Q. How important are recruiters in a job search? I have not had much luck working with them.
Working with recruiters during your job search really isn’t a matter of luck as much as it is meeting the very specific requirements our clients want. The fact is recruiters place a very small percentage of the candidates in their database. So working with recruiters from a candidate’s perspective means there isn’t a high probability they will have a job right for you. Remember recruiters work for the company. That means for every job search only one candidate is going to be hired. Considering on any one search we conduct, we review between 150 and 200 candidates, the odds of any one candidate getting the job is very small.
So here is my recommendation for the candidates I coach when it comes to working with recruiters. Let the recruiters do their job and you do your part. The best way to work with recruiters is to make sure recruiters can find you. That is what recruiters do. We find people. So the higher your visibility in the market the higher the probability the right recruiter (the one with a job for you) will find you, engage you and hopefully place you. This is why building solid networking relationships is so important in a job search. The more people that know you the higher the odds are you will be referred to a recruiter by one of your networking relationships. Being highly visible so recruiters can find you is the best way to work with recruiters during a job search.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
Q.I wanted to inquire about the process of working with a professional recruiter. I’m fairly happy in my current position, but I am also curious as to what else is out there. How does one begin the process?
The best way to work with a recruiter is to have a referral to the recruiter. Recruiters work for the company. This is often a misunderstanding by candidates. The company pays the recruiter, so the company is the client. Recruiters want to work with candidates that fill a job listing they have. If you know of a recruiter that has this, I would highly recommend finding someone the recruiter trusts to refer you. Otherwise, you are just another person sending in a resume.
You should also seek out recruiters that specialize in your industry or functional area. These recruiters are more likely to have a job search consistent with your background. They are also more likely to receive a job listing that will match your background. So making sure they know you are available and willing to listen will be helpful.
Finally, recruiters need job listings so I would start building rapport with recruiters. The very best way to do this is when you or your company has a job opening call the recruiter and engage them. This will demonstrate it is a two way relationship.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resource link.
Question: Should I reply to job ads that don’t identify the employer? Do recruiters post ads for non-existent jobs to solicit resumes?
If you are unemployed you should respond to all job ads for which you are qualified. It shouldn’t matter if the employer is identified. If you are working caution is required. Many employers don’t want to be identified when posting ads for a variety of reasons. The company may not want people just showing up in the lobby to apply and others may not want their competitors to know they are looking to hire someone. The position could also be confidential and the company doesn’t want their employees to know. I wouldn’t let this discourage you from responding if you are unemployed.
It is very likely that recruiters do place ads for non-existent jobs. On the surface this sounds like a bad thing, but it is actually a good thing for people actively looking for a position. When a company contacts a recruiter with an opening, the recruiter may have only a few minutes or hours to submit your resume before the company selects the ones they want to interview. If your resume is already in the recruiter’s system they can do this. It could take days to write an ad, post the ad, you read and reply to the ad, and then the recruiter screens your resume. By this time the company may already have a short list of candidates and you missed out. Recruiters that recruit in a specific functional area know they need to have an inventory of talent at the ready. Being able to present your resume within minutes of a client’s request is a good thing for candidates.
One of the best resources we can offer you is our sample cover letter. We get more positive feedback on how this tool has impacted a person’s job search than any other resource. I encourage you to download it and use it. We make this available for FREE because we want to help you. CLICK HERE to download.
Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. It has 5,400 members and is one of the most active job search resources on LinkedIn. CLICK HERE to join.
90% of recruiters fall into one of two categories, they are either retained or contingent. The difference is significant and a candidate should know the difference so that they know what to expect from each. Granted there are other types, but they are few and one rarely encounters them.
Since September of 1980 I have been an executive recruiter. I still run an executive search firm, IMPACT Hiring Solutions. For the first 13 or 14 years I was a contingent recruiter and since then have been a retained recruiter. Having worked both sides of the street, I will explain the difference and why it is so critical as a candidate that you know which type of recruiter you are working with so you can properly set your expectations. I hope this will reduce some of the frustration in dealing with recruiters. I know it will not eliminate it.
