest). I have prepped each person, giving them the confidence of a superstar so they can put their best foot forward.You see the best candidate does not always win; it is the person that interviews the best.
As you do your final trial run with each candidate, feel good about the process that you have followed. Even if the deal falls through, you’ve gained the confidence and mutual respect of the candidate and the manager because you came in prepared and ready to win.

-The Warrior
“To be a successful coach you should be and look prepared. You must be a man of integrity. Never break your word. Don’t have two sets of standards. Remember you don’t handle players–you handle pets. You deal with players. Stand up for your players. Show them you care–on and off the court. Very important–it’s not ‘how’ or ‘what’ you say but what they absorb.”

—Red Auerbach

Leia Mais…

Respect The Process: Follow me on http://blog.AdeccoUSA.com

Hello All,

I have been on a hatius from my Blog as War Stories Of A Recruiter has been selected to be apart of a recruiting panel of bloggers from my company. I will continue to post on this site, you will also be able to read my articles on http://blog.AdeccoUSA.com

-Todd

I have been fortunate enough within my career to not be personally affected by a layoff, down sizing or restructuring. I started out as a college intern at a small niche recruiting firm and I had absolutely no idea prior to the internship as to what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Thirteen years later, multiple roles and one acquisition, I still stand with the same company that I started with as an intern.
The one thing that I have learned through all my years of experience is that while at times the recruitment process can be frustrating, it ultimately comes down to building good relationships and a solid reputation. If you respect the process and people involved, gain their trust and follow through, then you’ve mastered the art of recruiting.
For instance, I just had to layoff five of my consultants who have worked for me for several years. These were people I had strong connections with and on top of it, they were excellent workers. During that time, there were marriages, births, and more importantly, friendships that developed
As I made my final call to my last contractor, I explained to him how this was just a hiccup in the road and that I would do my best to reach out to my connections and help anyway that I could. He responded by saying, “Hey it’s not your fault, you have been great to work with and I hope we have the opportunity to work together again.
You never know when you may need to tap into an old relationship—respect all parties involved and you’ll only enrich your network.

Follow me on LinkedIN

Leia Mais…

How Are Recruiters Utilizing Social Media?

Hello All,


Bullhorn just announced The 2012 Social Recruiting Report & Infographic, using data from 35,000 Recruiters. Interesting info as companies and candidates push themselves more and more to gain social media presence. The big daddy so far is LinkedIN (no shock their) but there are definitely  other resources that are being utilized. Tools and sites are being developed on a daily basis. See below for the AS IS scenario (SUBJECT TO CHANGE IMMEDIATELY) 

-The Warrior 

Leia Mais…

Defeat In Victory

 I call it the recruiting roller coaster. When they say “children are for the young” they also say “recruiting is for the thrill seekers who understand that even when you have done an outstanding job it could lead to a lot of nothing with a little stress on the side.

So I will briefly take you through my 3 month painful process of finding my purple squirrel, hitting the timing perfectly with the candidate, having the job offered and accepted. This man would not make it to his first day due to a counter offer to stay at his current company.

The goal at this point is to work twice as hard to fill the position because now you have aggravated the manager at put his deliverable's dates in jeopardy. The recruiter spends WAY to much time on try to fill the need when the position has been filled by another recruiter/company. Painful, very painful, you feel self defeated as this is a high level consultant that would bring in a lot of sales.

BUT WAIT!!! The other candidate did not pass his background check!!! As luck would have it (even though it was two weeks ago) you still continued your search on and off in the mere case that the situation would happen. The phone rings, and you are doing the running man in your head (oh yah!!!). Within 24 hours you are able to line up a phone screen that goes unbelievable well. You meticulously prep the candidate on every question they will ask him, coach him on the feedback on the previous candidates sent over. What do you know OFFER on the tale and ACCEPTED all within one business day.

Drawing up the paperwork you smell victory in the air and follow up with the new hired consultant to go over any questions that he might have just to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

EMAIL over the WEEKEND from Mr. Director

Subject: Position is on hold

Todd please hold off as we have decided to push out the role until next quarter.

Ahh recruiting, it’s not for everyone, definitely an emotional roller coaster.

-The Warrior  

Leia Mais…

Understanding The World Recruiters Live In

For all those folks out there that think that we are the unnecessary evil, understand the importance of a good recruiter, networker, and ally within your search for a position or hiring decision.   

 At first we can appear rough around the edges, a little cocky, and only seem to get the specifics at a very high level. Once you get to know the good ones and allow them to get within your inner circle you will soon realize that candidates and hiring managers have a friend for life.

Yes agency recruiters work on commission, yes we are only as good as our last placement, blah, blah, blah…….. All stuff we know, recruiters are not reinventing the wheel when it comes to the hiring process.  We feel frustrated at times, where are my resumes? Where are my resumes? “Where’s my feedback?” “I’ll get back to you ASAP.”  The frustration from the lack of feedback from the hiring manager leads into stressful credibility situations with candidates.

