Allocation of Time: A Business Development Perspective

In my role in business development, I often feel like so much of my time spent is not productive, and I have tried to evaluate what tasks are the best use of my time.  Everyone that I know, myself included, feels busy all the time.  The article below questions the need people feel to “stay busy” rather than focus on what you are really trying to achieve, and it resonated with me.  I think this concept applies to one’s personal and professional life. -Carolyn Murray, Director of Client Development

How To Stop Wasting Time and Get More Useful Stuff Accomplished

So why do we waste so much time doing things that probably aren’t going to yield much in the way of results?  I propose three reasons…and if knowing these helps you to be more effective in using your day – you’re welcome!

1) We don’t know what’s important.  I’ve observed that lots of people – both in business and in their personal lives – don’t take the time to stop and think about what they really want – and efforts will yield those results.  I’ve been coaching a CEO lately who’s in the process of figuring out what’s the highest leverage use of his time in making his business successful.  A couple of months ago, he had the opportunity to meet with the CEO of one of his major client companies, and he’d been putting it off because he “couldn’t find the time.” When we walked through some of the things that were clogging up his days, he realized he was spending a lot of time overseeing tasks or making decisions that his team should be responsible for…and that he’d established such a habit of doing these things himself, that his direct reports simply stepped back and let him do them.  As soon as we had the conversation, he realized how much more valuable it would be for him to be having enterprise-level conversations with senior clients and others in the industry.  He needed to be – in the words of Jay Goltz – ‘working on the business vs. in the business.’
I suggest you take some time, on a regular basis, to stop and think about 1) what are results you most need and want to achieve (in your life and/or your career), and then 2) which activities will most likely lead to those results.  Awareness is more than half the battle: I’ve noticed that my client is really shifting his behavioral focus, now that he’s more conscious about what’s the best use of his time.
2) We use busyness as an anesthetic. Unfortunately, even when we know what’s important, it doesn’t always help.  Sometimes we’re afraid we’re not going to be able to achieve the results we want to achieve; that we’re not capable, or that our dreams and aspirations aren’t really possible. And sometimes we haven’t stopped to think about what’s important to us because we’re afraid we won’t even be able to figure that out.  In either scenario, just keeping busy is a great hiding place.  I had a dear friend who spent a number of years being very active – keeping up a wide variety of friendships, working on artistic pursuits, taking care of his garden, spending a lot of time following current events and developing complex theories about the US government’s involvement in a variety of world conflicts, etc. etc….all to avoid thinking about the fact that he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, and was afraid that, once he figured it out, he wouldn’t be able to do it.
I suggest that – if you can gather up the necessary mental and emotional fortitude required (and a great therapist or a truly supportive ‘fair witness’ friend can be a lifesaver here), you address this problem head-on.  Go back up to the suggestions in #1 above, and spend some time figuring out what you most want in your life.  Then figure out what you’ll need to do to achieve that.  Then go for it.  (You might find the approach in my book Being Strategic valuable, if you decide to do this.)  I wish you good luck, if you head down this path – it’s a brave undertaking to work yourself out of the self-induced fog of unhelpful busyness.
3) We just want to have fun.  This is only sometimes a problem.  Often, it’s a perfectly good reason for doing things.  I just spent a wonderful week in Wales with my husband, my daughters, their spouses, and my granddaughter, and it was simply pure enjoyment and fun.  It was a chance to relax and refresh, to spend time with my dear ones in a place I love. And that in itself was a really important result: I want those exerpiences in my life, and I also now feel re-energized and fully ready to go back to work on Monday.

What Your Body Language is Telling Your Interviewer

 We have more and more clients that are starting the interview process with phone interviews these days.  I understand how this can seem like an efficient use of time for both the client and the candidate.  And, in many cases, it is.  But, I wonder sometimes if it actually just prolongs the process.  Because, in all honesty, don’t people get hired as much by their personality as they do by their skill set?  If so, why not just jump right into an interview that will hopefully show you both things?  And, if you are candidate about to walk in the door of an interview, maybe some of the tips in the article below will help you in knowing what your body is saying while your mouth is talking.

