Amybeth Hale
on Feb. 28, 2011
In a recent blog post by Jessica Lee, Senior Employment Manager at APCO Worldwide, a privately held, global public affairs and strategic strategic communications firm, she laments about some ‘shady’ business practices she has been seeing as of late from some third-party recruiting professionals:
“…how am I to respond and react to a headhunter/recruiting agency who I know has tried to recruit our company’s talent away who then reaches out to me to try to solicit our business?”
Amybeth Hale
on Feb. 10, 2011
Last week, MRINetwork released a statement discussing the momentum that contract staffing has been gaining lately:
The contingent employment industry is traditionally a leading indicator of post-recession economic conditions and a reliable predictor of future employment trends. Cautious employers hire temps first, hedging their bets on the recovery, recognizing it is easier to scale back if demand doesn’t materialize. This cycle is no different, say the contract staffing experts at MRINetwork, except this time employers plan to maintain a larger portion of their workforce as contract employees even once business recovers.
This is something that we, and many of you, have made note of in the last several months. Tim Ozier, director of contract staffing at MRINetwork, states, “During the recession, employers learned to refocus on their core business, realizing that a smaller core workforce that was well trained and technologically astute was more effective and nimble than their pre-recession staff. As firms emerge from the recession they are, of course, beginning to hire full time workers but they are also seeing a larger role for highly skilled contract workers who are engaged on an as-needed basis.”
Good business owners observe market trends and learn to adapt their business to meet the needs of their customers. But do you think this is a staying trend, or simply a typical gun-shy reaction to the supposed end of a recession?
Tim Honn
on Feb. 9, 2011
In President Obama’s recent State of the Union address he said, “We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.” He’s 100% correct, but is the United States prepared to focus its education system on building tomorrow’s generation of engineers and scientists so it can “out-innovate” and “out-build” its competition?
Before you ask, “What this has to do with recruiting?” consider that if America does not invest in education and innovation we as professional recruiters may not have the quality candidates to recruit and place with our clients in the future. This means a potential and significant reduction in fees!
John Hollon
on Jan. 26, 2011
There are lots of kudos today for the tenor and tone of President Obama’s State of the Union speech, particularly his call for a bipartisan effort to build the economy and grow more jobs so America can can continue to lead the global economy.
That’s what American workers want to hear, of course, but they want the president to do a lot more than that, according to a new workplace survey that zeros in on the specifics people feel are needed to actually drive our economic growth.
According to a survey by Adecco Staffing US, nearly three-quarters of Americans (73 percent) believe that President Obama should change current tax policies to better encourage businesses to hire.
In addition, more than 68 percent of respondents want businesses to be offered more incentives or tax breaks to encourage them to hire. Further, 67 percent would like to see the government eliminate unnecessary regulations that discourage businesses from hiring in the first place.
Amybeth Hale
on Jan. 14, 2011
Do you have clients who ask crazy questions when interviewing your candidates? Here’s a link to a post highlighting some of the most bizarre questions companies have asked job-seekers, 15 Ridiculously Hard Job Interview Questions From Top Employers Like Google, Goldman Sachs. Below are my personal favorites –
Amybeth Hale
on Jan. 11, 2011
If you’re a sports fan (okay, even if you’re not) chances are you’ve heard about the University of Pittsburgh’s newly hired head football coach, Michael Haywood, being arrested on domestic battery charges on New Year’s Eve. He was later fired by Pitt, after serving just over two weeks as the head football coach.
What you may not have heard is that the search firm responsible for finding Haywood, Parker Executive Search of Atlanta, GA, has accepted responsibility for the recommendation for Pitt to hire Haywood.
Amybeth Hale
on Jan. 7, 2011
Would you hire this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxtRCXhi5E0
His qualifications include:
He needs:
He will:
Have any of you ever received a voicemail like this?
Robert Godden
on Jan. 6, 2011
As a recruiting professional, I get a little tired of reading the same article at the end each year. You know:
“Think back. Did you hit your targets? Did you work as hard as you could? Did you get all your paperwork done? Did you get a gold star from the person one rung up the greasy corporate ladder from you? Can you work harder next year?”
All reasonable questions – IF you went into this business in order to make a stack of money. Of course, it’s good practice for the January performance assessment season, but seriously, only useful if you are totally focused on your career as a means to an end.
Now, I’m not a ‘leftie’ or ‘anti-money’ – I just don’t find it inspiring; so I can’t be bothered comparing my performance to the “ideal” performance to make maximum dollars. It also makes the assumption that only hard work leads to success, when there’s a lot more to succeeding than just the hours put in. (I dare you to tell your boss that)
I like to think that we’re all in this industry to help people.
Amybeth Hale
on Dec. 27, 2010
Lots of attention is paid to good client relationship development, but how much time do you spend working on how you are perceived by your current and potential candidates?
Yes, it is important (arguably more important) to work more on those client relationships, because the clients are the ones who pay the bills. But since candidates are your “product,” and the only “product” in existence that has opinions and typically isn’t afraid to share them, making sure you are seen in a good light by your candidates is also quite important.
Lori Fenstermaker
on Dec. 8, 2010
Editor’s note: Lori Fenstermaker responded to my inquiry last month for 2011 goals and thoughts on recruiting industry trends with the following. I felt it was a strong statement, especially during the holidays, and worth of sharing in a post all its own.
My goal both professionally and personally [in 2011] is to simply say “No” when I should.
I am the kind of person that wants to help everyone and everything, so often that I feel like I run a non-profit sometimes for all the free work I do. Career counselor, resume service, online profile helper, giving names of people someone else will make a placement fee on, the list goes on and on. And as a parent, signing up to help with things I know I don’t have time to do. Don’t get me wrong: I like helping and doing my part but not at the cost of my loved ones and my paying clients. When you say yes to everything it really sucks up your “focused” time and there is no replacing that.
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