Editor’s note: Brian Kevin Johnston’s article was the most popular article on The Fordyce Letter in 2011. It originally ran in March.

I “fired” a candidate during the interview/offer process, and I am 100% convinced the only reason I still earned the fee was because… (are you listening?) I emotionally “checked out” of the torment and refocused my efforts on the things in my business I could control, which were sourcing and recruiting candidates for other searches on which my firm was engaged. After nearly fourteen years as a third-party recruiter, I have learned a thing or two about candidate or client control… IT DOES NOT EXIST!

If another “old skool” recruiter tries to sell you an audio program, seminar, or coaching program for which the foundation is “Applicant/Client control,” RUN FOR THE HILLS! Unless, of course, you recruit dinosaurs. The “shift” is real, and I strongly urge you recognize the signs; however that is another post…

Please understand — I love this Industry, almost as much as I love being a business owner and ultimately controlling my own destiny. You see, as recruiters we are blessed beyond comprehension, especially when we invest in ourselves and our employees to ensure we keep “becoming” better stewards to this industry. To those who truly love this business, you are my heroes!!! THANKS FOR YOUR INSPIRATION…

As Gary Vaynerchuk states in his remarkable book, CRUSH IT, “The average U.S. salary is around $40-50k. You can earn that doing a job you love or a job you hate. Please choose love!”

Last I checked, my virtual assistant is on target to earn the average U.S. salary, and the “average” recruiter with whom I mastermind or network is making 5-10 times the average U.S. salary… Yep, we’re blessed indeed!

I wonder if you have truly discovered how powerful this industry is? I also wonder if you have truly discovered how powerful you are with your words, and your actions? (BLEEPING POWERFUL!)

Knowing this, however, there are only two things in your business life you can control:

1. Your mental state (attitude)
2. Your activity (calls/submissions/meetings, etc.)

This, in my view, is what separates the top 1% in their niche, from the “herd.” When you fully realize what this does for you, as it did when I “fired” my candidate midstream, you are on your way to a “recruiting confidence” that 99% of your peers might never fully manifest on their desk.

When I consciously separated (“shifted”) my emotions from the candidate, the universe subconsciously handled the rest for me… (Kind of hokey, but I believe this to be true from my experience.) In contrast, had I been 25 years young and in my “rookie year” of recruitment when this happened, there is no question in my mind I would have lost this placement from forcing the issue. Again, this game is in your mind.

As third-party recruiters, we love “action lists,” so I have compiled a list of characteristics you should be aware of when you are considering “firing” a candidate midstream. Business aside, I consider this candidate an acquaintance, and I am very grateful for making the match for many reasons, however he would have won an award for his shocking behavior during the interview process.

Please consider the following:

Complaining: This is a “red flag,” and is usually ascertained in the first conversation or meeting but some start complaining very close the point when they have to make a decision/offer. (Fear) In this instance, my candidate complained about the fact that the “feedback was taking too long,” or “they said they would let you know by today, that is very unprofessional.” Welcome to Corporate America… “Hurry up and wait.”

Incompatible: Let’s face it: your “core identity” is not always going to match your candidates, so be aware of this, and perhaps use “pacing/mirroring” (NLP= Neuro-Linguistic Programming) techniques to counter any issues. (Match their body and language style) The good thing about third-party recruiters vs. corporate recruiters is that we can control whom we work with in most cases. I have had drinks with this particular candidate on a day trip to Northern CA, and I like him as a person, but when it came to the business of interviewing, he was a JACKASS!

Game Changers: You clearly state your intentions upfront (ex. interview process, salary negotiation, etc.), and low and behold your candidate wants “create their own terms,” on the fly… NOPE!!! My circumstance was such that the candidate would say one thing to me, then turn around and do an entirely different thing. For example, he set up a meeting with the client without even telling me. I am open to this, but I’d rather keep the communication lines open so I can assist him a earning what he wants, namely a new boss!

Trust: This is huge piece and straight forward. If they lie today, they will lie tomorrow. The key is transparency/authenticity upfront, to set the tone for all interactions. (Two-way street) I do believe my candidate trusted me, because I took the time to listen and meet with him on many occasions, but I became nervous about his saying one thing, and actually doing an entirely different thing.

Unrealistic Expectations: If a Principal Test Engineer on average earns $120k and your candidate wants $150k, a parking spot, and a sign-on bonus, they live in the land of “unicorns and rainbows.” Note, this is/was a serious issue for my candidate I “fired” last month. Typically, I have found it is something else, like insecurity, or a HUGE MORTGAGE IN SILICON VALLEY, they can’t afford. NOT your problem!

