Summer is coming fast and furious!  When summer does arrive, the Staffing and Recruitment industries loves to ramp the rumor mill into high gear by spreading the myth “NO ONE HIRES IN THE SUMMER.”    This gives average performing Recruitment Professionals an opportunity to go on an extended guilt free vacation.  Meanwhile, the Recruitment Professionals still back in the office working away are just like the good Farmer.  They understand summer is the best time of the year to generate revenue.

Farmers refer to summer as the “growing season.”  The growing season is defined as the period of time during the year that has the longest, warmest days and optimal amount of precipitation to produce a crop of economic value.  Farmers work an extra five hours a day during the summer, to prepare for the upcoming harvest that gets them through the winter.  Recruitment Professionals that understand this concept put it do good use by qualifying additional candidates, meeting more clients and attending new networking events. 

Recruitment Professionals use their candidate’s summer vacations to their own advantage.  When a candidate is on vacation, they are available to come to the Recruitment Professional’s office during business hours.  These same candidates will have the flexibility to meet with more hiring managers and allow the recruitment professional to set up additional interviews.  Candidates that are not worrying about what they may be missing at work, or worrying about who may be missing them at their office will now present as confident and knowledgeable to your client.  Recruitment Professionals that use their candidate’s vacations to their advantage have more chances to place highly sought after candidates.

Motivated Recruitment Professionals use the summer to build stronger relationships with their clients.  Whether they are taking clients out for a round of golf or taking them for coffee, the Recruitment Professional understands that everyone is more relaxed during the summer. These relaxed times offer opportunities to personally strengthen relationships, affording the chances to build profitable long term business partnerships.

Depending on your industry or sector, networking events are everywhere during the summer. This is the time of the year when everyone is out after work attending golf tournaments, boat cruises, lectures and even simple networking events.  Remember, a networking event doesn’t need to say “networking” to offer you the access to both client and or candidates.  Walking through a trade show can give you access to observe how a sales individual performs their job, or a chance to listen to how a software programmer demonstrates a new product. Prospective clients and candidates at trade shows are already in the mindset to speak with you, in addition to providing you their full contact information.  Why not take a lunch hour and go to a trade show?

There is no short cutting the growing season, no matter how hard Recruitment Professionals try to change its length.  There is frenzy in the recruitment industry for the first two weeks of September to secure interviews clients may have available.  This frenzy is because recruiter professionals bought into all the rumors of a slack summer. The new rumor in September will be “clients are back from summer vacation with a fever to hire anyone they can.”  In all actuality, it is the Recruitment Professional that has suddenly realized the end of the year is right around the corner and they haven’t made their numbers.  The increase in activity we see in the recruitment industry in September is not productivity, its panic!

Recruitment Professionals utilizing the growing season to their full advantage will be reaping the rewards.  Harvest time for these individuals is the reward of several new starts within the first two weeks of September. 

P.S. June Sourcing + July and August Interviews = September starts.

Cheers,

Rebecca B. Sargeant

Recruiter’s Career Coach

“Hurled of Squirrel “

Make sure you have:

• 1 x Purple Squirrel. (To ensure your squirrel is ripe, make sure the job description is so specific that the likelihood of finding anyone who actually meets the requirements is slim to none and is nowhere to be found.)
• Cup of Suaveness
• Quart of Hope
• Pinch of Luck

Directions:

• Skin It:  Working with your manager, you will need to get the meat of the matter.  Skinning the job order down to exactly what the manager is asking for will be the key task.  Being skilled in your trade will help you know when a manager is looking for “seven years of experience” in a technology that has only been around for four years.
• Blanch It: If the manager continues to add additional skills to the job description every time you bring candidates, then you need to stop the madness.  You should take the job description and any other requirement that has been offered and communicate it back to the manager in writing. You can sit down with the manager and establish priorities for each element, and then get sign off on the profile – it’s how the executive search consultants do it.
• Barbeque:  Barbequing is a delicate and time sensitive technique.  It is important you always are keeping your hiring manager up to date on your search.  This consistent attention will allow you to gain some flexibility and give your manager access to other candidates that may not have been previously considered.  If you wait for weeks, then go back and tell your manager the candidates they want does not exist, the manager won’t believe that there is a problem.

