Over the years it seems like one of the questions I am asked most frequently pertains to finding the keys to hiring the ideal recruiter. Questions regarding ideal background, behavioral traits, intellectual capabilities, etc., are good, but in my opinion, they are not nearly as important as how to start up a new recruiter.

My premise is that recruiters with great potential can start in areas with poor preparation and fail or languish, while average potential recruiters can achieve greatness with effective preparation.

Many times people start by expending their hard work on activities that are simply low gain or no gain. Their frustration then causes a fight or flight mentality. In the case of flight, the recruiter will quit because he/she does not see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel of hard work or will take the form of mediocrity by doing just enough to not get fired. In the case of fight, the recruiter will press on and work even harder, eventually having enough quantity and energy to find the quality ultimately leading to success. It will come at a price, and that is their potential feeling that their success was in spite of you rather than inspired by you. Their loyalty will begin to deteriorate while their independence accelerates, leading to the day when they decide to “go out on their own.” The odds of a successful hire and subsequent retention dramatically increase when you make their initial climb easier. With this in mind, let me share with you a checklist of the key areas of importance related to starting someone and maximizing their odds of success.

1. Database. Several hundred companies AND the relevant contacts in each firm should already be downloaded into whatever system you use prior to their start date. This can be done with many different online content providers. You can also, at times, purchase a directory on CD-Rom and download it into your system. If these aren’t available, you will need to hire an outside research company to help with this. There are some overseas firms that can do it for $6 to $8 an hour. Having new recruiters surfing Google and Hoover’s all day trying to find companies to call that they first must enter into your database is poor utilization of their time. So, make the additional up-front investment to ensure that they can “hit the ground running.”

2. Marketing materials. A new person is more likely to be asked for his marketing materials, website, business cards, etc., than a veteran. However, many times, neither the website nor the marketing materials talk specifically about his market. Business cards may not even be ordered for some time. What is your reaction when you go somewhere and someone hands you her card and the name on it is handwritten? How about rookie, newbie! What do you think she’s thinking? Maybe something like “My company believes in me so little that they don’t even want to spend $50 on some business cards.” Effective marketing materials may not close deals, but they can help rookies significantly when they are impressive. They are sometimes just the “ante” that is necessary to get in the game. They are also part of the long-term value proposition of the person remaining with your firm.

3. Training. Some firms have great foundational training programs, but others rely on the old system of “just get out there and do it” and then occasionally throw in an old VHS/DVD by the trainer du jour. The old system did work in some cases, but so did the abacus before the calculator was invented. Our industry has evolved in the caliber of talent we can attract, and that talent expects a professional training program to help them. The training should include a blend of teaching, watching select DVDs, deskside evaluation, role playing, practice, and demonstration. New hires should be handed a schedule for their first 30 to 60 days with the activities that they should be following. For example, perhaps one day it is teaching MPC marketing for an hour. Then they watch a DVD on marketing (try NLRT module #5!). Then they must write their own presentation for someone to review and correct. Then they must make 10 new marketing presentations or 70 attempts (whichever comes first). If they get a possible JO, they should let the hiring manager know that they would like to schedule a time to review it in greater detail with their team leader (You). Then there would be a review of what transpired with a discussion about what to keep doing, what to change, and what to stop doing. The coming and going time should also be realistically laid out. The key is to create a formal program designed to teach them the fundamentals of being a successful recruiter. Training is critical to retention, and it is what spurred the theme “train to retain.”

4. Coaching and mentoring. This is different from recruiting training. This is teaching them about their market, if necessary, and holding them accountable to specific performance metrics. A good plan focuses on what they want and then builds a program of requisite activities and energy to achieve them. Meetings should be held daily and should spend equal amounts of time on market-place education, numeric analysis, and specific coaching around any areas of need that are identified. Marketplace training is critical in ensuring that the recruiter can talk “shop” as rapidly as possible, in addition to being able to talk about recruiting issues. There should also be some specific collaborative activities in their start-up. Perhaps the coach will participate in the first five job orders, first 10 closings, first 10 presentations of candidates to clients, etc. This way the recruiter can learn by observation and co-participation. The recruiter will also respect the organization for putting his career first and helping him put some deals together faster than he otherwise could have.

5. Physical space. Not much needs to be written here other than to make sure that the person has the necessary supplies, technological equipment, and furniture. The physical surroundings are a reflection of who you are. Do yours convey who you are or want to be?

6. Quality job order and potentially quality candidate. Some start people only recruiting and others teach both from day one. However, in either case the new recruiter should start by working on a job order or with a candidate that has been prequalified by someone at the firm. The odds of an early success are increased, and the recruiter will get an early opportunity to know what a good candidate/job order looks like for the future.

7. Cultural assimilation. De-pending on your size, it is always good to make sure that the new person feels at home. Giving her a buddy to show her “the ropes” is a good way in larger environments. In smaller ones, it should be some orientation about the firm’s vision, mission, and values. It should focus on why the organization exists. Are you in business to earn a profit, or do you earn profit to be in business? If it is only the former, then that is all this person will ever care about. If it is the latter, then this is the time to enroll this person in something bigger than a job and a paycheck and instill a sense of meaning in pursuing the firm’s purpose.

Some of these you/your firm may already do well. Some you may not need to do. The main message here is that spending quality time preparing a new recruiter for success is as critical as the caliber of the person hired, and it will impact the individual’s subsequent attitude and work ethic. A great tool is a checklist, much like the one NASA uses to launch a mission; only after the checklist is completed does the “takeoff” or the mission move forward!

This month’s top producer’s tip comes from Christine Alan. She has been with Kaye/Bassman since 1989. In those 18+ years, Christine has not only billed millions of dollars and been named a managing partner but has also had a profoundly positive impact in developing many others, as well as the overall face of Kaye/Bassman. In 2006, she billed $420,000 as a solo producer and is currently pacing to do the same this year, all the while battling and beating breast cancer and raising her son and daughter.

The Power of Reaching Out

Never underestimate the power of communication between a candidate and his/her future boss. There often comes a time in the negotiation process when we as recruiters need to step out of the way and let magic happen. I would hope that we are all in the common practice of having candidates follow up directly with their new employer to confirm acceptance of an offer that we have extended on behalf of our client. The latter is a simple courtesy whereby a candidate calls to thank his/her new boss for the offer and for the faith they have shown in the candidate.

Then there are times when we extend offers that are not immediately accepted. It hap-pens to the best of us. In a case like this, a simple follow-up call from the hiring manager to the candidate can help keep the romance alive. More important, it is a forum whereby any issues that are delaying the candidate’s acceptance can be addressed and resolved.

For example: I recently had a situation where my candidate went from being 100% in love with the client and the opportunity to practically talking herself out of the job after receiving a good offer. As it turned out, she was admittedly the recipient of some negative third-hand information, and bad advice in general. This resulted in making the candidate “conflicted and confused” about accepting my client’s offer versus another company’s offer that was on the table. It was a classic case of “fear” (false expectations appearing real). What’s the solution? I had the client reach out to the candidate to discuss the newly surfaced “issues” head-on. The result was a candidate who felt great relief after talking things through with her future boss, and an acceptance of the offer that same day.

Another example is that of a candidate who gave a verbal acceptance of an offer I extended on behalf of my client. He even confirmed his acceptance by reaching out and calling his new boss, as I had suggested. However, when he received the written offer, panic set in. The company has a policy of including the job summary in the written offer letter. The summary was actually more comprehensive than any written job description that had been previously shared with the candidate, causing him to second-guess his decision and wonder if he was being set up for failure. The remedy was for me to direct the candidate to reach out to his new boss and get clarity and comfort directly from him. After all, there is no better time than the present for a person to get in the habit of open and direct communication with his/her new boss. The result was a message from the candidate stating that he had talked with his new boss. In the message he said, “We worked through the issues to my satisfaction and everything is fine.” I then took my own advice and reached out to both the candidate and client to confirm!

Jeff Kaye is president and CEO of Kaye/ Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former Management Recruiter National Recruiter of the year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility and also was named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. They are making a series of DVDs for training. The first series was on the candidate side, and the four hours were dedicated to marketing. The new series, on the client side, is dedicated to marketing, effective search assignments, and fee clearing. It is over seven hours in length. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlr training.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also email Jeff a thought or question at jtk@nlrtraining.com.

How many recruiters do you know who have been in the business for 10, 15, or 20+ years?

My guess is probably not many. Why does such longevity exist among lawyers and doctors but not recruiters? The journey from rookie to successful recruiter is a daunting gauntlet, and of the many that set out to make it, few do. That said – why do so many recruiters who do make it through then fade, burn out, and ultimately enter a different profession or stay in recruiting but leave the third-party side?

I think the same issue that causes slumps in the short run leads to burnout in the long run. ON THE SURFACE, it can look like a lack of motivation, a failure to stick with the fundamentals, or a reduction in work ethic. However, these are ONLY THE SYMPTOMS! If you treat only the symptoms and not the DISEASE, you might find that one day the “prescription” stops working and what you thought was a slump is so much more. This is a common time for people to quit. Some recruiters feel the symptoms and think the prescription is to “go out on their own.” Many of you may be contemplating that same prescription right now. Some-times that prescription is the answer; however, in many cases it is a temporary solution to a problem that will reappear. Consequently, that person will come to realize that they bit off too much and found themselves failing to build a business while simultaneously watching their personal practice fade. This is burnout for the opposite reason!

