Recruiters

No! No! No! It’s the Recruiter Who Lied!

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqRG3OJRApE[/svp]
Too often, people fall for stuff that recruiters say to them and blame employers. In this video, I illustrate one of those classic examples of recruiter BS.

[spp-transcript]

People sometimes believe that they have relationships with recruiters. They have known them for a while. They trust them. The person seems honest. Let me point something out to you.

I was coaching someone recently who told me about a job he was submitted to buy a recruiter. He likes the guy and thinks he’s competent; the job hunter is not quick to give out praise to people.

The job hunter is looking for director role and goes on an interview for a position reporting to a manager. That tells you right away it is not a director role. He is interviewed by a staff person who reports to the manager; he queries a him about something that he knows little about and is wrong in his opinion, gets into an argument with the job hunter who, later, sent him a link to a Wikipedia article proving that he (the job hunter) was right.

“I was told this was a senior role by the recruiter. It’s reporting to a manager. Why did they change things?”

Let me let you in on a secret. They didn’t change anything; you were lied to by the recruiter.

If a firm changes a position from a director level to one reporting to a manager, this is not something they conveniently forget to tell the search firms about. Certainly, they will speak to the recruiter and tell them “You have this director coming in. We revise the position to one reporting to a manager (a senior architect, for example). Make sure the person will be okay with that.”

I’ve never seen a situation where firm didn’t tell me that when they revise the position so I can go back to the job hunter and not waste everyone’s time.

I had to stop in his tracks and tell him, “It’s not the firm. It’s the recruiter who lie to you!”

Recruiters take advantage of the relationship because they hoped that, if you go in the door, like the money, the job, or the company, maybe you will accept the job offer and they’ll earn a big fee. They believe that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I have to challenge you about working with recruiters. There are a lot of very very good ones. After all I’ve done search from many many years and do more coaching now but still think of myself as a search professional. In the work that I’ve done I’ve always been forthright with job hunters I know a lot of people who are the same way.

Then there are the others. You don’t really know the difference when they tell you it’s a senior position. It’s a senior what? Senior manager? Senior director? Senior VP? What kind of senior are you talking about? In this case it became senior architect.

So get explicit with them because there is a seduction going on where search firms are individual recruiters play on the relationship to have you do things you really shouldn’t be doing because they are a colossal waste of your time.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/thebiggamehunter

Should I Tell The Recruiter I Have Counteroffer?

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu794lYLuCU[/svp]
You’ve been looking for a job for a while, received and accepted an offer from a firm, given notice and received a counteroffer. Should you tell the recruiter?

[spp-transcript]

Should I tell a recruiter I have a counteroffer? I want to start off with a few questions.

In telling the recruiter you have a counteroffer, what are you trying to accomplish? If you want to stay where you are, if your current employer has resolved every single reason why you decided to leave (after all, it wasn’t only about earning more money; it wasn’t just about getting a better job; it may have involved coworkers. It may have involved promotional opportunities), stay. What are you hoping to gain by telling the recruiter?

If the counteroffer is one where your current employer says, “We’ll match the offer,” that takes care of the money part of the situation. What about the rest of it?

By the way, there are two different types of recruiters. Agency recruiters and corporate recruiters. Our bill with both a little bit later. Right now, I’m talking about you and your side of this.

So, again, if they match the money, so what? There still all these other things that are problematic. I talk to people all the time you stay when the money is matched and then call me a month later and asked if I can get the previous offer back.

NO! You burned a bridge. You said yes and now you said no. They have long memories.

What you do instead is ask yourself why you would want to state an organization that’s holding you back that will keep you at the same desk for a higher paycheck. If the that’s the reason you are leaving, you put a gun to their head, they will remember that when review time comes along or the next time that there’s a promotion and they have a choice between you and the person that was loyal. They will reward the loyal one, obviously.

Unfortunately, people are seduced by the money and start jumping for it, begging for more and forget that there were other factors important, too.