5 body language moves that will ruin an interview

Your handshake makes a critical first impression. Your dad probably taught you how to shake hands and his lesson was more important than you know. Make it firm -- not body-builder-aggressive and certainly not feeble like a dead fish. Also, be sure your hand is dry, so if you're perspiring, wipe it off before you meet your interviewer.
Don't touch your face. People touch their faces instinctively and without conscious thought. But if you want to make a good first impression, you'll need to be very conscious of where your hands are for the duration of the interview. Keep them well away from your nose and mouth, which can be a turn-off to germophobes. And for everyone else, touching your face is sometimes interpreted as a sign of dishonesty.
Don't cross your arms. Even if you only know one or two ways to read body language, you probably know this one -- crossing your arms is a sign of defensiveness and passive aggressiveness. That's not the impression you want to convey, so put your hands on the table where they can't cause you any trouble.
Don't stare. You probably know that making eye contact is a good thing, right? Well, there's a difference between positive eye contact and just plain staring. This is one of those things that should be natural, but if you think too hard about it, it is challenging to do in a natural way. The bottom line is that you want to maintain eye contact in moderation, without letting it devolve into uncomfortable staring. At the same time, don't let your eyes wander around the room as if you're bored.
Avoid nodding too much. You might think it's a good idea to nod a lot, either to appear to agree with your interviewer or to imply you're paying close attention, but the reality is that this can make you come across as sycophantic or spineless. Like eye contact, nod in moderation, and only when it's clearly appropriate. (Read More...)

I'm worried your unemployment will make it difficult to afford my Christmas gifts

Providing today's blog-spiration is Kristi Gregory, Staffing Consultant for CRG. While no doubt perusing the LinkedIn recruiting articles, she happened upon this gem and sent it over for publication on our epic CRG Connection. So for all you out there in the blogosphere needing a bit of encouragement in your job hunt here are some tips from the pros!

Getting a great job - Top tips from a veteran recruiter

James Nathan

1. Get a good guide. Good recruitment consultants are worth their weight in gold, and there a lot of them about. What is important is that you choose someone who you trust and can work with. This is no different to hiring a professional of any other kind. The difference here is that it is personal.
A good consultant will not work with you unless they have met you. They will want to understand you, your motivations and your ambitions. They will want you to tell them what you want and what businesses you would like to target. And they will want to understand your career expectations so that they can help you plan your moves correctly.

2. Network like crazy. It’s not what you know, and it never has been. You need to build a strong and sensible network. You know a lot of people, but who do they know, and who can introduce you to whom?

I am a big fan of the online social networks, but here I really mean the old fashioned shaking hands thing. Sure use Linked In etc, in fact use them like crazy, but if you want to really meet people, pick up the phone and organize to meet them for a coffee.

3. Be realistic. The real reason CVs get rejected by recruiters, is that the CV doesn’t fit the role applied for. They, and only they know all the details of their clients job description. Adverts can only say so much, and don’t forget that they are written to maximize response rates.

Calling a consultant who has rejected your application is fine if you are ringing to understand what you need to do next time, or what experience you should get to increase your marketability. Phoning to complain, or in an attempt to convince them that they are wrong is not, and it does nothing to improve your chances of success next time.

If you apply for everything that is remotely interesting to you, the truth is that you are wasting your time. Apply for roles that you have the skills, experience and desire to do. But please make sure the first two things fit first. You need to be very honest with yourself.

There are lot of people who apply to dozens of jobs a day, and often to everything that a is posted by a consultant. What this does is clog up that consultants inbox. Do they read every application you make? No, of course they don’t. Have you heard the story of the boy who cried wolf? The principle here is the same.

4. Write a great CV. You need to bring your A game to everything you do in the job market. Writing a great CV is the first part of this. A CV is a marketing/sales document, plain and simple. The better is it written, the better it sells your experience specific to each role you apply for.

A CV’s only job is to get you the first interview.

So spend more time on your CV now, and get a 3rd party and your consultant to critic it for you. And once its written, read it and get to know it. I have interviewed far too many people in the past who have to refer to a CV during an interview to remind themselves of what they have done. Amazing but true.

5. Make it happen. No one is going to do it all for you. Consultants will do a lot of it for you, and a good one will do more than most. But, they don’t have access to the whole market, even if they say they do.
Network, apply to adverts and online posts, work at finding that great job. Finding a job is a job in itself. It is not a spectator sport, and if you are applying to the odd thing online, then you are missing out a huge chunk of the job market.

So there you have it job-seekers! Now go forth and make it happen!!