As a starting definition:
1) Contingent recruiters get paid when the candidate starts working. Until then they are working for free. Think of them as a 100% commission sales person. No sale no income.
2) Retained recruiters get paid by progress in the search. This payment stream varies by agreement between the company and recruiter, however, as a general rule it is the first third of the projected fee to begin the search, the second in some period of time usually 30 – 45 days, and the final third when the person starts or in some agreed upon time frame. The retained recruiter is guaranteed, if not all of the fee, at least two thirds regardless of whether a person is hired or not. Much like a lawyer or tax accountant, the fee is independent of the results.
One is no better than the other and both serve a purpose and market. Either type of recruiter can be professional and unfortunately unprofessional. There is no rule that guarantees that you will get a highly skilled and professional recruiter with either type, anymore than you can with a lawyer, accountant, counselor, or any other profession. There are good and bad in all professions.
So what should you expect from each of these and how does this differ in the real world and the day-to-day workings of each type of recruiter?
First some ground rules: 1) This is “Recruiters 101” so I will not be able to cover every aspect and every situation. 2) This is an overview, so I will be discussing generalities. There are exceptions to everything. 3) Unless otherwise specified, I will be assuming a professional recruiter and not the flakes that are out there. 4) Don’t confuse recruiters with career counselors or coaches, resume writers or outplacement consultants. There is a big, big difference in all of these. 5) When possible I will try to contrast the two to help you understand what to expect from each.
Contingent Recruiters
Since they are basically 100% commission sales people, closing the sale is critical and so is time. When a company uses contingent recruiters, most of the time they engage more than one. Depending on the discipline and geographical area, that could be up to 10 recruiters working the same position. The company is also attempting to fill the position so the recruiter is not only competing against other recruiters but also the company.
Time is critical to contingent recruiters. The first recruiter to get the resume to the company is considered the recruiter of record and the one that will get the fee if that candidate is hired. Since candidates send their resume to multiple recruiters, having an inventory of candidates is critical. A good contingent recruiter wants active candidate’s resumes on file so that the minute a company calls with a job opening the recruiter can email resumes before another contingent recruiter working with the same candidate can. This makes them the recruiter of record. From a candidate’s perspective, don’t send your resume to just any recruiter if you don’t want it sent out to companies without your knowledge. Contingent recruiters don’t want to take the time to call or email you, wait for a return call or email, to find that while they are waiting some other recruiter emailed your resume to the company.
Over screening resumes is the worst thing a contingent recruiter can do.
Contingent recruiters may or may not meet the company and hiring manager. This is not a requirement for contingent recruiters. Some will and some won’t. I always met every candidate before sending them out to a company. They may not have even been to the company, or ever met the hiring manager, so as a candidate you may not be able to expect all of your questions about the company, position, and future boss to be answered.
Retained Recruiters
Since retained recruiters get paid regardless of the outcome, they aren’t as driven by time as much as match. Retained recruiters generally have much longer guarantees so it is very important that the candidate is successful. For example, we have up to a year’s guarantee.
Retained recruiters are expected to be very selective. This is frustrating to candidates that think they are qualified, but the retained recruiter isn’t impressed. A big mistake candidates make is that they assume retained recruiters are looking for qualified candidates. Retained recruiters aren’t looking for qualified candidates. The company can do that on their own. Retained recruiters are looking for exceptionally qualified candidates that the company can’t find. As close to perfect as we can get.
Most retained recruiters have a very close working relationship with the company and hiring manager. They generally have spent a fair amount of time with the hiring manager, they should have a complete understanding of the position, and know what type of personality works well in this culture and with the hiring manager. Also, most retained recruiters will have an extensive screening process before the candidate moves on to meet the company.
A candidate should expect to be one of 4 or 5 candidates presented to the company for any one position.
