By
Scott Spradley
.
How did your coworker achieve that $15,000.00
raise, get a sign-on bonus, and have his relocation paid for and
get the promotion? Believe it or not, people make career moves
that are similar to this everyday. But How?
Head hunters, recruiters, career consultants are responsible
for some of the most confidential, critical, and lucrative
staffing situations in the industry. If you have a relationship
with a quality head hunter, chances are, you will be one of the
first potential candidates called for the unbelievable
opportunity. But do you have a relationship with a head hunter?
Do you know how to find a good one? Where do you start?
From large corporations to small business, the trend of using
recruiters or head-hunters has grown tremendously in the 90's.
The demand for quality talent is growing even though we use buzz
words like downsizing, outplacement, and layoffs. The a
mount of
hiring done through recruiters has reached all time highs.
Suppose that you have decided you need to make a career move. Do
you know a good recruiter? Have you any idea what to look for in
a recruiter? This article is a compilation of the most important
qualities to look for in a recruiter. Although, my speciality is
placing software development professionals, the principles
outlined in this article should be applicable for other specialties.
Years in The Business
A good recruiter can learn what it takes to be
good in no less than four years. Four years means:
- They are in the business for a career. Many rookies try
recruiting because they heard it is lucrative, but fail within
one to two years.
- They have made enough mistakes to learn not to make them
again.
- They know people. Consider if a recruiter makes 15 placements
with 15 different companies per year, by their fourth year, they
know 60
companies, at least. Also in four years, a recruiter
should have a very strong network of hiring managers who
were
candidates.
- The recruiter has been able to learn what are valuable skills and
can help you market these skills correctly.
That old adage, ``the more the experience, the better'' is not
necessarily true. Some of the experienced (but old-school)
recruiters do not know the software development industry at
all.
Local, Regional, or National?
If you live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area, do you
want to work with a recruiter from Philadelphia? The answer to
this question is
NO
, unless the recruiter in
Philadelphia does 90% of their business in the SF Bay Area.
What you want is a recruiter that knows things about the
companies and knows people in the companies that you have heard
about. Some recruiters will tell you ``I work the National
Market!''
Beware
of this recruiter!
What does this
mean? It can mean several things: either the recruiter is
excited that you called and
needs
to have a quality
candidate or the recruiter has made placements all over the
country and can actually prove through references that they are
indeed a National Recruiter. Ask for some references in your
desired area.
Questions about You
You need a recruiter that can best represent you. A recruiter
should know what you want in your career as well as what you do
not want. It is important that you expect the recruiter to ask
you questions that will give him the most insight as to what you
would like out of your career move.
Beware
of
recruiters that give you the ``Fax me your resume, and I will
call you back'' line. Before you fax your resume to any
recruiter, ask yourself, ``Does this recruiter know anything
about me or what I want to do?''
Some recruiters are so happy that you called or that they have
gotten you o
n the telephone, they fail to qualify you. Look out
for these recruiters. The recruiter that you want to have on
your team, will carefully scrutinize why you are considering
making a change, what you are looking for in your career move,
and,
is it possible to find what you want?
Remember the more questions the recruiter asks that are
about you and what you want, the more likely that you have found
a respectable recruiter. The recruiter you select needs to take a
potential move as seriously as you. You need to expect the
recruiter to ask you questions like:
- Why are you looking?
- Have you discussed this with your spouse, domestic
partner, or family?
- What do you want in a company, position, boss, and
environment?
- What do you NOT want in a company, position, boss and
environment?
- Are you willing to relocate?
- What kind of money do you want to make?
- What are you mak
ing now?
- Where have you interviewed recently?
- What are some companies that interest you,
and who do you know there?
- And most importantly, ``How long have you thought about this
and have you prepared yourself for a transition?''
The recruiter should take considerable time learning about
your experience and skills.
Beware
of the recruiter
that tells you they can learn about you from your resume. This
is generally either a rookie or a veteran with bad habits.
Expect the good recruiter to ask you:
- What platform do you develop applications/systems on?
- What development tools do you have experience with?
- What kind of applications/systems have you developed or
worked on?
- What kind of dollar value has been placed on the projects
that you have worked on?
- How many people besides you worked on these projects?
Rapport
Rapport, I feel, is important. A recruiter that can develop
rapport with you means several things. First of all, it means
that he or she has probably enjoyed learning about your needs.
Secondly, the more rapport that you and the recruiter have--in
most cases--transcends itself into a more honest and ethical
working relationship. Thirdly, you will enjoy working with the
recruiter.
Fourth, and most important, if the recruiter was able to build
rapport with you, it means he/she probably has been able to build
rapport with hiring managers or human resource personnel. This
means a great deal. If the recruiter has good rapport with you
and the hiring manager or human resources person, then they are
generally able to create a more productive working relationship.
This is very important to your career move.
Try to take notice of the recruiters listening skills. Do
they talk too much, are they listening, taking notes on what you
say? A good recruiter should be listening, ask
ing questions, and
definitely taking notes.