Quick Tips: Interviews 101

Good afternoon! Today we present a quick and dirty little post about the most basic of interview behaviors/expectations. There are various opinions about do’s and don’ts when interviewing.  Even I, the recruiter, who is supposed to be “in the know” on the subject, have wavered on what I think.  However, at the end of the day, your interviewer will have an opinion that may differ from the experts.  I think most will agree on Kim’s top three: 

•  Don’t be late. If you are taking planes, trains and automobiles, make it ON TIME! We often go as far as to suggest going to the interview site the day before so you know the lay of the land: parking, location, traffic, etc. Also, for goodness sake if you arrive to the interview location more than 20 minutes early, just chill in the car or at the Starbucks across the street. While we as interviewer's (should) know we are NOT the most important people, we do respect someone who respects us. We often have rather tight schedules and it can put undue pressure on us to fit you in when you arrive especially early. I know personally, I hate having a candidate wait longer than 5 minutes.
• Be prepared.  Do your homework on the company and have questions ready. Be prepared to tell your interviewer why you are interested in THIS job and why you would be a great fit. Even beyond researching the company, make sure YOU are prepped. By that I mean get some good sleep, eat a full breakfast, get some exercise in to de-stress. The whole idea of an interview is that you want to present them with your best (and most accurate) self. If you are tired, hungry or simply just off your game you could end up losing out on a chance at an excellent opportunity.
• Be yourself! The company will know what they are getting when they hire you.  Most likely you were brought in because they already know you are qualified. Take a deep breathe! Remind yourself that everyone is just another person. While they may be the decision makers, they are no better or worse than you are. This can be especially difficult for young, recent graduates however if executed well it can allow for you and the hiring company to determine goodness-of-fit. Culture fit is key for both sides! 

*Note: for more information on phone interviews, interview attire, and other tid-bits - please see our various other CRG Connection posts. We know there is something in there that everyone can learn from! 

Les Jobs: Recruiting Points from Broadway

I came across an article recently titled “5 Recruiting Lessons from Les Miz”.  Now, I have to admit, I’ve never seen a production of Les Misérables, however, I do think I would enjoy, as everyone I’ve ever know who has actually seen it raves about it.  But, I was intrigued by the title, so I read it and agreed with the majority of what the author, Megan Stanish (http://www.ere.net/author/megan-stanish/), has to say.  So, regardless of whether or not you’ve seen Les Miz, I think you’ll find the article interesting.  If nothing else, you’ll learn a little about the play 

 

Very Bad Decisions May Haunt You for a Long Time

In the story, the main character Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread to save his sister’s child from starving, and as a result he ends up on a chain gang for 19 years. Once freed, he makes another poor choice that leaves him hunted for the rest of his life by Inspector Javert. Because of this, he has to live in fear under a false identity, even though he proves himself time and again to be a decent and selfless person.
Making a bad decision at work is unlikely to require you to take an assumed name and live in hiding for the rest of your life. For certain, there are circumstances that may warrant such dramatic action, but for the most part bad choices in the workplace will not have such consequences. And, of course, everyone makes mistakes once in a while. At the same time, your decisions and their aftermath do live in people’s memories and will directly influence how you are viewed, trusted, and accepted by customers, candidates, and peers alike. For instance, if you set an expectation with a customer or a candidate and then don’t meet that expectation — you don’t follow up in a timely manner or you leave a candidate hanging rather than deliver the difficult news that role has been offered to someone else — that individual likely will remember it for a while to come.
In some instances this may have little impact, but in some it may significantly damage both your reputation as a recruiter as well as your company’s reputation, either as a recruitment firm or as an employer. So take care with the choices you make so that they reinforce the positives you have to offer and don’t become your own personal Javert, chasing you across the years.

Be Sure You and Your Subordinate Managers’ Expectations Are Aligned; Know That Their Actions Will Directly Impact You

When it is discovered that Fantine, who works at a factory owned by Jean Valjean, has a daughter who is being cared for by an innkeeper, her foreman fires her. During the tussle that leads to Fantine’s firing, Jean Valjean is present for a moment but directs the foreman to take care of the problem and then leaves. By the time Valjean learns the full story of Fantine’s circumstances — both regarding her daughter and her slip into prostitution after losing her job — Fantine is at death’s door, and she blames him for her situation. While Valjean’s actions redeem him, had he been sure that his foreman was sensitive to the perils of being a single mother (at that time, of course), the crisis may have been averted. Additionally, although Valjean was not in the room when the foreman fired Fantine, he ended up blamed anyway as well as looking for ways to repent.
Don’t end up in a similar situation. Make sure the recruiters who report to you and/or the hiring managers you support know your expectations of them within the recruiting process and can meet them, and also know that you ultimately will be held accountable for their decisions.