Why would you stay with an organization we had to put a gun to their head, force them to make promises that they may forget later on in order to keep you.They may change nothing once you turn down the other offer.

The second thing I want to speak to is the difference between corporate recruiter and agency recruiter in this scenario.

Agency recruiter may pull out this article called, “Counteroffers: The Road to Ruin.” This is an article written many years ago in a publication for recruiters. It tries to persuade job hunters that staying in a current job instead of joining the firm they promise to join will kill your career because employers have long memories and remember the disloyalty. After all, all they’ve done is give you your next raise a little early, nothing changes, etc.. They will beat you up relentlessly.

You have to calmly deflect that and tell them, “Go to the client. Tell them to up the money. I’ll do it for this. It has to be a little bit above. After all, how do I gain if it it’s the same money?”

With a corporate recruiter, will generally seem a little more care. Agency recruiters are afraid of losing their fee, the big payday for all the work that they’ve done. A corporate recruiter will ask, “Why do you want to stay? What is it about your old job that’s changed the makes it better than ours?”

“Well, they match the money.”

“What about all those other things that they haven’t improved upon??”

You may eventually get to, “Well, I need a little bit more,” but when push comes to shove they will either be able to do it or not be able to do it and you will have to make a decision.

I’ll end by saying if it is only the money, remember that you put a gun to their head to get it. If they change other conditions, then maybe it’s worth considering. Caveat emptor. Yes, tell other recruiters but have a reasonable expectation of what you can get from it. Just know that statistically, when I’ve seen people stay, problems arise later on.

When you go to a new place, you start fresh with a halo around you, in some respects it’s easier and in some respects it’s harder.  They view you as their Savior, a solution for them a solution for them, rather than someone aggravation on a Friday afternoon by giving notice.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/thebiggamehunter

How Do You Get Past The Young Recruiter to The Hiring Manager – Job Search Radio

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recruiter1This is a question the someone asked me recently. I, personally, would not have referred to the person as, “the young recruiter.” I would just call them, “the recruiter.” Using the question was term suggests that the person is inexperienced and young. 

On today’s podcast, I offer a simple way to circumvent the recruiter. Try it!

[spp-transcript]

The question I received was an interesting one and I will answer in multiple layers. The full question reads, “how do you get past the young recruiter who disqualifies you from age before decision-maker has a chance to consider you?” Great question! Let me answer it in several ways.

Number one is ageism shows up in a lot of different forms and, here, the ageism starts off by being presumptive. The presumption is I’m going to be discriminated against on the basis of age and ruled out because I’m old. I have no idea how will this individual is; for all I know they are 40 and they are being interviewed by someone who was 22.

They could be my age (by the way, I’m 65) an interview by someone 30.

The assumption is that your age is going to knock you out of contention when in fact, all knock you out of contention more often than not is your attitude. In this case, you’re starting off with a chip on your shoulder and you are doing nothing to change attitudes.

You see, one of the things I know about older people is that they cop to this assumption of ageism very very quickly. And, unfortunately, they do nothing to defeat the bias. For example, when I’m talking to organizations and speaking with the 25-year-old recruiter, the 32-year-old manager, and they see this face of mine, it will be easy for me to say, “They weren’t interested in me because I’m old.”

But, in point of fact, if I haven’t done a good enough job selling, if I have been personally persuasive that I was a better choice is a search for then there are other alternatives, that isn’t about ageism; it’s about how I sold myself. This happens it interviews much too often.

As soon as the older workers sees the 24-year-old in the room, they say themselves, “Oh, shoot. I have no chance here.” Instead, they should be selling their energy, their drive and knowledge.

Often, an older worker is rejected because the resume says manager, director, VP all over it and it is a staff position they are applying for. It isn’t the age that is a factor; it is the fact that they haven’t been in the trenches doing the job day-to-day is being called for. Instead, they have been managing people, operating in a higher level than the job entails and then they come to the idea of ageism as being a factor. With that rant the side, let me go to the actual way of doing. If you have reason to believe proactively that this is going to occur.

