Sirona Says

Are Brands failing to follow the rules of candidate engagement?

While reading Marketing Week yesterday, I came across a a very interesting article entitled, Brands Fail to Follow Rules of Engagement. And while it sits in a marketing magazine, I believe that the same applies to recruitment and candidates.

Research from Targetbase Claydon Heeley (now that's a catchy company name, if ever I heard one!) suggests that the majority of company marketers (for my analogy substitute HR Director) are confident they are engaging with their audiences (for me, prospective employees), while consumers ( the job seekers) believe the opposite.

Here is the summary of their results:

What do you think the results would have been if they had asked HR Directors similar questions?

Do you think that 41% would have selected 'Demonstrating understanding of the customer' (read job seeker)? or 44% would have selected 'Personalised and tailored communications' (with job seekers)?

While I think they may well have made a utopian selection (just to look good in a survey!), experience tells me that, in reality, they actually have no understanding of the job seeker at all!

There are some very good organisations of course - the best I have seen for a while is Deloitte's - , but they, I believe, are currently in the minority........unfortunately.

What do you think? If you substituted a recruitment slant to the title of the table above, would it look much different?

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Have you ever used one of these excuses to justify upsetting people at work?

Wow!! You can be rude to a colleague and co-worker ........well, sort of, as long as you can justify it to yourself!
I am sure I don't need to be the one to tell you, it is fairly easy to p*** off your fellow work colleagues or co-workers - whether it be not making the coffee on your round, relying on others to produce your documents for you or just by being an arrogant, self-opinionated prat!

I was reading a post on the blog Workengagement.com, where they discussed three self justifying rationales for being rude at work. It got me a little intrigued, I have to say. Working in the recruitment sector, you could say I have worked with 'more than a few' people, who seem to have gone out of their way to p*** off everyone around them......just to get to their next placement (ring any bells with you?).
Have you knowingly gone out of your way to upset someone at work? I know I have - I know you won't believe that of me, the shy unassuming person that I am, fearful of giving an opinion .....not!

So, let's assume for a minute you have upset someone at work, and caused a bad working environment, did you justify it to yourself with one of these three excuses?

1. “Sorry for the way I behaved; I was just so stressed.”
   You shout or insult someone because you are under great pressure (real or just perceived) at work. Due to tight deadlines or grueling schedules, people become anxious,irritable and very short-tempered. (Don't look at me - well,ok, occasionally!)
   These types of statements express one person’s tension. They also dump some of that tension onto others. After acting in this way, people tend to acknowledge that they were not on their best behavior. They may even apologise for saying rude things to others, saying, “Sorry for the way I behaved; I was just so stressed.” The implication and the hope is that this was uncharacteristic behavior that won’t happen again, but we know different, don't we, recruiters!
   
2. "Don't you know what you are doing? Am I the only one that can do this job?"
   You choose the pushy and aggressive route, rather than just being assertive. You believe that as a leader you have to drive people hard, to get a good day's work out if them, and believe (arrogantly) that you are doing them a favour - they are learning from you after all!
   The boundary between assertive and pushy is thin. Looking after yourself and your task in hand - project deadline or client presentation maybe -  can result in stepping on everyone else. Assertiveness is a powerful tool that can slide into aggression when charged with extra emotion.
   In leadership positions, it can be tempting to take a tough approach: focus on results and take no prisoners. But in doing so, there is an ever-present danger of showing disrespect to others. What employees perceive as disrespect, you perceive as mentoring. Recruiters call it tough love.
   
3. "Sorry, I was only joking.......I was ...honestly"
   This is probably going to have the majority of you nodding your head as you read this. You believe others are being too sensitive and don't take too kindly to the "joke" or comment you made at their expense. So you justify it by saying that they  take offense too easily and that they lack a sense of humor. You actually then take the thinking a stage further by saying that they are too 'soft and delicate' to be working in your team.
   This attitude provides the comfort of entirely denying one’s bad behavior. You put any fault would be with the person taking offense who lacks humor or a feel for the group’s "lively and straightforward culture."

