Archive for the 'Recruiting' Category


The Monster-ous quality of choice

Monday, October 19th, 2009

A recent post, Congress to Employers: You’re not proctologists, drew a comment that reveals the dangerous new cracks in our employment system  — and hints at the problem employers need to address if the quality of hiring is to improve.
In a comment on that post, dated October 19, 2009 at 6:52 am, reader Nic says:
This to me [...]


Turn down the volume

Friday, October 16th, 2009

When I give a presentation, the first thing I tell the audience – whether they’re job hunters or hiring managers — is, “Everything you know about job hunting (or hiring) is wrong.” Shoulders relax. People giggle nervously. They are so relieved to hear they’re not crazy. They know the conventional wisdom is wrong.
Then I tell them that [...]


Readers’ Forum: How do we identify the good guys?

Monday, September 21st, 2009

From the September 22, 2009 Ask The Headhunter Newsletter (sign up, get your own!):
A manager’s question: How difficult is it to gauge character and personality in the typical job interview? No doubt this accounts for many of the pointless questions that are asked. Of course, the more manipulative a person is, the more likely they [...]


Unfair interviews are best

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

In the previous post, we’re discussing how to commandeer a job interview so you can actually help an employer see how you’ll do the job. If the employer has a brain, you’ll get the job.
On that thread, readers Bonnie and Janet point out an interesting “policy” that many HR departments have. They don’t want you [...]


Q&A: Where should recruiters look for candidates?

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

A recruiter from a consulting firm asks whether I really shun job boards, and where to find good candidates really fast…
Question
I caught you on NPR last week and thought you were a breath of fresh air! I am in the process of letting our CareerBuilder job posting account loose. First, because it costs a lot [...]


How to work with headhunters… and save ten bucks

Monday, June 29th, 2009

In my last post I asked whether you’ve ever squeezed more out of a headhunter… Did you ever successfully negotiate a higher job offer via a headhunter?

Now I’m going to do something I’ve never done before on this blog, on my web site, or in the Ask The Headhunter newsletter… I’m going to plug a new [...]


Where are the headhunters?

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Someone is stealing all the headhunters… or so it seems to an Ask The Headhunter reader:
Are there still headhunters out there? People paid by companies to find good candidates? I thought they were extinct. They all seem to have moved on to doing “outplacement” services. The only headhunters I hear from are the fee-for-service types! [...]


Wanted: Big small candidate

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

What really goes on in the room where job ads are written?
I saw a listing for a security specialist the other day. It listed a  bunch of high-level requirements and looked interesting, though I noticed they also said “heavy attention to detail.” Is that a  realistic expectation for someone who has a more strategic thinking mind?  Can you “pay [...]


Sorting resumes: A strategic hiring error all the time

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Auren Hoffman has reinvented headhunting and escaped from Armchair Recruiting: Hiring what comes along. This is a genuine compliment, not a backhanded one. I’m tickled that someone else is writing about this.
In Why hiring is paradoxically harder in a downturn, Hoffman realizes that when more people are looking for jobs, employers get more garbage resumes because [...]


Droolers, Charles Manson and A. Harrison Barnes

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Man, I couldn’t have written it better myself. I’ve been watching a family of “job” sites that’s akin to a pack of electronic junkyard dogs trying to bite people. I’m not even gonna give you the link. The flagship site is called Hound.com. Don’t waste your time visiting it. Trust me: You don’t want those doggie [...]