Hiring

The Night I Drunk Dialed the Candidate Who Took a Counter Offer

You shouldn’t mix. Business with pleasure, dance beats with ballads from the 90s, and definitely not schnapps, mediocre champagne and beer…My colleagues wanted to make me feel better after my candidate took the counter offer. We totally intended to have one drink. But they had half off on shots, Justin bought the first two rounds and that NEVER happens, and they had open mike night and pre-season football, one of which I participated in, it’s kind of fuzzy, and I really, really didn’t want to go home and feel sorry for myself. So I drank way too much. I would like to report that I used Uber, endangered no one and got home responsibly. I would like to report that. I don’t know how I got home. Or where my car is. And I ended up feeling sorry for myself anyway.

Finding Talent with “Good Bones"

I love home improvement shows, especially 'Property Brothers'. Enter: a stressed out family who has outgrown their space and are using their bedroom as a nursery, office and bar. The Property Brothers whisk them off to their dream home, and after many “wows”, “yeses” and “when do we move ins”, they reveal that the house is WAY out of their budget. But, the brothers announce that the potential owners can have everything that is in this house and more…The catch: they need to buy a fixer-upper–a house with “good bones”, which means the foundation is solid. It will require some investment of time and money, but once they’re done, they’ll have their forever home. After visiting numerous dated and run-down homes, the family makes the commitment. After some unexpected issues for dramatic effect, and some paint and throw pillows, the finished project is even nicer than the house that elicited the initial “ooos” and “aaahs”.  Plus, the new owners get to feel the pride of contributing to the finished product.

The same concept applies to attaining talent. Every statistic says that there are not enough people to fill job openings, and employers either need to buy or build their talent. At times, I feel just like the Property Brothers. My clients come to me stressed and needing to find the “unicorn” of employees.

Great Products Don't Sell Themselves, Great Salespeople Do

I call BULL$HIT on that. Sure, you need to start with a great product in order for your company or startup to get off the ground. But, you will also need phenomenal salespeople to reach and appeal to buyers who won’t be swayed by just product features.

Sales, along with Marketing, are there to show prospects just how innovative your SaaS product truly is, and why it’s worth paying for. The best sales reps do this with ease — however they’re not the majority. And of course, as a sales leader, you’re always looking to spot these top sales reps who can take your company to the next level.

So who are they? The product evangelists of the world. Those who can “sell ice to Eskimos”. As a software sales recruiter who talks with talented (and sometimes not-so-talented) people every day, let me tell you what I’ve seen…

Hiring Tug of War

The poet William Blake wrote, “Without contraries, there is no progression.”  This quote rings very true to my day-to-day work-life, as the job market shifts from the last decade’s client driven position, to a candidate-centric environment.

The job market is a very different place than it was 10 years ago, when the bottom fell out of the housing market and Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers disintegrated; ushering in the highest unemployment rates seen in a couple of generations. That era was a very dark time in the world of recruiting, when only the best and the strongest recruiters survived.

When the eventual recovery set in a few years later, finding a workable “hot” job was still very difficult.  As the laws of supply and demand would dictate, this allowed companies to be extremely choosy in the candidates they chose to interview, the recruiters they chose to work with, and with their contractual terms for agencies.

The situation is very different in 2017. The job market is roaring at, or close to, full structural employment. The BLS reported in April that the unemployment rate for candidates with professional degrees is 1.6%. The pendulum has swung to the other side, and I find that companies are struggling with some of the realities of this shift.

Hiring: The More Human Way

As a technology recruiter, I have found that many of my clients rely so heavily on screening and assessment tools that they are doing themselves something of a disservice. You see, as great as modern hiring tools are, do you ever stop and wonder if they are taking the humanity out of the hiring process, causing you to lose out on great untapped talent?

Although there are the obvious boxes to be checked relative to training, aptitude, and skills for any position—there are some things you can do to instantly improve your interview process and hire kick-ass talent...the more human way:

One of the Most Difficult Hires You’ll Make

Your company is growing, and your needs are expanding. You need to create a role you have never needed before. Sometimes these new positions are nothing more than a similar role with a different title, designed to appeal to the egos of potential applicants. But other times there is a lot more involved. You are bringing in someone to take on responsibilities that no one else in your company has experience in. Where do you start?

As a recruiter who works with companies in many industries at all job levels, I can impart some wisdom from my own experiences placing professionals in growing organizations. Hiring is challenging enough, especially today, so let’s consider a few important factors in making your new role as attractive as possible:

Where’s the Urgency?

A week ago I posted that the Unemployment rate hit a 16-year low. That means there is major opportunity for companies that can get and keep great people. So why aren’t we seeing more urgency around hiring!?... In a nutshell: There is a caution in this economy that was not in place during the last boom. Maybe it’s a ‘Great Recession’ hangover or hedging the next downturn. I don’t know, but as they say, “these ARE the good old days”, so let’s get at it!

Don’t let the “Perfect Candidate” syndrome slow down your organization's growth. Have the guts to hire by “gut feel”. It will save you a ton of time and produce some great results.  If you recall the action and reward impact: It’s not the leader who makes the fewest mistakes that gets promoted. (When was the last time you saw a “mistakes avoided” section in a resume?)

Since hiring is the only part of this economy I’m technically qualified to talk about, here are my suggestions to add some urgency to your hiring process:

Why Companies Make Bad Hires

Hiring the right team is one of the most important decisions you can make. Check out what the folks at Fast Company had to say about it:

There are a lot of strategies around how to hire the right people, yet, despite best practices and concerted efforts, as many as 95% of companies admit to recruiting the wrong people each year, according to research commissioned by Glassdoor from management consultancy the Brandon Hall Group. What’s more, over a third of organizations reported being unaware of how costly that mistake can be.

Why Candidates Want to Work at Your Sizzling HOT Startup

Startups are still hotter than ever. When it comes to VCs, 80% of capital last year went to just three states: California, New York and Massachusetts. And with cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with growing startup scenes, no matter where you live there is most likely an emerging company near you.

If you’re one of these startups and want to get great people on your team, make sure you’re doing the following things to become the hottest place in town to work:

Tell Me a Good Story…

We are in a marketplace that is dominated by candidates having so many options on where to work. Websites and job boards are constantly updated with new positions, endless InMails and voicemails are sent from recruiters about the latest and greatest opportunities… So, as an executive recruiter, the question for me is no longer “How do I find more jobs to fill?” but “How can I turn people’s heads to differentiate myself/the company I’m recruiting for from all the noise?”

A great way for companies to separate themselves and their value prop is by putting together a compelling story. According to neuroscience marketers, compelling stories with an emotional trigger alter our brain chemistry, making us more trusting and open to ideas. People are not only hardwired to love stories, but they innately want to follow what is brilliant and new – whatever STANDS out!

Check out the following tips to improve your own organization’s storytelling strategy: