Category Archives: The Recruiting Rules

Interview Gal

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I love listening to Jim Rome, Sports Radio and TV Sports Talk show host, and one of his classic bits is to go off and some of the crazy types of personalities we see in our every day lives – Slow Pitch Softball Guy, Travel Baseball Dad Coach Guy, Crazy Soccer Mom, etc.  We see these people go from normal everyday accountant to something we can’t even recognize anymore!   Wait is that Steve from the office?!  No, it’s Slow Pitch Softball Guy – acting like a fool and playing like it’s game 7 of the world series when it’s really just a lazy Wednesday night with a bunch of guys trying to get away from the family for a couple of hours and have a beer and play a game!

I see this in our HR lives as well!  My favorite is “Interview Gal“!  You know her! She’s the lady who comes in to interview for your position – and you realize right away she probably escaped that morning from the mental hospital!

Here’s what Interview Gal likes to say during her interview:

“Why did I leave my last job?  I didn’t feel it was right for my soul.”

“Haa haa haa, snort, haa, snort, ha ha!”

“Um, do you have anything else besides water or coffee?  I really like tea!” 

“Why do I want to work here!? Duh! The money! No, really just kidding – ha ha, snort – I need a position to help me pay my bills.”

“My strengths? I’m strong at a lot, and I’m not really late very much, I mean traffic is crazy around here, but I always try and leave early to get to work on time.”

“Is it hot in here? I’m roasting – must be those hormones!”

“So, I don’t want to bring this up, but if you hire me – I need to leave early every other Tuesday for my group.  And one Monday per month I will take off all together – but that should be it.  Do you let everyone out early on Fridays?”

I would have an “Interview Guy” but those comments would consist of “Yes” and “No” and “You know” and not much else!

I love HR for the simple fact, almost daily, candidates give me great joy and stories to share with my friends and family.  I have a theory that people aren’t necessarily crazy, but the actual exercise of performing an interview makes them crazy!  Kind of like when you bring out your video camera and your kids immediately lose their minds trying to crazy stuff in front of the camera. The same things happens to candidates and we (HR) are the cameras!

 

 

 

 

“Following Your Passion” Is For Suckers

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One of my favorite bloggers is none other than Mark Cuban – yeah the NBA Dallas Mavericks owner – he’s a brilliant writer at Blog Maverick.  Recently he wrote something so good, something I believe in so much – I’m just going to re-run the entire thing because I could not have said it any better myself.  Here’s the post:

Don’t Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort

I hear it all the time from people. “I’m passionate about it.” “I’m not going to quit, It’s my passion”. Or I hear it as advice to students and others “Follow your passion”.

What a bunch of BS.  ”Follow Your Passion” is easily the worst advice you could ever give or get.

Why ? Because everyone is passionate about something. Usually more than 1 thing.  We are born with it. There are always going to be things we love to do. That we dream about doing. That we really really want to do with our lives. Those passions aren’t worth a nickel.

Think about all the things you have been passionate about in your life. Think about all those passions that you considered making a career out of or building a company around.  How many were/are there ? Why did you bounce from one to another ?  Why were you not able to make a career or business out of any of those passions ? Or if you have been able to have some success, what was the key to the success.? Was it the passion or the effort you put in to your job or company ?

If you really want to know where you destiny lies, look at where you apply your time.

Time is the most valuable asset you don’t own. You may or may not realize it yet, but how you use or don’t use your time is going to be the best indication of where your future is going to take you .

Let me make this as clear as possible

1. When you work hard at something you become good at it.

2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.

3. When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it

4. When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.

Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions and to success, however you define it.

It’s probably the worst advice we ever give out as HR Professionals – “Oh, just do what you Love!” or “What are you passionate about? Do That!”, etc.  This is development!  This isn’t helping someone truly get better!   It’s psycho-babble that is sold by an industry that has found out they can make money on you by telling you this crap because you like to hear it – it makes you feel good.  But it’s not reality.

Adult learners – for the most part – are hardwired by the time you get them.  They are very hard to change.  But, if they are good at something, and they even put more time and effort into that thing – they can become “really” good at it – they can become “experts”.  When you become an expert you will be amazed at how passionate you become!

Got’em Right Off The Boat

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Don’t know if you’ve seen this, but a company called Blueseed recently announced their plans to build a ship to house Technical start-up workers off the shore of San Francisco, far enough off shore to in ‘International’ waters.   Makes you trying to get around the Visa issue just a little easier, now doesn’t it!?  What we’ve run out of H1B’s for the year – don’t worry about it – just hire them and put them on the boat!   Gives a whole new meaning to “off-shoring”.