First, demonstrating the background fits the role. Second, sit there with a smile on your face, instead of looking like a grump or grouch and answer all the questions.

When they ask, “So do you have any questions for us,” at the end of the interview, ask great questions. Then, when you conclude the interview, put them in a bind.

The bind is, “Look, I know it’s easy to reject me because you perceive me as an older worker and I won’t get along with the hiring manager. That would be an easy thing to say. But my history would countermand that. My history shows that at and lastly firms I have worked for younger people. I help them be successful and I did that when asked because I understand that they had their lessons to learn and I’m not here to force myself on anyone. I want to be an ally for the hiring manager and support them with what they are trying to do. So, if you are concerned that I am a ‘big gun’ going into a little job or that I am an older guy who is going to work for younger woman, I’ve done it before and I’m happy to do it again.”

That becomes part of the closing speech so that you are taking it straight on and putting them in a bind. Nothing works all the time, but what you’ve done is put them in a bind by calling them on it and addressing the “honest question” that is in the room. You answered it and put it on them to push you forward.

That’s really the best way to do it–you address it head on at the very end of the interview as your last thing, when they are about to stand up and finish up. You looked him square in the eye, speak with sincerity from your heart and talk a little about how at your last few firms you’ve worked for younger managers, help them be affected, and enforced your ideas on them, have been there is a resource for them, but you’re not there to push your ideas on them.

If they then turn around and say, “No. We want you for that,” then you have something golden. However, your concern his voice to the question is that young HR guy, not getting through to the decision-maker – – the statistical probability is that the first half of this podcast is that the fact that you believe it’s an issue is accurate and, if you want to get past the HR person I’ve given you a way to do it.

No matter, most people know that the goal is to connect with the hiring manager and avoid the applicant tracking system and the recruiter/screener. No one, however, explains how to do it.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for only $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

How Do You Attract the Attention of Recruiters From Top Tech Companies? – Job Search Radio

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A person who wrote asking about how they can get someone’s attention to the top tech firm. They went to an average to a mediocre school and they really want to work for such a firm.

On this podcast,I answer this from the perspective of a recent grad as well as the vantage point of an experienced professional.

[spp-transcript]

You attract the attention of recruiters from top tech companies? I’m good answer this for new grads and experienced professionals alike. I’d but I want to read the sub question from the original question I read.

“I’m going to be graduating with a bachelor’s degree next year and I’m looking to get into software engineering. I did not go to a well ranked school for computer science. I’m looking for some ideas of how to attract the attention from recruiters.”

Let me answer this one, then go to the general computer science grad and then come to experienced people. So the first part is, I didn’t go to a great school. How do I attract the attention?

The answer is – – it’s probably too late. What you’ll need to do is invest some time and do some great work that you noticed in order to get into that top organization. Why? Because they are not there to satisfy you. They are trying to find exquisite talent for their organization. They’ve come up with criteria that works for them.

You are a stretch at best and probably a loser from their previous experience. That’s not a criticism of you; they just come up with formulas that dictate who is going to be successful in their organization. It is not the person who went to the “C” school (by that I mean, like A, B, C, D school; I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt; you went to a mediocre school at best).

They are not there to do social work and make you happy. They are there to solve a problem, right? You are going to have to up your game and instead of doing the mediocre work that caused you to be in the “C” school, you are going to have to step up your game. That’s going to be on you.

You can do that in your next job. You can do that by working on projects on the side. However you do it, you’re going to have to step up your game so that they want to talk to you.

That’s for that person. For the new grad, for this person who hasn’t really played big yet, you will have to step up. If you’ve gone to a top school, you have it easier, not easy because you come with that brand with you. So if you attended Stanford you have a certain amount of recognition that comes with that. They have a positive halo but you have got to deliver the goods (positive halo means that the people that they’ve hired from that school in the past have been successful in their organization). Think of it from that perspective.