Sorry to say, I have been guilty of all of these in my time and I bet you have as well at some stage. But the hardest part is to actually recognise it and learn from it next time. I did.

Are there other good self justifying reasons, for any specific actions that have happened in your workplace? 

Go on, share them with me, you know you want to. Just change the names of the individuals!

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There is workplace stress and THEN there is recruiter stress!!

As a longstanding recruiter, I am very well aware of the dreaded six letter world called stress. But, within the recruitment industry - client side and agency side - medium to high stress levels go with the territory, don't they?

BUPA did a survey a while ago and discovered that  whole series of workplace stress triggers, with the top four being:

1. Lack of control over work
2. Excessive time pressures
3. Excessive or inflexible working hours
4. Too much or too little work

But what some people don't get is that the world of recruitment is a WHOLE different ball game, when it comes to stress! (just ask my wife, my doctor, my heart specialist and my therapist - only joking .......no seriously I am only joking!!)

So in no particular order here are a number of 'stress inducers' common to the recruitment industry:

1. Candidate rejects an offer when telling you there is nothing else, only to find out they have been lying all along and have other offers on the table
   
2. You lose a candidate because the client has taken too long to decide
   
3. Candidate not turning up for an interview you have taken 3 weeks to arrange
   
4. Clients not selecting your 'perfect' candidate for interview
   
5. 8.AM Monday meetings (after a bad previous week!)
   
6. Your placement not turning up on the first day AND then not being able to contact them at all!
   
7. Your contractor 'having a mind of his own' and upsetting the client
   
8. Client who 'sacks'your placement in the first week and then refuses to pay!
   
9. Sales meetings when the market is tough and there is just one, smart arse know it all who has been the only one to archive their target (and they are the best pal of the Sales Manager to boot!)
   
10. The 'guaranteed' placement' goes wrong!!Your pipeline has been toileted
    
11. You have promised the client CV's, and your are already past your deadline because your two best candidates haven't got back to you with an update
    
12. You find that great CV only to find out another agency sent the CV first to your client

Of course there are many more examples, and if there are any ones I have missed please do let me know!!

Come on folks, you must know some classics!

If you like reading this blog, then click on the orange RSS icon here and get the latest Sirona Says posts delivered to your RSS reader or your inbox the moment they come out.

As a longstanding recruiter, I am very well aware of the dreaded six letter world called stress. But, within the recruitment industry - client side and agency side - medium to high stress levels go with the territory, don't they?

BUPA did a survey a while ago and discovered that  whole series of workplace stress triggers, with the top four being:

1. Lack of control over work
2. Excessive time pressures
3. Excessive or inflexible working hours
4. Too much or too little work

But what some people don't get is that the world of recruitment is a WHOLE different ball game, when it comes to stress! (just ask my wife, my doctor, my heart specialist and my therapist - only joking .......no seriously I am only joking!!)

So in no particular order here are a number of 'stress inducers' common to the recruitment industry:

1. Candidate rejects an offer when telling you there is nothing else, only to find out they have been lying all along and have other offers on the table
   
2. You lose a candidate because the client has taken too long to decide
   
3. Candidate not turning up for an interview you have taken 3 weeks to arrange
   
4. Clients not selecting your 'perfect' candidate for interview
   
5. 8.AM Monday meetings (after a bad previous week!)
   
6. Your placement not turning up on the first day AND then not being able to contact them at all!
   
7. Your contractor 'having a mind of his own' and upsetting the client
   
8. Client who 'sacks'your placement in the first week and then refuses to pay!
   
9. Sales meetings when the market is tough and there is just one, smart arse know it all who has been the only one to archive their target (and they are the best pal of the Sales Manager to boot!)
   
10. The 'guaranteed' placement' goes wrong!!Your pipeline has been toileted
    
11. You have promised the client CV's, and your are already past your deadline because your two best candidates haven't got back to you with an update
    
12. You find that great CV only to find out another agency sent the CV first to your client

Of course there are many more examples, and if there are any ones I have missed please do let me know!!