I submit to you that the underlying reason for the disease itself and the majority of departures from our industry is BOREDOM. That’s right. A lack of challenges causes boredom, which leads to the symptoms. As with a hamster on a wheel or a factory worker on a “placement making” conveyor belt, monotony sets in and boredom soon follows. The only way to correct this long term is to create challenge before it is too late.

The boredom is rooted in two issues. First, what attracts people to our industry is the excitement, which draws high-energy, low-patience nonconformists who get bored quicker. Second, issues stop being as challenging after making 50 to 500 placements. Most recruiters feel that they’ve “mastered” them all. While full mastery is not possible, there are only so many new ways to cover a counteroffer, make a recruiting call, or get past the “I’m happy where I am” objection. To better understand our issue, let’s compare recruiters to doctors and lawyers.

Like recruiters, doctors and lawyers have tasks that they do repeatedly. However, they don’t suffer the attrition rates that we do. How many 10-plus-year lawyers do you know who still do all their own research? When was the last time a doctor checked your blood pressure or drew blood for a test? If you’ve ever had surgery, did the surgeon spend more time with you during the surgery or in pre- and post-op care? Does a senior lawyer handle the same type of work that a two-year lawyer does? In all of these examples, don’t the successful practitioners out-source the less challenging work to junior staff who are not only capable of performing the work at a lower cost but also challenged by the work itself? Can you see where I’m going with this?

These professionals have institutionalized outsourcing as well. The nurse practitioner gives exams, the nurse checks blood pressure, and the scheduling department makes appointments. Each of those tasks is important but will neither provide doctors with the challenge they need nor the financial rewards necessary to justify their time. In the case of lawyers, they have paralegals, legal secretaries, and associate lawyers that they entrust.

The lesson we can learn from both professions is that out-sourcing certain tasks to other team members is not only more financially rewarding but also allows for greater challenges. The senior executive search world also does this, and so does the temporary/contract staffing industry. It’s no coincidence that we see HUGE revenues and LONG tenure in those worlds. Korn/Ferry produced $637 million in revenue last year, with half of that in the U.S. alone. Robert Half produced over $4 billion! MRI boasts about being the leader in the mid-level space, yet MRI produced less revenue with 1,100 offices than Korn/ Ferry produced with 70! And MRI is the biggest!

Outsourcing must start with basics like research and name gathering but can later include recruiting, prepping, and even marketing and deal running. To give you an example of what this might look like, consider a full-practice solo recruiter who hires a researcher/junior recruiter to research, name gather, and make some basic recruiting calls. This allows the recruiter to do more business development and handle more “deals,” thus creating more challenges. The researcher/junior recruiter performs so well that he or she is now allowed to begin handling all activities with one or two clients. This creates a need for junior recruiter #2, as junior recruiter #1 is starting to grow. Soon junior recruiter #1 begins to market and gets clients, as well as managing some of the existing clients, which results in less recruiting. There are now two junior recruiters plus the senior recruiter.

Flash forward five years, and the team has grown to eight people. Roles have been better defined, career paths have been built based on increasing responsibilities and financial rewards, and the practice has grown significantly. Now the senior recruiter/ team leader must play a role in the practice by working on the most challenging issues only, directing the team while managing and leading effectively, training new team members that are replaced or added, and handling more strategically related issues. How can that person be bored? Is that person a hamster on a wheel going around and around? NO! Will that person have to develop new skills and abilities to take on those additional responsibilities? YES! This is where the challenge comes from. If it grows too fast, the result is stress, which is bad. However, without growth comes boredom, and with boredom comes burnout.

The mid-level recruiting industry is not one that takes top producers and makes them branch managers, district managers, etc. It’s a rainmaker’s model that allows producers to grow by making rain. Eventually, even the most prolific rainmakers can get bored making rain. This is when they will need to acquire the ability to turn their entire practice over to the team and begin hiring and developing other rainmakers. This is when they transform from being a rainmaker to being a pure leader. Some will never make this transformation. Others will not want to. The mid-level recruiting market has been trying to develop these systems and structures for a long time. The problem, in my opinion, is that they have been far too concerned with how to “count revenue” for the purpose of comparing solos with others on the team, and not concerned enough with how to create the roles and models that will generate greater long-term tenure and challenges!

There are other reasons why a team structure is ideal. There is less reliance on one person. If you are a solo producer or an owner leading a few recruiters, watch for signs of a slump, but also look below the surface for a deeper issue. If you are looking for a “pick-me-up” or to learn some new techniques, then go to a motivational seminar, read a book, or watch some recruiting training DVDs. However, if this issue resonates with you or anyone in your office, I recommend developing an appropriate long-term system for practice and even organizational development. There are several models for structuring practices, even in the same office. Only when you develop a system (that can evolve over time) will a practice or series of practices begin to look like a business.

Clearly, we are not doctors, lawyers, or even senior executive recruiters for the most part. Nor will most in our world ever want to create the same-sized firms that exist in those professions. That does not mean, however, that we all don’t want to grow and be challenged. The SINGLE biggest difference between our worlds is NOT PEOPLE – I believe the hardest-working, most talented, and most knowledgeable recruiters are in our space!!!! I believe that the single biggest difference is having a specific and proven career path that allows for increasing levels of responsibility and challenges at the rate that people desire and can handle.

At Kaye/Bassman we have been on this journey for many years and have built an $18-million-dollar single-site search firm, yet even we are continuously enhancing and improving our systems and paths. We hope to share our successes and failures in this column and through our Next Level Recruiting Training. We even plan on having our own “Forum” focused on this issue and others at our headquarters in Dallas this fall, so be on the lookout if this interests you. While we can never stop teaching and executing the fundamentals of our recruiting business, if that is all we ever work on, then many current and future stars will find themselves like the bored hamsters on the wheel. Instead, all we needed to do was add some more tubes in the Habitrail!!!

This month’s tip from the trenches comes from a Kaye/ Bassman partner and fellow leader of Next Level Recruiting Training – Jeff Wittenberg. I’ve selected Jeff because he is the “poster child” for this article. Jeff joined Kaye/Bassman almost a decade ago. He began as a junior recruiter on a team and quickly rose to become a practice partner. He eventually took over the entire practice once his partner retired. Jeff began aggressively growing the team and teaching others to do what he had been doing. He gradually outsourced his way out of a job! The year he turned his practice over to his team, they had produced over $1.7 million! There were five others with varying levels of responsibility who only a few years before had done less than one third of that amount! He has since left his practice and is a full-time leader at Kaye/ Bassman and coach for Next Level Recruiting Training. His primary role is to help others build whatever-sized teams they want, and help those on their teams grow as well. He regularly goes on client visits with his “internal clients” and has created best practices for effective client visits. The following “tip” is what he created. Enjoy!

Preparing for Client Meetings

You’re having a conversation with an existing or potential client and they mention that they’d like you to meet with them. You’re thrilled and tell them you’d love to. You schedule the date and time, tell them you look forward to seeing them, and hang up. You pull together the information you think you’ll need for the meeting. You show up only to realize that you’re not adequately prepared. What went wrong?

Unfortunately, this scenario happens all too often due to either sloppiness (not having an effective pre-meeting information-gathering tool or process) or laziness (having the tool or process but not using either) or fear (thinking you might jeopardize the meeting if you ask too many questions).

To avoid having this happen to you, follow these three simple steps:

1. Create a pre-meeting questionnaire:

a. What is the purpose/intent of the meeting?
b. Who is going to be in attendance (name, title, area of responsibility, background)?
c. Where will the meeting be held?
d. How long should the meeting last?
e. What are the client’s expectations of the meeting?
f. What are your expectations of the meeting?
g. What materials does the client want to see (marketing brochure, agreement, reference list, résumé of completed searches, search plan, presentation, etc.) and in what format (printed or PowerPoint)?
h. When and with whom should you follow up?
i. What is the dress code?
j. Who is paying for expenses?

2. Use it consistently on every relevant call.

3. Be fearless – effective questioning speaks volumes about your level of professionalism and minimizes the chance of you wasting your and the client’s time.

Jeff Kaye is President and CEO of Kaye/Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former Management Recruiter National Recruiter of the year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and work-place flexibility and also was named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. They are making a series of DVDs for training. The first series was on the candidate side, and the four hours were dedicated to marketing. The new series, on the client side, is dedicated to marketing, effective search assignments, and fee clearing. It is over seven hours in length. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtraining.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also email Jeff a thought or question at jtk@nlrtraining.com.

In the manufacturing economy, time was the currency. Systems were designed for maximum efficiency, and effectiveness was simply measured by how much time could be dedicated to the process. The assembly line was the perfect example of this. In today’s information environment, knowledge is critical and attention is the currency. Directing our attention to the right places and for the right amount of time is the key to effectiveness. I created the checklist below for you to do a self-assessment.

- You are frequently distracted from your current activity by others or your own lack of focus.
- You finish your day surprised by how little you actually accomplished despite the fact that you felt busy all day (e.g., you were on the phone “all day,” but the phone report shows that you barely cracked two hours!).
- You have a to-do list of important items but always seem to be distracted by more “urgent” activities.
- You find it difficult to focus fully on another person without thinking of other matters.
- You constantly check and respond to your email, text messages, instant messages, etc.
- People get frustrated with you (verbally or nonverbally) be-cause you answer your phone or return text messages in the middle of meetings or conversations.
- You frequently feel a sense of “information overload.”
- You think you are a great multi-tasker.
- You are addicted to emergencies and pride yourself on being the best “fire fighter.”
- You love the feeling of being “in the “zone”/”in the moment” /”in the now” and the feeling of being effective and efficient during those times but are frustrated by how infrequently you are there.

