"...at some point, after you've point and clicked your way to your "dream job" you're going to come across a wall called "a live person."

As a frequenter of job pages, I have inadvertently been signed up for many "career" newsletters, most of which I didn't ask for and were I not too lazy to type "REMOVE" in my subject heading, I'd simply have myself taken off the mailing list. Having said that, as I began thinking of what I'd like to write about, I had to ask myself, "What haven't people seen? What will make people want to actually read my article instead of simply trashing it to keep from getting the dreaded "Your Mailbox is Full" error message?" Again, calling on the success (as of today, all 35 hits) of my webpage, and my own desire to get a point across, I came up with the subject of my article, "What Job Searchers Really Want." I know, I know, they want a JOB! Actually, there's a lot more to it. There's a whole respect-factor that is involved. One must remember when dealing with someone who is looking for a new job (especially if they were laid off of their previous one) is that you are dealing with fragile ego's and frayed nerves. The slightest provocation could be cause for serious retaliation in the form of hysterical sobbing or high blood pressure.

If you have read my online article (and you really should because it's not only informative, but I find it darn entertaining as well) you will know that I have a great deal of experience as a job hunter. Being a product of the Internet and all things faster than light, I have utilized online resources extensively over the course of my 10-year career to find several positions. There are pros and con's to online job hunting, much as there is with anything else. However, there is one key ingredient that no matter how far we come technologically will always remain. The Human Factor. The fact that at some point, after you've point and clicked your way to your "dream job" you're going to come across a wall called "a live person." Usually that live person is in the form of an overworked commission-paid resource called a "Recruiter" (insert horror sound here).

Ah yes, the "Recruiter." At what point in the scheme of things did the word "Recruiter" take on the same pariah connotation as say "Funeral Home Director?" Managers cringe and switchboard operators furtively scramble to offload potential "Recruiters" to VRU's in an attempt at preventing attrition. Of course there are two sides to every story and being the compassionate minded conservative amateur journalist that I am, can see both sides and can/will explore them.

In an attempt to convey a useful meaning, I thought we might explore a short day in the life of both a Recruiter as well as a Job Hunter so that we can give each a fair shake and make a judgement based on our own conclusions rather than those of the author (of course, I'm going to skew the article in favor of my side, so you don't really get equality). Hey, if you want fair and balanced, watch FOX NEWS.

The Recruiters Story (Let's call him BOB)

After having slept a little later than usual, Bob arrives at the office around 9:30 a.m. only to find that the boss isn't in yet which meant he could probably have taken time to eat breakfast before he left the house. Oh well, lessons learned. Bob sits down at his cubicle and switches on his computer. While it hums itself to duty, he notices the flashing "call waiting" button on his phone indicating that he already has several voice messages that the automatic operator has routed to his phone. Cursing those early-rising job hunters, Bob heads off towards the break room for some coffee. Of course no one cleaned the coffee pot before they left last night, so by the time Bob has cleaned, brewed, and poured himself a cup, his computer is up and awaiting his login. Bob types in his password (B _ R _ E _ N _ D _ A) and proceeds to bring up his email. "Oh Great" he mutters as 345 emails each with the subject (Response to Job xxxxx) and marked "URGENT" fill his "inbox."

Having been on the job for a whole month already, Bob knows better than to try to read each and every resume and attempt to match them up with the job that they are responding to. "It would be some much easier," he thinks to himself, "if these nuts wouldn't respond to stuff they weren't qualified for." At what point does a kindergarten teacher tired of the political b.s. decide that they are qualified for a "Technical Trainer" position at IBM? Or a new college grad with a BS think they are management material for the latest IPO start-up. Having gotten some time saving advice from the "senior" Recruiters (those having been OTJ for at least 6 months), Bob knows that the best way to thin down his email is to run a key word search on his inbox. Bob's been given a list of keywords for the 10 jobs that he's responsible for, so he loads them into his "Search" feature of his email. The search knocks the list down to only 225 resumes. Bob then consults his "hot list" and begins reading the email that have one of the "hot list" job numbers in the subject heading. This knocks the list down to a paltry 75 candidates. Of course, things aren't always this hectic, but Bob posted three new jobs yesterday and the response is always the greatest the first day of a listing. "I swear," said Bob, "you'd think these people are sitting at their computer 24x7 waiting on a new job to post."

Bob reasons that with 75 candidates, he can average about 8-15 calls an hour. Of course, this is largely dependent on whether the person is available for the call and how needy they are (meaning how long they will want to talk). He probably won't get through the list today, which means the rest will either get dropped or rolled over into tomorrow, assuming he even has time then. Bob pulls up the first candidate and quickly scans their qualifications and makes sure that the keywords he's looking for are there; project management, BS, sales.