We are hired guns, in the middle of a strategic process that could make or break the group’s goals and deliverables. We are loved at times of victory, fight for a voice when things are slow, and have to be accountable and relentless during the chase and close of the deal (typically an after-hour conversation).

Reputation is everything, filling jobs, letting people go, counseling, checking-in, recruiting pre-approval, having a lifeline to the manager 24/7.

Recruiting is not for everybody, that’s for sure BUT it’s the world that I live in and 

I kinda like it!!!

-The Warrior

Leia Mais…

Avoiding Recruiter Burn Out

One of the hardest things to prevent in this demanding industry is recruiter burnout!!! In a profession with very high turnover, how does a recruiter last? All recruiters good and bad will go through a phase in their career where they are not sure if they want to be a career recruiter.

At times recruiting is looked at as a stepping stone to in ones career path on the agency side. For others it can be a struggle as you at times can pigeon holed into a career path that pay well but limits opportunity for career growth.  Any recruiter who stays in the profession for more than five years will more than likely hit a point in their career where they have to get creative or fizzle out of the recruiting world.

In order to be a good recruiter you have to be motivated by sales, aggressive, and have a competitive drive to be the best. We all know that that can only take you so far!!!

So if this is the career for you make sure you manage your own career and constantly keep up with new technology and networking sites. 

The biggest challenge you will face will be:

1)      Think twice before hitting that send button when writing emails

2)      If it’s not in writing it never happened

3)      Perception and reality are two different things

4)      You can say anything as long as you are smiling

5)      At the end of the day, live, learn and never change or take anyone’s crap

-The Warrior 

Leia Mais…

Are Resumes A Thing of the Past?

Interesting article below, more and more companies are not excepting resumes as applications!! In order to apply for positions within these companies you have to submit your social media profile (blog, LinkedIn, member of networking groups) along with answering two behavioral interviewing questions.


Interesting, could this be a phase or is this the next big thing in the recruiting industry!! Will recruiters be able to adapt to this new style of finding and submitting candidates to managers. It is a creative way to find talented individuals that would might have been discounted in a typical process.


-The Warrior 

No More Résumés, Say Some Firms

By Rachel Emma Silverman | The Wall Street Journal – Wed, Jan 25, 2012 4:52 PM ES

Union Square Ventures recently posted an opening for an investment analyst.
Instead of asking for résumés, the New York venture-capital firm—which has invested in Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and other technology companies—asked applicants to send links representing their "Web presence," such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog. Applicants also had to submit short videos demonstrating their interest in the position.

Union Square says its process nets better-quality candidates —especially for a venture-capital operation that invests heavily in the Internet and social-media—and the firm plans to use it going forward to fill analyst positions and other jobs.

Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.

[More from WSJ.com: Your Résumé vs. Oblivion]

A résumé doesn't provide much depth about a candidate, says Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company's website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, and links to social-media sites Delicious and Dopplr, which showed places where she had traveled.

StickerGiant's John Fischer, right, and interviewee Adam Thackeray shoot a video Monday.
"We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think," she says.

John Fischer, founder and owner of StickerGiant.com, a Hygiene, Colo., company that makes bumper and marketing stickers, says a résumé isn't the best way to determine whether a potential employee will be a good social fit for the company. Instead, his firm uses an online survey to help screen applicants.

Questions are tailored to the position. A current opening for an Adobe Illustrator expert asks applicants about their skills, but also asks questions such as "What is your ideal dream job?" and "What is the best job you've ever had?" Applicants have the option to attach a résumé, but it isn't required. Mr. Fischer says he started using online questionnaires several years ago, after receiving too many résumés from candidates who had no qualifications or interest. Having applicants fill out surveys is a "self-filter," he says.

[More from WSJ.com: Meet the Marriage Killer]

A previous posting for an Internet marketing position had applicants rate their marketing and social-media skills on a scale of one to 10 and select from a list of words how friends or co-workers would describe them. Options included: high energy, type-A, laid back, perfect, creative or fun.

In times of high unemployment, bypassing résumés can also help companies winnow out candidates from a broader labor pool.

IGN Entertainment Inc., a gaming and media firm, launched a program dubbed Code Foo, in which it taught programming skills to passionate gamers with little experience, paying participants while they learned. Instead of asking for résumés, the firm posted a series of challenges on its website aimed at gauging candidates' thought processes. (One challenge: Estimate how many pennies lined side by side would span the Golden Gate Bridge.)

It also asked candidates to submit a video demonstrating their love of gaming and the firm's products.

IGN is a unit of News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal.

