Headhunter FAQ’s & Musings

As a Third Party Recruiter for the Plastics Industry, I get a big kick reading postings and spam e-mails telling people how easy it is to make big bucks as a recruiter. The e-mails usually say the only tool one needs to earn $30,000 a month, as an executive recruiter, is a telephone and a list of companies the spamming company will provide at a nominal price. If recruiting was only so easy.

One of the most frustrating parts of being a Third Party, Technical or Executive Recruiter is trying to figure out who or what the company really wants to hire. Usually the higher the position in the company the harder it is for the company to accuately define the attributes and skills for the position they are trying to fill. Recently I worked with a company that was trying to start a new business in bio-degradable plastic film. The company told me initially that they wanted a salesperson with a lot of plastic film sales experience selling to the packaging industry. I gave them a couple of individuals that could fill that position rather well, they were interviewed and they liked one of the canidates well enought that they did reference and background checks. Then they decided they probably needed a Technical Manager with bio-degradable plastic film development experience. I gave them an individual who had all of the qualifications and he was interviewed. The company then decided a less experienced individual contributor with any plastic experience would probably be better. Again I presented a couple of candidates that met the new requirements but never received any feedback on the candidates and numerous attempts to contact the HR Manager I was working with went unanswered.

Unfortunately, a lot of people spent a lot of valuable time trying to fill a position that to the best of my knowledge was never filled. Candidates wasted their time traveling to a company that was not conveniently located, Human Resources had to set up several interview trips and performed reference checks, and the management people had to make themselves available to interview candidates. This does not even include the time three recruiting firms lost trying to find the company candidates and in the recruiting business time is truely money. This type of situation could be blamed on poor business planning, changing business environment, etc. because it was a new and somewhat difficult to define position. Whatever the reason for the time and effort lost trying to fill this position usually it can be avoided if the hiring manager honestly answers some basic questions before starting the job search.

1. Do we really have a job to fill or are putting the cart before the horse?

2. Do we know what we want or are we hoping that we will know when we see it?

3. Do we have a current accurate job description for the position we are trying to fill?

4. When we hire an individual what will success in the position look like?

5. What problems could a successful candidate solve?

6. What type of individal will fit our culture best?

7. Are we trying fill a position that requires two or three levels of skills e.g. Laboratory Worker, Salesperson, Tech Manager?

8. Are we trying to hire a strategic thinker to fill individual contributor role?

The next time Human Resources or a Third Party Recruiter cannot find you the right candidate ask yourself did I proactively answer the right questions. If you did, you have every right to kick ass and take names.