It is amazing how quickly people will turn their resume over to a recruiter without asking important questions about the recruiter and their process. While it is great that there is so much trust that a recruiter will work for you and is looking out for your best interest, there are a few things you need to know first.

Questions to ask a recuiter

What will happen to my resume after I send it to you (i.e. put into their database)?

What communication will I get from you before my resume is sent to a client (you should be able to say yes or no each and every time before your resume is sent out)?

Do you have direct contact with a person at the company with some sort of hiring authority?

Have you been asked or entered into an agreement with the company to work on this position?

Have you had successful placements with this client in the past?

There are recruiters who will toss out a bunch of resumes just to see if one sticks. Furthermore, most recruiters send resumes to jobs without qualifying the job or entering into an agreement with a client.

Ask some questions to ensure working with a recruiter will increase your chances of getting the position, not just be another way for your resume to end up in a black hole.

Lisa Mesnard

For assistance with your career search or new resume visit the career store or contact The Wellington Group @ info@twgrecruiters.com.

For those who are unaware of what Bounty Jobs appears to be here is the website; no secrets, as I truly believe success in the recruitment business all has to be transparent or the end result, the job seeker taking a position with the hiring company, will not happen. www.bountyjobs.com

Bounty, like many other “tools” or HR / Recruitment short cuts before and after them, truly does not understand the motivation of human nature. People want to communicate and be part of an engaged community. Honest people genuinely want the resources a Bounty or others can provide to help make these invaluable connections possible. Most run-of-the-mill, basement dweller or 3 month recruiters can’t provide the knowledge base, infrastructure, bandwidth or network a “tool” like Bounty Jobs promises to deliver. A couple great examples are Facebook and inside919.com. For the most part they are free and unrestricted and as a result, people are making not only money but building empires, finding careers, creating causes and even reconnecting with old friends from remote Alaska. If this is the case then why do these “tools” want to restrict the very ingredient which can make them a king’s ransom?

Here are excerpts from the “non-typical email” myself and my staff, industry peers, clients and vendors received TODAY from Bounty Jobs, cut into the pieces that one assumes to hit their message to the core.

We want total control of a process that can’t be totally controlled in order for it to be a true success.

“Unlike the typical “how it works” email… With 20,000+ registered headhunters (and counting!)…, we will be [re] moving the name of the hiring company one step further into the BountyJobs process… BountyJobs remains absolutely committed to providing an efficient communication and recruiting solution. ”

While my firm is using Bounty at the request of a couple clients, we (the team, the clients and all involved) agree the handcuffs by this “tool” inhibits communications and any chance of immediate success and long term survival of this “tool.”  How long will they be around? I am not sure, but I have seen many “tools” come and many go, with most that are remaining now on the edge of financial crises in this current economy because they do not allow for full human interaction which is the very root energy of the recruitment and HR professions.

The complete link to their new Q&A for recruiters and hiring companies on these changes can be found at: http://image.exct.net/lib/fefc1174706500/m/1/Company+Name+FAQ.pdf

My advice is think twice before engaging in these resource robbing “tools.” Take the time to ravage their sites for information on the true fulfillment rates verse just number of jobs posted and recruiters involved. After all, graduate school did teach me statistics and how numbers can always “look beautiful in the eyes of the reporter.” Best of luck in your recruitment efforts.

Chris

To engage The Recruiting Guy to train or consult with your staff visit our services page or contact The Wellington Group @ info@twgrecruiters.com

“Help Wanted”: Why That Sign’s Bad

The nation has 3 million jobs going begging. And without retraining, U.S. workers may not be able to fill them”*

“A mismatch to jobs that are available and people who can fill them.” This BusinessWeek cover story and featured article on the web for May 11, 2009 follows the theme similar to a previous post on April 27th by The Wellington Group on the DOL February 2009 Report on the 3 million plus job openings.

Lisa Mesnard was referred to BusinessWeek while working on a retained search for a US Based high-tech company seeking niche professionals for Global growth. Lisa is no stranger to the hard to find and harder to place job requisitions. While she was interviewed on this point, what she was quoted saying had more to do with the challenges we face in not just finding the person but in helping them relocate in this “economy.” Most professionals are still seeing pay increases to make these moves, but the media, housing markets and friendly advice challenge their decision making.

“Even some people from hard-hit cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have passed up well-paying jobs with medical device companies in places like North Carolina because they don’t want to move, says Lisa Mesnard, an executive recruiter with the Wellington Group in Fuquay-Varina, N.C. “I find it daily,” she says. “They’re ingrained in the community. [Although] they don’t have a job, they’re willing to wait it out.”

To view the entire story visit www.businessweek.com and click on “Help Wanted, Unfortunately” or purchase a copy on your local newsstand. For assistance with your open staff needs contact The Wellington Group @ info@twgrecruiters.com.

*Note, BusinessWeek and all print and web content are Copyright by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Jobs are out there, no matter the “economy”

There was a very interesting blog post this month on ERE that had me and many other recruiters or human resource professionals sit up and take notes. Now typically the US Media does not pay a lot of attention to the upside of these reports. Instead, what is highly trafficked and extremely hyped-up when these reports are released are the perceived negatives to help us all feel just a little bit worse about this so called “economy.” Well, economies are like rivers, they don’t stay constant except constant change.

The great news I think that does need to be reported are two critical statistics the media is not talking about (or at least the glimpses I see). The first is the number of people WHO DID GET A NEW JOB in February in the US. This number, approximately 4.4 million, constitutes new hires just for one month! Wow, compare the difference in total separations verses new hires for the year and you only have a difference of 3.9 million “separations.” The separations include total numbers so this also accounts for people who have QUIT a job. Taking that into consideration I don’t think we are in such an abysmal state?

The second statistic to highlight is the number of job openings. If you read closely you will see it is tracked for a single day of the month, last business day, and the number for February was 3 million. YES, three million jobs open as the DOL can assume just for the last day in February 2009! Knowing what I know about the public job market I am willing to bet this number does not even touch the countless job openings not reported by small companies and professional recruitment firms or even many staffing operations.

Are you excited? I am, as a professional recruiter I am very happy to know there are jobs to hire people into not in fourth quarter of 2009 but in February and currently in April. Good luck and happy job hunting!

*To view the full Department of Labor report click here.

For assistance with your Job Search from Chris Wellington and others on the staff visit
The Career Store or Get in Touch.