What Have you Done

Throughout my career as an executive recruiter I have been asked many times what exactly do you do.  Of course there is the marketing to obtain new business and there is the sourcing of qualified candidates.  Next is matching the needs of the client to the needs of the candidate and checking references.  Hopefully the placement follows and everyone is happy.  After giving that some additional thought I realized that as a recruiter I change the lives of the clients and the candidates I work with.  I have watched candidate careers go from loss prevention manager to director or vice present level and I have seen hiring managers and supervisors gain some additional quality of life when a placed candidate excels and succeeds.

As we come full force into the holiday season it is a good time to reflect and give thanks for all that has been done to make someone’s life better.  While it is better to give and do rather than receive we do receive when we give.

Luck is the Result of Hard Work

It its purest form, the role of the recruiter is to enhance the lives of candidates and improve client profitability. The hard work of the process is determining the needs of the client and matching it against the wants of the candidate. The luck (the result of the hard work) occurs when there is a match and both sides are happy. A successful hire has to be win-win for both sides.  

I often ask candidates what they are doing to find a new opportunity and I continually hear the same responses. I have my resume posted on several job boards and I check the job boards every day for new postings. To some this may seem like hard work but in doing these things it is scratching the surface of the job market. The items mentioned are simply the first steps in the process.

In addition candidates should also take look at their own credentials and determine what makes them stand out from all the rest of the pool. Yes, it is hard work and the harder you work the luckier you will be.  Remember accomplishments sell while duties tell.

I can be reached at: lance@rpssearchgroup.com

Preparing for an Interview

In one of my previous posts I mentioned the need to stress accomplishments. Accomplishments sell while duties and responsibilities tell. Once you have the accomplishments listed it is time to prepare for the interview. Following are tips to follow in your preparation: • Confirm the day, date, time and location of the interview • Learn about the person you will be meeting with • Know and stress key accomplishments as related to the needs of the position. • Review specific questions that may be asked during the interview. • Practice answers to possible behavioral based interview questions • Do not discuss salary or benefits on the first interview • Bring a copy of your resume to the interview • Prepare a list of questions that are related to the position and company. • Bring a pen to the interview in the event that paperwork needs to be completed. • Be prepared to ask for the job or to move forward to the next step • Know the issues and expectations of the position To receive additional tips and guidelines please send me an e-mail: lance@rpssearchgroup.com Lance Incitti, LPC, CCIP

Resumes are personal advertisements.

People need to know how to present themselves.

It never ceases to amaze me that when candidates prepare a resume duties and responsibilities take the lead over accomplishments.  I recently received a resume from a candidate and under each of his positions he listed 4 to 5 accomplishment bullet points. He did a great job relating how well he did in his various positions and when I asked him why he prepared his resume with accomplishments he told me that he felt it was important for people to know how well he did his job and not necessarily what he did.

A simple saying to remember when preparing your resume

is: " Duties and responsibilities tell what you do while accomplishments tell how well you do."

I can be reached at 973-627-1888 or lance@rpssearchgroup.com

Mentoring your Staff Members You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. Zig Ziglar His quote seems simple enough. When you analyze it, I am sure you will understand that it can be applied to just about every segment of every industry and to every level of management. As a supervisor you can improve the productivity in your department simply by understanding the needs of the people you supervise and by helping them satisfy those needs. This can be done through simple conversations, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and mentoring them to improve. Ziglar also said when you do more than what you are paid for, you will soon be paid more for what you do. This certainly can apply to every person in the work force. Over the past 31 years as a recruiter I have seen that the ones who progress upwards in their careers are the ones who mentor and help others attain their goals and objectives.

Ten Things Candidates Love

Ten Things Candidates Love

Last week I posted the ten things candidates hate.  Again I do not know the author of these but I have had candidates who have experienced these good things.

10. Talking to someone who is knowledgeable about their background and who can have an unbiased conversation about options that exist.

9. Entering an interview process that is transparent.

8. Getting a courtesy telephone call to the effect of, "What we have is no for now. We value your time and are sorry about the outcome." 

7. Having someone help them go through the online application.

6. Getting a list of information that is needed to complete the online application such as W2s, phone numbers, references, etc.

5. Having an honest conversation about objections to their history and being allowed to counter.

4. Getting help on resigning and also being granted some flexibility on start dates if they have travel plans or medical issues.