Clueless: How many PhD’s have you encountered that can do long division in their sleep, or code a trillion lines of code in seconds, but when it comes to “asking for the job”, they stumble and fumble like a child? Careful with these types, a candidate like this can negatively affect your client relations for the simple fact that expectations are high upfront. My candidate worked for a huge data storage employer in Silicon Valley, and they historically pay their people very well. But in the startup world, especially in this day and age with cash being tight, you MUST get your candidates to see the bigger picture in terms of future potential. (Take Money Off The Table)

Money, Money, Money: Like I stated above, when candidates are obsessed with the money questions early on, buyer beware! This is in my view a huge “red flag” for issues on the back end. (Offer stage)

Communication: Should the communication styles be strained, consider having a “coming to Jesus” conversation with your candidate. I did with mine, and I ultimately “disengaged.” By taking action over my thoughts, feelings/emotions, and actions with other relevant searches in my business, I ultimately earned $27k on that search assignment. I asked the tough questions upfront, and clearly in the end, it helped my client achieve what is wanted, namely to take away test engineering pains!

Arrogance/Rudeness: We all come from different backgrounds, cultures, and socioeconomic conditions, however in my view, we are all created equal and at no time should your candidate belittle you, your desk, or your firm. This goes both ways, and when a candidate who is a stretch for your requirement calls the office, it is important to still treat them with dignity and respect. My candidate made occasional statements made to me in jest, such as, “All you recruiters are the same,“ or “All you want to do is close the deal Brian,” which I took as offensive at times and ultimately is the reason I “checked out” midstream (yet still closed the deal!).

In conclusion, YOUR feelings don’t matter in the end, when it comes to making placements, so don’t allow your ego to drive behavior like I did when I was a 25 year old “rookie.” Even if you attempt to control everything, sometimes stuff (or a placement) just happens, simply because of the “match” between your candidate and client. What I believe ultimately matters are the feelings of the client, who is paying your bills. The recruiting game is about solving problems for your customers. Therefore, you can fool yourself into thinking that you control the situation, but ultimately you can’t control everything in the hiring process. (Unless you are an “old skool” dinosaur recruiter)

I wonder if you have discovered just how much revenue you can make and time you will save by “firing” your problem candidates?

This week we are counting down some of the most popular articles from FordyceLetter.com in 2011. We hope you enjoy revisiting these articles as we look ahead to 2012!

Creating a compelling cover letter that will highlight your candidate’s expertise and entice hiring managers to make contact for an interview is a skill that every good recruiter must have. I have several close colleagues who are recruiters; they continuously ask me for advice on how to create really compelling cover letters. I thought I would share some of the strategies that have proven most effective when crafting a compelling cover for candidate submittals.

1. Keep it short and sweet: While it may be tempting to provide a lot of detail to illustrate your candidate’s skills, hiring managers are a busy bunch. They want the nuts and bolts. Review your job order and provide only as much detail as is necessary to prove your candidate is interview-worthy.
2. Proofread your note: While you will most likely be sending your cover letter via email, which is a relatively informal platform, it is still imperative that you use good sentence structure, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation. All of your interactions, whether they are on- or off-line should be handled with care. No errors! They will wonder if your candidate is really all that and a bag of chips if you can’t even take the time to submit a cover note that is error free.
3. Focus on accomplishments: Spend time covering both specific skills as well as your candidate’s impressive record of achievement and professional results. Highlight revenue generating accomplishments, leadership, corporate or departmental growth, and other key factors. Immediately let the hiring manager know what a valuable asset your candidate is. Use a few bullets here for readability.
4. Discuss the fit: Address the reasons why the candidate is a good fit for the company. If the candidate has certain soft skills that blend well with the corporate culture, include these in your comments. Bring the candidate’s personality to life. Let the hiring manager know you are particularly impressed with the candidate’s business acumen or personal style.
5. Ask for the sale: Suggest that you would like to set up a time to have the two of them speak. Express your feelings about the potential fit and include the candidate’s availability for interviews. This is a call to action. Without it, your cover letter is not truly complete.

Below is a cover letter that has been adapted for use in the recruiting process. It is a targeted version of the initial cover letter created for use by the candidate in a direct submittal.

Hiring Manager Name

Hiring Manager Title

Re: Joe Smith

Joe Smith is a C-Level biotechnology sales and marketing executive. He has 12+ years’ experience in operations and team leadership with a proven history of success closing large deals in the $4M+ range. The average sales cycle he is accustomed to is approximately 6 months. Joe holds an MBA from ZYZ University.

• Joe played a key role in raising considerable VC that allowed his current company to soar from 0 to $280M in 3 years.
• He grew his previous firm, XYZ Corporation, by $38M as EVP.
• Joe was recognized by CHIBiz magazine as one of Chicago’s top 30 most influential people in healthcare.

Joe has outstanding interpersonal skills. I found him to be a solid communicator with strong subject matter expertise. I feel strongly that Joe is good potential fit for ABC Corporation. His stellar history of quota achievement combined with his leadership strength is quite impressive.

Joe is available for interview in the AM before 9 ET or after 4 PM ET Monday-Friday. Please let me know what time would be good for the two of you to speak. I can be reached at 555-555-5555 or via email at recruiter1@emailaddress.com for next steps.