Everything looks good so Bob dials the first number. A male voice answers the phone and Bob introduces himself and the fact that he's calling on behalf of the resume the person submitted. Never fails, Bob notes the slight rise in their voice as the excitement mounts. "Can you tell me a little about your experience?" Bob asks. There is a slight bewildered pause as the candidate begins to explain his background. Bob asks a couple of pointed questions that he needs in order to fill in the requirement sheet before he can send the candidate's resume to the employer. The candidate asks a couple of questions about the job, location, etc&ldots; Bob asks what the candidate's salary requirements are, knowing that this is a question that no one wants to answer. The candidate gives him a range, but as usual says that he is "Open" to negotiate. Bob thanks the candidate and assures him that he will be in touch.

Once off the phone, Bob completes his form and places the candidate's information sheet in his basket. This basket will soon contain the cream of the crop of the candidates who have applied. This does not mean that they will have their resume forwarded, this is simply the initial screening. After Bob has 10-20 potentially qualified candidates, he will screen out the most qualified and only then will he forward 3-5 to the employer.

Well, Bob's been at it for a few hours now and he decides it's time for lunch. He takes off for an hour or so. When Bob returns, he has on his vmail a call from one of the employers who has a job posting on his "hot job" list. He quickly calls the HR manager at "Acme" and is told that the requirements have changed&ldots;drastically. Bob nods quietly and thanks the HR manager for the notice. So much for all of the work he did this morning. Bob now has to re-review his list of candidates and begin the screening anew. Unfortunately the candidates he originally decided on keeping for the time being, no longer fit the employers profile. He tosses the resumes in the garbage. He doesn't have time to call the candidates, and he really doesn't want to give them bad news, so he does nothing. Sighing to himself, Bob begins fresh.

Whew! That was pretty bad wasn't it? For you job hunters out there, do you now see some of the junk Recruiters go through? Granted, there are many, many, improvements that could be made, but much of it is inherent in today's economy. When you have upwards of 50,000 people in one city looking for a job and only a few hundred (maybe a thousand) Recruiters and/or actively seeking HR managers, the job can get unwieldy. So let's try to cut them some slack (hee hee hee! ) So let's see what we learned about Bob. What could Bob do differently that would both help him, as well as those he works with?

To begin with, how about being better organized? Most recruiting firms use professional databases and the same email everyone else in corporate America uses, so this shouldn't be an issue. Knowing which candidates are up for which job is critical to follow up success.

Review the candidates resume and be somewhat familiar with what they do before you call them. Remember that they have probably answered the same questions you're going to ask, at least a dozen times. It's not too much to ask that the Recruiter have at least read their resume before you call.

This next point, is the mantra of Corporate Trainers and Sales(people) the world over; Understand your target audience. How can you possibly represent a candidate if you don't understand the skills you are presenting? Can't you see it; the Recruiter is talking to the HR Manager and he says, "Well, I've got this candidate here and he has a couple of the keywords you've listed on your job requirement." "Well, does he have any Transport experience," the HR Manager asks. "Um, I'm not sure, he didn't say anything about it," replies the Recruiter. You laugh, but this scenario is all too real. Now, had the Recruiter understood the industry and related jargon, he would have known that since I have DACCS (Digital Access Cross-Connect System) experience, that I definitely have Transport experience. See where I'm going with this?

The last point I'd like to zero in on from the Bob story is this; understand that your candidates are eagerly awaiting a call from you. If they are nixed from consideration or if the position changes and it knocks them out of contention, let the candidate know. Not only will it keep them from dragging out the expectation and hope indefinitely, but it will also cut down on the number of phone calls you receive from candidates asking about status.

Unfortunately readers, that's all the room I have for this article. On my next installment, I'll be wailing on the Job Hunter. Let's not just blame the Recruiter. Sure there are things that they could do differently, but the same holds true for the Job Hunter as well.

Look for the next article called: "The Job Hunters Story" coming soon.

Christopher Souther

 

Chris Souther may be contacted at http://AtlantaCopywriting.webalias.com csouther@mindspring.com. Click here to view more of their articles.
Christopher Souther is a Copywriter and Freelance Writer in Atlanta, Ga. On the side he has published articles on a variety of topics including, Children's Education and today's Job Market. He is currently revising his free Online Guide to Job-Hunting for publishing as well as working on another Non-Fiction book dealing with Adoption.

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