Listen, I am not perfect. If I could write a book on my fumbles, there would be an encyclopedia (A big, fat unending book: for anyone younger than Gen X). Every day, I strive for greatness but in my early years, I made many mistakes and learned from them. Here’s a list of my top 5 Covid-19 recruiter confessions from the least damaging to the most damaging:
#5. Reading resumes too fast: In some instances, I’ve read 50+ per day and I’ve been cross-eyed by the end of the day. Over the years, I’ve learned to slow down and understand the candidate’s expertise well.
#4. The robot interview: Yup, in my early days as a recruiter, I am guilty as charged! I was bred to follow templates with those canned questions in front of me. Later, I learned that interviews needed to be frank, one-on-one conversations. Interpersonal skills equal better rapport and better sharing of their story!
#3. Trying to sell salt to a slug: Oh boy, back in the day it was all about sales and the numbers pounded in our heads to meet! Later, I realized that it would be a disservice to everyone if we just moved a candidate forward to a hiring manager without really evaluating skillsets. I didn’t want the candidate to make another metric for anyone as it would make all parties frown at the end. I learned fast that being pushy was being stupid. Instead, I wanted to be kind, empathetic and helpful!
#2. Follow-up: This is still a rampant in our industry, but many years ago, I started to think how I would feel if I were in the candidate’s place. Behind every candidate there are so many hopeful people including their immediate family. A lax follow-up approach would come to haunt you later and that’s what I call Recruiting Karma!
#1. Sending unsolicited resumes to hiring managers/companies: This one is still baffling! This hurts all parties involved…all the time!
Thanks for letting me confess! Please share with me the funny mistakes you’ve made in your recruiting career! I could use some great entertainment right now.
Your Monique!
Monique Porras, Founder & CEO
The Kempington Group, LLC