Find the alum from your school who really going to work there and see if you can develop a relationship where they want to refer you. That’s the easiest way to get in. From there, it is having a profile that causes them to want to reach out to you. Talk to your career services office to see how they can set you up, IF they can set you up (I’m going pass Stanford at this point, obviously).

Again, previous grads who’ve gone to work at these firms. Career services. Creating a profile that’s attractive that calls attention to you in your work. Reaching out to HR and hiring managers (HR I only bring up from the standpoint of new grads because, most of the time, unless you are being referred by a previous grant or someone that you know there, that’s going to be your only way of getting it).

Lastly, for the experienced person, if you’ve done great work if you are marketing yourself beyond, “I’m in my job. I’m in my silo doing this task. If you are out promoting yourself because your career is part what you do and part market (after all, you know of these firms for a variety of reasons including how they’ve granted themselves from a career standpoint, right). You have to follow their model and brand yourself and market yourself and promote yourself outside of the cubicle that you work in for your current firm.

Your LinkedIn profile is a small piece. Your public persona. Where you put yourself out is going to be part of this. Where can you connect with people who work at these firms? Where are the speakers from these organizations appear in? Can you get introduced to them there or introduce yourself to you there?

There are lots of different ways to market and promote yourself but the big thing is making sure that the world knows about you. I want to make sure you hear that again – – making sure that the world knows about you… And doing it consistently..

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.= http://www.JobSa

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

How Do You Spot a Bad Recruiter? – Job Search Radio

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I am asking a lot of questions by the members of JobSearchCoachingHQ.com, my side with curated information that you can watch listen to or read to help you find work more quickly.

This is a question I was asked recently that I thought would be helpful to you. How do you spot a bad recruiter?

[spp-transcript]

The question for today is, “How do you spot a bad recruiter?” I think it’s a wonderful question, but, I’m not going to give you the answer that you expect.

Here’s what my thinking is. Most of you think that a bad recruiter is someone who doesn’t get a job for you. You think a bad recruiter is someone who doesn’t find you work. As a matter of fact, they may never arrange for an interview for you.

The problem with that is you are confused about what a recruiter is supposed to do. You make the mistake of thinking that recruiters work for you when, in fact, recruiters are paid by employers, not paid to find positions for someone.

I read an answer on Quora. I want to acknowledge it and poke holes in it. It starts off, “From the beginning when you get a first email message from a recruiter, skim to the bottom. Was it written to you. If you could change the name of the top and so the 200s of people… That’s the sign of a bad recruiter!”

No. That’s an indication that they are casting a wide net. They don’t know if you’re going to be interested. As a matter of fact, most people will never respond. It’s not that they send out bulk email (because in some way, shape or form, you pay contact with them in the past). They have a database that lets them know that one time, when you are in touch with them in the past, you did similar work to what was being sought by the client.

They are presenting an opportunity. You have to accept that opportunity. That’s fine.

“They use buzzwords and pick up lines. Bad recruiters have conversations where they use buzzwords and weak pickup lines.”

I have no idea what this person means by, “weak pickup lines.” They are obviously being sarcastic. However, buzzwords may reflect technology and functionality within a particular profession that a client may require. You have to find out whether the person has those skills pretty quickly in order to see if you are wasting your time and theirs.

“They don’t understand its structure of an interview. They ask questions out of left field that seem like they are out of order.”

No. Something may have popped into their mind that they forgot to cover. I’m a human being. I do make mistakes. I do forget they ask certain things. If you think, bad recruiter, having filled more than 1200 positions plus consulting assignments, having gone 1500+ YouTube videos on job search, having done three podcasts and a whole host of things because I have something that didn’t seem like was in the right sequence for you, how do you feel if someone criticize you for that in your work?

I’m imperfect being. So are you. Give me a break. Don’t expect perfection.

“Hard sell.” That might be the side of a bad recruiter. I’m going to conceive that point. Some people sell hard. If the reason that they are selling hard is because you changed your story will beg, well, excuse me!