I have used the above recipe several times in the past, with success.  Of course, past success still doesn’t mean it works every time, so as a bonus here is my back-up recipe:

• Call Pizza Pizza: This is a great time for you to step up and be a leader.   Your manager is looking to you to solve their problem and as a Leader you can call in your team for extra support.  Whether you work in a team or on your own, we all know a Recruiter that can fill “anything”. 

What are your Purple Squirrel Recipes?

1. Decrease the need for Micro Management – How often have you or your managers said that they cannot do something because they are still “minding” Recruiters?  Training the Recruiter frees up everyone’s time, effort and empowers the new Recruiters to do the work themselves.
2. Reduce Recruiter Turnover -Investing in your Recruiters will make them feel that you are interested in developing their skills and growing their careers.
3. Increase Productivity – If Recruiters know what they are doing and are properly trained, the Company’s productivity will increase with better quality service/products and more efficient Recruiters.
4. Enhance Risk Management, e.g., Training about sexual harassment, diversity training – As laws change to keep up with the times, so should we.  Emailing out a memo about a new law to a Recruiter working a busy desk will quickly get lost.  By taking the time to specifically train on essential subjects, you will reduce your legal exposure when assisting clients in their hiring process.
5. Increase Ability to Incorporate New Tools and Technologies – Keeping up to date with technology is a constant battle. Ensuring that you and your Recruiters are current with tools and technology will enable your organization to stay on the forefront of productivity.
6. Maintain Employee Credentials/Certifications – Assisting your Recruiters to maintain their credentials is a fantastic way to build loyalty within your team. In addition to loyalty, your Recruiters will have access to network groups and training opportunities above and beyond your in-house program.  
7. Assisting Recruiters to Take on More Responsibilities – Would you allow any 17 year old to drive a car without any driving instruction? Similarly, why would Companies promote people to new positions without giving them the necessary skills to perform in their new role effectively? Training for newly promoted Recruiters is beneficial to both the Company and the Recruiter in terms of productivity, effectiveness and efficiency.
8. Increase Job satisfaction, Morale and Motivation among Recruiters – A happy workforce is a productive workforce. Training increases the well-being of people in general and reduces absenteeism, mistakes and stress in the workplace.  This is always a benefit for any organization.
9. Enhance Company Image – Reputation to both our industry colleagues and our clients is becoming increasingly important.  Gaining an accreditation such as” Top 100 Employer” can be prestigious in terms of promoting your organization and ensuring that people would like to work for, and work with you.
10. Networking Opportunity and Increased Visibility – Sending your Recruiter to an off-site workshop hosted by (or for) your clients will earn you brownie points with everyone.  The Recruiter will be networking and building relationships with potential clients and candidates.  That same Recruiter will also feel more empowered with the knowledge they have learned and your organization may have an “in” that no one else has.

Training is one thing we have complete control over, and the one thing that we invest the least amount of time developing.  If you truly want to increase your profits, take the time and invest in a good training program.  Implemented correctly, I can guarantee you that this list of 10 reasons that you should invest in training will grow to be a 100 reasons.

If you have questions or problems, always feel free to call!

Cheers,
Rebecca B. Sargeant
Recruiter’s Career Coach
RBS Staffing Consultants
Telephone: USA 617-396-4450 / CDN 905-627-5060

E-Mail: rsargeant@rbs-staffing.com
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rebeccasargeant
Blog: http://rebeccabsargeant.wordpress.com/

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT

RBS Staffing Consultants is proud to announce the release of a new Recruiting Manual, “The Mechanics of Recruiting.” After years of successfully hiring, developing and coaching Top Recruiting Professionals Rebecca B. Sargeant the Recruiter’s Coach has finally documented her Curta Methodology. 

For new Recruiters and Sourcing Specialist, The Curta Methodology clearly defines the Recruiting Process and provides a step by step instruction so anyone can be a successful Recruiter. 