Come on folks, you must know some classics!

If you like reading this blog, then click on the orange RSS icon here and get the latest Sirona Says posts delivered to your RSS reader or your inbox the moment they come out.

Learning from the successful marketers when it comes to your social recruiting strategy on Twitter and Facebook

Social recruiting is all about using different forms of social media to enhance the recruiting process. Using social media in this process is still very new for many people, but the marketers have been using this medium for a little while. So let's have a look at the comparisons between marketing strategies for Facebook and Twitter that marketers have been using in the very different B2B and B2C channels.

Here is a slide I have put together for a forthcoming presentation, that you may well find interesting. The data (produced by eMarketer) was featured on two excellent posts on the Social Media Optimisation blog (Successful Facebook Marketing Tactics and Successful Twitter Marketing Tactics ).

Putting the sets together makes for some interesting reading:

For me the one thing that really stands out is BRAND.

The biggest B2C activities (and that would apply to recruiters and recruiting companies) all focus around brand monitoring and awareness. This is very interesting indeed as most companies - recruiters especially - are not even doing any monitoring of their brand, product or services at all!

So all you recruiting companies, take not. There are some great free social media monitoring tools out there that you need to be using.

While the data is marketing focused, I think you will agree that the figures are starting to speak for themselves - social media is a channel marketers now regard as key.

It is only a matter of time before these same mediums become cornerstones of your social recruiting strategy, so it is worth investing some time (and maybe money) to find out more, isn't it?

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Why Twitter Lists are great for Recruiters

Twitter have produced a great tool to help recruiters and sourcers alike - Twitter Lists - and they will quickly form part of your social recruiting strategy.  If you are an active Twitterer then you will not have failed to notice the extra text on your Twitter page:

So what is a Twitter list?

A Twitter user can create a list and add anyone that tweets (publicly) to it. Once you create and name a list you can simply search for people to add to it (I recommend you use Tweetdeck for this, as it is so easy to do). Outside of Tweetdeck, use sites like WeFollow or Listorious to find people to include in your lists. (Note: you don't have to be following people to add them to your list).

Why are Twitter Lists great for recruiters?

1. People create lists of common interests to them. For example I have created a list for UK Recruitment Bloggers, as that is what I enjoy doing. So if you are looking for a specific skill or industry knowledge, then you will find that it is likely that a person in that sector will have created a list of other people in that sector. Has the light bulb gone on yet?

2. Twitter Lists are dynamic and stream the latest tweets from the users on a list. You get a very focused view of like minded people (as a twitter list will likely be on a specific subject/interest/group of people)

3. Twitter Lists give you the opportunity find new groups of targeted people and follow them in one go - you can follow the whole list!

4. Each Twitter list has a list page where you can get a snapshot of the Twitter list users  tweets which are included in a complete tweet stream for everyone on the list.

5. Searching for people on Twitter with similar interests is so much easier using the twitter list feature, and using the sites I have mentioned - WeFollow and Listorious - you can get to targeted groups very quickly.

An interesting question for you?

If you were recruiting for a position (assuming skills are approximately the same), would you want to recruit someone that is 'well-listed' or someone that isn't?

Would you lean towards a 'well-listed' person as it infers a recognition from their peers? Please share your opinion in the comments because this, for me, is a very interesting social recruiting question going forward.

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The 30 sales interview questions you need to be able to answer, if you are a salesperson

 

Last week I posted a comprehensive list of interview questions. They proved to be popular, both with job seekers for interview help, and with recruiters and HR people for some interview question inspiration. So I have produced a couple of extra posts with some further questions - this one today is for sales interview questions, and another coming soon is for management positions.

So if you are in sales, and have an interview soon, or you recruit for sales people, I hope this series of Sales Interview questions proves useful to you. Or, if you are in sales and fancy a challenge, then try answering them to yourself (honestly of course!)

So here you go, see if you can answer all these sales interview questions:

Targets and Marketplace

What is your sales target and how is it established?
How much time do you spend developing new business?
How do you target new accounts for prospecting?
How do you acquire new sales leads?
Who are your major competitors and why?
What business trends do you see developing in the market?