Sincerely,

Recruiter Name

Recruiter Company
Recruiter Contact Info

Notice that we start by focusing on the fact that Joe meets the criteria for the role, then we provide a brief list of bulleted accomplishments. Next we discuss Joe’s soft skills; and finally we close with a call to action by asking for the interview. The cover letter is concise and to the point. It has no errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

By following this recipe when you create cover letters for your submittals, you will improve your odds of getting send outs — and ultimately, making placements.

Bravo is airing a one-hour special tonight that may do for executive headhunting what Simon Cowell did for talent shows.

In the space of 60 minutes (commercials included), Wendy Doulton dispenses such bits of advice to her six-figure job candidates as “You need to lose the cleavage,” and “You make me feel like taking a nap.”

Born in the U.S., educated in London, Doulton’s blunt, unvarnished advice is delivered, in a clipped British accent. “A résumé should be like a skirt,” she declares. “Long enough to cover the basics, but short enough to keep them interested.”

Doulton’s delivery may be all Cowell, and her bedside manner runs more to Gregory House than Marcus Welby, but she gets results. She manages the boutique headhunting firm she founded in Hollywood, Katalyst Career Group, after stints as head of talent acquisition at Yahoo Media Group and at DreamWorksSKG.

Her client list includes all the big names; Fox, Google, Amazon, Discovery, VEOH Networks, and Grey Advertising, are just a sample.

The aptly named show, “The Headhuntress,” includes what amounts to a makeover of two job seekers. One prattles on about astrology. The other admits to having appeared in porn films. Doulton turns them into candidates you would be proud to present.

Whether the show will become a Bravo series isn’t clear. Maybe it depends on how well the “interview” goes, something we could find out by monitoring #headhuntress on Twitter. Doulton will be taking questions and feedback during the broadcast tonight at that hashtag. Follow the show at @theheadhuntress.

She’ll also join Jessica Miller-Merrell of “Blogging4Jobs” at #JobHuntChat at 10 p.m. ET tonight to answer job-seeker questions.

Editor’s note: Last week, we gave you part 1 of “The Phone Rang…” Robocruiter series, “The Total Account Executive.” This week we continue this short series from Bob Marshall with part 2.

For those of you who haven’t been exposed to Robocruiter before, buckle your seatbelts.  I am going to take you on a brief flight through some of his more memorable (to me) recruitment technique snippets.  In part 2 of our journey, we will look at:

• The 10 manifestations of failure due to lack of commitment;
• The 8 tenets managers should follow to ensure success in their offices; and
• The 6 reasons why we market.

Sprinkled within these major topics, I will discuss how Robocruiter qualifies his JOs and how he achieves a 100% matching to send out ratio.

The 10 manifestations of failure due to the lack of commitment

1. Poor quality Job Orders (JOs) and Recruit Data Sheets (RDSs) – This is when our client company or our candidate refuse to give us the information we need in order to be successful in our placement activities.
2. Lack of qualifying the interview process to find out when decisions will be made – This starts with knowing when the last day is that the HM can go with the position still open.  This is the ‘drop dead’ date.  We then need to know who interviews, when, time between interviews, when the hiring decision will be made and by whom.
3. Inability to close the placement – We are afraid to close the deal because we don’t have that many deals on our hot sheet.  It is professional to close the deal just like the doctor closes the operation.
4. Lack or failure to Market or Recruit consistently – This is a process, not a series of events.  We market every day and we recruit every day.  Just as the doctor markets for new patients, we market for new clients.
5. Failure to plan – Professionals plan.  Doctors plan.  Recruiters plan.  None of us ‘wing it’.
6. Failure to close on objections – Even with the best of intentions, novelistic things happen along the way.  Just as doctors have to be flexible when their surgeries don’t go perfectly, so too do we need to be flexible in handling objections as they arise.
7. Lack of urgency – We work where there is a sense of urgency.  Indeed, we are paid, most of the time, to circumvent the time factor.
8. Lack of discipline or intensity in completing the assignment – If we don’t make a commitment to our business, we won’t have the discipline to complete our assignments.  They are not always fun, but if they were easy our clients wouldn’t need us.  Our business is pretty straightforward, but it can be very intense.
9. Lack of keeping up to date in the specialty – Would you want to go to a doctor for surgery if he was doing surgery like they did it twenty years ago?  No you would not.  So why would a client use you if you were not up to date in your specialty, in your niche?
10. Blaming others for lack of production – This is the ‘grass is always greener’ syndrome.  We must take responsibility for our own actions.

