Wendy Weber on Executive Recruiting

I received a thank you note from someone I placed in a new job yesterday.

On one hand, a simple expression of courtesy. On the other hand, it’s the first one I received this year.

I recently coordinated a panel for a direct marketing organization. I don’t charge for that type of project. It’s one way we give back to the industry in which we make our living.

To fill the panel, I reached out to my network via email to identify suitable participants for a panel being hosted by a local university. I am always happy to assist in coordinating such panels. However, it does take me away from the “real” work on my desk. Dozens of people responded, and it took me several hours to organize and present them to my contact. When 4 were selected, I notified them via email that they had been selected. Not one of them acknowledged my email. (By the way, I also sent out dozens of emails to those that were not selected, letting them know that we appreciated their offer to participate. It took time, and was tedious, but I felt that I owed them that much).

Let’s talk about clients.

We don’t chase them down the street and then hit them over the head and ask for a job order. They approach us with their need, sign off on our Letter of Agreement, and ask us to get to work…quickly…and produce multiple qualified candidates. Fine. That is what we do.

However, even if they think our candidates stink (which would surprise me greatly), we want feedback. It was work to produce those candidates. For every candidate we present, we may have spoken to dozens of others that we did not feel were an ideal fit. It took time, and effort, and we are entitled to know what the client’s reaction is and where we fell short. We can conduct a more informed search. I know everyone is “crazy busy”, but if a client made time to initiate the search, they should make time to respond to us while we are engaged in their search. We are busy, too.

One thing that we pride ourselves on is allowing our candidates the courtesy of closure. It may take a while, but it is our policy to always let our candidates know when we are at the end of the road. It’s one more thing that takes us away from our “real purpose” (making placements) but an important part of our culture is compassion. We understand that when someone has discussed a position in depth with a recruiter, and allowed them to make a presentation to their client, the job seeker is entering a phase of anticipation. How will the client react? Will this be the beginning of an exciting new chapter in their career? Until they receive closure, they are in limbo. We understand that.

Well, this blog started with an expression of pleasant surprise, and turned into a bit of a rant. But I mean it from the heart. So whatever side of the desk you happen to be on today, take a moment to consider my words, and to extend basic courtesies to those around you. I am certain it will be well received.

As the economy rebounds, we are seeing a lot of interest in bringing search specialists on board.

One client in New Jersey has 5 websites that they would like to see rise to the top of organic search.

One client in Georgia has a website that they would like to optimize through paid search.

Several companies have been in touch with us recently to indicate that although they are not quite reach to “pull the trigger” on a search, they would like us to keep an eye out for search specialists. Although ecommerce generalists remain in demand, interest in search experts that are deep into SEO and/or SEM, to the exlusion of all else, has outstripped demand for more “well rounded” online marketing professionals…at least for the moment.

Crock Stars: www.nypost.com/p/news/business/jobs/crock_stars_DDs8jHF62×6BegfSnBnhcP

In a recent article in The New York Post called “Crock Stars”, Virginia Backaitis brings to light a shocking practice for job seekers.

An industry has sprung up designed to help obfuscating job seekers. These organizations will provide phony reference services that, for a fee, will pose as your former employer (or its employment verification service) and corroborate your claims. The article reveals an organization that provides an 800 number with “operators standing by” to answer calls from reference checkers, and will even set up a phony Web site for your invented employer!

Screening firms polled by @work reported that anywhere from 45 to 70 percent of the job seekers on whom they’d run background checks had supplied incorrect data or told outright lies on their resumes, job applications or both. The discrepancies range from fudging employment dates and job tities to falsifying information about their education to citing employers they’d never actually worked for.

Interesting piece from yesterday’s New York Times on degrees.

There are many, may people who attended college but never got a degree. According to data from the Education Department, after 6 years, more than 40 percent of those who started at a four-year institution have not finished.

“More schools are reaching out to students who never finished degree requirements, creating flexible programs that can be particularly helpful to those who have just a few credits left.”

While I don’t think it’s necessary to mention that you don’t have a degree unless you’re asked, please be honest if questioned outright. We have – more than once – had a candidate who indicated that they held a degree gotten to the point of an offer from a client of ours. Only in the background check did it come to light that the candidate did not have a degree. Both times, the client said that while they could have accepted the lack of a degree, they could not tolerate the deceit, and the offers were rescinded.

www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=32317

Top executives at online retailers made big bucks in 2008—at least on paper. While there’s been some belt-tightening in 2009, they can still prosper this year, if Wall Street cooperates.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to verify the legitimacy of a college diploma. Sadly, a growing number of people are choosing to purchase a degree outright rather than earn it the “old fashioned” way.

Here is a distressing study put out by background screening firm EmployeeScreenIQ: http://www.employeescreen.com/DiplomaMills.pdf

The company conducted a test: It requested a master’s degree in economics for its president and C.O.O. They paid $75 for a “genuine” diploma. (For an extra $75, the diploma mill will “verify” the degree by phone or email.) EmployeeScreenIQ says it received the diploma within seven days; it featured raised seals and was printed on the type of paper one would expect for an academic degree. It had the proper dates and signatures and was ready to be framed.

And to think I spent four years at night earning my MBA!