Here’s the explanation from Blueseed:

As a foreign national, to legally earn a paycheck in the United States, you would need a valid U.S. work visa. To live and earn a paycheck aboard the Blueseed vessel, you will only need a passport.

If you are outside of the U.S., you’ll have to enter the U.S. first before boarding the Blueseed vessel. The best way to do this, and to be allowed to legally come to mainland, is to obtain a B1 (business) or B2 (tourist) visa. These visas are easier to obtain because they don’t grant the right to work in the U.S., are usually valid for 10 years (check validity for your country here) and are often combined into a B1/B2 business/pleasure visa. Nationals of 36 industrialized nations are exempted from this requirement for travel periods of up to 90 days, under the Visa Waiver program.

I like it.  I like when someone finds away around the system legally – or so they’ve interpreted it to be legal.  It’s creativity, in business, at it’s best!   We have a problem (not enough technical workers) – we’ve found a solution (building a big barge and anchoring just off the shores of the United States for you to hide house such workers).  It causes everyone to have an instant opinion – you either think it’s legal or that it’s not legal, or you think it’s good for business or bad for business – it’s polarizing.  It’s change.  It’s fun!

I’d like to see some company take it one step further – put a floating work place in International air space!  Sure that would make your work place 12 miles straight up in the air – but can you imagine the base jumps down to the ground!  Talk about an extra benefit for your employees – even your employment brand would rock – “Working Here Is A Thrill A Minute!” or “Jump Into Your Career with Us!” – I mean the ideas are endless. Plus, with my airspace idea you won’t be hampered by just living hear water – you can move that sucker anywhere on Earth!

So, what do you think about Blueseed? Good idea or cheesy-creative attempt to get around U.S. Immigration and Labor Laws?

 

3 Things HR Professionals Should Stop Apologizing For

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Fast Company recently had an article – “3 Things Professional Women Should Stop Apologizing For“, which were:

  1. Their Financial Expectations (I.E., pay us the same!)
  2. Their Physical Appearance (I.E., Sorry we aren’t club ready – I was up with a sick kid all night!)
  3. Their Professional Accomplishments (I.E., Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t brag about what I do great!)

It’s a great article, check it out.  This got me thinking about all things we Apologize for in HR – that we should stop apologizing for – so here’s the Top 3 Things HR Pros should stop apologizing for:

1. You Getting Fired!  Oh, boy this could be #1, #2 and #3!  I can’t tell you how many HR folks I’ve trained over the past 20 years that I’ve specifically said “When you let this person go – Don’t apologize!”  I mean truly, what are you saying! “I’m sorry you are terrible at your job, or made the decision to sexually harass your co-worker – you’re fired!”  When you really think about it – it sounds funny.

2. You Not Getting Promoted.  This is almost the same as apologizing for getting fired.  Instead of apologizing to someone for not getting promoted, how about you give them a great development plan so they can actually get promoted!  Organizations can be big hairy breathing things – sometimes decisions are made and you won’t no the reasons.  HR Pros shouldn’t apologize for you not getting promoted – but they should help you navigate the political and organizational landscape.

3. You not liking your Boss, your Job, your Pay.  Ugh!  We tend to apologize for all these personal ‘happy’ choices a person makes.  The last time I checked, I never forced anyone to take a job, or forced them to accept the pay I was offering them, or forced them to work in the occupation or career they chose.  These are their own personal choices – if you don’t like it – LEAVE!  Go be happy somewhere else.  I hope that you’ll be happy here – but I can’t force you to be happy. I’ll try and give you a solid leader, with good pay and challenging work – but sometimes what I see as solid, good and challenging might not meet your expectations.  That’s when you need to make a happiness decision!

So, what should you apologize for a HR Pro?  I can think of two things that I apologize for on a regular basis: 1) Things I can Control (If I control it, and I screw it up, I need to offer you an apology); 2) Surprises!  (I might not be able to control surprises – but they suck when it comes to business and your livelihood – I apologize for surprises because in HR it’s my job to make sure those don’t happen to you as an employee).

Video Interviewing for Cavemen

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When I start to think about adding something like Live Video Interviewing or Video Screening to my HR/Recruiting Toolbox – I instantly go to about 100 reasons why we can’t do that in our environment!

It’s too Technical!

It will take too much time!

It will cost too much!

I’m not smart enough to make this happen – and I don’t want to look like an idiot in my organization!