If you checked a majority of the items (and were distracted in the process), then you may be suffering from RADD. The good news is that it is curable and you can fill your own prescription! The irony is that those who suffer worst from this condition actually perceive it as a strength because of their incredible “efficiency and ability to multi-task.”

The reality is that effectiveness IS NOT the same as efficiency. You may feel efficient because you sent out three emails during the “boring parts” of a meeting, but what about the unintended consequences of how others perceive you? Maybe they think you believe you are more important than they are and that your time is more valuable than theirs? What if, by “multi-tasking,” you happened to miss something truly important, and the act of missing it had negative repercussions?

You see, multi-tasking is a myth. There are times when multi-tasking and bouncing from one activity to the next is both unavoidable and necessary. However, the MAJORITY of times that you are busy, multi-tasking, and rushed are merely self-created and ultimately counterproductive.

For instance, when people are driving down the highway while talking on their phone and miss their exit or get pulled over by a person in blue or hit something. All of these are unintended consequences of “multi-tasking.” Each scenario costs more time than what was saved. Okay, so maybe you have that one down and it is not an issue. Now imagine going into a fitness club and seeing a person walk briskly from one station to the next. He lies on the bench press and does one rep. Then he walks to the pull-up bar and does two reps. Then he races to the treadmill and runs on it for 20 seconds. Then he walks over to the sit-up machine and does three sit-ups. Then he goes to the leg-press machine and does two reps. Then he goes over to the cardio area and does three jump ropes. Then he goes to the arm-curl machine and does three reps. Then he drops to the floor and does one push-up. This kind of madness continues for an hour. Afterward, he describes to his buddy in the locker room just how busy he was during his workout. He did over 25 types of exercises in an hour, which must make him the most efficient person in the gym! Right? Wrong! He was completely ineffective. THIS IS EXACTLY HOW WE LOOK AT TIMES WITHOUT ACTUALLY REALIZING IT! Are you the person who spends two hours at the fitness club but exercises for only half that time because “others” are constantly distracting you with their idle chitchat? Are you that way at the office? No matter what, always remember and never forget that YOU ARE THE SOLE AND UNCONTESTED AUTHOR OF YOUR LIFE, AND YOU GET TO WRITE A NEW CHAPTER EACH DAY YOU ARE ALIVE!!!

As I like to say, your inbox will be full the day you die and life will somehow go on! As is the case with any problem, the first step is to recognize that there is one. The good news is that slight changes can produce profound results for yourself and those around you. By implementing the suggestions that follow, you will find yourself “in the zone” more frequently and more effective. Others will experience you being more fully present, relationships will deepen, and you just may find yourself taking less medication for ulcers, headaches, high blood pressure, and the like (you may even find yourself drinking and/or smoking less, too!).

Please review and implement the action items on this list and watch your productivity soar and your stress plummet!

1. Create “platinum/golden hours” in your office. Establish certain times each day when no one can distract others or be distracted. In recruiting, 9:30 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 3:30 p.m. are pretty good times. The only acceptable distractions or interruptions should be emergencies.

2. Create a running task list of administrative activities. As your day unfolds, pick a time before lunch and at the end of the day to handle them, as opposed to throughout the day (e.g., emailing a client a candidate profile/résumé, fee agreement, or note).

3. Loosen your electronic leash four times a day. Set up a special ring on your cell phone for the critical people in your life (e.g., kids, certain clients, etc.) and only answer that ring. Turn off instant messages. Shut down your email. Eliminate all distractions. You should create four different time blocks between 45 minutes and one hour each to fully focus on a specific activity that you have predetermined for that time. Recruiters may designate an hour each for 1) new client calls, 2) client follow-up calls, 3) new recruiting, and 4) follow-up recruiting. If you maintain only a few seconds between each call, then achieving 3.5 hours of market connect time in ONLY A FOUR-HOUR TIME PERIOD is both realistic and highly effective!

4. Establish times when distractions are acceptable. Educate your environment as to when it is best to get with you by phone or in person for activities that are not urgent and critical.

5. Put your “big rocks” in first. Make a list of all your current important projects that are not urgent. They could be reading a book, creating a new marketing letter, creating a list of all the industry sites in your market, etc. Now assign at least two one-hour slots a week to do them. Keep these appointments with yourself the same way that you would with a client. DO NOT allow yourself to schedule anything during those times unless it is a TRUE emergency. If you do not begin to do some of the strategic work now, when will you?

6. Minimize multi-tasking. Practice being fully present and engage in one activity at a time. If someone pops into your office while you are typing an email, ask them to send you an email to schedule a mutually convenient time to get together. What makes typing an email, writing a letter, or even just thinking activities that can so easily be interrupted? Would you begin talking to someone who was on the phone talking with someone else? I doubt it! So why do those other activities not require the same level of focus? I doubt that a doctor is checking emails or taking phone calls in the middle of surgery. I suspect that a lawyer is not constantly checking his Blackberry while the opposing counsel is grilling his client.

7. Plan your day. By having a plan each day, you will spend your time executing rather than figuring out what to do next. If a recruiter spends three minutes in between each call deciding who to call next and has 60 calls a day, then she will spend 180 minutes (three hours a day!) thinking of what to do next as opposed to executing what is next. If the planning takes 30 minutes, then over two hours will be saved. Imagine this analogy: Two people go into a grocery store, and one has a list with exactly what to buy and the location of each item and the other has simply a mental idea of what to get. Which one do you think will accomplish the task more efficiently and effectively?

8. Practice mindfulness. When a professional basketball player shoots free throws with 20,000 people screaming at him and waving brick signs, he must get into a place of complete focus. Phil Jackson, who led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, called this “mindful basketball.” We too must learn to get in our zone through “mindful recruit-ing.” Meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, concentration exercises, and reading books on this topic can help you do just that. The pharmaceutical industry may also have the answer for you!

9. Create blocks of similar activities. We all like diversity and variety. However, just as a good meal has a certain flow, so too should a day. Try to plan complementary activities (e.g., business development activities, operational activities, etc.) together in groups.

10. Find the right work/life balance. Just as your time at work should have focus and intensity in each activity, so should your time away from work. Being fully present in all your inter-actions also includes those outside work. When you find your mind drifting to work-related activities while with friends or family, remind yourself to focus back on the people or activity at hand. The opposite should be done while at work.

One day I returned home from work and went upstairs, where my son was busy playing Nintendo. He was so intense that only after five or six “Hello, Dylans” did he finally respond with “Hey, Dad!” I told him to come downstairs to eat dinner, and he said he was busy playing his game. When I shared with him that he could do that later, he said he could eat while playing (another multi-tasker). I said that he had played enough and that life was not only about playing Nintendo. He responded that if it was his life and he enjoyed playing, then why could it not be about just playing Nintendo? I did to him what my father did to me and his to him and said, “Because I said so. Now do what I said or I’ll _______!”

What I really thought was how wonderful it would be to live “life in Nintendo”! How cool would it be if every moment in our life would be like his experience playing Nintendo? I suspect that one day we will all look back and wonder how much time was squandered engaging in activities that were anything but “playing Nintendo.” It was at that moment about six years ago (he is now 15) that I realized the importance of “living in Nintendo”! The biggest problem I have now is that I am so focused in each interaction and experience that others find it impossible at times to get my attention. As a result, my sense of time tends to lapse, causing an issue with my promptness. So you see, with one strength comes an inherent weakness and a new set of challenges to address!

The top producer tip from the trenches this month is short but sweet! It comes from Tiffany Bamberger. Tiffany is in her 16th year at Kaye/Bassman and is a managing director. She has produced over one million dollars in search revenue in each of the last five years. She is a true market master and boasts many client relationships that are over a decade old!

TESTING TO SEE IF YOU HAVE A HOT JOB ORDER

Not sure if you have a hot job order? Test it out! Present one or two candidates and see the client’s responsiveness. Do not continue searching unless you get good cooperation or are working on some form of a retained basis where you are accountable to the client. This is especially good if you have never worked with that particular client. Do they call you back promptly? Are the client’s expectations realistic? If not, do not make it your focus. Move the client to the bottom of your list of prioritized job orders.

It’s okay to continue presenting candidates you come across in the market, but just do not make it a priority. However, do let the hiring manager know what effort you will be giving. Present all candidates that are a reasonable fit. Remember, if you don’t present them, another recruiter will. Someone will eventually fill the position. Don’t forget to stay in contact with the client. You would be surprised how an unrealistic, uncooperative client can quickly become your best client. The longer the job order remains open, the more realistic the clients will become. Clients recognize that if the job stays open too long, they risk losing the opening. Eventually, the pain of it being open may cause them to make it a priority, and when that happens then you can, too!

Jeff Kaye is president and CEO of Kaye/ Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former Management Recruiter Nat-ional Recruiter of the Year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility and also was named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. The same train-ing that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. They are making a series of DVDs for training. The first series was on the candidate side, and the four hours were dedicated to research and recruiting. The new series, on the client side, is dedicated to marketing, effective search assignments, and fee clearing. It is over seven hours in length.

To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtrain ing.com and view their product and service offerings. You can also email Jeff a thought or question at jtk@nlrtraining.com.

My business coach once told me that a leader’s responsibility is to make people feel un-comfortable at a rate at which they can absorb. In other words, it is a leader’s responsibility to help people achieve their potential by encouraging and challenging them to let go of the things that are holding them back and embrace the things that will propel them forward. This is no different than the personal trainer whose responsibility it is to help you improve your fitness level and who does so by putting your body through torturous exercises! Ultimately, the leader’s challenge is to determine what the absorption rate is for each person and identify what helped them grow in the past that may now be the very thing holding them back.

My experience tells me that people, like plants, are either growing by looking toward the future or decaying by focusing on the past. It is from this vantage point that I share this month’s “Next Level” perspective.

There are various stages or levels that a recruiter passes through in his or her career, and each of them presents a crossroad. Should I stay at my current level or move to the next one? If I stay, how long will it be before I start regressing? If I go, what will it cost me? Interestingly, these questions apply not only to our professional life but also to our spiritual, physical, cognitive, social, and ethical lives. Consider the following levels as examples:

Level One – You are a solo producer. Do the benefits of growing the practice, adding new skills, and concentrating on the most rewarding functions, and long-term potential financial, mental, and professional re-wards outweigh the risks and challenges? How do I feel about empowering others with fewer competencies that must be compensated in part before results are ultimately achieved? How many must I hire and who will train them? What direct and indirect costs will there be? There are dozens of questions just like this at each level!

Level Two – You’ve hired one to two researchers/project coordinators and increased your revenue as a result.

Level Three – You’ve developed the researchers/project coordinators into project managers and directors who, in turn, have become responsible for hiring and managing additional re-searchers/project coordinators.

Level Four – You’ve removed yourself from most of the placement-process activities in your team/core area and have begun focusing on building a new practice area/division/ business unit either by you with a team of project staff or with other search consultants.

Level Five – You’ve built an entire practice area/division/ business unit that can function without you. At this level, you begin playing a much bigger game as it relates to your personal and professional growth.

When recruiters lack a vision for themselves or the inspiration, motivation, or support to achieve it, there is a devastating side effect that occurs – BURNOUT! Perhaps you became disgruntled with your previous office because “they” did not give you the support you wanted to get to where you were going (even if you did not know where that was). Perhaps you hired people who you felt great about and they left you (I wonder if any of them are reading this article). The retention rate in the search industry is terrible. So many people experience burnout with one office and leave for another or to start their own. Some blame the ease of entry into the search business. Others blame it on greed. I submit to you that it is a lack of vision, strategy, and tactics by the recruiter/ manager/owner.

The leader/manager/coach must help each recruiter navigate his or her way through these various stages, or otherwise be faced with questions such as:

“What value are you providing me for the percentage I am giving up to you?”

“I am bored doing the same things over and over again, like a hamster on a wheel, and I want to do something different.”

“Why don’t you give me more _____ or pay for more of my _____ or provide me with _____?”

“Is this all there is for me?”

“How do I get to the next level?” (forgive me for the shameless plug)

On the surface, these questions can be seen as negative or subversive. Or they can be seen as gateways to a different future. Pain or frustration is a powerful stimulus to creating positive change!

Since the problem (or opportunity) is multifaceted, so too must be the solution. Maybe changes need to be made in the environment or culture that will promote innovation and growth. Maybe systems, processes, and procedures need to change. Maybe new resources, tools, or training are needed. Maybe the economics have to change to include the sacred cow of equity. Only by creating a vision, outlining the strategic objectives and tactics, and then executing them can true growth occur.

It is neither complicated nor easy. If it were, we would see hundreds of search firms generating revenues in excess of $5M/$10M/$50M/$100M+. Kaye/Bassman was recently list-ed by Hunt-Scanlon as the 10th-largest retained search firm and the #1 largest single site search firm in the United States. In 2006, we generated $18 million in revenues with just over 100 associates. What number ac-counting or law firm would that be? Every recruiter/ manager/owner/firm should periodically evaluate what level they are on and make a conscious decision to either remain or grow.

So, what are you going to do? If not now, when? If not you, who? Do you want one or multiple desks/practices, or do you want to build a business of substance that has real value in financial and psychic terms and create a legacy that one day you can reminisce about and reflect back on?

A wise Buddhist once said that at times one should just live in the question itself and “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Otherwise, as Lewis Carroll wrote in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “Alice came to a fork in the road. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

On a more tactical practice level, this month’s top producer tip comes from Eric Dickerson, who has been at Kaye/Bassman since 1997. He became a managing director in 2006 after generating over $1 million in revenue that year. He also co-created the soon-to-be-released best PC Recruiter training ever produced!

“THERE ARE NO OFFERS, ONLY ACCEPTANCES!”

Often recruiters are so hungry for the “deal” that they rush past the little details that can bite them in the end. In particular, there are the financial and benefit details related to the offer. I regularly walk the candidate and client through each and every piece of the offer: base, bonus, vacation time, relocation (if needed), sign-on bonus, stock options or equity portions, and long-term growth potential. With the client, I also highlight how the candidate fits into the hiring authority’s “sweet spot” and how they may fall outside that area early on in the presentation process. The phrase I use is “Please look at this candidate with a $______ price tag. If they still look good, then let’s proceed and if not then let’s discuss.”

I cover this with the candidate early in the process to create a “baseline” where the candidate is currently and where he or she would ideally like to be. This helps me “match” the candidate to the position and allows for discussions about the benefits of the new opportunity and the candidate’s willingness to bend in certain areas.

The next time I cover this is between the telephone and face-to-face interviews. This is a shorter discussion, but it allows me to ask the question “So has anything changed practically or conceptually in your compensation and benefits requirements based on what you have heard and where you are currently?” By doing this now, I continue to solidify the value of the opportunity in the candidate’s mind and make sure that nothing has changed in his or her mind.

The final discussion happens prior to the actual offer being extended. This is one of those big areas where the “rubber meets the road” and where you earn your client’s respect and appreciation. I walk the candidate through all the details, high-lighting what has been agreed to previously and ensuring that we are still in agreement. When red flags pop up (and they will), I walk the candidate through the logic of why the request might not be acceptable. Additionally, I revisit their “hot buttons” to highlight the intrinsic reasons why they are interested in making a change. Once I have the variances identified, I speak with my hiring authority and verify what can and cannot be changed. In areas where nothing can be done, I strategize with the hiring manager on what could be adjusted in exchange for the candidate accepting something less.

Once I have the alternatives highlighted, I go back to the candidate and gain agreement with the adjustments using his or her “hot buttons” and value-added opportunities within the new organization. Ultimately, the number of issues will be minimal if I have covered these items with the candidate and the hiring authority early and often.

Finally, I rarely have my client extend an offer and instead simply allow them to extend their congratulations. By covering the little things related to money and benefits, as well as others, you will ensure a smooth acceptance in the process.

Jeff Kaye is president and CEO of Kaye/ Bassman International and Next Level Recruit-ing Training. This former Management Recruiter National Recruiter of the year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and work-place flexibility and also was named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtraining.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also email Jeff a thought or question at jtk@nlrtraining.com.

Establishing mutual commitments is the key to a meaningful relationship. In our profession, recruiters enter new relationships every day between clients, candidates, and occasionally a new member of an office team. The bedrock of a meaningful relationship is trust. Trust is solidified or broken by our reliability in honoring commitments.

We have all heard expressions such as “His actions spoke so loudly, I could not hear his words” or “She says what she will do, and does what she says.” When we secure a candidate profile or a search assignment, we are entering into a professional relationship with another person. The same is true when we hire another team member, join a new team, or have a new member join our team.

In each of these situations, the key is to establish our mutual expectations and accountabilities. Candidates, clients, and coworkers do not have a rule book for correct behavior by themselves or us unless we get one from them, give them one, or co-create one. We may be upset that a candidate interviewed at another company without telling us, but when did we let the candidate know to share that with us? Did we cover it thoroughly?

We have all had a hiring manager who said he would review our candidate’s information and get back with us the next day, but after a week, we still had no feedback. Did the hiring manager break a commitment that was a meaningful one or simply think it was not a big deal? When people get married, they usually exchange vows or promises. This way each party knows what to EXPECT from the other and, of course, then knows what to fight about later!

The participants in every meaningful relationship should spend some time covering “what you can count on from me and what I need from you.” This sentence should be burned onto the hard drive of every recruiter! By covering this, both parties know what is expected from the other and what is expected of them. This can be covered verbally and/or in writing. When a person joins a search firm, what can that recruiter count on from the leader, and what must the recruiter promise to deliver? When a candidate is recruited or a search assignment taken, what should the candidate or hiring manager expect from the recruiter and vice versa?

Every firm should create a document that is covered with every member who joins the team. It could include things like expected behaviors, time in office, work ethic, policies, etc., and what will be offered to those who join. Because every firm is so different, I am hesitant to share a standard-example document and would rather suggest that every firm create its own.

With regard to clients and candidates, again there are differences in what is expected and what each recruiter is willing to offer. However, there are far more similarities. The following charts illustrate examples of what a document could look like to ensure that mutual expectations are covered. Covering it verbally or even getting every person to sign it DOES NOT guarantee acceptance, but people are far less likely to break commitments when they know what is expected of them and have agreed to it. The same is true for each of us in honoring what we say we will do!

