I'm Starting to Sound Like a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend!

“I'm probably starting to sound like a crazy ex or something…”

I am sure this is not news to anyone with their head up in the current job market, but there is a common perception out there that recruiters are too pushy, too salesy, and just downright annoying. Yes, sometimes we are ALL of those things… but despite any negative preconceived stereotypes, the recruiters who continue making tough calls and pushing through the negativity are the ones who find success for their clients and candidates.

PERFECT EXAMPLE:

A few months ago, I was working on a search and must have reached out to a particular young lady at least 4-5 separate times before she finally picked up her phone. I don’t know what it was about her, but I felt compelled to keep calling her to talk to her about this position. I must admit that I did ask myself, “am I starting to come across like a crazy stalker/ex-girlfriend?”

Initially, the candidate had no desire to speak with me. Before really knowing much about the job she began throwing a TON of objections at me. I was able to alleviate her concerns and finally got her to agree to speak with my client because I KNEW this was a great career move for her, and that the company’s culture was perfectly in line with what she was looking for. 

Unbeknownst to the candidate, at the very same time I was pushing my client to speak with HER. Just like my candidate, my hiring manager kept throwing reasons at me as to why they were not interested in speaking with her–all based on what they saw on paper. In my gut I felt that if the hiring manager could only see what I saw in this candidate, she would without a doubt want to interview her. I was very persistent! I urged my client to speak with her for 20 minutes, and if she still felt that she wasn’t a good fit, I would then leave her alone.

Guess what? They ended up speaking and really hitting it off - resulting in my client hiring her. The rest is recruiting history!

MORAL OF MY STORY:

As recruiters, we tend to accept the “NOs” too quickly. Probably because we don’t want to fall into the “recruiter stereotypes” mentioned above. I have learned from this experience that if you give up too quickly, you do both your clients and candidates a great disservice. After all, we recruiters are hired to bring value to organizations and to open doors for professionals. If our jobs were easy, anyone could become a successful recruiter. We get paid to make waves, not to coast through them!

Looking back on my career in recruiting so far, my most memorable placements were the result of following my gut instincts, and pushing my clients and candidates to have conversations.

Since that recent placement, I have relied much more on my intuition. And I think this tactic has led me to greater success in 2018. 

Sometimes recruiters must risk the stereotypes to make opportunities happen!