The retained recruiter is not competing against other recruiters or the company. They know that if the candidate fails, this may be the last time they work with the company. Generally, they have a long relationship with the hiring manager and that is the person that hired them.
That is Recruiters 101, I welcome your thoughts and comments.
For more, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. CLICK HERE to join.
To learn more about the retained executive search process CLICK HERE.
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I know from all of the comments I receive, the tweets on Twitter, and the comments on blogs and articles about recruiters, that one of the biggest frustrations with candidates is about recruiters. On a daily basis I read, how mean recruiters are, how people claim to be qualified for a job don’t get past the recruiter, how people with years of experience get weeded out by recruiters, and of course, the black hole resumes go in when candidates send them to recruiters.
First, let me clarify that I’m not trying to justify bad behavior by some and maybe even many recruiters. Every profession has them, some more than others. There are even bad doctors, engineers, pastors and so on. The purpose of this article is to clarify for candidates what recruiters do and why, to help reduce the frustration. I hope by understanding, although maybe not accepting, it will make it easier on candidates.
Recruiters don’t really care if you are qualified, have years of experience, or have all the right skills, knowledge, and certifications. Obviously these are required. You must recognize that many candidates have these for every job. Recruiters don’t get paid for finding candidates with these traits. I can tell you as a recruiter for 30 years, and one that still makes a living as a recruiter, how much I wish this was the case. If it were the case, I would be writing this article sitting on my yacht, instead of my patio. We get paid only for finding hireable candidates.
I learned this in my first year as a recruiter. I would ask the client if they liked the candidate and many times they would say they did. I would ask if they thought the candidate was qualified and they would reply, “Yes.” I would even ask if they thought the candidate could do the job and they would reply, “YES.” These were all good questions that lead me to believe the candidate was going to get hired, only to find out someone else got the job other than my candidate. Why? How could this be? I was just as mad, frustrated, and upset as the candidate.
The answer was simple. One day I was venting my frustration to a much more experienced recruiter who informed me that I wasn’t asking the right question. He said those are all nice things to know, but those aren’t what I care about. The question I should have asked was, “Is the candidate hireable?” Now that question has a completely different meaning. It is what I and the candidate really wanted to know.
So what is hireable? Well, as one justice on the Supreme Court once said, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” So much of what is “hireable” is subjective by both the recruiter and the hiring team and is hard to define. The following is my best shot at trying to define it. This is by no means an all-inclusive list. Again, it is designed to simply help candidates better understand, with the idea that understanding helps reduce frustration.
The candidate has all of the requirements to do the job. This is a given.
The candidate is neither under qualified or over qualified. My experience is that candidates accept the under qualified, but rarely accept the concept of over qualified. Either one makes a candidate not hireable.
Presentation. I have written extensively about this. Recruiters care a great deal about how you present yourself. I don’t just mean physical presentation. I mean the complete package of presentation skills. Your presentation skills start the minute you answer the phone for the first time.
Communication skills must be appropriate for the position. This just happened to me recently. I was doing a search for a communications person in a PR firm. One candidate had all of the right qualifications on paper, a good background, good schools, but constantly used the word “like” in just about every sentence. One would expect a person in PR communications to know better. Sorry, but not hireable from my point of view. My client would question my judgment if I recommended them for a communications position and they couldn’t communicate properly.
Style is important. Granted this is very subjective, but this is why companies are willing to pay recruiters thousands of dollars. They trust our judgment on this issue. If the style of the candidate doesn’t match that of the hiring manager then the candidate may not be hireable. It doesn’t mean that the person isn’t a good person, it just means that they aren’t the right person.
Fit is another highly subjective characteristic that determines hireability. If your personality isn’t going to meld with that of the hiring manager or the company’s culture, then you aren’t hireable for this position. Not everyone is the right fit. I interview candidates all the time that tell me they left the company because it just wasn’t a good fit. I know recruiters do their best to make sure this is aligned. Nobody benefits if the candidate doesn’t work out because they can’t adjust to the company.