Defines the Procedure
When you are talking with a recruiter, you need to know what
and how the recruiter plans to market you and what the process
will be. Many recruiters are sloppy in this area, but the best
recruiters will generally always give you a detailed plan on what
and how they will be working.
The process of finding your next career move is very detailed
and requires a great deal of strategy and planning. Make sure
that you know what the recruiter will be doing before you fax a
resume. Ask the recruiter to lay it out for you.
Confidentiality
When you are considering leaving your current place of
employment, are you going to tell everyone or anyone at your
office your intentions? Most likely, if you are smart, you will
only confide in your spouse. This is a vulnerable time--be
careful. A good recruiter will also protect your
confidentiality. An inexperienced or poor recrui
ter could
jeopardize your situation. I have personally received calls from
some of my clients in the past asking me to begin a search
immediately due to the following circumstances:
- Candidate at ABC company decided to work with a recruiter.
Recruiter did not properly examine the candidate's work history.
This sloppy work resulted in the recruiter faxing a resume to a
manager at XYZ company. Manager at XYZ used to be manager at ABC
company and was best friends with manager at ABC. Manager at XYZ
called manager at ABC and told him that one of his engineers was
interviewing.
- Candidate at 123 company decided to work with an
inexperienced recruiter. Candidate was a high-level manager, in
a very competitive market. Recruiter never asked candidate if it
was okay to call at work. Recruiter called candidate at work,
left message with ``someone'' who picked up the phone. Someone
turned out to be candidate's boss.
What happens here is simple. By not protecting the candidat
e,
the recruiter endangers the candidates current situation without
a bird in the hand. Most bosses, no matter how good you are,
will begin the search to replace you as soon as they learn the
loyalty has been broken. Your recruiter needs to understand and
demonstrate the confidential relationship. You should be able to
ask your recruiter to call you at home, and in emergencies, have
a system worked out for calling you at the office.
References
Some recruiters almost never check references. A recruiter
who does not check your references is not doing their job (and
what else are they not doing?).
The recruiter that you choose to represent you should check
your references. There is a benefit to you in this: If you give
references to a recruiter and he/she checks those references,
he/she can then use the references as testimonials to your
abilities in presenting you to prospective hiring managers.
Testimonials are a powerful way of increasing your value. If a
prosp
ective hiring manager reads a testimonial that basically
reports you are or were a top performer, that hiring manager will
have more fire power to lobby for your hiring.
Willingness to Work With Your Schedule
Some recruiter are not willing to work with your schedule.
Unless you are unemployed, you probably have to attend to
deadlines, meetings, and work. A recruiter should keep this in
mind and respect that you have not made the change yet, and
adjust their schedule accordingly.
Expect that the recruiter always gives you the option of
calling you at your home in the evening. You generally can speak
more freely, and are also more relaxed. This generally provides
you with the confidentiality you should demand. A recruiter who
will not give you this option is either lazy or crazy.
While You are Working With a Recruiter
You should expect a recruiter to respect your current
situation. This means the recruiter should expect that yo
u have
a need for confidentiality. Also the recruiter should prepare
you for the upcoming events--all of them. Expect the recruiter
to do the following:
- Discuss companies that fit your demands. Some recruiters will
not tell you that they are presenting information to companies
until after they have already done so.
- Assist you in tailoring your resume for the presentation. A good
recruiter can help you build a valuable resume. By building the
value and front loading the presentation to the hiring authority,
the situation reverses itself. You are now the
wanted
,
instead of the
wanting
.
- Prepare you for the initial and all subsequent interviews. This
should include directions, who, what, where, when, why, what to
discuss, what not to discuss and other protocols.
- Debriefing you after the interview. Good recruiters demand that
you call them immediately after the interview. This is wh
en your
thoughts are most fresh. The recruiter wants and needs to know
your interpretation. Also the recruiter should counsel you on
the follow-up procedures.
- Negotiate any salary situations. The recruiter does this for a
living, you develop applications for a living. Who do you think
is better qualified?
- Prepare you for the offer. The recruiter should counsel you on
the proper protocol for acceptance and provide acceptance letter
models.
- Prepare you for a counter offer from your current employer as
well as provide you with resignation counseling. A recruiter who
does not discuss a counter offer with you is a fool. Ninety-five
percent of all resignation situations involve a counter
offer.
Staying in Touch
A good, experienced recruiter should have no trouble
delivering bad news to you. Inexperienced recruiters hesitate to
call and report that you were not the ide
al candidate. After a
placement is made, you should expect to hear from your new-found
recruiter regularly. The recruiter should be sure that you are
happy with your move, should be asking for referrals and more
importantly asking you if you got what you thought you were
getting.
Author Biography
Mr. Spradley has been recruiting in the hardware and software engineering
fields since 1990. Mr. Spradley has been a public speaker and writer
addressing recruitment issues, strategies, practices and career building. He
has received numerous awards and certifications in the areas of recruiting
and career management. Since 1996 Mr. Spradley has been employed with Intel
Corporation where he is currently managing a Strategic Search Group focusing
on solving business critical senior level positions. He can be reached via
e-mail at:
scottspradley@yahoo.com
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