There is an inconsistency that you have not communicated, you’ve changed your mind, we’ve gone to bat (as you must realize, contingency recruiters are only paid it if you are hired and remain in the employ of the client for certain period of time).

As a result, your change, on communicated, is a surprise. When we are surprised, often, we are looking at a substantial portion of our income going away. I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but you have to expect that there will be a human reaction to that.

“The questions that they ask are dumb.” An employer often requires us to ask and take questions to ensure that a person is qualified.

“We don’t follow up do they do all the talking? Are they listening to what you are saying? Do they do the things they say they will when they well?” Do you?

I will simply say, recruiters are imperfect beings. We are sometimes held up by our clients who change their mind and have their circumstances change.

At the end of the day, we don’t work for you. We work for an employer who is paying us just like you work for an employer who is paying you. When push has to come to shove, you can do whatever you wish, however, what you interpret as being a bad recruiter often isn’t.

I will give you one thing. One of the best indicators of a good recruiter is longevity. They have had success in their field. Worked for their organization (organizations in general) for lengthy periods of time.

I’m not saying this to blow my own horn, but I have survived many recessions and thrived for more than 40 years. That should send a message to you. Will it be perfect for everyone? Absolutely not. A lot of people will judge me as a bad recruiter because I haven’t help them.

Okay. Your background doesn’t fit what my clients want to hire. Do you think I’m going to get on the phone and call thousand companies for FREE (because you’re not paying me anything) to find a job for you? NO!!! I paid by organizations to find talent for them, not to find you a job.

So, remember, who does a recruiter work for? That’s the basis of the question. The answer is an employer. They make the judgment by hiring the firm the recruiter works for, doing it time and again, hiring that individual recruiter time and again to fill positions

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.= http://www.JobSa

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Should I Email a Recruiter Who Missed an Interview With Me? – Job Search Radio

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recruiterWell, should you or is there another way?

[spp-transcript]

The question for today is should I email a recruiter if they missed the call with me? Let me turn the question around. If you missed the call with them, do you think they would’ve called you?

Hell yeah!

They would’ve called you and they would’ve put you on the defensive.

You can’t do that. A corporate recruiter, clearly, can do that. They can ask, “Where were you?” They can reject you altogether.

With both a corporate recruiter and an agency recruiter, you have to take it on the chin a little bit and say something to the effect of, “Jenny, my name is___. We were scheduled to speak at 2:30 PM.”

To me, I would give them 10 minutes and call them. I wouldn’t delay major lengths of time.

Why? Number one is, if it is only a few minutes, they might still be able to do the interview and be incredibly apologetic. They may feel inhibited if they get an email from you.

Your job is to get the interview and deliver on it. It’s not to be in power or in command or put the other person on the defensive unnecessarily.

At the end of the day what you want to be accomplishing is really very simple. You want the in person interview.

If this were to happen to you in person (you are sitting in the reception area of their office and kept waiting for a while), I would go to the receptionist and say, “I have 2:30 appointment with so-and-so. Are they running late? Is that what’s going on?”

I do that doctors offices when I walk in. I have an 11 o’clock appointment, walked in and asked if they were running late.

“No, she should be with you in just a minute.” They were. I felt good.

The some doctors where I note to call them before leaving for their offices to ask if they’re running late because I know I can be sick and waiting for long periods of time in the reception area. I don’t have time for that. I would call and say, “I have an 11 o’clock. It’s 10:15 AM. Are they running late?”

“Yes, they are running about an hour late.”

“Okay, I’ll be there at 11:45 AM. Just get me in by noon. After all, they were ready Be waiting for an hour on my schedule.”

“Oh, no. We can’t do that.” They’re not my doctor anymore. They have no respect for my time.

With you, as the job hunter, you want the interview. You want them to feel like they owe you something, but not a lot. You want to feel a certain degree of obligation.