Listening and answering the questions. This is part of communication, but needs special attention. Every recruiter is assessing how you listen and answer their questions. Recruiters know this is an indication of how you will perform in front of the client. This is the point at which most candidates eliminate themselves. They don’t answer the question asked, their answers are so vague it is impossible to know what THEY did, or they ramble on in hopes of covering everything. As a result, I would not only be embarrassed to present you to my client, but worse, my client would be upset with me for doing so.
From my position as an executive recruiter, these are just the top seven things a candidate must excel at to be hireable.
Is your resume not getting noticed by recruiters? Try using this sample cover letter. Candidates tell us this cover letter has tripled their response rate from recruiters. CLICK HERE to download this sample cover letter.
For a lot more on this topic, and other job search related topics, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. It is a great resource for career experts and discussion. It is free. CLICK HERE to join.
Is your job search going as well as you thought it would? Is it moving slower than you expected? If it is, then download our FREE 8-Point Job Search Assessment Scorecard. It will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your job search. CLICK HERE to download.
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I read hundreds of blogs, LinkedIn comments, responses to our articles, tweets on Twitter, and emails from candidates every month about recruiters. Many are negative. Most complain about recruiters. Many are justified and many are not. Like everyone in a personal services business, you can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Regardless of what we do, we can’t help everyone.
I believe, (make that I know), that we provide more free tools and resources for people in a job search than any other recruiting firm on the Internet. If you know of any that does more, I’d like the link. However, even though many of these resources are 100% free, people still complain to us.
Recruiters are the best resource for candidates to go to for job search help. I believe that is because recruiters are the only people that have the experience to really help. It is recruiters that know what companies are looking for, what the market is like, what companies want to see and not see on a resume, if you interview well or not, how you will be viewed by a company, and so on. Recruiters live with all of this every day. Who better to have the knowledge of what makes one person very marketable and another person not as marketable.
Good recruiters look for top talent. They know it when they see it. After all, for the last 30 years, all I have done is evaluate talent. Any recruiter who has been around for some time can be a valuable resource for your job search. I encourage you to take advantage of the advice and knowledge of recruiters. Don’t be afraid to ask for constructive feedback. Most recruiters will gladly give it to you.
If you have a relationship with a recruiter, this is the person you should seek out advice from. They know you and hopefully will be honest with you. So many candidates will never use recruiters for the real value they can bring to your search. Just one suggestion can dramatically change the results in your job search. Our cover letter is one example of that. I have seen so many examples of how one small tip, suggestion, or constructive help has impacted a candidate’s job search. Most of the time the candidate doesn’t even know they are making the mistake. Only a person trained to look for, or notice, these small issues would catch them. That is what recruiters do every single day.
One of the best resources we can offer you is our sample cover letter. We get more positive feedback on how this tool has impacted a person’s job search than any other resource. I encourage you to download it and use it. We make this available for FREE because we want to help you. CLICK HERE to download.
Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. It has 5,400 members and is one of the most active job search resources on LinkedIn. CLICK HERE to join.
How do You Find a Recruiter that will work with you?
Networking – Networking – Networking (more on this subject later)
Many candidates assume the recruiter is “working with them” if one of the following scenarios take place:
The recruiter accepted your resume
The recruiter called you back on the phone and interviewed you
The recruiter asked you into their office for a formal interview
The recruiter sent you out to interview with one of their clients
Is the recruiter working with you – helping to identify great opportunities, thinking of you first when an appropriate search tumbles across their desktop, giving you ideas/suggestions/recommendations on how to improve your job search/career management?
Absolutely NOT!
You are nothing more than a piece of paper at this point. Perhaps, your “filler” because their client needed to see two other candidates before making a decision on the real candidate they wanted to hire.
There is no relationship – no chemistry – no mutual support.
AND the worst thing is that the recruiter you’ve called or sent a resume to could be the WRONG recruiter. This is THE primary reason most candidate-recruiter relationships never develop – you’re talking to the WRONG recruiter.
How do you find the right recruiter?
The right recruiter is someone who consistently makes placements of candidates just like you – frequently – successfully – consistently – regularly.
NOT occasionally – infrequently – sometimes – maybe – once in a while.
Have you ever asked a recruiter how many times in the last year, quarter, month (take your pick) did they place someone in a job just like the one you’re seeking?
You would probably be shocked by the answer you hear.
How do you find recruiters who frequently place talent just like you?
Below are a few key steps you can follow to identify appropriate recruiters and begin to develop a “tight” relationship. How could we define a “tight” relationship – it’s one where the recruiter passionately pitches you to their client, you’re the one they think of first on a search assignment, and when the hiring manager rejects you – they fight to the end to convince the hiring manager to meet you.
Can you claim to have this type of “tight” relationship with any recruiters? Probably NOT! Perhaps, the reason is that you’re spending time trying to develop a relationship with the wrong recruiters.
The STEPS to Recruiter Nirvana:
Ask your peers which recruiters they are working with
Ask hiring managers/executives which recruiters they use to fill jobs like the one you want
Look in recruiter directories on the internet for which recruiters specialize in your function, industry, or geography
Read the blogs of the very best recruiters (unbiased impression coming up here – like Brad and I)
Which recruiters are ranked in the top 50/100 on twitter and other lists?
Let me throw out a couple of examples:
You live in Los Angeles and are seeking a Chief Financial Officer Position. Who are the top 3 executive search firms who specialize in financial management search in the LA metro area? If you don’t know this answer, you’re flying blind.
You live in Boston and are seeking a Vice President of Marketing Position for a Consumer Products Company with global operations. Who are the top 3 search firms in the US focusing on International Vice Presidents of Marketing for Major Consumer Product Companies? Again, if you don’t know this answer, you’re flying blind and probably have been wasting your time with other recruiters.
Is it time in your job search to leverage yourself and start spending time with the “right” recruiters so that you can develop a “tight” relationship?
Like the little fake babies they give to middle-school/junior high students to carry around, feed, clean, and nurture for a few days – if you don’t take care of it – bad things happen.
What have you done to nurture, feed, support, and provide love to your recruiter relationship?
If you’re not going to go out of your way to build and sustain a relationship with a recruiter, why should they invest the time and energy with you?
If I get a CFO search, the first group I look at to see if there is a qualified candidate is my inner circle of deep relationships. I’ll only turn to referrals, cold calls, and other networking strategies if my immediate network doesn’t contain the ideal candidate.
Are you an ideal candidate in any recruiter’s network?
Let’s assume for a moment you’ve been referred to a recruiter that you’ve been trying to build a relationship with for years. Finally, the recruiter takes your your call based on the referral and the relationship starts. Let’s also pretend that at this exact moment, the recruiter does not have an assignment that matches up with your background.
What do you do to ensure your background and capabilities stay in the forefront of the recruiter’s brain? How do you get your name to pop up every single time an appropriate search crosses the recruiter’s desk?
Classic networking techniques is the correct answer.
What do master networkers do to build relationships?
Send articles of interest to the recruiter
Make appropriate referrals on possible assignments or with potential candidates on other searches
Send information about yourself to the recruiter – your latest blog posting, a copy of a particularly insightful article you wrote for a trade journal
Offer to grab a cup of coffee together
Refer other candidates and hiring managers to the recruiter
I could count on one hand the number of times a candidate has used any of the above tactics with me.
Relationships are not based on sending a piece of paper to a recruiter. If you want your calls returned, it’s time to start developing a deep and meaningful relationship.
I am convinced that one of the major reasons so many executives have been out of work for so long is that they refuse to accept the importance of relationship building in networking. Mass mailing resumes and responding to hundreds of job advertisements is a worthless and useless waste of time.
Is it any wonder why the people in your network are not referring you to great opportunities?
Is it any wonder why you don’t have an abundance of job referrals and leads?