Your approach to sales

What makes a successful sales person?
How do you define a new customer's needs and expectations?
What kind of problems do you have to solve as a salesperson?
How do you get a reading of people upon first meeting them?
How do you approach understanding your customer's needs?
How do you establish rapport with a stranger on the telephone?
What do you consider the most crucial part of your job?
What kind of rewards are most satisfying to you?

I bet you can't answer all these!! Is this the most comprehensive list of interview questions you have seen?

I was going through one of my old websites yesterday, and I came across this extensive (if I say so myself) list of interview questions I had on the website. They are aimed at both companies looking for interview help, and for candidates looking for some help to get through interviews.

So you reckon you can answer an interview question or two? Or are you interviewing people this week, and are a little short on interview question inspiration?

If either is the case, then have fun with this long list - there are over 125 interview questions here!

Achievement
Tell me about a time when you went beyond the call of duty.
Tell me about accomplishments of which you are the most proud.
What challenging experiences have you had?
What do you consider to be your most important accomplishment and why?
What is the most difficult task you have undertaken?
What is the most stimulating thing you are looking for in a job?
What were your most memorable accomplishments with your last employer?
What was your greatest disappointment?

Motivations
How important is recognition to you?
How important is responsibility to you?
What makes you put forth your greatest effort?
What motivates you in accomplishing difficult tasks?
What has your last employer done that motivated you to work harder?
What challenges are you looking for in a job?
What motivates you to be successful in your job?
How important are promotions and advancement to you?

Sense of Self
Describe situations in which you are most successful.
How do you define 'success?'
How would you describe your standards of performance?
What are some of the reasons for your success?
What does 'failure' mean to you?
Tell me about your recent successes.
Why are you better than your colleagues/co-workers?

Weaknesses
How could you have improved your progress?
What weaknesses have you overcome when accomplishing difficult tasks?

Behavior
Describe a conflict with an employee and how you handled it.
Describe a (recent) situation in which you had to quickly establish your credibility and gain the confidence of others. What did you do ?
Describe a (recent) situation when you didn't know who you needed to speak with in an organisation to get something done. What did you do ?
Describe a (recent) situation on your last job that you did not handle as well as you might have.
Describe a time when you simplified or clarified a situation by putting your finger on the key issue.
Describe how you work under pressure.
Describe how you would handle rude, difficult or impatient people.
Finish this sentence: Successful managers are the ones who....
Given a situation when you disagree with your supervisor, how would you deal with it?
What role do you take in a group situation? Give examples.
Your supervisor tells you to do something in a way you know is ineffective. What would you do?

Three more really good NEW Recruitment and HR blogs for the UK

The number of good Recruitment and HR blogs in the UK have been a little lacking when compared to the prolific numbers of great blogs in this sector in the US. It is strange when we have such a strong recruitment industry in the UK, with a fair number of strongly opinionated people in the industry, and blogs being a great vehicle to share knowledge and opinions on industry topics.

A few of weeks ago I highlighted two new recruitment blogs that have started in the UK recently, and I am pleased to say that they are already attracting comment, opinion and disagreement - just what we want in the blogging fraternity!

Well, great news, because here are three more blog newbies that show the promise of being excellent blogs with great HR and recruitment material on them. So here is a quick heads up on three blogs you need to plug into your RSS reader:

Wendy The Recruiter

Wendy Jacob is a seasoned recruiter with eight long years under her belt. She has been around the Twitter world for a good time now, but has finally taken the step to share her opinions and experiences on recruitment and alike.

She has written a couple of great starter posts covering subjects like Google Wave CV's and The personal benefits of social media. So make sure you put Wendy's blog in your RSS reader.

T Recs

Mervyn Dinnen is a seasoned recruiter ( I think that means he has been recruiting since the Model T came along ), that specialises in HR recruiting. His blog T Recs, is alluding to the dinosaurs of recruitment (I think), but to be fair, his extensive experience brings with it some superb blog posts. I echo the sentiments of one of his posts Do recruiters get social media, and find Recruiters need to get smart to win the generation game, a great insight into the future of recruiting. So again, put Mervyn into you RSS reader, you won't be disappointed.