The Kris Dunn and I are two 40ish white guys – who normally struggle changing the clocks on our VCR DVD players – so we get it – we get your feelings – this HR technical stuff, is well, at times, just too technical!

So, we decided to do something about this for our fellow HR/Talent Pros – we’re doing a free, live webinar on the 5 Ways to Use Video to Raise your HR  & Recruiting Game.  Our intent is to break this down so even your Mom and her iPhone can show you how to add video into your HR Shop – whether you have a 1 person HR shop or a 100 person HR shop – we’ve got some ideas for you.  If you haven’t used any video let in your HR Shop – this is a must see Webinar – it will blow your hiring managers away and help you fill reqs so much faster – and the value proposition is ridiculously cheap!

Kris and I have gotten to play around with this and through trial and error, and a few IT folks yelling at us, I think we have some simple ideas that can help you begin.  Plus, for all those who register for the Webinar – we’ll provide you with a Tool Kit to help give you some step-by-step instructions to get started – again For Free. Why do we do this for Free?  I would ask myself – well we don’t!  We have a sponsor – HireVue – who pays the technology bill to allow us to provide it for Free!  Win-Win for you.

Sign Up Today – unfortunately we have a “Technology” limit of how many people we can accept and our last Webinar filled up very quickly!  (isn’t that such a cheesy sales line!)

 

Just Make It Better

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If your sitting in your HR office right now reading this, about to create some new HR stuff – stop – your wasting our time (and by “our” I mean all of us employees in the organization).  “Wow – look who woke up on the wrong side of the week!”

It’s not that I don’t think being creative is important – it’s Hugely important.  Being creative in HR just isn’t important.   I know you think it is – that’s because you want to be creative – so you make yourself believe that’s important.  But the reality is – anything you can do – I can do better.  No, not because I’m better than you – I mean I probably am – but that isn’t the point.  I can do it better because – all I’m going to do is take what you’ve already done – and make it better.

In fact I’ll do a few more things while working on improving your thing:

1. I’ll make it cheaper

2. I’ll make it more simple to use

3. I’ll make it fun to do

See – stop being creative – and just start making things better.

From an article in Fast Company:

The line between becoming a pioneer and a “me-too” flop can be unclear when you’re in the weeds of development. Uncertainty is an easier destination to arrive at than confidence, especially when the truth is, there’s no such thing as making anything that’s really new. Everything is an evolution of something else. But you can make something better. When in doubt, ask yourself if you’d use your new product instead of the market leader’s. If the answer is yes, keep going. If it’s no, then stop and rethink.

This obviously talks about products – but services and what we offer in HR are very similar.  Is what you’re doing in HR better than what your competition is doing in HR?  If yes, carry on. If no, make it better.  It isn’t hard – it will take some hard work – but it’s not mentally challenging.  When I see people unwilling to make their HR Shops better – I know one of two things are at play: 1. They’ve given up on the organization, and they need to go, or 2. They are fundamentally lazy, and need to go.  It’s a painful truth most leaders just don’t want to realize.

Just make it better.

Nothin’ Human About These Resources

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********GUEST POST ALERT***********

The post is brought to you by John Whitaker from People Results. John calls himself the Texas “Me” – which I’m not sure I would ever admit to, but at least he has enough sales sense to flatter me for a guest post – plus I like his writing style!  Check him out – he’s good people.

Occupational hazards come in all forms … Cops get shot, waiters get stiffed and dentists smell breath that would gag a dog. In human resources, the hazard is learning to hate people. Ironic, yes?

HR Senior Execs are toadies to the “real” leaders of the organization … Generalists are often witness to the most base of human behavior. Specialists in compensation or benefits are collecting hollow-points in the chamber, waiting for one more person to complain about their pay, their coverage, their co-pay, or their 401K compared to what “other” companies offer.

All HR people bear witness to the double standards and favoritism that somehow benefit the worst people. Seriously, do you know how annoying and despicable we are as a species?

Yup, by and large HR folks are a pretty acrimonious bunch. None of these, however, hold a candle to the most jaded of all HR professionals … the Internal Recruiter [Generalus nofriender].

Experience in staffing is invaluable as you move up the HR food chain, but I suggest you begin to encounter diminishing returns after Year Two. Why is this?