The 8 tenets managers should follow to ensure success in their offices

1. Be committed to this business – You can’t expect commitment from your AEs if you don’t make that commitment yourself.  You teach best by becoming the best role model.
2. Be capable of working the basic/practical concepts daily – AEs most respect those managers who work a desk on a daily basis.
3. Provide defined, well-planned goals for your office – Well-defined goals guide the success of an office.  You have to know where you are going in order to get there.
4. Provide advanced training for your tenured people – While the ‘Classics’ never change, the tenured AEs want more—behavioral technique (like NLP) training; advanced negotiating technique training; advanced selling skills training; etc.
5. Provide a fair and rewarding compensation plan – As long as our comp plans are fair and equitable, we won’t lose our people.
6. Set up “minimum standards of employment” – Your weakest link is your minimum acceptable standard in your office.  If you expect everyone to bill $250K per year and one AE, who remains employed, bills $150K per year, then $150K is your minimum standard of employment, no matter what you say.
7. Set a positive, enthusiastic and committed environment – We are in a sales business and attitude is key for us.  Set the tone in your office and don’t let distractions destroy it.  If an AE is not feeling well or is upset and exhibiting negative emotions, send them home.  Negative people are vexations to our spirit.
8. Be open to talk to AEs about successes and failures – These can be personal as well as professional.  Regardless, be open to communication with your AEs.

The 6 reasons why we market

1. To develop new and better JOs and client companies – By recycling the companies in our niche, we can find better JOs and client companies and higher level JOs as our trust factor grows.
2. Keeps AEs excited about their industry – When we are consistently marketing, we will upgrade and carve a special place for ourselves within our niche.
3. To become experts in the industry worked – Everyone wants to work with an ‘expert’; just have a medical problem and see where you ultimately go—not to your GP, but to a specialist who is up-to-date on the current technology that they will use to treat your infirmity.
4. To get the JO before anybody else does – ‘The early bird gets the worm’—be eager and start early. The best JOs are usually the unpublished JOs.
5. To open up other avenues; develop new business – By picking up the phone and speaking into it, you never know what will come your way.  New business comes to those who market, in many different forms.
6. To help AEs avoid blanking months – Business begets business.  On a daily basis strive to secure new JOs and new Send Outs (SOs).  Those activities, especially the SOs, will lead to placements.

Stay tuned next week for more from Robocruiter…

“The Phone Rang…” by Bob Marshall is a series that defines what we, as recruiters, do for a living. This article series ran in The Fordyce Letter over the past year and we are proud to bring you the series online. To subscribe to the print edition of The Fordyce Letter, click here.

Dear Barb:

There is a problem in our office and I have no idea how to resolve it. We send resumes, get interview times, yet no offers. This has been going on for about four months and now my cash flow is running low. I can’t afford the team to continue like this. Can you help redirect me? I am completely lost and don’t know which way to go from here onward.

We have hot specs, we get interview times, but then our candidates are not offered, but some other recruitment companies do get the offers. I am trying to establish what on earth is wrong, what are we doing wrong, what do we need to improve? We need your advice.

Eva I., Johannesburg, S. Africa 

Dear Eva:

Sorry you’re facing this problem, but I believe my answers will help you resolve this situation. You need to backfill every screened out candidate. If you start out by sending three candidates on an interview and one is screened after the second interview, you send in someone else. If someone is screened out in a third interview, you submit a new candidate. You have to cover your Job Order until an offer is extended!

Your goal should be to get two to three candidates to the final interview. What you described is going on in the US as well. We solved it by continuing to submit candidates until we received an offer. When we get two to three people in final interviews, we do get offers and have the backup candidate as well.

Clients hire the most qualified candidates. Review your current sources for candidates. Your sales team needs to constantly network for new talent and find new resources for talent. Encourage your sales team to make networking calls daily to identify new top talent! Also develop a candidate referral program where you pay some sort of referral fee for candidates who are referred and placed. Most employers want to hire individuals who are currently employed and possess the required skills, stability, and experience.

If you want to double your candidate flow today, have your recruiters gather the application forms of all the candidates they have interviewed for the past six months. Call their past (not current place) of employment and ask for them. Obviously they are not there so they will be transferred to their replacement. This person has the same skills as your candidate. You can either recruit this individual or network with them to obtain additional referrals.

Make some of these subtle changes and you problem will be solved!

Barb Bruno, CPC, CTS

Would you like to Ask Barb a question? Email her at support@staffingandrecruiting.com. Each month in The Fordyce Letter print edition, Barbara Bruno answers questions from individuals in the Recruiting Profession. We will bring you some of these Q&A responses from Barb each week on FordyceLetter.com.

Dear Barb:

I had a candidate go out on an interview for a Director level position. She is a person who has held similar roles in the past. The client had already completed a phone interview with her and was excited to meet her. After the interview with three separate people, the client was unanimous in stating there was no way they’d bring her into the organization.

Some of the things the hiring manager told me…

• Her demeanor was odd, distant, dreamy, and she sometimes had difficulty focusing on the question.
• There was a point of conflict between her and the hiring manager when he asked her to answer the same question three times and she always tried to answer a different question.
• She lacked any kind of interview technique.
• Bashed her former employers.

I spent about 45 minutes prepping her the same way I prepped two other candidates I sent to the same interview group. Those two are getting offers. If I present this as stated to the candidate I am sure she will just reject the feedback and become defensive. How would you go about delivering this feedback in a way that coaches the candidate and maintains a professional relationship between the candidate, myself, and the client?