Calling about 10 minutes after the interview was scheduled to start (if you prefer, 15 minutes), still gives you a chance to have the interview and then, from there, move on to the next step.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do … Read more about this episode…

Do What Rookie Recruiters Do – Job Search Radio

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You can respond to work the recruiter by the superficial questions they ask and the lack of understanding of your answers.

On this podcast, I encourage you to act like a rookie recruiter, learn and grow.

[spp-transcript]

Years ago, I used to train beginning recruiters–

You know, little puppies who never did the job before eager wanted to do the right thing. Always asking me, “what do I do now? What do I do now?” Like a big sheepdog… loveable . . . You would like them and they want to do the right thing . . . They would get on the phone and sound horrible! They we get off the phone very depressed.

“I did a terrible job on this one.”

I would pack them on the head. “This is your time to make some mistakes. I’m going to give you a list of firms to call and I want you to practice saying what I tell you to say and with time you are going to get better. You’re going to have to make your mistakes and get used to the fact that at the beginning you just don’t know what you are doing.”

“When you interview job applicants, I’m going to give you some basic questions but, at the end of the day, you don’t really know what you doing yet. You will only collect basic information and, from there, I will send you back for more.”

They would follow my instructions and, from there, they would get more confident and get further down the interview Road. If they were doing business development, they would get better at it because they were learning along the way. From those experiences, they would develop more confidence and more expertise.

You know where I’m going with this one, folks?

I’m talking to you. There are times you just got to make your mistakes. I want you to call firms and talk with them about opportunities. Don’t start with the “A” organizations That you really want to work for. Start with the “C’s,” the ones you don’t really care about that much.

Just get on the phone, call them and talk to the hiring manager. Making mistakes and get better. It’s not going to take you all that long, just like a dozen with these people.

With the rookie recruiters, they usually don’t even know the feeling that they’re working in. Thus, in IT, they had to learn the basics of technology in order to discuss it intelligently. They have to learn the tech terminology. You wouldn’t have to do that, would you?

Of course not! You would have to learn the sales stuff just like they had to learn. It doesn’t take long and you start to get better as you start to have successes.

That’s really my advice for you– start getting on the phone. Start calling people. Introduce yourself, tell them what you are trying to accomplish and start to promote yourself. Start getting information about you out there. Reach out to people, ask for advice. Make your mistakes (yes I want to practice before you call, like I would with the rookie recruiters. I expect you’ll become fearful like most people do at the beginning but then, after the call you all grown and say to yourself, “That was awful. That was terrible.”

Then, I will ask you to ask yourself, “What could I have done better? Where was the mistake? How did it break down? What can I do differently next time?”

This is a learning process.

You see, you’ve been trained out of this industrial mindset to be perfect. You’re not. You won’t be. But, I want you to start getting better.

The only way you can get better is by practice, repetition, making your mistakes and not really worried about the consequences of it. Do you think this hiring managers going to say, “Hey! I spoke to this one. He’s an idiot!” Do you think

He’s going to say that to you? Do you think she’s going to insult you over the phone? Do you think she’s going to yell at you, “What is wrong with you?”

Of course not. So what are you afraid of? Just start talking to people, like working recruiters for 20 years old and no less than the door and just are making your mistakes.

You are not going to make many in the basic mistake you’re going to make is going to come from the fear. The way you overcome fear is through practice and repetition.

So practice, then repeat. Practice. Repeat. Get better things and then, lo and behold, you will have great conversations with people

Should you expect it to be your first call? Probably not. Do you think you will get better by the fifth or sixth call? Probably. Are you going to be perfect? No. With time and practice you will be getting better..

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Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know … Read more about this episode…

Why Do Recruiters Ask About The Interviews I’ve Been On?–Job Search Radio

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Serious mature businessman on call in front of laptop at desk in a bright office

There are many possible reasons that recruiters do this. Some are innocuous . . . and then there are the others.

On this podcast, Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains the various reasons for asking.