The following charts are examples of what this could look like for candidates and clients. You may wish to cover this list verbally or get it signed. You can add, delete, or modify. The key is that you cover what people can count on from you and what you expect from them every time you enter a new professional relationship. The following lists are examples:

Mutual Expectations Between Client and Recruiter

What you can count on from me:

1. Will dedicate sufficient time to generate quality candidates in a timely manner

2. Will create a detailed position profile, presentation, and search plan that can be reviewed

3. Will prequalify all candidates by phone or in person before presentation to you

4. Will provide detailed information on skills and background as well as motive for considering change and needs

5. Will share accountability for interview, make client aware of any time constraints and candidate’s perspective, and coordinate visit

6. Will prepare you thoroughly for each interview with additional specifics on each candidate and cover any issues needed

7. Will provide detailed feedback from candidate and act as your agent to navigate you through any issues faced

8. Will give regular status report with detailed progress and market feedback

9. Will answer calls and emails within 24 to 48 hours unless in crunch time and then sooner, or will give you my phone number, cell, email, all contact info so you can hunt me down when needed sooner

10. Will act as your agent to secure a candidate you want to hire

11. Will work extensively with you and the candidate through the offer, acceptance, resignation, possible counter offer, and transition

12. Will maintain strict confidentiality with any information shared in confidence

What I need from you:

1. Exclusivity/financial commitment – cover greater detail in clearing fee

2. Share all information in a timely manner relevant to search (changes, new people, time frames, etc.)

3. Timeliness of response to calls and emails (24-48 hours and less when needed)

4. Know interview availability a few weeks in advance and have access to someone who can schedule your time

5. Willingness to continue interviewing even when you find one candidate you like

6. Immediate decision on interview after presentation or within 24 to 72 hours of résumé review (explain candidate’s feeling when no response)

7. Set time for preparation call

8. Set time for post-interview debrief call

9. Preliminary estimate of offer before interview

10. Route all other candidates through me in overall effort to produce best possible candidate with me as sole filter

11. Access to all decision makers

12. Decision on go/no go and offer within ______ time frame after final interview

Mutual Expectations Between Candidate and Recruiter

What I need from you:

1. Exclusivity in working with you – if they hear of other position, then they will let you know and if you cannot help them, you will let them go on their own or through someone else

2. Have them write a commercial about themselves to ensure commitment, get sense of how they present themselves, and get good material for your client presentation about the candidate

3. Let you know every situation they currently are in, where résumé has gone or goes if exclusive, and when they hear of another open position

4. Make you aware of any changes in any situation or any new situations when they arise and give you access to all decision makers in the family

5. Agree to share any familial issues that could impact their candidacy (health of loved one, special-needs child, etc.)

6. Call you immediately after interview and give their
feedback

7. Make you aware of any W-2 compensation changes, raises, promotions, etc., and to be realistic about compensation expectations

8. Alert reference to expect your call

9. Respond within certain time frame (24 hours) to voice mail or email and, perhaps, less time in crunch time

10. Reasonable availability to interview

11. Agree to give their word to never take a counter offer

12. Be a referral source of names, info, organizational charts, directories, etc.

What you can count on from me:

1. I will never give an offer unless it is acceptable

2. Give a thorough preparation for their interviews and cover who they will meet with, what to expect, etc.

3. Return phone calls, emails within a reasonable time frame (24 hours) – less in crunch time

4. Represent their needs to the client effectively and fairly

5. Maintain strict confidentiality with any information they share about themselves, anyone else, or anything they say is confidential

6. Give regular status reports and feedback on where they stand, good or bad

7. Get all questions answered that they have about company or position

8. Help family with any special issues, benefits from relocation to rollovers, etc.

9. Potentially make a dedicated effort to conduct a campaign on their behalf, or at least be willing to contact certain organizations to investigate potential on their behalf

10. Let them review the presentations you deliver or send to the client on their behalf

11. Provide any information on the market that they want that you can get

12. Provide general career advice even if they never leave

I recently spoke to a group representing 18 European countries and soon will be heading off to Asia to do the same there. With dozens of owners and recruiters from so many different countries, one would think that the differences in recruiting must be vast. There are a number of differences, but at the core, the global search business is more common than it is different. Simply put, people are basically the same wherever you go! People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you make them feel, and you are more likely to be judged by your actions than your intentions.

In light of this, I have selected Bryan Blakeman’s tip as this month’s message from the trenches! Bryan specializes in complex searches and recruitment of risk-management teams and individuals for large public and nonpublic insurance brokerage firms, carriers, and wholesalers. He worked as a solo producer in 2006 (his fifth year at Kaye/Bassman) and achieved $713,000 in production. He is building a team this year and targeting a multimillion-dollar insurance practice within two years. By the time this goes to press, the Fordyce Forum will be a couple of weeks away. I will be there and look forward to meeting as many loyal readers as possible. See you in New Orleans, and enjoy this suggestion from one of the best!

Big Game Hunters Live in the Jungle

Consistently earning $50K fees and higher takes a deeper understanding of both your clients and candidates. Ask yourself these questions: What is my biggest client’s spouse’s name? What does my client’s office look like and where is it located? What does my most valuable candidate want the most from a new opportunity? What hobbies do the industry’s movers and shakers you are trying to know enjoy? In all cases, and many more, people do business with those they see as friends. Integrating yourself into the industry you recruit will help opportunity find you.

First, take great notes when you talk to anyone and everyone on the phone. Ask and record personal facts about the individual you are speaking with, then follow up on a regular basis. This person should enjoy taking your calls, and that will happen only if you connect in a personal way.

Second, spend time in the field. Nothing replaces human-to-human contact. Spending time in a client’s office to meet the others and see the operation makes you a better representative of that company. It’s not just about PR. It’s about learning who they are and how they operate (your competitor is not doing this). Lunches, drinks, and dinners are fun ways to build those relationships. Remember, friends rarely fire friends. Strong friendships help both sides through the toughest negotiation.

Finally, create interactions and conversations beyond business. Make them your friend first and the rest will follow.

Nothing is fully learned until it is fully applied. Business is good if you make it good. GO GET IT!

Jeff Kaye is president and CEO of Kaye/Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former Management Recruiter National Recruiter of the year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility and also was named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtraining.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also send Jeff an email with a thought or question to jtk@nlrtraining.com.

THE EVOLVING WORLD OF RECRUITING

Search, recruiting, human capital management, staffing, talent acquisition, headhunting, and even flesh peddling are all simply words. Each word conveys a different image, but they all are about securing talent (I always wondered if searching for talent was different from recruiting for talent ). Recruiting is, therefore, the profession in which we all participate. Why should the process that one uses or the contractual payment structure of an agreement be used to classify our industry? Are law firms not just law firms, or are they listed by whether they are contingent or retained or represent the plaintiff or the defendant or by the way each lawyer conducts a potential trial? Ultimately, should an approach dictate a classification?

I would submit that, as in all professional services, there are a wide variety of firms in our profession. And while some do retained, others do contingency work, some do permanent, some do temporary, and some do a hybrid of all. Some specialize by function, others by industry, others by level or geography, and some, again, a hybrid of all. In all cases, an employer is paying a firm to secure or “recruit” talent for their organization (the exception is an applicant-paid firm, which is not recruiting but instead helping someone find a job). So, my first contention is that the evolution in our industry is one that began with very rigid lines of demarcation that have since been blurred and will continue blurring until finally our industry will simply be known as the recruiting industry.

At that point, a firm’s classification will no longer be placed into such limiting categories. And while certain divisions, practices, or recruiters may be categorized, the organizations themselves will not be. To create an equal playing field in terms of revenue, contract or temporary firms would have to show their revenue by adding the net margin on their contract or temporary work to their permanent fee revenue to get an accurate comparison. Essentially, the real benefactors of this simple system for classifying firms are client organizations. It is my belief that, to truly be client focused, organizations must be prepared to offer solutions that are appropriate for each specific client and even each specific client need. Why should the level of a search determine whether it should be contingent or retained? Wouldn’t the urgency and the critical nature of the assignment be a better qualifier?

If a construction firm needed to hire a senior executive to replace a retiring executive in the next year or two, might they be better served by utilizing a few recruiters to keep a lookout for potential talent over the next year and present candidates when appropriate? Perhaps, as time evolves, a different approach would be more suitable. Now, if that same firm needed a superintendent to build a new 20-story office building or a hospital to replace an employee who left at a critical time, wouldn’t they be better served by partnering with a firm to hold accountable for identifying, evaluating, attracting, and landing the best possible talent for that urgent and critical need? In that case, it may require a financially committed relationship to achieve that result. With that said, should that same client have to work with many different firms that work only “one” way because a single firm cannot be client-focused enough to offer unique solutions most appropriate for each search? While this industry change will not happen overnight, new words such as container and detergency only provide additional ways of labeling firms by their financial agreements. Many organizations do offer these full-service approaches and try to separate their style of work by utilizing different brands. This is also done to combat “blockage” issues that larger organizations face. This dilemma will continue to be an issue in the future. It will also be an interesting trend to monitor as firms try to grow exponentially.

SO, WHEN DID IT ALL START?

I believe this evolution began in the early 1990s. Prior to this, there were temporary firms that addressed short-term recruiting challenges, contingent firms that worked on positions below a certain level (usually under-six-figure salary levels), and retained firms that worked only above a certain level. Most people had no clue what a recruiter or headhunter was, and many organizations had never used them. Then something changed! Core competencies and outsourcing emerged. Determine and focus on the core competency of the business, and outsource everything else.