Think about it from the perspective of the recruiter:

      •  Volume – after you’ve looked at 10,000 resumes, had phone interviews with 1,000 job seekers and had your head ripped off by 100 hiring managers, you cultivate a certain level of pure exasperation for idiots.
      • Too much inside knowledge – You know what really ticks off the average recruiter? Getting exposure to the offers that other people get when they walk in the door. Even worse, seeing the ridiculous “add-on’s” that candidates (or current employees) demand before assuming a new role – especially when they get the stupid requests.
      • Second-fiddle syndrome – During the initial interview & selection process, the recruiter is the critical person for a candidate. BFF, sounding board, coach, advisor ~ then they get hired and pfffffft. Count on it, once they get the job, the recruiter is a toot in the breeze.
      • The bad hire – If a newbie flames out, it’s the recruiter’s fault. If the newbie goes on to be CEO, nobody cares or remembers who brought them into the company.
      • “Real” HR – Even within their own kind, Recruiters are the whipping post. They don’t do “real” HR work and the internet has reduced a lot of their job to a screen & sort position. Whenever the topic of outsourcing comes up, you can be sure that Staffing is in the crosshairs as a first cut.
      • Career vacuum – Stick around too long in the recruiter role & you’ll be given the career kiss of death, the dreaded “Senior Recruiter” title. You now have zero transferable skills internally and you’ve priced yourself too high for an HR “rotation” assignment. Either suck it up or get your own resume ready, ‘cuz your fate is sealed.

A decidedly grim view, I know, but I speak the truth because I care.

So, what do you do about it?

Top three things to do immediately and often:

1. Make it known that your five-year plan does not include being a phone-jockey for job applicants.

2. Gain the gracious support of your internal clients:

        a. Offer perspective and insight they don’t normally get from their recruiter.

        b. Challenge them on the ranking and selection of candidates.

        c. Remind them of the cost-avoidance (a great ROI in theory, but they may not give a rip) you offer them by providing a service an external recruiter would charge  thousands of dollars to do.

3.  Push those in charge to let you “shadow” or participate in any number of different functions.

 And for Pete’s sake, do it before you get promoted to Senior Recruiter.

Recession Fallout in HR

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I have a feeling I’m about to preach to the choir.  I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with hiring manager lately – that just don’t get it! (I hear you saying “What do you mean “lately” – did hiring manager “ever” get it!)   The Recession has made our job very hard – Today – especially if you are currently trying to hire anyone with technical skills (engineers, designers, IT professionals, Scientist, etc.).   During the Recession we had candidates coming out of our ears!  Today, it seems like, almost overnight, technical jobs across the country have turned on like a fire hose!  Everywhere companies are trying to find technical talent – in all industries – all at the same time.   Remember that baby boomer Tsunami of retirement we were suppose to see?  This feels like the first waves are hitting the shore in terms of technical hiring!

I’ve spoken to engineering schools that 100% graduation hires, plus companies now paying for engineering seniors, senior year of tuition!   I’ve spoken to companies that have had to double their payroll projections – mid-budget year, just to have enough money to hire the same amount of projected hires at the beginning of the year.  In HR and Recruiting we get this – the market moves, sometimes very quickly, and organizations have to be prepared to adjust and move with it – or risk causing some very bad outcomes to our operations.  But, do our hiring managers get this?

I’m hear to say – not enough have gotten the message!

Over the past few months, it seems like we are having daily “conversations” with hiring managers who are still wanting to see the same 20 candidates they saw during the recession, and turning down candidates for minor things like “he seemed a little shy”, “she was from Tech and I like State grads”, “he’s had 2 jobs in the past 10 years!”   I’ve had hiring managers have interviews, come back and say they like both candidates really well, but would like to see some more – when there aren’t any more!   It all sounds familiar doesn’t it!  The Recession did this to them!  It made the greedy – it made them ultra picky – it made them believe there is a never ending pool of great candidates who only want to come work at your company.   Ugh! I hate the Recession!

So what?

In HR/Recruiting this is where we become marketers – we start selling – and what we are selling is an idea.  An idea that the world is different, they sky is falling and there’s only one person left to hire.  That person – is the stupid candidate I just put in front of your face!!! (wouldn’t that be great if we could say that!?)  Look, I understand you and your hiring managers “only want to hire the best talent” – BTW – so does everyone else.  But times are changing – if you want to hire the best – you better be paying the best – or at least offering the best value proposition as compared to your competitors.  Lines of candidates are out their just waiting for calls any longer.  It’s simple addition – more technical job openings than candidates + baby boomers now beginning to feel like they can retire = our job just got a lot tougher!

