Be A Ruler For A Day: First Job – Fix Recruiting!

Posted by • November 9th, 2009 • 3 Comments

I would like to take a break from talking about brand talent and how to put you in control of your career. We’ll get back to our regular programming later. But I feel like I have been talking at you, not with you. I am hoping that you will be kind enough to accept the mantle of power and become the recruiting dictator for a day.

Let’s put you in control not just of your career, but of the whole process. You are ruler for a day, and your wishes become other people’s commands. You are sick and tired of the way that the recruiting process treats you. No longer. You are determined to fix it. Luckily you have a great partner in Glassdoor, who is here to learn from you and share your insights and experiences with others. Tell us what you want to change, and how you want to change it:

Finding an Opportunity: Reading the Glassdoor interview pages I see that many of you learn about an opportunity through the Web. Some of you like that, some of you don’t. Now that you are ruler, you can tell us the best way to learn about opportunities that are a good fit for your interests and capabilities. And remember, as ruler you can ask for pretty much whatever you want, so think big and ask for the impossible.

Connecting with the Company: Nothing bothers a ruler more than being treated without respect. Before you were top banana you submitted resumes into an email or web vortex that consumed your hope along with your information. No longer: it’s payback time baby! You’re the big cheese, the grand kahuna. Make a decree about how all the companies under your benevolent reign should receive your expression of interest.

Response: The power is going to your head. You realize that this all-powerful despot thing has its advantages. You decide to put the most force and effort into proclaiming how companies should interact with candidates. No more of this “Don’t call us, we’ll call you!” baloney. Your subjects are people too, and they deserve the respect and care that you do. Auto-response emails? Off with their heads! Tell us how a company should communicate.

Interviewing: After the heady days of fixing the first three problems, you start to come down a little. Interviews are tough. Sometimes you like being challenged in an interview, other times you think the tough questions are a stupid waste of your time. Glassdoor’s interview site provides examples of the different approaches and styles that your subjects like. Now is the time to earn the crown:  How can a company ensure that you are the right fit AND AT THE SAME TIME have the process be rewarding and valuable for you too?

We, your humble servants, look forward to learning from you, the all powerful recruiting ruler. Please submit your demands in the comments section, and I will respond.

Guest Blogger Jeff Hunter is a member of the Glassdoor.com Clearview Collection and is an award-winning technologist, strategist, author and entrepreneur. He currently serves as the Vice President of HR Solutions at Dolby Laboratories. Prior to joining Dolby, Jeff served as Sr. Director of EA University at Electronic Arts, the world’s largest digital entertainment company. In 2007, Jeff launched the “Talent Unconference” a meeting of the top minds in HR, business and technology to discuss new methods for developing and driving talent-centric businesses.

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Career Advice, Interviews
  • TalentSynch

    Ahh, Jeff, this is music to my ears! I don't doubt that many recruiting functions look at the process through the eyes of the job seeker but the mystery is what happens? Why does the process fail so often leaving people to feel disconnected and then ultimately leading to a diluted company brand? Companies – and their recruiting functions, have a golden opportunity today to connect and build relationships that will serve them well as business improves. Instead, we're seeing further deterioration.

    Here's a few thoughts:

    Posting on dedicated job sites is fine but is no longer sufficient. Participating in digital spaces where the type of talent the company seeks is active makes a lot of sense and also provides valuable information back to the company. This doesn't just mean pushing out a job! It also means looking for opportunities to actively engage in the discussion and / or community.

    Companies also have an opportunity to engage more through their own websites. There's usually quite a bit of overlap between people interested in the company's product and / or service and those interested in employment. Companies that are interested in connecting in this way will develop a recruitment advantage as well as developing a better understanding of their market.

    There is simply no excuse for not responding to an applicant! Period, end of story. Companies are diluting their brand equity and ultimately end up paying the price one way or another. By not acknowledging and / or responding companies are saying – “We're not interested in talking to you and don't care if you have expressed interest in us. We just don't have time for you.” Of course, when the company is in need they're aggressive as all can be and often overpay through search fees, lengthier fill times, additional advertising…..

    Lastly, I think one of the biggest opportunities that is going untapped today is broadening the view of right-fit talent. There is talent on the market today that could contribute considerable value to an organization's diversity, capability and long-term success. Yet, in the majority of cases companies still only want someone who has already done what the job calls for. The ability for people to develop new skills in shorter time periods, leverage past experiences to advantage new ones and deliver differentiated value has never been more enticing than it is today. Is there some risk in this approach? Yes? Is there more risk in not taking a chance and only doing what has been done before? Absolutely!

  • jeffhunter

    Thanks Susan! This is a great comment. I especially like your insights about going to where people are already hanging out (don't force them to come to you), understanding that failing to treat people well today has a cost tomorrow and expanding our view of what “right fit” means to the company. I hope others chime in!

  • http://www.facebook.com/nancy.graystarkebaum Nancy Gray-Starkebaum

    Jeff,

    Had an absolutely fantastic candidate experience the other day – with a University, that has caused me to spend a lot of time thinking about how it could translate to the corporate world. In fact, I would say that is has rocked my world. Perhaps it stands out because I'm so used to being treated like a non entity as a candidate. I had been cruising the web looking for Phd programs and found one that seemed appealing. I filled out a very simple form (name, e-mail, phone number and program interested in) and sent it off expecting to recieve an e-mail with generic program info. Instead, here's what I recieved. Within an hour I had a phone call from a very plesant man thanking me for my interest in their program and asking me if I would like to speak with a guidance counsellor to get more detailed info. Since this was such a pleasant surprise I said sure. I was imediately transferred and introduced to the guidance counsellor who was also lovely – keep in mind at this point he / she has no idea if I'm remotely qualified for their program either from a grades, degree, financial perspective. She very subtly prequalified me (I almost didn't notice) and, here's the big touch – she gave me her PHONE number and e-mail adderss and immediately sent me a follow up e-mail confirming her contact information. WOW. Ok, so I know that I'm a revenue stream for this institution if I actually become a student. BUT, aren't employees also revenue generators for corporations, especially great employees? What's wrong with allowing people to contact us and get more information about our company and the positions available before we aske them to invest hours of their time winding their way through our elaborate application processes? How is is that we (employers and recruiters) are so arrogant that we insist candidates invest in us without any promise of a return on investment (those autogenerated e-mails sent out months after a candidate has applied thanking them for their application but letting them know that we won't be proceeding with them don't count). I do think that we as an industry need to start treating all candidates as customers and investing more time upfront with people who have expressed an interest in our companies – afterall, it's really only common courtesy and politeness.