Rebecca Y., St. Louis, MO 

Dear Rebecca:

You have to be subtle in your approach but tell her she has been screened out. Explain that you pressed for information that could help her in future interviews and found out the following:

It is my job as your Career Agent to get feedback for you – to help you. Interviewing is never easy unless you interview for a living – which you don’t.

Explain that what you are going to share is the perception and opinions of this one client. It’s not important to agree or disagree with what they say, but possibly fine tune your interview skills.

The client shared three reasons for screening you out:

1. You talked negatively about former employers  (this is almost always a knock out factor with employers)
   In the future, just refrain from any negative remarks about past employers
2. They felt you were not listening. The hiring manager asked you the same question three times and rather than answer the question that was asked you tried to answer a different question.
   He did not give me a specific example – but that is what he said.
3. You seemed distant and unfocused during the interview. It appeared to them that you had a problem focusing on the questions they were asking.
   If a questions in not clear, ask the interview to repeat the question for clarification.

 You are helping her by providing this feedback. If she does not take the constructive criticism well and change how she interviews – walk away!

Barb Bruno, CPC, CTS

Would you like to Ask Barb a question? Email her at support@staffingandrecruiting.com. Each month in The Fordyce Letter print edition, Barbara Bruno answers questions from individuals in the Recruiting Profession. We will bring you some of these Q&A responses from Barb each week on FordyceLetter.com.

Kerri, a senior technical recruiter with eleven years’ experience, has noticed that slowly but surely the requirements for the regular .NET developer and database developer positions are requiring more and different skills than she has been used to. She is finding that she does need to learn about these new tools but knows from experience that it takes a lot of her time to research. “I need information on how to validate these skills, to know if the candidates really have the skills or not,” says Kerri during a training session.

The usual research practice to learn about these skills starts with wiki search, the purchase of one or two software development beginner books (written for the developer audience), and ends with joining a number of developer user groups, only to find out that these practices are not effective and not really helping with screening. For one, the books are full of jargon and require prerequisite knowledge in technology. Second, how do online groups really help one in validating skills?

She loathes the idea of asking her client, and does not want to ask her candidates for fear of appearing ignorant of such well-known technologies. Kerri knows that to continue to be successful in her career, she needs to stay on top of her game. And this game includes learning all she needs to learn (as much as is relevant to her job) in IT to be able to successfully screen candidates and match them to her clients.

I have met many other recruiters like Kerri who want to learn how to screen and validate technical skills in order to ask the questions that make the matching process faster and more effective.

As targeted as technical screening is for recruiters, it also benefits hiring managers and candidates.

For the Hiring Manager — Technical screening done right reduces the amount of time the hiring manager spends in the screening process and makes the recruiting process a little easier. It informs the hiring manager of the recruiter’s abilities and that the recruiter is skilled in the art of screening and only sends candidates that not only match the requirements but who will fit their environment, a big differentiator in today’s recruiting market.

For the Candidate — No candidate wants to spend time going for an interview where they have a diminutive chance of being hired. When a technical recruiter performs a really-get-to-know-you technical screen (not interrogation) to find out about the candidate’s skills and abilities, the candidate feels that the recruiter is an ally who will protect his interest and represent him well to the hiring manager. This translates to a healthy candidate-to-recruiter relationship that results in referrals: a win situation for the recruiter.

For the Recruiter — The better fine-tuned the technical screening process is, the more efficient the recruiters are at matching candidates’ skills and experience to their clients. It saves time—there’s no sense reviewing, scheduling, and doing all the work involved in sending four candidates for interviews when one candidate could suffice.

It is possible to avoid the unnecessary cycles of presenting several candidates for interview who are rejected either because the job description was misunderstood or the candidate screening process was ineffective, or a combination of both.

During a training session with technical recruiters, we reviewed a job description that was posted on the recruiters’ company website. It was for a C# Developer. The job description was seeking a mid-level developer with 1-2 years development (C#, ASP.NET, SQL Server, and Web Services) and analytical experience, who also had experience in SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).

On reviewing the job description, I saw bright red flags and proceeded to explain. First, the notion that a mid-level developer would have 1-2 years experience is not entirely correct. Mid-level experience is closer to 4-6 years. The second flag is the requirement for the mid-level C# developer to have experience in SSRS and SSIS. It is very possible for a mid- level C# developer to have experience in SQL Server, but not to the extent of having experience in SSRS and SSIS. These are tools used by SQL Server Developers and Data Analysts and not necessarily C# Developers. Another flag was the term ‘Analytic’ found near the terms SSRS and SSIS, which points to the fact that this position was mismatched. I went further to say that what the hiring manager was most likely looking for was a SQL Server Developer with C# development experience and not a C# developer.

No sooner had I finished that sentence than a recruiter in the session raised his hand to inform me that not only was he privy to that particular job description but that the candidates sent to interview with the hiring manager were rejected. The hiring manager then later informed the recruiter that the requirements and title of the position were to be changed to SQL Server Developer instead of C# Developer. The hiring manager had found out during the interviews that their need was for a SQL Developer instead.