This resulted in the staggering growth of our industry, to the tune of several billion dollars through the ’90s! Companies scrambled to take advantage of the trends in the information age and began creating a variety of divisions in response. Some succeeded, but almost all that created approaches and models based on dis-intermediation of the human touch of recruiters failed miserably. The old lines of distinction were blurring. Traditional retained search firms were doing large-scale project staffing business. Temporary firms began building permanent divisions, and vice versa. In the end, many firms moved too quickly – or ineffectively – and failed. Then the same employer-driven market of the early ’90s emerged following the dot-com bubble burst. Ultimately, the industry fell victim to its explosive growth and the length of that particular cycle.

However, in the past few years, the pendulum has swung back to a candidate-driven market and a war for talent. Having learned from the last buildup, clients and recruiting organizations alike are now realizing the importance of certain criteria in recruiting firms, and the fee agreement is but a small part. Effective results based on market knowledge is the mantra of all. The biggest criterion that companies now seek is the specialization of the firm or recruiter in their area. This means that the recruiter knows not only the industry but also the functional area of the search, the level of the position, and the geography of the assignment. Gone are the days of simply selling a generalist mentality of a great search process.

If a hospital needs a new CFO, they don’t just want a recruiter who knows healthcare or one who knows accounting and finance or one who works only on senior leadership positions. They want one who specializes exclusively in healthcare finance, and knows the geographic area and the position level well in their market.

The second criterion that companies are demanding is flexibility. They want firms to work at various levels and want flexibility in their agreements (terms, fees, and guarantees). Many understand the need for an up-front financial commitment and additional progress payments for performance milestones. However, they do not feel that it is always appropriate to potentially pay 100% of the service charge and get no results and have no flexibility in offering other solutions. This time around, they will have not only the needs but also the knowledge of what not to do.

The third major criterion that clients want is a track record of previous success. If a pharmaceutical company needs a vice president of clinical research, they want someone who has successfully completed a similar search and will want to conduct a reference check.

Only when clients conduct their due diligence will they ultimately learn who truly delivers. Perhaps then the classification of firms will be based on specialization, flexibility, and track record. Perhaps, in addition to overall revenue, firms would list the revenue in each industry and/or function as well. If a firm has too much volume in any area, then perhaps they won’t be able to take on more clients, causing other firms to grow their capabilities. Although it is heresy to some, I am sure, I do believe that bigger retained firms could serve their clients better by offering contingent solutions without compromising the “integrity of their brand.” After all, if calling a company and telling them about a talented individual who you truly believe could make a profound impact on the bottom line of their business is an approach that a current or potential client could benefit from, then why not do so? If letting clients know that they would have to pay you only if the candidate is a good fit, and this is an approach clients want (as evidenced by their willingness to do so again and again), then why not offer these options as well? When a client wants to engage a firm to operate in a true management consulting function, in which the firm is 100% paid for the conducting of the search and not results, then search professionals should learn how to respond. However, paying part of a fee for results (like second payment or short list or final payment on hire) is partial contingency and partial retained. Again, the labels do not matter.

What does matter is the ability to educate the client as to the different approaches and guide the client in making a professional recommendation that best suits their needs. We all have so much to learn from one another. I have talked at staffing conferences, retained search conferences, permanent search conferences, and human resources conferences, and will do so at an upcoming human capital conference. There are many differences, but there are also many more opportunities to learn from each other. The dialogue can help our industry only if we always keep the focus on what is best for the client!

In the great words of Dennis Miller, this is just my opinion and then again I could be wrong!!!!

Ironically, this month’s tip from the trenches is titled “Remember: Recruiting Is Selling.” This is another example of words and labels.

Consultants are paid to give advice on a particular course of action. This is what effective salespeople do, too! At times consultants give bad advice and even have bad intentions – and so do salespeople. So, it is the individual or the practices that the individual engages in that matter most. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf, and vice versa!

Shawn Desgrosellier is the author of the following piece. He is a managing director at Kaye/Bassman and shares responsibility for overseeing the firm’s Western Region within the Construction and Real Estate Specialty practice. Shawn began his career with another leading executive search firm and for over eight years directed the CPA and Financial Management Practice as vice president. He joined Kaye/Bassman in 2000. Shawn has been consistently ranked in the top 10 in a national network of 4,000 recruiters. He has a track record of maintaining long-term recruiting partnerships and completing large-scale hiring projects and repeat search engagements with key accounts. He is currently transitioning out of his practice into a full-time leadership role with responsibilities for overall Kaye/Bassman sales leadership and training. He produced $1.6 million in search revenue in 2006. Until next month from me, enjoy this tip from the trenches from Shawn:

Remember: Recruiting Is Selling

As we continue to push forward in a candidate-driven market, there are many challenges we are all faced with in the recruiting business. The first and foremost challenge is the identification of candidates and gaining commitment to consider career moves.

This is a candidate-driven market, and the more candidates you can contact, develop rapport with, and gain commitment to interview, the more placements you will close.

Here are a few ideas that can help you CLOSE MORE SALES:

1. Think Like the Candidate

Your recruiting process should be a mirror image of the way that candidates want to buy from you, rather than a model of how your firm would prefer you to sell. The best sales skills in the world are useless when you are trying to sell the wrong way to the wrong people in the wrong organization. Do you truly understand your customers? Think like the candidate, role-play as if you were being contacted by a recruiter. What do you think you would want to hear or know about before you committed to sharing your information, sending your résumé, or agreeing to interview with a client? Now think what THEY would want to hear about or know as well!

2. Marketing “You”

Develop a program that allows you to keep in regular contact with your candidate base, and I mean now! Have you developed an email campaign to describe current searches and also highlight market trends or compensation issues? If you read news articles about your industry that are relevant to a candidate, do you forward a PDF of the information to those candidates? How often is “your” name in front of the “candidate community,” and what “marketing of you” are you doing to penetrate the candidate market deeper? Develop a two-minute overview of who you are, what you do, and why someone should consider talking to you. Rehearse it – practice generates confidence and confidence generates more SALES.

3. Mission Accomplished

When you are engaged to fill a new search, you must clearly determine your process before you begin. You must work with diligence, expedience, and thoroughness in searching the RIGHT targets, and you must work toward your objective each day until you have at least three candidates presented to the client for the specified position. The number one mistake recruiters make is the lack of preparation, and the second-largest mistake is not recruiting until you have enough qualified candidates before you move on to another assignment. AVOID THESE MISTAKES AND WORK AS LONG AS IT TAKES AND AS HARD AS YOU MUST TO HONOR YOUR COMMITMENTS TO YOUR CLIENTS AND CANDIDATES!

4. Solutions

Are you solution oriented? When you contact a prospect, do you sell features and features only? Do you offer solutions rather than simply vague benefits? Think SOLUTIONS! Features tell and solutions sell!

5. Stop Thinking and Start Selling

Be in the moment, when the phone rings, when a prospect answers the phone – stop thinking and start living in the moment. Allow your training and instincts to act upon the sales call. The more time you spend engaged in selling, the better off you are going to be. A practice player is someone who practices more than they engage in the selling process itself. If you want to be a great recruiter, SELL, SELL, SELL as often as possible. Focus on the desired end objective of every phone call and then conduct your call in support of that objective. Begin with the end in mind!

Nothing is fully learned until it is fully applied. Business is good if you make it good. GO GET IT!

A personal note: I must again thank you all for your overwhelmingly positive emails, phone calls, and rave reviews about our first candidate DVD series. We just filmed seven hours of material for our new client/marketing DVD series, and it is even better than our currently available candidate one! I also look forward to meeting many of you at the upcoming Fordyce Conference, which looks to be one of the best recruiting learning opportunities in recent history. I hope you will derive value from my presentation at the conference. As promised, every article will open with a topic related to enhancing the skills necessary for leading a search firm and close with a topic related to enhancing the skills necessary for running a search practice.

Jeff Kaye is president and CEO of Kaye/Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former Management Recruiter National Recruiter of the year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility, and has also been named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. Kaye/Bassman has retained 100% of this group in 2006 and 2007 to date. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtraining.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also send Jeff an email with a thought or question to jtk@nlrtraining.com.

First, thank you all for your overwhelmingly positive emails. As promised, every article will open with a topic related to enhancing the skills necessary for leading a search firm and close with a topic related to enhancing the skills necessary for running a search practice. That said, I begin with an issue that every search firm leader faces, as does every client! Many businesses refer to their people as a precious asset. Well, in a search firm, our people are our only assets, and hiring the right people is the single most important step of leadership. I have seen hundreds of behavioral-profiling tools, interview forms, and qualification summaries including soft skills such as hardworking, dedicated, driven, empathetic, charismatic, persuasive, driven, bright, and articulate person with high integrity, self-confidence, and self-discipline. Doesn’t every hiring manager want those things? The key is defining what those words mean to that hiring manager or, in your case, to you.

As an example, one hiring manager may define “hardworking” as working 10-hour days or a 50-hour week. Another may define it as 12-hour days or a 70-hour week. The person in the former example may be getting an award for his work ethic, while another, in the latter example, may be getting fired for the same behavior. What is important is to quantify these soft skills in the context of your office or culture and then use them, along with the candidate’s background and technical skills, to create a match.

The most important of all the soft skills we look for is “passion.” We define passion as simply “a burning desire to succeed” or “a single-mindedness in pursuit of any goal.” In other words, to stop me, you will have to kill me! It is a competitive drive that manifests itself as what we call passion. To paraphrase Calvin Coolidge, “The world is full of educated derelicts, and persistence alone is omnipotent.”