Be Both Smart and Sensitive About Whom You Ask to Take on Important Responsibilities

Just before the fighting begins on the barricades, Marius asks Eponine, who is in love with him and therefore unwilling to deny him help, to deliver a message to the woman he loves. She completes the task for him and then returns to the barricades only to end up the first martyr of the fight.
Have you ever delegated an unpleasant task to a colleague, particularly one with less experience, who was not entirely qualified to manage it? It’s not uncommon, though it also isn’t easy to admit. Whether the task involves cold calling, direct sourcing, sifting through piles of resumes, searching an ATS database, responding to leads or any other critical task, the important takeaway is that if you are in recruitment, you need to take great care to ensure you consider well what you delegate, to whom, and why. It’s true that everyone needs to be stretched and challenged to learn new skills and grow professionally, but be certain this is your motivation. Realize the impact a failed task may have on your colleague, particularly if the colleague is relatively inexperienced – anything from diminished confidence to a lost exceptional candidate to a more concrete, deleterious effect on his or her reputation or career … or yours.

Sometimes Even Those Who Break the Rules, Those With the Worst Intentions, Come Out on Top

Comic villains named the Thénardiers cause mischief throughout the story of Les Misérables, from managing an inn that steals from its clientele to running a gang of thieves, to stealing from the dead. They are cunning, non-sympathetic, and cruel. And yet, in the end, while they don’t earn respect, they do end up wealthy.
The same holds true in business, including in recruitment. Often, those who maintain high ethical standards and who conduct themselves professionally end up successful. However, sometimes those who seem to have no concern for others, who convey little moral fiber, who will say anything time and again to “sell” a candidate on an opportunity even if the reality doesn’t match the pitch, do end up on top.

If You Actively Give Up, You Just May Die

At the end of the musical, Jean Valjean appears to decide that it is his time to die. He is old and tired; he has finished running from his pursuer; and he has helped save his daughter’s loved one from the barricades, a man he is certain will care for her now. He seems to decide that now he can finally have peace. In the musical, the moment is poignant and bittersweet.
In recruitment, just like in any business, your mindset, your decision to succumb to defeat, can do the same. It’s obvious that if you decide to just give up, you will fail. That’s pretty straightforward. But if you decide that finding and hiring the right candidate is highly unlikely or even impossible, even if you persevere your belief will increase the likelihood that you won’t succeed. That mindset can close you off to fresh ideas which could ultimately make the difference between a lost cause and a great hire. So weigh your options wisely for any endeavor, and if you decide to go forward, do so with the belief that you will do well.

Resume Rules Re-do

   I found the article, “What Recruiters Look At During The 6 Seconds They Spend On Your Resume” to be very interesting, since I find myself spending a lot of my time coaching and advising my candidates on their resumes. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this aspect of my work.  But it is time consuming!  And if a recruiter or hiring manager is only spending 6 seconds on your resume, you better make sure it is perfect.  I have worked with certain clients who will not even consider a candidate if there is even one error on their resume, even if they are the absolute perfect match for the job.  It’s that important!  If you can’t take the time and attention to detail to proofread your resume, then why would a company want to hire you?  Every recruiter will tell you something different, but below are a couple of additional reminders from my personal tip jar that most of my candidates find help.

• The 1 page resume rule is so passé.  1 – 3 pages are perfectly acceptable.  As a recruiter, I am trying to figure out if your background is a match for the position I’m working on.  If you only include 2 bullet points for each job, then how am I able to make an educated guess? Now… that being said, you do not want to write a novel!  So keep it at a max of 3 pages and you should be fine.

• Consistent punctuation throughout your resume is critical.  Period.  If you decide to put periods at the end of each bullet point, make sure that holds true for each and every one.  Don’t put a period at the end of one bullet, but then forget to put it at the end of the next one.

• Conjunction junction, what’s your function!   Grammar is a toughie, but uber important.  Utilize the spelling and thesaurus function in Word.  Common mistakes include run on sentences, incorrect use of commas, semi-colons, etc.

• Make sure you are intense!  If you are currently working, then the action verbs under your present job must be in present tense.  Every other job should be in past tense.