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I want to answer the question is someone sent to me. Why is it that recruiters ask me about the places I’ve interviewed? They may ask me about the numbers of places. The firm’s I’ve met with– stuff along those lines.

There are many reasons why recruiters do this. Some of them are completely innocuous and then there are the others.

Starting with the innocuous wants, they want to figure out how active you are in a search and how far along you are. Have you been on 15 interviews and been turned down. Been on 15 interviews anger close to a job offer. If you’re close to a job offer, the likelihood is that their client is a be able to move fast enough to compete. So they’re trying to do that kind of reconnaissance right out of the box.

They also want to find out if you interviewed with the client. You may ask yourself, “Why don’t they just will tell me who they are representing?”

The answer is that sometimes people are thieves just like recruiters are sometimes seen that way as well. We’ll get to that of the second.

Here’s the scenario that comes up (I know it’s happened to me way too often). Let’s say that I tell them that my client is Blah Blah company (obviously if there’s a company by that name I made it up on the spot; this has nothing to do with any firm by that are similar name). I have had many instances where I’ve told people the name of the company and their next phone call is to that company, perhaps even to someone that they know there, they get the interview without me but use my information to find out about the job and who doesn’t get paid? Me.

“I wouldn’t do that!” How do I know that? It’s always been seen that way in the four instances that cost me over hundred thousand dollars where I know it happened to me and I’m sure there are other instances that occurred to. I only caught four. That hundred thousand dollars was 25 years ago. I’m sure it happened more than that.

So, I’m not forthright about it; I’d rather hear it from you as to where your interviewing so that I can determine whether or not you’ve already met with my client and not put myself at risk.

They also want to see if you have received any job offers yet, what you liked and disliked about the firms that you’ve met with so far. This way they can learn from your experiences how you evaluate and assess jobs.

The last thing I’m going to bring up today is that they want to get leads of firms that are hiring. This is an example of recruiters taking that information that you provide in the interview with them and trying to convert it for their benefit.

Like job hunters who steal that information and act on it, recruiters do the same thing. If you want to avoid that, say, “I interviewed with a financial firm,” or a manufacturing firm or a consulting firm. Describe it by industry and I was talking with them about such and such type of position. It seemed interesting but they chose someone else. I got there a little late to the party and the rest someone further along and we really didn’t get far.

If they asked, “What firm was that?”

Answer, “I would prefer not really mentioning it. No disrespect is intended but I’ve had instances where recruiters have immediately contacted the firm that I mentioned and its costly opportunities.”

If they start to debate you about it, simply say “Look, I’m not going to identify who the firm is. It certainly doesn’t benefit me and I can tell you who the hiring manager as either.”

So those are the basic reasons why recruiters do it. Most of them are completely innocuous and then there is those last one.

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Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the … Read more about this episode…

What Are The Things Recruiters Search Online About Someone Before Recruiting Them (VIDEO)

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN1WBNTa2ZA[/svp]
What do recruiters look for? It’s really very simple. Don’t over complicate it.

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What are the things recruiters search for online before they try to recruit someone? I think this is a good question and I want to start by saying a lot of people confuse what a recruiter is, a lot of people confuse will recruiter’s work is. Let me distinguish between categories.

Employment agent is someone who responds to resumes that are sent to them. A recruiter is someone who goes out and hunts for talent. They find people who may or may not be actively looking for a job. Let’s work with that definition of a recruiter.

What is a recruiter looking for when they are searching online for someone? What they have is a job description. A client has defined what it is they want to hire. They want someone with a particular background, right?

What does the recruiter do? Well, they start off by trying to find people who fit that particular requirement. They run a very tight search.

If the client starts off saying they need people with these 15 particular skills, they are running a search that specifies these 15 different items. This way, when they contact someone, they have a reasonable probability of success.

When they are looking at the LinkedIn profile, since that’s what I’m sure you’re referring to, they are looking for something that demonstrates congruence with what the client is looking for. Let me repeat that. They are looking for something in your LinkedIn profile that demonstrates congruence with what the client is looking for.

