4.4.2004

Are you thinking like a recruiter?

Here are a variety of articles from a recruiter's perspective. If you put yourself in their shoes and try to think like they think, then you'll do a better job of selling yourself and your skills to them.

Sendouts per hire

Sendouts per hire by position by recruiter is an important metric that can be used to track recruiting effectiveness. By tracking sendouts per hire, you are measuring the effectiveness of the total hiring process. That's why this is the most important metric of them all. In other words, by setting up your process improvement programs to achieve a maximum of three sendouts per hire, you directly ensure that:

• The recruiter, hiring manager and everyone on the interviewing team know the job 
• The recruiter, hiring manager and everyone on the interviewing team are able to accurately assess candidate competency 
• Your sourcing channels consistently produce enough top candidates quickly 

Sendouts per hire is not an end in and of itself; it's a measure of process efficiency. When it's high, it means something is wrong. When it's three or less, it means your hiring process is healthy.

<Note from JobFairy.com: A recruiter will send as few candidates as possible to an open job position. If you send too many, the client typically gets them all confused. If you are one of 2 or 3 being sent to interview, then your chances are the best they're ever going to be. When in a direct hiring situation, the hiring manager gets all delirious with choices and could interview a dozen or more people. You'll get lost in the crowd.>

What exactly do you look for in candidates? Often managers look for candidates who think and act like they once did. However, strict adherence to the job description and obedience to authority and are no longer the most valuable traits in candidates.

To find the best workers today, you must have to reconsider obsolete assumptions - Job-hoppers may be the most adaptable workers. Workers with short attention spans may be the most comfortable with new technologies. An applicant with an "attitude problem" may also be the most entrepreneurial, original thinker.

Before you start an all-out recruiting campaign, it is important to clarify exactly what kind of applicants you hope to attract. If you have given thorough attention to building a profile of the ideal applicant, the selection process is all about filling the slot.

<Note from JobFairy.com: All managers hire people that they "like". In the interview, make sure you mirror their body language, so that they feel they're "in synch" with you all the sooner. Corny, but effective.>

"How to Measure New Hire Quality 

Staffing metrics are all the rage these days, and none generates more discussion and angst than measures of new hire quality. Just how good are the new employees acquired by the Staffing Team and how do you tell? What numbers or scales can be used to indicate - accurately and fairly - new hire capabilities and motivation and when should these measures be used to avoid their contamination by other factors present in the enterprise environment?

Listen closely and you can hear the little wheels in the CFO's head turning: if the staffing function can't get the results we need, let's get rid of it and turn the job over to some group outside the company who promises to do it better and cheaper. They get away with that kind of reasoning because:

• "It's not their job to check the validity of the vendors' claims;"
• BPO is today's management fad, and there are lots of articles about it in all those nifty management magazines that the CEO reads; and
• The staffing function isn't measuring new hire quality and thus is unable to prove that the hiring managers are (a) wrong in their assessment, (b) covering up their own inept leadership or (c) both.

So, why aren't we doing it... measuring new hire quality, that is? Part of the problem, of course, is that there is no generally accepted definition of what constitutes a "quality hire." That makes measuring new hire quality just a tad difficult. Nevertheless, various metrics and methodologies have been proposed, including:

• A person's score on a work performance simulation,
• Their successful completion of an assigned task within a specified period of time after hire,
• Their performance appraisal, and
• Their retention.

For a whole host of political, bureaucratic and cultural reasons, however, none of these approaches has gained widespread acceptance in the enterprise. As a consequence, the only method of measuring quality that seems to have any traction today is the IKIWISI technique favored by most hiring managers. You know how it works; when asked how they measure quality, they tell you, "I'll know it when I see it."

This approach clearly has a number of downsides, not the least of which is in the "I" of the beholder. The fact of the matter is that the perception of new hire quality is (or should be) based on performance, and performance is profoundly affected by hiring managers. Their leadership skills and style - more than any other single factor - shape what a new employee does and how well they do it. Assessment and selection, orientation and on-boarding all play a role, certainly, but it is the direct supervisor who shapes what happens on-the-job. Their words and deeds determine whether an "A" level recruit delivers "A" or "C" level work and, indeed, whether that "A" level person will even bother to stay around. As the old truism acknowledges, "People join organizations and leave supervisors."

All of which brings us back to the original question: what should we do? How can we measure how "good" a new employee really is without tripping over the supervisor and their influence? Here's my modest proposal: measure quality twice. That's right, see the assessment of new hire quality as a process for which recruiters and hiring managers are jointly responsible. In essence, I'm proposing that they be - Tah Dah - strategic partners in the assessment of new hire quality." - weddles.com

<Note from JobFairy.com: From what I understand, HR and recruiters often have to justify themselves in terms of this question - do they add value or not? If hiring managers were left to their own devices, wouldn't things be a) cheaper and b) just as effective? Here's a radical new thought - MEASURE THE SUPERVISOR'S PERFORMANCE as a factor. Excessive turnover? Not all those employees were terrible hires. Lack of cohesion within the group, unit, or department? Fish rot from the head down. Is it the peon's fault, or the leader's? I wouldn't look so much at what a new hire's metrics were, but rather at the quality of the work that comes from each manager's group. That's what really matters anyway.>

"Five Common Phone-Screen Interview Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Some recruiters and hiring managers underestimate the importance of the phone screen in making good hires, when in fact it can be a key component of the recruiting process.

Of course, the phone screen is an opportunity to weed out candidates who are looking for more salary than a position pays, or non-local candidates who are unwilling to relocate.

But good recruiters and hiring managers also know that the phone screen is an opportunity to learn more about a candidate than you can from his or her resume. You can determine, for example, whether the candidate is worth bringing in for a face-to-face interview. And if you do, you won't be starting from zero.

To get the most out of a phone screen, though, you'll need to avoid these common mistakes:

• Not understanding the job you're talking to the candidate about
• Writing off seemingly unenthusiastic candidates too quickly
• Being overly critical of candidates who speak English as a second language
• Missing scheduled phone interviews
• Not being aware of open positions at your company other than the one for which you're recruiting

Understand the Job You're Trying to Fill
The phone screen is your chance to get a better idea of how well a candidate has the specific skill set required for the opening you're trying to fill. If you don't understand the job and don't know what skills it requires, you can't conduct an effective phone screen.

If you are a hiring manager, take the time to define precisely what skills the job requires before posting the job opening.

If you're a recruiter, make sure you get thorough job descriptions of the positions for which you're recruiting. If you still don't have a strong grasp of a job and the skills it requires, take some time to speak with the hiring manager to get answers to your questions about the job and what skills the ideal candidate would possess.

Don't Write Off Seemingly Unenthusiastic Candidates
Candidates who are actively looking for a job can be dealing with a barrage of phone calls. For those who are working full time-as most good candidates are-coping with all those phone calls can be exhausting.

The key in such a situation is to take the next step. If you're having a hard time filling a position and a candidate's resume makes it clear that he or she has the skills needed to do the job for which you're recruiting, invite him or her in for a face-to-face interview.

In today's difficult hiring market, give candidates a chance to research your company and work up enthusiasm - and give yourself a chance at getting the best candidates available.

Be Patient With People Who Speak English as a Second Language
Make sure you don't unnecessarily write off candidates who don't speak English well.

In some cases, the job you're trying to fill will not require excellent communication skills. Many technical positions, for instance, do not require people who are fluent speakers of English.

In other cases, the phone screen may not provide you with a fair assessment of a candidate's communication skills. Eye contact and gestures can do a lot of the work in communicating, and you'd be foolish to eliminate, on the basis of a phone call, candidates who may later impress you in person.

Don't Miss Scheduled Phone Calls
Good candidates are usually busy people who have gone out of their way to block out time to speak to you. It's quite likely they'll lose interest in working for your company if you neglect to call them as scheduled.

To avoid this problem, treat phone screens as important as in-person interviews.

Be Aware of All the Areas in Which Your Company is Hiring
Often, during a phone screen, it will become apparent that a candidate does not have the right skill set for the position you're discussing. While he or she might not fit into that position, though, there could be another place in the company where the same candidate would fit in well.

Before recruiting for an open position, take the time to learn about other positions your company is hiring for. That way, if you speak to a high performer who is not quite suitable for your open position, but would fit in at another open position, you won't miss an opportunity to bring a quality hire on board."

<Note from JobFairy.com: Don't get screened out on money. Be evasive. Be enthusiastic. Speak English well. Don't be late for an interview. Probe the HR flunky as to whether or not there might be other positions available. Find out what the arcane skills are on the job description and make sure you tell the recruiter that you have products just like it. You may have to educate the recruiter as to what the technologies do. That's OK; be patient. It pays off later and gives them a good impression of you. Remember, recruiters tend to only be interested in the "freshest" candidates; this means you have to hit it hard in the first three weeks you've first posted your resume.>

2004 ExecuNet Executive Job Market Intelligence (526 KB PDF)