For the seasoned Recruiter, The Curta Methodology is a refreshing new  look at an old process.  Other Recruitment training programs are designed only give a set formula.  The Curta Methodology goes beyond to explain why the formula works and then assist in designing personal workable formula.

Using The Curta Methodology recruitment Professionals just joining the Recruitment / Staffing Industry are finding success immediately.  Seasoned Recruitment Professionals are quantifying their success with an extra fill or an extra 15k in GM per quarter. 

For more information on how the Curta Methodology can be implemented into your recruitment or staffing organization, please feel free to contact me directly.

 Cheers,
Rebecca B. Sargeant
Recruiter’s Career Coach
RBS Staffing Consultants
Telephone: USA 617-396-4450 / CDN 905-627-5060

E-Mail: rsargeant@rbs-staffing.com

As Recruiters, I am sure we all could be contenders for the Guinness book for being professional Sitters.  Especially, when faced with a difficult search.  If you are anything like me, when the search is intense I not only give up moving but, I also find myself curling up around our computers and phones.    

To help you and I combat the sitting around blues I have taken Russell Thurston blog Stand Up, Walk Around, Even Just For ’20 Minutes” from the NPR site and shortened it.  To hear or read the original blog click here.

If you’re sitting at a desk reading this article, take a minute and stand up. That’s the latest advice from New York Times Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds. In her new book, The First 20 Minutes, Reynolds details some of the surprisingly simple ways you can combat the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

“Sitting for long periods of time — when you don’t stand up, don’t move at all — tends to cause changes physiologically within your muscles,” says Reynolds. “You stop breaking up fat in your bloodstream, you start getting accumulations of fat … in your liver, your heart and your brain. You get sleepy. You gain weight. You basically are much less healthy than if you’re moving.”

Reynolds recommends standing for two minutes every 20 minutes while desk-bound — even if you can’t move around your office. “That sounds so simple,” she tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “But that actually has profound consequences. If you can stand up every 20 minutes — even if you do nothing else — you change how your body responds physiologically.”

Studies have shown that frequent standing breaks significantly decrease your chances of getting diabetes, she says. “If you can also walk around your office, you get even more benefits. You will lose weight, you lessen your chance of heart disease, and you will improve your brain. But if you can do nothing else, stand up!”

Reynolds says she’s started standing up every time she answers the telephone. “I bought a music stand, which costs next to nothing, and I can put papers on it,” she explains. “I read standing up. I try and walk down the hall once an hour. I walk outside and turn around and walk back in. That’s enough to break up the physiological changes that sitting otherwise causes.”

Reynolds’ book also details the latest scientific research on running, stretching and hydration techniques. Here are some of the findings:

Humans Were Made For Walking: Walking may be the single best exercise that exists on the planet, Reynolds says. It’s low-impact and has a relatively low risk for injury. “Walking appears to be what the human body was built for,” she explains. Even 15 minutes will reduce your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

The Difference Between Fitness And Health: Becoming fit and becoming healthier are two different things. “You can become healthy with a much lower amount and a much lower intensity of exercise,” says Reynolds. “A nice easy walk will improve your health. If you make it a little … harder or a little more difficult for you to walk, you will become more fit and you will get more benefits. But even if you just walk lightly, you will be healthier than if you don’t do anything.”

Hydration Hype: We don’t need eight glasses of water a day to stay hydrated. “What we now know is that if you drink to thirst, if you listen to the little voice in your head that says, ‘You need water,’ you will drink as much as you need,” Reynolds says. “You don’t need to stay ahead of your thirst. Drink what you want, and you will almost certainly be fine.”

The Ultimate Post-Workout Beverage: Use chocolate milk to replenish sugars after an intense workout. Reynolds calls it an “ideal recovery beverage” because it has the right ratio of carbs and proteins to aid your body’s recovery process.

Well Recruiters, last week I worked on getting you out to a coffee shop.  Hopefully, this week I can get you to at stand up, walk over to that Account Manager and get him buy you a cup of coffee.  It’s been another great week. Enjoy your weekend and we’ll see you back here next week!