3. Being asked for feedback on the questions asked during the interview process or what they felt were high and low points of the interaction. 

2. Having flexibility in the process and a chance for their questions to be answered.

1. Being treated with respect at every level even if they are not the right candidate.

I cannot take credit for these candidate hates but I can assure that I have heard each of them many times from candidates I represent.  I also do not know the source but I offer thanks to the author.

The Top-10 Things Candidates Hate

10. Having no clue whom they are meeting with for an interview, how long they will interview for, and arriving somewhere on time in order to wait alone in a lobby, room, or restaurant (and feeling very conspicuous when they don't need a job!) while looking at their watch (every five seconds) for the late interviewer.

9. Taking a personal day off on one, two, or three occasions to interview at XYZ Company, only to fall into the Black Hole of No Feedback and never to be spoken to again. Add that their wife continues to harp on the fact that they missed Johnny's recital by taking personal days to go interview for a new job when "You have a perfectly acceptable one right now." This is when your picture goes up on the dart board in their rec room.

8. Learning after the fact that someone on the interview team thought that their resume showed too many positions when they actually worked for the same company for 10 years, but it changed names 10 times. This is the reality of never being able to address an objection, real or not, that comes up during the process that can be addressed.

7. Navigating a ridiculous, invasive online application that does not save after each field, crashes unexpectedly, is hard to complete thoroughly, and yet is viewed as a negative if it is incomplete.

6. Walking in to an interview with a person more junior than themselves to discover that said person is reading the resume for the first time and is asking impossibly inane questions such as, "So, why do you need a job with our company?" when they were recruited to the interview.

5. Feeling like they really are the right person for the job but somehow can't get an interview. Whether that is because of a poor resume, undeveloped communications skills, or not connecting at the right level.

4. Going through a more thorough interview process than a candidate for the Supreme Court. I am ashamed to admit this, but I have actually been involved in an interview process that has lasted longer than one year

3. Enduring a background check that is conducted by hourly workers on a different continent who raise red flags on your background because your university verified your degree as a B.S. in Sociology and Anthropology instead of a B.S. in Women's Studies (which is no longer offered). Did I mention that the candidate has already resigned, given their start date, and had their goodbye party?

2. Enduring a formal interview process, complete with a one-hour phone screen with HR, a call with a junior team member asking basic questions, and then getting the green light to attend a cattle call. All of this when the candidate has only agreed to being "open to talking" and is NOT looking for a job. In fact, they really only signed up to have a beer with a career-level counterpart on the inside.

1. The number-one pet peeve of all candidates is talking to misinformed, condescending, and unoriginal interviewers who answer all questions with, "Because that's the way we do it here and we cannot do it differently." Or who answer every question with "I don't know."

I always do my best to be sure these donot happen when I schedule an interview for a candidate.

Leadership Learders are made not born. The full quote came from Vince Lombardi, who said, “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” I have read and heard many quotes about leadership and the qualities of a good leader. Jon Gordon is one of his weekly newsletters outlined the following differences between a good leader and a great leader. He stated that challenging times require leaders who can lead others through the challenges. Now more than ever we need great leadership in our government, schools, businesses, hospitals and organizations. Good leadership won’t suffice. We need great leadership. There is a difference. Good leaders get people to believe in them. Great leaders inspire people to believe in themselves. Good leaders say “Watch what I can do.” Great leaders say “Let me show you what you can do.” Good leaders catch fish for others so they can eat today. Great leaders teach people how to fish so they can eat for a lifetime. Are you good or great?

“A winner is big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them and strong enough to correct them.” - John Maxwell Many of you may recognize John Maxwell as the author of “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” and “The 17 Indispensable Laws of Teamwork.” His quote above is very timely as we start 2019. The new year is a great time for a fresh start. As I look back at 2018 and if I were to list all of the mistakes I made in 2018, I could fill a number of newsletters with that list. I also came to the realization that I had made some of the mistakes more than once. You can imagine that I was not too thrilled when I made that discovery. However, I can look at those mistakes and learn from them and correct them. It is never too late to learn and grow. Each and every one of you has the opportunity to review last year and no matter how difficult and trying it was for you, take a moment to record even the most insignificant accomplishment and celebrate the success! Michael Althsuler said, “The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you are the pilot.” As a recruiter, I have the opportunity to speak to hundreds of clients and candidates and as a result I get a strong sense of what is happening in the business world and 2019 will be great.