These are recruiting and interviewing cycles that could have been avoided had the recruiter understood the job description and advised the hiring manager accordingly.

As demonstrated from my personal anecdote, technical recruiters should understand the technologies in which they recruit, how they are used, and the importance to the hiring manager. While there are many ideas out there that are geared toward acquiring this knowledge, here are a few strategies that can be implemented in a typical day for a technical recruiter. These strategies, when put together, help ensure that the matching and recruiting process is accomplished in fewer cycles than it usually takes.

Technical screening involves three steps:

• Evaluate the Job Description
• Review the Resume
• Form Questions

If there is one hour allotted to the review of a technical job description, building of screening questions, and matching candidate resumes, then this time can be divided with the job description review taking over 50% of the time, resume review with 30%, and questions forming and match finding taking the rest of the 20%.The job description review is where it all starts to either come together or fall apart.

The job description review is the first and most important aspect of making a match. Once the job description is thoroughly understood, every other process becomes easier. To follow these steps, we look at a real-life job description of a SharePoint Developer.

Evaluating the Job Description

The first thing to do is to ensure that all the skill sets and technical terms are understood, i.e. what they mean and how they are used in the context of the job. The second is finding and answering all the questions that arise from the job description. These are questions that candidates may ask, for which answers must be given.

Understand all the technical terms. If there are skill sets in the job description that are not understood, it’s all too easy to ignore them. The best practice is to find information on the skills. This can be achieved by either a combination or either of two means: (a) Google—this is the quick and simple fix, or (b) RSS (Really Simple Syndication)—this is like the continuing education: requires time but well worth it.

• Using Google: Go to Google, type the word ‘Define’ and a colon then type the word you seek to understand, and hit the enter button. For instance: ‘define:ETL’. This will list a variety of definitions of the word and how the word is used. This is a quick and easy way to build your technical vocabulary.

• Using RSS: You can add an RSS feed for a particular technology or topic as a subscription in Microsoft Outlook (2007).This gives you broad insight of aggregated content from multiple sources in one place so you don’t have to go to numerous websites to find the information you want. For example, if you are looking to find more information on “SAP Customer Relationship Management CRM,” the link is http://www.crmexpertonline.com. Search this web page for the RSS icon. When found, click on the RSS feed link, which displays a page that allows you to subscribe to the content on that page. This is a more detailed and in-depth way to build your technical vocabulary.

Finding and answering the questions in the job description. Every written document elicits questions, no matter how well written. A good practice to develop is to always read job descriptions with an inquisitive attitude—are there any mis-matched skills, why does the hiring manager need this skill, how many people are in this team? The questions may differ depending on the prerequisite knowledge of the reader. In this particular job description we notice a few.

• How is it that this job description is looking for a senior person but the main skill set requirement for that position—SharePoint—is 2+ years experience? There is incongruence here. Candidates with senior experience usually have 8-10 years experience.
• Why is the title listed as consultant when this is clearly a developer role? Would this job description be better served if it says SharePoint Developer (.NET)?

These questions should be directed to the hiring manager for answers. Once the questions are answered, it increases the understanding of the job, which helps when describing the position to potential candidates. The answers can also be used to update the job description to attract the right kinds of applicants. In this case the job description title may change from Senior SharePoint Consultant to SharePoint Developer (.NET).

Aside from finding and answering questions in this job description, relevant knowledge can be acquired from this exercise. From the job description we know that:

• This is a Microsoft Windows environment
• The main job role is for web development in a Share- Point platform using .NET tools
• The methodology used in this environment is Agile

Reviewing the Resume

Now let’s look at a sample SharePoint Developer’s resume to review and find additional questions that can be used for screening.

Aside from matching the technical skills of the requirements with that of the candidate, there are other aspects of the position and its technical environment that affect the compatibility of a candidate to a job. These are the pace of development/work, the project team makeup, and type of organization.

Looking at the resume and the job description, one could immediately say that the candidate would fit this position like a glove fits a hand. But before jumping to any conclusions, look at all the facts of this job, its environment, and the resume to actually see if this is a good position for the candidate and vice versa.

Using a sample suitability matrix, if the hiring manager and candidate have as much disparity as is shown on the matrix below, it becomes clear that the candidate and hiring company may not be a good match.

Forming Screening Questions

At this point screening questions should be building up from reviewing the job description and resume. What can we find out about this candidate that will be attractive to the hiring manager? What makes this candidate tick? Ensure that the preliminary greetings have been performed and that the candidate understands why the recruiter is calling. Here’s a sample segue from introductions to specifics.

“I’m going to ask you some general questions; your answers will give me a better understanding of what you do and perhaps what you enjoy the most in your job as a SharePoint Developer. Is that all right?”

Specific Job Description Questions

Looking at the job description and resume, here are some specific questions that you could start asking today.