Cheers,

Rebecca B. Sargeant

The Recruiter’s Coach

A couple of weeks ago, I posted that TheLadders is offering Recruiters free access to post jobs and view candidates in their resume database.  Curious about what this could mean to us as Recruiters, I took some time to assist a select number of my clients to implement TheLadders into the recruiting process.  The feedback from those clients was deafening, hurray!  My clients all reported that they are finding better candidates and connecting with them quicker. 

Not wanting the other shoe to drop on our collective heads with a NEW user fee, I reached out to TheLadders directly just yesterday. It took them no time for them to pull together a call to discuss with me their future and how they are going to further engage Recruitment Professionals.

Thomas Murphy, Director of Client Relations & Sales, Employer Marketing, came to our conversation with great enthusiasm and passion for the recruiting industry that is often lacking in other suppliers.  He jumped into our conversation with both feet, assuring me that Recruiters will always have access to TheLadders for free.  Quietly thrilled, I listened intently to Thomas about the following:

1. RecruitBlog: TheLadders’ Top 200 Recruiters and Top 50 Employers
2. “Scout” on TheLadders Gives your Candidate a Competitive Edge Before they Apply for a Job
3. TheLadders Reinvents the Job Search with New Mobile Offerings

I will have to say the best part of our conversation was when Thomas told me about “TheLadders ELITE Recruiter Awards.”  Throughout this year, TheLadders will host a series of multi-city events dubbed “JobMobile,” which will attract leading recruiters and HR professionals for an evening of networking and best-practice sharing. In addition to celebrating the company’s 10 years as an industry pioneer, TheLadders CEO & Co-founder Alex Douzet will announce TheLadders ELITE Recruiters for each city. Make some time in the following cities to drop in and get engaged:

• New York City March 28, 2013
• San Francisco April 25, 2012
• Atlanta May 16, 2013
• Chicago July 18, 2013

The JobMobile events will definitely elevate engagement with existing recruiters and encourage mobile-product adoption. 

Recruiters ~ keep using TheLadders and keep your eyes open for details on these events.

Once again, thank you Thomas and Lisa for your time!  I look forward to seeing your upcoming innovations.

Everyone and their brother thinks they can build the next great recruiting tool.  What they all seem to miss is that if you don’t have experience working the recruiting process, you lack the knowledge of what we, as Recruiters, need.  Once in a great while, though, I find a tool that just works.  Those “ah ha” moments are so magnificent, that I can’t help but share them with everyone.  Not only do I share those tools here on my blog, but I will go as far as making it a point to call clients and colleagues to share the information with them. 

The first time I used Bullhorn I was hooked!  Finally here was an ATS designed by Recruiters for Recruiters.  Bullhorn is intuitive to use, and the ability to see how many times my hiring managers had viewed a candidate made me simply salivate with possibilities.  During the past four years if someone said ATS, I jumped in and screamed “Bullhorn!”

I would blabber on about the features and benefits.  I explained how the reporting could be coupled with a Bullhorn partner to give you detailed reports that would allow you to pinpoint exactly where a recruiter would be having trouble. Clients trusting my judgment would, of course, let me set up that initial call. 

Now I understand I am not the biggest name in the Recruiting and Staffing industry, but I have been around.  I have referred other people to Bullhorn in the past and I have been an advocate for them.  On Thursday last week I think they finally broke my heart for the last time. 

Each time I engaged Bullhorn’s sales team on my client’s behalf, I found myself apologizing to my client for their lack of response and coordination.  In the past, I have smoothed it out and got the system implemented.  When a particular client called last Thursday, I asked when he would be starting with Bullhorn.  He informed me he couldn’t sign up until this week because the Bullhorn sales team was at off-site meeting for the second time this month.  You can understand my embarrassment and sadness for this great ATS.  When my client asked me if Bullhorn was serious about his business, I had no reply, and at that moment, I decided that I would not refer them to any more of my clients or colleagues.

The moral of this blog is if your sales team is not physically and mentally available to do the business, eventually even you biggest advocates will give up on you. 