Norton Folgate: The Recruiting Unblog

Bill Boorman may already be well know to you all, because he is a prolific Twitterer ( let me define that for you - well over 100 tweets a day!! and yes he is seeking help for it!) Bill has been in recruiting for way too many years (like me), and has been inspirational this year fro bringing something really radical to the UK conference scene. He set up TruLondon - The Uk's first ever Recruiting Unconference. After a really successful event, he has now gone Tru global, with events going to appear all over the world (and if Bill has anything to do with it, on the Moon next year as well !!)
Just to add to his hectic workload, he also started blogging, and has already caused controversy with posts such as Don't follow me and There is no recruiting god. A definite candidate for your RSS reader if ever I saw one!

Here are three blogging newbies, but don't forget there are other great blogs in the UK in the HR and recruiting space. You can vote for the Best UK Recruitment Blog of 2009 here - oh yes, and did I mention this blog is in the voting? 

I am really keen to promote other excellent newbie blogs in the recruitment and HR space so let me know if you see any you like!!

Why cowboy recruiters will end up in the Boot Hill Cemetery

I think by now, we all agree that the recruitment landscape has changed. For better or worse, depends on which side of the recruitment fence you sit on, however!
I am hoping that the recruitment landscape has has really changed, because I for one ( and I am sure you feel the same way!) hope that the 'cowboy recruiters' are slowly being pushed out of the industry (even off a high cliff if we are lucky!)
They are the bain of any good recruiters life, by continually deceiving clients that they actually know what they are talking about and forever lying to both clients and candidates alike. They really have lowered the reputation of our industry. Let's be honest, they are only interested in one thing.............money.
In all the years I have been recruiting they still don't get it. How does p***ing off a client and screwing them over, make for good business practice?

In my (hopeful) opinion, they will need to change or die, in an industry that has now become more aware than ever of what value a good recruiter can really add.

So out must go the brash, fast talking, unscrupulous and arrogant recruiters who make lying and bull***t look like child's play. In must come much improved recruitment skills. Successful recruiters in the 'new world' will need to be more team-based and have real listening skills. They must put themselves in the clients's shoes and develop long term relationships across the organisations they work with.

To cope with this shift in the recruitment marketplace, recruitment firms will really need to change. They will need to:

1. Think like the customer. Empathy and understanding of the client's business objectives will be at the heart of future recruiting.

2. Focus on relationship building. Creating a long term partnership across the client organisation rather than the traditional transactional based relationship.

3. Work as a team. Recruiters will need to collaborate openly with colleagues across their own organisation to ensure the best possible service to their clients.

4. Gain more knowledge. Successful recruiters will have an in-depth knowledge of their clients's business and overall market that allows them to find opportunities to deliver value.

5. Deliver impeccable customer service. Providing consistently excellent customer service is critical to retaining business. Therefore recruiters will need to be closely involved with ensuring ongoing client satisfaction.

The rise of the internet and the proliferation of the many social media sites, has armed clients with unparalleled access to candidates. Many clients will have used the recession times to implement robust direct recruiting strategies. The majority, however will not have been this forward thinking.

But they will expect something different. The words 'adding value' springs to mind!

Of course there are many great recruiters, that have been doing all these things for years, and will continue to prosper, recession or not. For the recruiters that recognise change is needed, good luck.

For the recruiters that just ignore all this and continue to wear the '10 gallon hats', then I hope that you end up where all the dead cowboys go - the Boot Hill Cemetery!

When I grow up I want to be a .............recruiter. Yeah, right!!

When did you EVER hear someone say that when they were a kid? Let me guess.....never?

Check out this excellent (if somewhat idyllic) video.......

I guess all of us in the recruiting and HR industries can always dream that the youth of today, will actually say this one day..............but I don't think we should be holding our breath!!