Nearly 30 people out of about 100 applicants were picked for the six-week Code Foo program, and six were eventually hired full-time. Several of the hires were nontraditional applicants who didn't attend college or who had thin work experience.

[More from WSJ.com: Christian Louboutin and the Red-Soled Shoe Case]

"If we had just looked at their résumés at the moment we wouldn't have hired them," says Greg Silva, IGN's vice president of people and places. The company does require résumés for its regular job openings.

At most companies, résumés are still the first step of the recruiting process, even at supposedly nontraditional places like Google Inc., which hired about 7,000 people in 2011, after receiving some two million résumés. Google has an army of "hundreds" of recruiters who actually read every one, says Todd Carlisle, the technology firm's director of staffing.

But Dr. Carlisle says he reads résumés in an unusual way: from the bottom up.

[Also see: Four Things That Can Send Your Resume into the Trash]

Candidates' early work experience, hobbies, extracurricular activities or nonprofit involvement—such as painting houses to pay for college or touring with a punk rock band through Europe—often provide insight into how well an applicant would fit into the company culture, Dr. Carlisle says.

Plus, "It's the first sample of work we have of yours," he says.

Leia Mais…

Interview with Carlos Vasquez (Director of Div. Opps)

Carlos brings certain karma and vision to the Adecco E&T organization. His work ethic and determination makes him one of the key leaders in Adecco's operational team.

Leia Mais…

Interview with Jesse Wright (Adecco's Top Recruiting Manager)

Hello All,

I had the pleasure to sit down With Jesse Wright, top recruiting manager for Adecco NA. Check out what Jesse has to say, his knowledge and experience in the industry is bar none.

Leia Mais…

Getting Ready For Day One

Well finally here!! Stay tuned for some 1-1 interviews from Some of the top players in the recruiting industry.

Leia Mais…

On My Journey to My Meeting

Hello all, Interesting start to this road trip but I am excited to Meet with the top execs of my company!! Oh yeah note to self...make Sure to bring back Evelyn a new toy!!!

Leia Mais…

Recruiters Or Career Consultants?

As agency recruiters we have to be polished, ready to go at all times and show value quickly. Being at the top of your game 100% of the time can be difficult especially with all the conflicts and interrupts that you deal with on a daily basis. In order for a recruiter to remain sane and not burn out in the industry you have to constantly be willing to learn new technology and have a sense of humor.

Yes that’s right people, the ability to keep up with technology, partner with an individual, gain their respect and MAKE them laugh. Always see the humor in a situation and of course have some value that helps the candidate out and makes it profitable for all parties involved.

Whether it is a manager asking crazy interview questions, the craziest one that I have heard so far was: “If you were two inches tall and you were in a blender and I was about to press the button, what would you do? Geese!!! How are you suppose to answer that question and is that appropriate?  Or how about the candidate that is in complete denial that thinks he aced the interview. “I definitely got the job, he absolutely loved me!!! I struggle a little bit on one of the questions but it was a minor detail.

We are career consultants, sales people, recruiters, and more importantly professionals. Be careful of what you say, although it could give you instant gratification it will come back to haunt you. Do not try to oversell a job or a candidate. Unfortunately recruiters sometimes have a misunderstanding of a role or the specs can change or the position could go away. Spending 20 minutes on the phone with a candidate telling him that he is the “best thing since sliced bread” for the role might be overkill.

Good recruiters can piece together resumes/requirements, have a strong relationship with the hiring manager, and have the ability to have a transactional/business professional relationship with a candidate. Recruiters are career consultants by trade, but the bottom line is that the good ones “put people to work”, get to know the needs of their clients intimately, keep up with social media/networking, and learn to laugh it up with managers, co-workers and candidates.

-The Warrior  

Leia Mais…

Top 10 Things Not To Do At Your First Regional Company Conference

Hello All,

 This next entry is inspired by my first appearance to a Northeast Regional Meeting that I am attending later next week. I have learned from stories from friends, co-workers and managers that I deal with there are definitely some precautionary measures one should take while entering this political waters.

Top 10 Things Not To Do While Attending Your Companies Regional Conference


• Do not show up late for a meeting claiming that you took BAD cough medicine the night before!!!


• If there is three days of meeting make sure to bring three days of clothes

• When inviting people into the hotel hot tub do not mention “bathing suits optional”

• When going out with Sr. Leadership make sure not to lean back on your chair and fall flat on your behind

• Business casual does not mean jeans and a flannel shirt tied behind your waste

• Don’t jump in the pool off hours and do laps around the pool WITH CLOTHES ON

• At company Karaoke don’t be the guy hogging the mike and being to serious

• When accepting an award do not consider saying “looking at my competition this was a NO BRAINER!"

• If you don’t know who your roommate is DO NOT answer your door NAKED!!

• When all else fails, DENY, DENY, DENY


-The Warrior

Leia Mais…