Good-Bye Bullhorn!

“A lot of people are having a more difficult time finding balance in their lives because there have been cutbacks or layoffs where they work. They’re afraid it may happen to them, so they’re putting in more hours,” says psychologist Robert Brooks, PhD, co-author of The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence, and Personal Strength in Your Life. 

When you plan your week, make it a point to schedule time with your family and friends and activities that help you recharge.

If a date night with your spouse or a softball game with friends is on your calendar, you’ll have something to look forward to and an extra incentive to manage your time well so you don’t have to cancel.

“It helps to be proactive about scheduling,” says Laura Stack, a productivity expert in Denver and author of SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best. “When I go out with my girlfriends, we all whip out our cell phones and put another girls’ night out on the calendar for one month later,” she says.

Stack also plans an activity with her family — like going to a movie or the park — every Sunday afternoon. “We do this because if there’s nothing on the schedule, time tends to get frittered away and the weekend may end without us spending quality time together,” she says.

Michael Neithardt, an actor and television commercial producer in New York City, wakes up three hours before he has to leave for work so he can go for a run and spend some time with his wife and baby.

“A lot of my friends tend to wake up, shower, and go straight to work. And they often complain about having no time to do anything,” he tells WebMD in an e-mail. “I find that if I can get those three hours in the morning, I have a more productive and peaceful workday. I can sure tell the difference when I don’t.”

2. Drop activities that sap your time or energy.

“Many people waste their time on activities or people that add no value — for example, spending too much time at work with a colleague who is constantly venting and gossiping,” says Marilyn Puder-York, PhD, a psychologist and executive coach in New York and Connecticut. She recommends taking stock of activities that aren’t really enhancing your career or personal life and minimizing the time you spend on them.

You may even be able to leave work earlier if you make a conscious effort to limit the time you spend on the web and social media sites, making personal calls, or checking your bank balance. “We often get sucked into these habits that are making us much less efficient without realizing it,” Stack says.

3. Rethink your errands.

Consider whether you can outsource any of your time-consuming household chores or errands.

Could you order your groceries online and have them delivered? Hire a kid down the street to mow your lawn? Have your dry cleaning picked up and dropped off at your home or office? Order your stamps online so you don’t have to go to the post office? Even if you’re on a tight budget, you may discover that the time you’ll save will make it worth it.

Stack also suggests trading services with friends. Offer to do tasks that you enjoy or that you were planning to do anyway.

“You could exchange gardening services for babysitting services,” Stack says. “If you like to cook, you could prepare and freeze a couple of meals and give them to a friend in exchange for wrapping your holiday gifts.”

4. Get moving.

It’s hard to make time for exercise when you have a jam-packed schedule, but experts say that it may ultimately help you get more done by boosting your energy level and ability to concentrate.

“Research shows exercise can help you to be more alert,” Brooks says. “And I’ve noticed that when I don’t exercise because I’m trying to squeeze in another half hour of writing, I don’t feel as alert.”

Samantha Harris, a lawyer who works for a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, says she recently started sneaking in a trip to the gym two or three mornings a week before her family wakes up. “It’s been a real boost in terms of the way I feel for the rest of the day,” she says. “I feel like my head is clearer and I’ve had a little time to myself.” 

5. Remember that a little relaxation goes a long way.

Don’t get overwhelmed by assuming that you need to make big changes to bring more balance to your life. Brooks recommends setting realistic goals, like trying to leave the office earlier one night per week.

“Slowly build more activities into your schedule that are important to you,” he says. “Maybe you can start by spending an hour a week on your hobby of carpentry or planning a weekend getaway with your spouse once a year,” he says.

Stack points out that even during a hectic day, you can take 10 or 15 minutes to do something that will recharge your batteries. “Take a bath, read a trashy novel, go for a walk, or listen to music,” she suggests. “You have to make a little time for the things that ignite your joy.”

http://www.wimp.com/teachpersuasion/

Welcome Back!

If you feel as if your staffing / recruiting business is like playing a violin in a concert hall, with thousands of adoring fans,

Congratulations ~ You get it!!!