Is it any wonder why most recruiters will not return your call?
Why are you not engaged in relationship building activities? What’s your fear?
I cannot understand why most executive candidates stink at relationship building activities in networking. Hundreds of books have been written on this subject. Numerous blogs are published on the subject. There is an overwhelming number of webinars available in how do build relationships in networking.
Help me to understand the dilemma. Why are most executives who have been out of work for a long time period unwilling to engage in relationship building with recruiters?
I think many candidates are so afraid of getting ripped off that they don’t engage a professional to help them with their job search. I know there are many rip-off artists out there just waiting to take your money. I have written about this and even posted a video on YouTube in an attempt to expose these vultures.
But in this case, a few bad apples don’t ruin the whole barrel. There are many outstanding resources for candidates to engage. I firmly believe these pros can dramatically shorten your time searching. The ROI for hiring one can be as good as mob rates. For a few dollars you can be making a full salary a lot sooner. It seems like a small price to pay given the cost of unemployment.
So what are some of the things you should look for to make sure you don’t get ripped off? Here is my list, and I’m sure there are more, but if they qualify here they are probably a good choice ( I welcome your additions to this list).
First and foremost, Do they tell you or imply in any way that by working with them they will get you a job? If this is even implied RUN. Nobody can get you a job but you. This is a common tactic that is used because they know if they don’t tell you this, or simply imply it as most do, you won’t give them your money. This is where most people get ripped off. An example of implying includes, “X % of the people that work with us find a job in X months.”
Did they call you on a cold call? Most of the unethical, so-called professionals contact you first. They find your resume online and then try to sell you. The top professionals live off of referrals and never (repeat never) call you. I have never made a cold call to a candidate for a coaching assignment. All of my assignments come from referrals. So if someone calls you, don’t listen to them. HANG UP.
What are their credentials? Although this doesn’t guarantee anything, at least you know they have some training. Check out the organization that provided the credentials. Make sure it is a real organization with a real program.
Have them state in writing exactly what the outcomes will be once your time together is over. I’ll bet it doesn’t include finding a job in the agreement. You should know exactly what to expect. I always ask the people I work with this question, “What will you need at the end of our time together to consider it a raving success?” Then I listen carefully to their answer. If I can’t deliver what they expect, I don’t take on the client. For example, if they reply, “A job.” then it’s over. See number 1. Does the person you are thinking about working with ask you this?
Prior to even contacting a professional, you should crystallize in writing exactly what you expect from the person. You should have your list of expectations. Then compare that to what they claim to provide.
Prior experience and performance. What real world experience and track record of performance do they bring to the table? For example, just because a person is a Certified Resume Writer, doesn’t mean they are the right CRW for you. It only means that they are certified. PERIOD. That is all it means. Don’t read anything more into it. What you want to know is, how many times have they sat across the desk from a hiring manager in your field and had the hiring manager drill them on a resume? This is how one learns what is important on a resume. How many times has a hiring authority told them what they want to see (and not see) on a resume in your field? If they have this level of experience there is little guessing in what a good resume is for your field. If they have never had this experience then how can they help you? This isn’t just for a CRW, it goes for all career coaches, and especially for what I call “job search” coaches. How can someone help you in your job search if they haven’t been on the other side of the table in the hiring process?
The best way to ensure that you get the right help is to hire the right person. A top professional may cost you a few dollars, but getting back to work one month sooner can save you thousands.
I encourage you not to be so focused on the pennies that you lose the dollars.
Start out by first evaluating your job search effectiveness. Download our free Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. Find the strengths and weaknesses of your job search. Then look for someone to improve your weaknesses. CLICK HERE to download.
One source is your LinkedIn profile. You must have a great profile. Download our free LinkedIn Profile Assessment. This will help you build a great profile that makes you the expert in your field. CLICK HERE to download.
Finally, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. It is free and provides its members with a wealth of articles and great discussions. CLICK HERE to join.
