Are Recruiters a Necessary Evil or Necessary at All?

We’re looking for someone with the wisdom of a 50-year old, the experience of a 40-year old, the drive of a 30-year old and the pay scale of a 20-year old.

Randy Glasbergen

The quote above is funny but true. We live in a society where we want everything for nothing and this applies to talent as well. I can’t tell you how many job descriptions I’ve seen with a laundry list of required skills that would make the mind reel. But, the catch is that they only ask for 2 – 3 years experience. Of course this just isn’t possible but it’s fair warning that they’re only going to pay the wage of an entry level position and they’re hoping that you’re desperate enough to accept it.

Recruiters used to be professionals in every sense of the word. Now most of them are no more than order takers (my apologies to the few really good recruiters out there). If they think they can make a quick buck from placing you they’ll hunt you down like a dog but otherwise good luck trying to get a call back or God forbid some professional courtesy. Many have little to no understanding about the jobs they’re recruiting for and when they review resumes they have a list of requirements and they just tick off the boxes. If you’ve used exactly the words they’re looking for on your resume and there are enough ticks, they’ll call you for a phone interview which more often than not is a complete and utter waste of time. Based on the number of ticks on your resume and if they liked you (or not) during the phone interview they will or won’t pass your resume onto the hiring manager. Given the quality of recruiters I’ve seen over the years I’d say that the industry is in desperate need of a major overhaul. The amount of good people that are passed over due to ignorance is staggering. How often have you heard someone comment on the fact that they applied for a job that was a perfect fit and never got a call? And when they reached out to the recruiter they never had a response.

Considering the piss-poor job most recruiters are doing, what do we need them for? A computer can check the resumes against the keywords. And believe me, those phone interviews accomplish nothing. So let’s get rid of recruiters, save a lot of money and let’s start paying the talent what they’re really worth.  

We’re looking for managers that demonstrate high levels of emotional intelligence. Please try on this mood ring.

a.bacall

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Job Hunting’s A Lot Like Online Dating

Sometime I think “Screw this job. I’ll just quit and be a stripper”. Then I remember I’m fat and can’t dance.

The funtab.com

I’ve been self-employed for quite a long time now. At the end of every contract the inevitable job search begins. I’m now in job search mode and it occurred to me that job hunting’s a lot like online dating. A resume (or CV if you prefer the more highbrow approach) is no different than an online dating profile. And it appears that job candidates lie almost as often as online daters.

A recent survey from CareerBuilder of more than 2,500 hiring managers found that 56% have caught job candidates lying on their resumes. This jives with The Society of Human Resource Managers who reported that 53% of the resumes and job applications that they reviewed contained falsifications such as misleading statements, fraudulent degrees, altered employment dates, inflated salary claims, inaccurate job descriptions and falsified references. These lies are not unlike those told by online daters. I once had coffee with a lawyer who on his profile said that he was a golfer. When I asked him where he played, he said that he had taken his son to play mini-golf on one occasion. But, this fine legal mind thought that this one outing to mini-golf was adequate for him to misrepresent himself as a golfer. Breathtaking isn’t it?

The job hunting world is really like the online dating world where people create fantasy personas with fake photos and made up histories. One would think that job hunters would strive for more authenticity, but clearly that doesn’t seem to be the case. My legitimate and truthful resume is being compared to others that are highly inflated or outright lies. In both cases the only thing I have to say to online daters and hiring managers is Caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

Why do you say “entry level” and then require a Masters Degree, 8 – 20 years of experience, every certification known to mankind and the blood of my first born child?

Wann-joke.com

Make someone smile today.

Geri