When passion meets persistence, the result is honoring commitments. If a recruiter commits to a client that she will have three candidates to them by Friday and it is Thursday and she has only one, what would she do? If the answer is not “whatever it takes,” then this person does not have what we need. “Whatever it takes” should mean that this person will be here until 10:00 or 11:00 tonight, and come in at 6:00 the next morning, and will leave as many voicemails as it takes to increase the odds of fulfilling her commitment. Otherwise, she will collapse at her desk trying. Sound harsh? Perhaps, but it is the commitment that was made.

To us, honoring commitments is the bedrock of trust and integrity. If an organization makes commitments to its associates and then fails to honor them, we consider this a breach of corporate integrity. If the leaders of that organization do not immediately rectify and apologize for such an integrity breach, it is our belief that the associate should then leave for a competing organization that models corporate integrity. I share this with every new associate at Kaye/Bassman.

Conversely, we consider a lack of associates’ honoring their commitments as a personal integrity breach. As a result, I would expect them to course-correct immediately and apologize to the person adversely affected by the failed commitment, or I would ask them to reconsider their desire to remain at a firm that allows its associates to make commitments and not honor them.

Whether you call it passion, commitment, dedication, or integrity, what is important is not the word itself but the ability to hire people who embody the essence of the word. People can demonstrate this passion only when they feel that their work has a meaningful purpose and is reflective of their personal values. Many people are interested in success, but interest and commitment are not the same thing. As in the case of a ham-and-eggs breakfast, in which the chicken is involved but the pig is committed!!!

Hiring for our business is much harder than for our clients because we rarely hire people who are doing exactly what we want done at one of our competitors. We must use every tool available to help us in our interviewing and hiring. However, it all starts with defining what you value and attracting people who share those values. Once that is done, you can refer back to the information in this article.

So, the next time you convey a series of soft skills that you and everyone else wants, ask yourself, “What do these words mean to me and our firm?” The next time you take a search assignment and the hiring manager begins to rattle off the same typical soft skills, ask him or her, “What does (insert word) look like from your perspective or your firm’s?”

In regard to running an effective search practice, this tip (below) comes from Greg Zoch. Greg has been in search for more than a decade and joined Kaye/Bassman five years ago after running a firm in Denver. In 2006, Greg generated search revenue of $1.2 million with one researcher. His fees ranged from $15,000 to over $250,000! I chose Greg’s tip because I think he models the very passion and commitment I just described above. It is no coincidence that he leads virtually every partner at our firm in both phone time (4+ hours daily after 10 years in search) and W-2 income!

Don’t Take Another Job Order Without Asking These Four Questions

Wow, you have a great job order (JO)! You cleared your fee and know everything about the position. You have a good rapport with the hiring authority. You are excited and ready to start making calls and “fill this puppy” quickly! Everything is set, right? Maybe yes – maybe no!

We spend a lot of time and attention on getting details from and understanding the motivation of our candidates. It will serve us well to also consider taking a more “candidate-focused” approach to understanding our clients’ needs. Let me explain.

We understand that people are motivated by how their life is being affected by their job. We understand that the best way to approach people is by inquiring about, focusing on, and satisfying their needs and wants. Satisfy needs and you’ll have a robust practice.

I think we often forget that our hiring authorities are people, too. The JO you want to fill should have a direct effect on them personally in some significant way. I want to know how much it affects them. Before I invest a few days to weeks of my life in a search, I want to know if having the position open is really a problem. And if so, how big a problem it is. The bigger the problem, the greater the motivation to follow my advice and a process that will assure success. I have never found anyone willing to spend a lot of time and effort to solve an inconsequential problem.

To identify how committed a client is, I make sure I ask four questions, in this order:

1. How long has the position been open?

- There seems to be a direct relationship between how long a position has been open and how urgent/important filling it is to a hiring authority.
- However, beware of positions that have been open for more than six months. They may have become accustomed to doing the work themselves and become desensitized to the pain of having it unfilled.

2. How is the work being done now?

- I always want to hear that they are paying big bucks for a contractor or overtime and that the work is indeed being done.
- I like it more when the hiring authority has to do the work themselves. That way they really feel the pain.
- Beware of “I don’t know.” No pain, no problem, no urgency – no fee.

3. What is it costing you to have the position open?

- Of course, if they are paying big bucks for a contractor or overtime, you want to quantify that dollar amount and quote it back to them in total “annual dollars.” Making it larger than a monthly cost puts it into perspective and reduces fee-sensitivity.
- Be sure to probe for non-monetary costs. What is it costing them personally? Working evenings and weekends and missing family outings can be huge in terms of their costs – and pain.
- Perhaps not having this position filled will cost the hiring authority’s department revenue and ultimately his/her bonus. Now that’s a biggie!
- Generally, the more the personal costs, the greater the pain. The greater the pain, the more they’ll work your way.

4. How will your life be once it’s filled?

- This is where you really want to hear a deep sigh and a response that indicates “relief.” Listen to what is said and how it is said.
- If they cannot define this, refer to the personal costs they have stated in #3 above and how it would feel to eliminate those costs – in personal terms.

Empathize with them whenever they express pain and make sure they know you care and can make the pain go away, “if . . .” Then propose a process to get it done. If there is enough pain, and you’ll hear it if there is, they will follow your lead.

Asking these questions very early in the process of taking a JO and carefully listening to their answers will help you get comfortable with how emotionally committed your client will be to the process and to you. Without a strong commitment, you are gambling your time and, if working on a contingency basis, could be working for free.

Jeff Kaye is president and CEO of Kaye/Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former MRI Recruiter of the Year has helped build the largest single-site search firm in the country, with annual search revenue in excess of $18 million. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility and has been named the best company to work for in Texas in 2006 and 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30 search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400,000. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtraining.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also send Jeff an email with a thought or question to jtk@nlrtraining.com.

Hello, I am Jeff Kaye, the CEO of Kaye/Bassman International and, recently formed, Next Level Recruiting Training. It is a true honor to write the first of many future articles for Paul Hawkinson and The Fordyce Letter. To become a columnist in The Wall Street Journal is what every accomplished business reporter strives to achieve. In the recruiting world, it is The Fordyce Letter. With that honor comes great responsibility. The responsibility is to ensure that the material presented is fresh, educational, and ideally inspirational! A reader should expect new perspectives developed from proven success, not repackaged or stale content. It is from this foundation that I accept this challenge and make a commitment to exceed your expectations.

When I started in the recruiting industry in 1989, I was initially exposed to a number of trainers and programs offering their then current best practices in an industry that was really still in its infancy. While many of the fundamentals in this field have not changed, there are always new ways of executing on those fundamentals.

Every few years a training “guru” emerges with some new insights and some new twists on old concepts. This is what keeps our industry fresh! However, there tend to be some unfortunate outcomes. The first is that many of the perspectives shared are based on a training perspective that his or her way is the best way (or sometimes even the only right way) versus simply one possible approach. Training should teach many different approaches, methodologies, and best practices that al-low the reader/student to select the best approach appropriate for his or her competency, comfort, industry served, geography covered, and function and level handled. To teach a person who places construction superintendents in Alabama to deliver the same style recruiting presentation as someone who places investment bankers in New York is arrogant at least, and dangerous at worst.

The other issue when a new trainer “hits” the scene is staying power. Once we have heard their “best” we tend to yearn for someone else’s “15 minutes of fame.” Next Level Recruiting Training is committed not only to presenting multiple approaches and techniques but also by many other successful practitioners.

A good question that needs to be answered is, “Why me and why Kaye/Bassman and Next Level Recruiting Training?” What is it about our track record that gives us credibility?I will share some accomplishments not to boast but merely to provide anyone interested with a reasonable level of comfort and trust. The story is as follows:

I joined Management Recruiters International (MRI) in 1989 and in 1990 was named the Rookie of the Year (Southwest Region), #2 Rookie of the Year (nationally), and Top 10 Account Executive (recruiter) in a field of over 4,000. In 1991, my second full year and during a nice recession, I was named #1 Account Executive of the Year (nationally) at the age of 25. In 1992, I was #2 Account Executive of the Year (nationally) and soon after became a producing manager (player/coach), and was named Producing Manager of the Year. In 1995, I turned my practice over to two very capable recruiters who today are partners in our firm. From 1995 to 2005, our single site office in Dallas, Texas grew from under $2 million to over $12 million in 100% organic growth search revenue. We became the largest MRI office and frequently posted revenue twice that of #2. We became #1 in the 90′s and held that ranking until our very amicable departure in 2005. To this day, we remain close with many from MRI and celebrate this as a very important part of our history. From 2005 until 2007, and still a single site firm, we grew an additional 50% and just crossed $18 million in search fee revenue. There are 30 people who have generated in excess of $400,000 in search revenue in a calendar year at our firm. In 2006, we had 100% retention of this group and since 2000 we have had 95+% retention of this same group. Eleven of those 30 people have generated in excess of $1 million dollars in search revenue in a calendar year. Most of them have done so though various team models involving researchers but some have done this solo. Our company has been named The Best Place to Work by The Dallas Business Journal for four consecutive years and The Best Company to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine for two. We have won the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility and the Hearts of Hope Award by the Volunteer Center of North Texas for our charitable efforts. We specialize in 14+ different industries and place at virtually all levels within specific verticals of those industries. We are 99% permanent search and utilize an approach we pioneered referred to as Client Focused Searchâ„¢. Simply put, we customize our search process, relationship, and financial terms around the unique needs and expectations for each individual client and search. We have been published in virtually every national magazine and major newspaper and have appeared on programs ranging from CNN and CNBC to Fox and CBS. This is the last you will read about what we have done in the past!!! Again, I share this merely to demonstrate credibility. Our true test will be in the quality of products that we produce and the services that we offer. To that end, we recently released the first of our ongoing DVD recruiting training series that focuses on candidate identification and recruitment and have received rave reviews from dozens of respected industry veterans.

Some have asked why we want to share so much. For starters, in recruiting there is no secret sauce! Our industry is highly fragmented and filled with high dominant, ego-driven persuaders with a high sense of urgency and low tolerance for conformity who love giving opinions!!! What could be more fun? I do not believe that Next Level Recruiting Training can revolutionize our industry but I do believe that we will achieve our vision of elevating the overall perception of the search industry by improving the competencies and capabilities of all search professionals, both within search firms and internal recruiting departments.

In keeping with this objective I would like to provide you with a discovery that I believe could make a very positive impact on your firm and close out this first article with a tip from the trenches to help you enhance your recruiting skills.

The profound discovery occurred in 1995 when I transitioned out of my personal production practice into a leadership role at our firm. The history of our firm was like that of many others. Many people were hired. Most people failed. Some did OK and a few succeeded who funded our continued attempted growth. Those who succeeded loved the accolades and the riches of success — for a few years anyway. What soon followed were the cries of “Thanks for hiring me and training me but the value proposition associated with being here is just not worth it any more,” “I want 100%, not 30% or 40% or 50%,” and “If I had my own firm . . .” Some left testing non-competes or solicitations, some changed markets, and some worked out amicable arrangements for departure. No matter what, they were gone! I used to think the model of search firms was to go work for a good firm, get trained, and leave and start your own firm (maybe with the same franchise, if relevant). Then, hire people to be recruiters to supplement your own production. They then leave and do to you exactly what you did to someone else when you started your firm! This must be why even at a giant like MRI there is an average of about four people per office in a field of 1,000+ offices. I heard a stat once in the industry that there are 16,000 firms with 32,000 recruiters, which is 2:1. Many people recognize this, which is why many of you remain a solo office producer. Who needs those headaches?!

When I moved into leadership I remembered that I had built my recruiting career on client retention. If I could really SERVE my clients well, by working with them in the way that was best for THEM, then they would always use me no matter if they needed to hire twenty people in a year or just one! If I could keep those clients and just keep adding a few good ones each year, my practice would grow. If I could not, then I would simply trade one good old client for another good new client, if I was lucky, and maintain rather than grow. So, I decided to SERVE those whom I hired, and train them the same way I did my external clients. Abbott Labs was replaced by Betty Wong and Christine Allen. Bristol Myers soon became Bill Baker and Mike Kittelson. The list goes on and on. I had to SERVE them the same way that I served those companies that paid my fees. To do so, I determined that there were THREE main pillars that I needed to provide. The first was RELATIONSHIPS. I needed to develop relation-ships with these people so that we could all grow personally and spiritually as well as professionally and financially. In turn, this created a culture where people GOT to go to work rather than HAD to go to work. There are dozens of tips I will share in future articles on this pillar. The second pillar was INFRASTRUCTURE. No recruiter should ever be able to say, “I would have been more successful had they only provided me with more____ or a _____!” I believed that no one should ever be able to fill in that blank. Computers, phones, office, training, models for growing a business within a business, etc., are all part of this pillar. The third and final one was Economics. I needed to create pro-grams that allowed people to earn more money by being part of us rather than by being on their own. Compensation, benefits, equity programs, perks, etc. are all part of this pillar. I view these three pillars as fires that need constant stoking. “Wood” needs to be constantly added to each of these three fires in the form of new programs, approaches, and efforts. I will amplify on this issue by sharing specific recommendations in future articles. Making a positive impact in the hiring and retention of your office is one of two goals, not only for this column, but also for our entire new organization. The other is clearly to enhance your skills in recruiting so you can quite simply: BILL MORE! In that regard I close out this first (and longer than normal, I promise) column with a tip form the recruiting trenches from Susan Fishlock. Susan joined Kaye/Bassman in 1995. She generated search fee revenue (billed and cashed) of over $1 million dollars in 2006 with one researcher (who was hired in the middle of the year). Her tip follows:

As search consultants, all of us have had experiences in dealing with HR departments. Some experiences have been good; others, not so good. In our position, it is imperative to be able to convincingly convey to an HR manager the value of using search versus handling an assignment in-house.

Recently, I was in conversation with a Senior VP of HR for a major banking institution who discussed an internal hiring strategy for bringing senior level lenders to their organization. The individual hiring managers within the bank were asked by the president to develop lists of individuals at competitor banks that would be likely candidates. The following is an excerpt from a letter I wrote outlining compelling reasons for using our firm over their internal recruiters and why we would have a significantly higher success rate.

1. It is not merely enough to simply contact potential candidates. Is it fair to expect an HR recruiter who has such diverse responsibilities to have the level of expertise necessary to make a presentation that is compelling enough for a qualified candidate who is not looking for a position to consider a move? Will that individual know enough about the candidate’s present company to provide comparisons between your bank and the candidate’s bank? Will the HR recruiter be able to “dig” into motivations, aspirations, career goals, etc. to have the candidate even contemplate a job change?

2. When an HR person from your bank calls a potential candidate, a vast number of candidates are fearful of confidentiality. They are not familiar with the caller and immediately have apprehension. Many lenders are aware of me in this market because we have had conversations previously and, in many cases, multiple conversations. There is a level of confidence in sharing information with me as a third party. Many candidates will say “no” to a call coming from your recruiter, when they actually mean “yes” because of fear of reprisal.

3. What happens when a potential candidate says “no” for various reasons? Will the HR person know how to turn this around to convince the candidate that some of the candidate’s perceptions may be incorrect? I have been dealing with your organization for a considerable time now, having many discussions with executives about dealing with negative perceptions in the marketplace. I have been able to turn a “no” into a “yes” in many situations, and a number of those individuals are now happily employed with your bank.

4. When an individual says “no,” how hard will the HR recruiter push to engage the candidate in dialogue? Do you even want your HR recruiter viewed as aggressive by your competition? This is an extremely candidate-driven market now, and banks are in a frenzy for top talent. Persistence is the key. Will the HR recruiter simply mark the candidate off the list, or will he/she make another call to the same candidate in a few days? What will the HR recruiter say to differentiate your organization in the marketplace? The top candidates in the market receive calls frequently. They are not going to make a move just to make a move. As a veteran in the search field, I can bring the level of expertise needed in the market today.

5. How willingly will a potential candidate reveal his/her personal information, including true motivation for making a move, troublesome issues within his/her workplace or home life, etc., to an HR person? Will your recruiter even ask questions relative to these issues? Candidate responses to these types of direct questions are clear, early, indicators as to whether we can “land” a particular candidate. I do this on a regular basis and am not at all apprehensive about asking tough questions.

6. If you engage me on this project, there is a fixed cost associated with bringing top talent to your organization. If you don’t, consider the cost of filling your positions with a qualified candidate versus the “best” qualified candidate. The better the candidate, the harder to recruit; there is a higher level of competency needed to recruit the top-tiered candidate. Basically, not all fishermen are the same. Fishermen have different levels of expertise. Some bring in the big fish while others can’t.

7. Since the HR recruiter will be getting voicemail most of the time, how compelling will his/her voicemail presentation be? What is the likelihood of a return phone call? How persistent will the recruiter be in making contact with the candidate? It is infrequent that I do not receive a return phone call. I would say my average is 95%+.

8. When receiving a call from an internal recruiter, many candidates are paranoid that it could be an internal loyalty check. In other words, they think someone within their own organization is trying to obtain information about whether they are considering looking elsewhere.

9. How well does the HR recruiter know your geographical marketplace (institutions, practices, issues)? Does he/she have the expertise to engage in complex dialogue with senior level candidates?

10. HR recruiters are generalists, placing all types of individuals within banks, including people in administration, finance, retail, etc. My background and expertise is in recruiting potential candidates that are primarily associated with commercial lending who earn salaries of $90,000+. Also, HR recruiters are involved in “passive” recruiting versus “active” recruiting. In addition to their responsibilities in recruiting, they are also involved with many other facets of HR, including EEOC, benefits, etc. It is unrealistic to expect them to be specialists in recruiting individuals within this targeted search in commercial lending.

11. By hiring our firm, you will have consistency of the message in the marketplace from one person (me).

12. Will the internal recruiter be able to obtain a number of referrals as a result of his/her presentation?

13. Our firm can handle this assignment in a very timely manner. My report will be 95% complete within ten working days.

Jeff Kaye is President and CEO of Kaye/Bassman International and Next Level Recruiting Training. This former Management Recruiter National Recruiter of the year has helped build the largest single site search firm in the country with annual search revenue in excess of $18M. His firm has won national awards for philanthropy and workplace flexibility as well as having been named the best company to work for in the state of Texas in 2006 & 2007. Kaye/Bassman has retained over 30+ search professionals whose annual production exceeds $400k. The same training that helped build this successful firm is now available through Next Level Recruiting Training. To learn how to take your practice and business to the NEXT LEVEL, please visit www.nlrtraining.com to view their product and service offerings. You can also send Jeff an email with a thought or question to jtk@nlrtraining.com.