 

5 Things That Demonstrate You’re Not Getting Paid Enough

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I was reading an article recently, it was one of those “Best Places To Work” type of articles.  Since I run a company, I’m always looking out for good ideas on how to take care of your employees without spending a dime – unfortunately – “Best Places” companies that make these lists usually don’t give you these type 0f ideas!   What you get from “Best Places” articles are all the over the top crap – gourmet cat food for your in cube pet-mate, free liposuction for your spouse and discounted tattoo eyeliner coupons.  I would love for my company to be on the top of every single “Best Places” to work article – but we probably won’t.  I care too much about my employees to make that happen.

What?!?

Yes, you read that right – My greatest weakness is I care too much!

It costs an organization a ton of money to make a “Best Places” list – not in actually applying to make the list (oh yeah, they are chosen randomly – you have to apply – the Top 100 Greatest Places to Work isn’t really the Top 100 Greatest Places to Work – it was the Top of the companies that applied for the award Greatest Places to Work), but in doing all the silly crap they do, so they sound like a great place to work.  Many of the best places to work, will never be on a list, because they are spending their time, money and effort – on their employees!

Here are some things that “Best Places to Work” companies and You Not Getting Paid Enough have in common”

1. If you’re company has unlimited gourmet free breakfast, lunch and dinner provided – you’re not getting paid enough.  Cut that crap out and pay me $10K more per year – I’ll bring in my own Greek Yogurt and granola.

2. If your company pays to have your laundry done and your house clean – you’re not getting paid enough.

3. If your company is taking you on luxury vacations and dinners that cost more than your monthly home mortgage – you’re not getting paid enough.

4. If your company spend more on marketing themselves as a great place to work, than on your employee development – you’re not getting paid enough.

5. If your CEO flies to work on a daily or weekly basis – you’re not getting paid enough.

So, how do I show my employees that I care and that we have a great place to work?  I don’t waste money on things that ultimately become a negative when I need to take them away because we aren’t making the money for our shareholders.  All great places to work, eventually become average or crappy places to work – because sustaining luxury programs that you put in place when your doing well – become negatives to engagement when you tighten your boot straps.

Pay your people fairly. Meet their needs as adults. Treat them professionally and with respect.  That’s a great place to work.

Recruiting is Worthless

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Paul DeBettignies recently had an article over at ERE – Where Have All the Recruiters Gone – which gave me the idea for this post.  In Paul’s post he wonders why recruiters are networking face-to-face anymore. I think many of us in the recruiting field who have been in the field pre-internet, probably wonder this and many more things as we look at how the industry has totally transformed over the past 20 years.  A person today can get into recruiting, sit at a desk, have great internet skills, marginal phone skills and make a decent living.  They probably won’t be a great recruiter – they probably won’t make great money – but they’ll survive – they’ll be average or slightly above.  It’s why the recruiting function in most organizations gets a bad rap!  In corporate circles I’ve heard it called “worthless” many times – and for some this is their reality.

Recruiting is Worthless, if…

…you’re a hiring manager and you never have face-to-face conversations with your recruiter when you have an opening, and when you don’t have an opening.

…you’re recruiters believe it isn’t there job to find talent, talent will find them.

…your organization believes it’s the recruiting departments job to find talent.  It’s not, it’s the hiring managers job to ensure they have the talent they need for their department, recruiting is the tool that will help them.  This “ownership responsibility” is very important for organizational success in ensuring you have the talent you need.

…your recruiting department acts like they are HR – they aren’t – they are sales and marketing.  Too many Recruiters, in corporate settings, don’t want to recruit, they want to be HR – which makes them worthless as recruiters.

…if your recruiters have more incoming calls then outgoing calls.

…if your recruiters believe their job begins Monday thru Friday at 8am and ends at 5pm. The best talent is working during those times and most likely won’t talk to you while they are at work.  That’s not a slam on you or your company – they are great employees, it’s what we expect from a great employee.

…your senior leadership team feels they have to use an “executive search” company to fill their higher level openings, because our recruiting department “can’t handle it”.

…if they are victims – “it’s not my job”, “we can’t do that because…”, “marketing won’t allow us to do…”, “our policy won’t allow us…” etc.

…if they just send hiring managers resumes of candidates that have come to them, without first determining if the person is a fit for the organization and a fit for the hiring managers position – before sending them on.

…they haven’t developed the organizational influence enough to change a hiring managers, hiring decision.

Recruiting is worthless if in the end they have failed to show the value of their service back to the organization.

Recruiting is the one department in the organization, besides sales, that truly has the ability to show ROI back to the organization, yet so few of us take advantage of the opportunity we have!  There is nothing more important, and have a bigger competitive advantage, than our organizations talent – and oh by the way – THAT IS US! We control that.  Recruiting isn’t worthless, unless you make it worthless.