Background

1. What is the makeup of your development, testing, and production environments?
   • How many servers do you have in each environment?
2. What development process do you follow at your current company?
3. How many other people are/were in your team? What are/were their roles?

Specific to Job Description

1. How did you start your career in SharePoint development?
2. Am I correct to say you have about five (interject the years of experience) years’ experience in SharePoint Development?
3. Think of one project—what would you say were the benefits of using one methodology over another for this project?
4. What were the business considerations you made for some of the SharePoint development work you did?

Specific to Resume

1. Tell me about the MOSS and .NET based Enterprise Content Management System—what problem did this solve?
2. How long was the project?
3. As a lead person, what would you have done differently to shorten the project time?

The great thing about these questions is that the answers can be used by the recruiter to present candidate profiles to hiring managers. The answers also give the recruiter verbiage that can be used when describing the candidate to the hiring manager. The most important of all the advantages of this screening process is that the recruiter is able to recognize (with supported information), if the candidate has the characteristics listed in the job description.

Using the tips outlined above, you see that the screening process starts with understanding the intent of the job description. Every minute spent learning more about the job description helps boost a recruiter’s confidence and ability to validate technical candidates for a successful match. When you continue to do this on a regular basis, don’t be surprised when three things start to happen—a) your recruiting services are requested on an ongoing basis, b) your candidates send your team more referrals and c) your team is able to do more in less time.

Main image by George Reyes

Ever feel like you are journeying through the search and placement process with your candidate, and then suddenly you find yourself somewhere deep in a forest, no natural light to be seen, trying to find your way out with nothing but a flashlight and a compass? Meanwhile, your partner (the candidate) is dehydrated, tired, and draining you emotionally? You thought you had this deal done after the “Yes” to the offer…

Of course, going into the emotional forest, your candidate was telling you all the reasons they wanted to go on this journey, why they would make an excellent partner for the trip, and how they had all the equipment necessary for the trip. You are discovering they are not as prepared as they lead you to believe.

Here you are — alone and in the dark…Is this the same candidate? Where is their equipment? I thought they knew what they were getting into? How do you navigate them (and yourself) through woods!?!?

When logic ends and emotion begins

To me, this is where we, as recruiters, have the opportunity to really shine and show (not tell) our candidates that they can trust us and that we will “lead” them to the other side safely. This is where good recruiters become great recruiters and not only add value, but also set the foundation for a long-term relationship with the candidate.

When analyzing any sales cycle it is important to understand where logic ends and when emotion begins. It can be a tricky, ever-moving line. But once you cross it and enter the “emotional forest,” you must know how to navigate through it. Typically when the hiring/interviewing cycle begins, it begins with emotion…excited about the new opportunity, disappointed with current situation…daydreaming of a new opportunity, boss, challenge, commute, etc. The client begins to sell the opportunity and paint a picture of how/why things will be better and the candidate also turns up the excitement with how/why their skill set and accomplishments would be the best fit.

Let’s face it…this is the mental, physical, and emotional preparation for the big day. It is not, however, the big day. Throughout the interview process, logic begins to take over for emotion. Questions come out that really help a candidate and client discern: is this the right fit? But don’t get comfortable…the logic phase does not last long. It only last longs enough to potentially justify any future emotional decision that is made.

The new TV

For example, on New Year’s Day, our TV went out. I woke up, found the TV not working and commented to my husband, “Are we going to spend $2,000 today on a TV?” “Of course not,” he replied. “But I have been doing some research and I feel like I know what we need and where to get it.”

Let the logic begin! We were at the store and my husband was diligently explaining to me all the features/benefits of the $2,000 TV he has researched to be the best TV for our family. At one point, I asked him why we needed a particular feature and he got frustrated. Rightly so, how dare I even question him when he has already done all this research? Nonetheless, we walk out of the store with the $2,000 TV. Later that day, I could see the look of pride on my husband’s face as we watched the Rose Bowl on our big, shiny, new TV. In the meantime, we still had not figured out how to use most of the “features/benefits” of the TV. So, why did we need to spend $2,000 again? That was when it hit me…emotionally he wanted this TV…the feature/benefit part was to logically justify the $2,000. OK — got it.

By the way, I use this exact same logic when trying to justify my own purchases…like why I need another pair of black shoes or brown boots.

Six tips to help your candidates

So, the logic part of the interview process is short lived and used later to justify what will ultimately be a well-thought-out, well-planned, and well-analyzed emotional decision. So, what is our role and how do we keep candidates on track with the logic when they become emotional? (Fear of change is a strong emotion in most people — if they attach any value to that change.) Here are six quick tips to help you navigate and get your candidates to the other side.