Plus if the information is very old, if the information and skills listed in your profile have not been updated since William Jefferson Clinton was president of the United States, it is less likely that the client or the recruiter is going to be impressed with the background. They want to see recent information.

They are looking for something that demonstrates subject matter expertise. What makes this person stand out from all the other people who they find online or through any other means (like referrals)? What makes this person right for our organization?

Before calling them, they want to feel like they have a reasonable probability that the client will be interested and excited in this person. That’s up to you as the job hunter rest person who is online displaying themselves to others… To provide that value if they are looking at your profile or find you through Google.

Don’t just sit there passively. Think to yourself, “this is what I do. This is what I am exceptional at. What makes me stand out?”

You can use powerpoints using slideshare and connect them to the LinkedIn profile. You can create videos. You can create regular with audios on Anchor.fm where you are talking about something for two minutes or less and then link it to your LinkedIn profile.

There are a lot of things that, if you start thinking creatively, you can promote yourself as an expert. With time w,ith regularity, you will be seen as someone better than the pack.

So, again, we are looking for congruence with what you claim to have expertise in.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

In addition, they are looking for subject matter expertise – – what makes this person stand out from all the other people who they find online or through any other means (for example, referrals).

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn 

Why Do Recruiters Ignore Computer Science Degrees?

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDUIflVpZSc[/svp]
Why do they often choose to employ people without degrees? Is it because they can pay them less or because they think they are up to date about latest technologies? Is it fair to say that such recruiters are harming the profession of computer science and the engineering discipline?

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Here’s a fun question I was asked. Why do recruiters often ignore degrees in computer science? Or do they often choose to employ people without CS degrees? Is it because they think they can pay them less or is it because they are up to date with the latest technologies? Is it fair to say that such recruiters are harming the profession of computer science and engineering disciplines?

Let me start by saying you’ve got it all wrong.

I want to divide recruiters into two categories – – agency recruiters and then corporate recruiters.

Agency recruiters make no such decisions. Agency recruiters are hired by organizations to find people with particular types of backgrounds and skills that that firm has determined are appropriate and suitable for the roles that need to be filled.

Let me repeat that. They don’t make the decision. They are hired by an organization that has made a decision about the skills and experience that they need for someone to be successful in a role.

So, if you are talking about how agency recruiters are harming the computer science profession, they are the messenger for an organization that wants to hire people. As long as the requesting organization is making is legal, that is, it is not discriminatory based upon certain classifications, then it is acceptable.

A firm may not want to pay the premium that a computer science grad wants to earn and it may not matter to them that a person has a certain degree. They may just want someone who has experience.

Let’s switch to corporate recruiters.

Corporate recruiters reflect hiring managers. They don’t make decisions. Hiring managers have decided that the CS degree is overvalued or overinflated in terms of its value. As a result, it doesn’t matter to them. They may have their own experience where they don’t have that degree and have done perfectly fine.

Some people may tell you that you should work for a firm that doesn’t value your degree. Okay. That’s your prerogative. You may miss out on some great opportunities from terrific organizations. That is your choice in all this.

You can choose to work for organizations that value to agree to a higher level and others. However, from an organizational standpoint, they have things that need to be done. The smart ones, in my mind, don’t care if the academic is in place.

If the person has a CS degree and can’t do what needs to be done, it’s irrelevant that they have that degree. After all, if you are a recent grad, you don’t have any experience delivering on this except what you had done out of the textbook or a lab.

If you’re an experienced individual, you’ve already transcended what you learned in school and the firm interviewing you may not follow that methodology that you learned in school.

Again, it’s your choice when you go to work but organizations have a responsibility to hire people who can work in their culture and do what needs to be done.

Apparently, are finding some organizations that don’t value your degree the same way that people at the University told you it should be valued.

Remember, what is the University trying to do? They are selling seats. They are selling the value of their program. Perhaps, they inflated its value to you.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn