Black Friday Search Syndrome

I have a theory that the majority of Black Friday shoppers actually lose money by hitting the stores early to get the “best” deals. I’d love to see a study reviewing lists of items shoppers go out with the intent to purchase with a comparison of the total cost of only those items before Black Friday, as well as the total cost of ALL items purchased during Black Friday shopping. I know, I sound Grinchy. I think all that beautiful marketing and crowd effect makes people forget if they even really want that thingamajig on the shelf.

This absolutely relates to job searches, by the way. During my first conversation with a candidate, I ask them what has prompted them to consider a new job and they always say something like growth opportunity, more stability, more interesting role, etc. I also ask them how much money they’re making now and what their expectations are regarding compensation if they get to the offer stage with my client. It’s amazing to me how many people will get an offer that meets their original compensation expectation (which is always more than they’re making currently) and offers some non-monetary incentive that they said they were seeking, but their primary reason for not accepting immediately is that they were hoping for MORE money.

I think this is Black Friday Search Syndrome. Sucked in by the glittering numbers and utilization gets completely ignored.

And I’ll be honest, we use it on the other side as recruiters too. I remind candidates that they’re not the only one who wants this job; there are other candidates pending. (Crowd Effect.) And if they didn’t get a big pay increase, I’ll try to show them how it might be recovered in other benefits. (Marketing Hand Trick.) Mostly, though, I try to remind them about what they wanted originally and how it matches up with the offer in-hand. If it doesn’t, we don’t usually get to the offer stage anyhow. (The Truth.)

Don’t wait until you get to an offer to tell me the only thing you care about is the money. Don’t get up at 3AM to buy crap you don’t need and didn’t want until you got there, then tell me you saved money. Both are silly.

Grinch out.

Making your LinkedIn profile work for you!

People tell me that they have a LinkedIn profile, but it doesn’t really do anything for them, or they don’t really “get it,” or it’s just too overwhelming to complete and they’re not really sure where to start. Other people say that they don’t have a LinkedIn profile because they’re not looking for a job.

I can tell you LinkedIn is for much more than jobseekers! Salespeople actively review their contacts and extended connections via LinkedIn for potential sales leads. It’s much easier to make a warm sales call based on a mutual connection! LinkedIn is also a fantastic resource for connecting and conversing with people in your industry. For many recruiters, LinkedIn is one of their top resources for learning about hiring trends, connecting with new client companies AND identifying new talent. Tech-savvy hiring managers often use their profiles to advertise the open positions and/or network with potential future employees.

In order to maximize the benefit you get from LinkedIn, you need to have a complete and informative LinkedIn profile. It explains who you are, what you know, what you have to offer and why you’d be interested in connecting. After your profile is complete, you need to CONNECT. Connect to friends, family, co-workers (both current and former), people you meet at tradeshows – almost anyone! More connections means more conversations. The next step is to look at LinkedIn Groups. There are groups for almost everything on LinkedIn; professional associations, alumni chapters, personal interests, sports fans, news channels, etc. Find a few that work for you and join the conversation or simply read about what’s happening in your areas of interest. If you don’t have a lot of connections, groups are a great way to build your network.

If all this seems a little overwhelming to do on your own, I’m now offering a new service that is a great way to get a step up on making your LinkedIn profile work for you – in whatever capacity you need.

Check out this link for all the details – http://linkedinoptimization.eventbrite.com/

I’m eager to help you start maximizing your results from a great resource. Sign up and let’s get started!

RECENTLY FILLED: Library Services Sales Consultant

I recently filled this job in two different regions for our client! It’s their standard field sales position, so it’s something I’ve worked on several times in the past and where I feel I’ve got my strongest network of potential candidates.

This time was especially exciting because one of the roles was filled by a candidate I first talked to TWO YEARS AGO! Our client met with the candidate shortly after my initial call with him, but nothing was available at the time, so we agreed to keep in touch. He and I emailed and chatted quite a few times during that period – I found out I was pregnant, went on maternity leave and returned to work before anything became available! Thankfully, when you’re connecting with individuals who are already happily employed, they’re very patient. When the client said they were ready to start a confidential search, I called him again and we re-engaged him with our client. Things moved fast this time!

This is another fantastic testament to the power of hiring a retained recruiter to build a bench/pipeline of candidates for a typical position (w/multiple FTE’s) within a company. We can even do this for our clients using a short-term contract. We’ll identify great candidates for the role, make the introductory conversations, then turn over all contact info to the client at the end of the contract. Of course, at that point, relationship maintenance is up to the client – and that is the key to this long-term success! Building a network of qualified individuals at the right level and having those introductory conversations will fast track the hiring process to the final stages of interviewing when a position becomes available! In this instance, the client was able to hire our candidate before their current employee left, resulting in ZERO gap between the new and exiting sales consultant.

If I’ve connected with you regarding this job, thank you for your time! I appreciate both the opportunity to learn more about you, as well as the chance to introduce you to our client. As I told you when we spoke, let’s keep in touch! You never know when something might become available.

Whine and Cheese

Hey HR, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think “open position?” Lemme guess, money, time and irritation? Not getting other important things done? Hiring managers leaving you meanie voicemails and/or begging for you to magically produce the perfect candidate? Drowning in resumes, emails, phone calls and just plain cheesy attempts by applicants to catch your attention – like shoes with resumes tucked in them and homemade baked goods.

How about you, Hiring Manager? I bet you’re thinking about all those nights you are going to be working late to finish duties resulting from that empty spot in your department, reading hundreds of resumes in your so-called “free time,” and finding even more time for the interviews, paperwork and follow-up that comes from the hiring process.

Job-Seeker, what do you think of when you hear about an open position these days? Filling out another application…never hearing back from anyone…countless other applicants competing for the same job?

Recruiters, what do you think? Opportunity? Why are they having trouble filling this role? Who do I know, what do I know in their industry?

Clearly, hiring is typically a painful process on the part of HR and job-seekers. And this is understandable! Hiring is far from the only responsibility of most people in HR and most hiring managers. Thankfully, recruiters have a different mindset! They see it as an opportunity to fill a need by making connections between people they know and clients (employers) that hire them. Additionally, filling that open job really IS their primary job function!

Future posts will discuss how employers can partner with recruiters in ways that really will save money, frustration and time. (Yes – you can actually SAVE money by hiring someone to help!) Job seekers will learn how to be more effective at getting identified by people who are hiring, not to mention looking/sounding good when they find you. And overall, there will be posts about how Hiring Managers/HR/Recruiters can form a strong partnership.

Seriously, it shouldn’t be that painful. Dare I say it could be fun?