I find it interesting that people will pay for help for just about anything but their job search. People pay for dance lessons, golf and tennis lessons, piano lessons, financial help, help with taxes, the list is endless. Yet for possibly the most important part of one’s life they refuse to pay for help. So many choose to continue a job search instead of seeking professional help. There are many good career coaches, job search coaches, executive recruiters and others to help you. Most aren’t that expensive, when compared to what one loses each month in salary by not getting a job.
Let me give you two examples of how getting professional help impacted two people with their search. First, it wasn’t that they were doing anything wrong, it was that they weren’t doing everything right and didn’t know what to do when issues came up. The results were consistent, they didn’t get the job. This was too bad because as you will see, these were easy issues to handle. The candidates just didn’t know how. By the way, neither did all the non-professionals in their network.
Example 1:
This candidate had been on the market for about 6 months. He had been getting interviews and coming in second. Most of the time he was told some story by the company or recruiter about why he didn’t get the job. Rarely the real story. Then, because he had a friend in the company he was interviewing with, the true story came to life. He was told the original reason for not hiring him was that the other person had industry experience. His friend found out the real reason was that he had what they called “high turnover.” His last three jobs had lasted on average only 18 months.
So the obvious question to me was, “How many jobs in the last 6 months where he came in second, had he lost because turnover was the real reason?” We will never know, but I’m going to assume at least one.
When we first started working together, this issue obviously came up. It turns out this is a very simple issue to handle, especially in this case. Like so many candidates, he just didn’t know how to handle it in the hiring process.
The way to handle it was to face it head on. He figured if they didn’t bring the topic up during the interview that it wasn’t an issue. WRONG. It wasn’t an issue that the company felt they needed to discuss, because right or wrong, someone had already decided he had high turnover, so there was no reason to discuss it. WRONG.
We changed that. Now the candidate brought it up first in the interview. In every interview. He had nothing to hide and so he forced the discussion. At the beginning of the interview when asked, “Tell me about yourself.” or “Give me a quick overview of your background.” he would start out with, “From my resume it may appear that I have had a lot of turnover. I can understand why most people would think that, I would think that too if I looked at my resume. Let me explain the reasons why I left each company, and in many cases, I didn’t leave the company, the company actually left me.”
This was a huge change in the interview. It was no longer left for the company to decide if it was high turnover without understanding the issues. It was right out there to discuss. Does this mean all companies will accept the reasoning? Absolutely not. All it means is that the ones that are open to understanding why bad things happen to good people will. For those companies that aren’t open to understanding the reasons, the outcome will be the same even if he didn’t bring it up. He wasn’t looking for those companies. He wanted the one company that would have passed on him, but once hearing the reasons changed their mind. That was the one company that would reconsider him.
Within two months he started working.
Please don’t comment back on how bad the companies are for not probing about his background, or who would want to work for such narrow-minded companies. That is the purpose of the article. Quite frankly, when unemployed for 6 months, most people don’t care about narrow-minded companies. They care about a paycheck.
The purpose of the article is to encourage you to think about getting professional help. I will outline what professional help is in a future article so you don’t get ripped off. CLICK HERE to read the article, Job Seeker Scam Alert – Job Seekers Are Getting Ripped Off so you don’t get ripped off.
This person was earning over $150,000 a year. That is $12,500 a month that he was losing because of a silly reason that wasn’t handled properly. For every additional month that he was searching this was the cost. I think the cost far outweighed the benefit of getting a little professional help.
We offer many free tools to help you. CLICK HERE to download a free sample cover letter that recruiters like. CLICK HERE to download a sample thank you letter that will make sure you are remembered. CLICK HERE to download a free LinkedIn profile assessment that will help you build a great LinkedIn profile.
Finally, consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. It has a wealth of great articles and discussions to help you in your search. CLICK HERE to join the other 5,300 members of this group.
I welcome your thoughts and comments. If you liked this article, please tweet or re-tweet it so others can benefit.
Job Search Preparation, Recruiters | bradremillard November 13, 2012 | 
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