1. Let them know what to expect, when to expect it, and how “others” have handled the process. It is crucial that you set their expectation for how things should go. (Third party testimonials and third party selling are keys to this.)
2. Listen, listen, listen. Most apprehensions lose power when they are vocalized. The candidate may need to hear themselves say something before they realize how important or un-important it really is to them.
3. Ask lots of questions. We do this everyday — for a living. Write down what candidates tell you are their concerns when making a move and then don’t wait for the next candidate to bring it up…you bring it up. “So, John, have you thought about the additional 20 minutes of commute time this position will add to your schedule? How will that affect your daily schedule — both at work and at home? How will this affect your spouse’s schedule? The kids’ schedule?”
4. Be their guide. Let them know whatever they are feeling; it is “normal and natural.” Most people go through this. Then go back and listen and ask questions to find out if this is a non-recoverable objection or just a hesitation that needs clarification.
5. Get your clients involved. Remind your clients that the most valuable candidates are the ones that don’t make moves often and when it comes down to the wire, they may need some last minute reassurances from them. (P.S.: When you get the client involved early, it sets a beautiful stage for the relationship between the candidate and the client. Then, when you are not around, they can solve problems together. It makes both parties feel like they are on the same team.)
6. Lastly, no matter how “logical” your candidate might be, if they are not “emotionally” tied to this decision, there is nothing you can say or do to get them to other side. At the same time, if you have done a good job of understanding why this move is important to them and their family and can “hold their hand” through the challenges of the emotional forest of change, it can be incredibly solid groundwork for a future relationship.

By being together with them, in the thick of things, guiding them, letting know everything is going to be okay, a bond of trust and respect will be forged. And you will both emerge on the other side of the forest, mostly unscathed, and back on the path to a successful placement.

image source: Craig Cloutier

“She said what!?” I heard the question fly from the other side of the room punctuated with disgust. Each one of my teammates’ ears were now perked with anticipation to hear what “she” said. We waited patiently for a minute, and up from her cube popped my teammate Chris. She exclaimed, holding her head in her hands and looking like she was in great pain, “I can’t believe it!”

“What?” about three of us asked at the same time.

“She did it again,” Chris said with a tone of resigned disbelief in her voice.

“Who?” we asked.

“You know who,” Chris answered. At that moment we all knew. “You-know-who” is a bit of a nemesis of ours. She is a million-dollar producer that none of us know personally, but deal with on a constant basis. If you just looked at her body of work in terms of numbers you would be infinitely impressed. She is known to be a consistent big biller, with the best contacts, and amazing work effort. Unfortunately, she also known to be somewhat morally and ethically challenged within the confines of recruitment.

Chris went on to explain the new chapter of this sad saga. “You know we just placed Sandy over at XYZ Company, and you-know-who and her candidate finished 2nd. Well….as soon as she found out, she called the client and said that Sandy lied on her resume about her work experience and education. The client just called me wanting to pull the offer, and is ready to hire you-know-who’s candidate. They even admitted that  you-know-who told them this. I told them this is a lie, and that we are sending all the verifications over immediately. Luckily we have them already, and they agreed to not rescind the offer if it checks out on their side too. Can you believe that?”

Before the end of the day, Sandy was cleared and everything was good to go with her job offer. We were appalled  by you-know-who’s actions, but actually not all that surprised. We have come to find this as standard operating procedure for her. She has a whole highlight reel of legendarily despicable moments that are similar to this. It made all us mad that she would do this, but most of all we were amazed once again at what she is capable of.

You see, at the Aureus Group we have this thing called a value statement that governs how we do business. Not trying to be sanctimonious here, but we take what we do pretty seriously, and feel that the least of what we are bound to is our ethical standards. And by the way, if you don’t feel that way about yourself or your firm, what in the world exactly do you stand for? (More on that in a shortly.)

I don’t want to speculate too much here, but you-know-who clearly does not operate with any such values or principles in mind. Which brings us to the most depressing and disgusting fact of all of this.: she continues to be a million-dollar producer. Year after year.

What we have come to find is that clients and candidates alike simply just accept the fact that she is who she is. They see past the B.S. because they believe she is the most effective Accounting and Finance recruiter around at making placements. Simply put, she gets great candidates in front of her clients consistently and quickly. Her methods, by what we have gathered, are indisputably questionable. But, if you are a client, you care that you are getting great people. If you are a candidate, you care that you are getting a great job. It’s the means to the end that have seemingly gone unchecked for years with little or no recourse. You see, I would really like to think that this kind of behavior would have the karma police ready to pounce, and perhaps they already have and I just don’t know about it yet.

The bigger thought I have wrapped up inside this twisted tale is wondering how prevalent this all is in our industry at large. If you-know-who is doing business this way, then I’m sure others are as well. If our clients are accepting of it, then others are, too.

But what about you? Where are your values? As questioned earlier, if you don’t have a set of values and ethics by which you work, then what exactly do you stand for? Making placements? Making lots of money? That’s just not enough unfortunately and nobody could ever talk me down from that soapbox.

How you do what you do, in my opinion, is more important than how well you do it. Moreover, how you do what you do dictates how well you do it. The minute you value results over ethics is when you become like “you-know-who.” So do it well recruiter brethren, but please also do it right.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this situation. Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

image source: Lenore Edman