You can stop reading. 

For the rest of us….

Now, if you feel as if you are playing on the subway platform to unresponsive clients, here are some questions you should consider:

The video talks about “Logos.”  As a Recruitment Professional, when you are talking WITH your Hiring Manager does it make sense to them to use your service?  If you’re not sure, maybe you should ask them, why they would need an agency?  Believe me, it’s ok not to have all the answers.  You might be surprised at how adept you client is in selling your service.

“Ethos.” Are you the expert on building companies with talented people? If so, how are you demonstrating that?  We all have vast amounts of knowledge when it comes to candidate availability, salary requirements and even interviewing process. Beyond all of that, the number one way to be the expert is to show your client your well-documented hiring process.

 “Pathos.” How are you connecting emotionally with your Hiring Manager? I once had a Recruiter tell me, “It’s not my responsibility to know when my hiring manager gets to work in the morning!” That Recruiter is no longer a Recruiter because he had no vested interest in making any kind of emotional connection with his manager.  This lack of emotional connection caused him to be the last person to call when a client needed a Recruitment Professional.

Ensuring you as a Recruitment Professional are truly covering Logos, Ethos and Pathos during a single client visit can be an enormous challenge.  Especially, when a client is sitting in their own office, trying to listen to you, while having to fight off the consistent distractions of doing their job.  Do your client and yourself a favour by having your client come to your office.  Just like going to a concert hall to hear a famous violist, a client coming to your office will put them in an environment where you will be able to convey your expertise.  Together you will be able to have a meaningful conversation about hiring for you, the Recruitment Professional.

Have a Great Week!

Rebecca B. Sargeant

The Recruiter’s Coach

P.S. Thanks Dad for the video!

This weekend I found this great article by Wesley Verhoeve, “Why You Should Work From A Coffee Shop, Even When You Have An Office.”  Below are his recommendations:

• “A change of environment stimulates creativity. Even in the most awesome of offices we can fall into a routine, and a routine is the enemy of creativity. Changing your environment, even just for a day, brings new types of input and stimulation, which in turn stimulates creativity and inspiration.
• Fewer distractions. It sounds counter-intuitive, but working from a bustling coffee shop can be less distracting than working from a quiet office. Being surrounded by awesome team and officemates means being interrupted for water cooler chats and work questions. Being interrupted kills productivity. The coffee shop environment combines the benefit of anonymity with the dull buzz of exciting activity. Unlike working at home, with the ever-present black hole of solitude and procrastination, a coffee shop provides the opportunity of human interaction, on your terms.
• Community and meeting new people. Meeting new people always provides me with new ideas, a different perspective at existing problems, or an interesting connection to a new person doing something awesome that inspires me. Today alone I met a top Skillshare teacher whose class I will now take, a sleep consultant, a publicist who offered to help with a project, and a wine consultant who recommended some bars.

 To make the best out of your coffee shop days, keep a few things in mind:

• Rotate coffee shops. Rather than going to the same coffee shop every time, switch it up, and avoid the stifling feeling of routine you were trying to avoid in the first place.
• Buy something. Don’t be a cheapskate nursing that one coffee throughout the day. Buy some stuff throughout the day, and tip well. Coffee shop workers are awesome, and they’ll be awesome to you if you are a good customer. That hidden power plug will be revealed, an extra free refill will be given, an introduction will be made.
• Placement. Don’t sit near the door or the register, if you can avoid it. Temperature differences and high traffic don’t help you to focus.
• Power up. Come with a full charge. I like to not bring a power cord, unlike most folks, because I get 6 hours out of my laptop battery, and it forces me to take a break and work with focus because I will run out eventually.”

Wesley makes some great points and recommendations here.  I regularly work for a couple of different coffee shops here in Dundas On.  My favorite spot is Domestique-Café Cyclo Sportif.  The owner is a true entrepreneur and he has created a great environment where fellow entrepreneur congregate. After a day working from his front porch, I find myself recharged and energized to take on the challenges of being a Recruiter’s Coach and Recruitment Professional. 

Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you.