• Be consistent with font and FoNT size. 

• Formatting, shmormatting.  Don’t get crazy with all the fancy formatting.  It just jumbles up the resume and makes it hard to read.

Recruiting Is Easy

Good Morning Blogosphere!

Came across an old article I read a few months back as I was looking for Newsletter inspiration. Lately in the CRG office we have been running around like a bunch of crazy people (for those who know us well, this is nothing new, we are a little crazy). But, who doesn't love a busy day at work? The feeling of productivity is one of the most rewarding feelings a young professional like myself can get. The hope is that productivity will come with some kind of tangible product. Often times in the staffing/recruiting universe you can have the most productive day or your career and for whatever reason the hiring manager Gods just aren't feeling it.

Every once in a while we get to feeling that our role in the process isn't always fully understood/appreciated. I.e, “Yeah, I’ll bet your fingers are really tired from dragging all those resumes from a folder into an email. Real hard work.”  As I was reading the words of Miles Jennings, his thoughts resonated with me.

"The end product of recruiting, for one thing, is someone-else's work – it is someone-else’s talent, ability to interview, and everything else they have that gets them hired that is the end product of the recruiter’s process. It’s hard to pinpoint the recruiter’s exact role in this pseudo-science."

 There is a disconnect at times in what we feel we contribute, and how we are perceived by those outside of our sphere. I felt Miles' article was excellent at gracefully putting a recruiter's sentiments into written word.

Why Recruiting Looks Easy
Miles Jennings, Co-Founder of Recruiter.com

There is an absolutely wonderful children’s book called 20 Heartbeats about a painter who paints a horse for a very wealthy man. I hate to ruin it for you, but I have to say what happens.
The rich man pays this famous painter to paint his favorite horse. But years go by and the painter won’t finish the painting. The rich man finally shows up at the painter’s house and demands the painting. The painter obligingly whips out a piece of parchment, dashes off a horse in black ink with his brush, and then hands the painting to the rich man. All this takes less than the time of 20 heartbeats.
The rich man is, of course, aghast. He storms after the painter to demand his money back. However, as he walks after the painter, he sees what has been taking so long.
All along the walls are hundreds and hundreds of painted horses. The painter wasn’t procrastinating, he was practicing. The rich man then finally takes a look at the painting that he purchased so long ago, now in his hands. It’s a perfect horse, a horse so real that he whistles to it.
As every art form takes discipline and practice to look easy, every kind of work takes years of diligence to perfect. Recruiting is no different, but few professions look so simple. It’s really hard to pass along a piece of paper, right? You can almost hear hiring managers thinking to themselves, “Yeah, I’ll bet your fingers are really tired from dragging all those resumes from a folder into an email. Real hard work.” Few jobs seem so easy to duplicate.
The end product of recruiting, for one thing, is someone’s else’s work – it is someone else’s talent, ability to interview, and everything else they have that gets them hired that is the end product of the recruiter’s process. It’s hard to pinpoint the recruiter’s exact role in this pseudo-science. Did they identify the talent? Spot them? Find them? Assess them? Understand the job? The culture? Have the right database? The right connections? The right insight into the department or hiring manager psychology? Did they make a lot of calls or know some secret strings to search for in Google? It’s hard to say what it is exactly that the recruiter does and so it’s easy to discount the recruiter’s role entirely.
However, we might be looking at it wrong. A recruiter’s value can’t be found within the process of a single hire. It can’t be found in that space that sometimes spans twenty heartbeats between talking to a manager about a job to the identification of a possible talent.
You have to look at everything that comes before that identification to see the value of a good recruiter. A great recruiter creates the conditions for that magic luck to strike. They don’t talk to a lot of different people. They talk to everyone. They don’t want to know their clients or their company’s competitors. They want to know everything that’s happening at every company in their area. It’s a massive amount of work that requires constant rejection, failure, stress, and is compounded by the minutiae of job offers and the uncertainty of human emotion.
That’s why very few succeed at recruiting. It’s not like there is anything special about that one placement. There is nothing about identifying a candidate and getting them a job offer that requires any particular kind of magic, or even a college degree for that matter. Unlike a beautiful painting, anyone or any recruiter can luck out and make a placement or two. But the background required for long-term recruiting success is much different. It involves the deep study of companies, products, markets, assessment, and professions coupled with a kind of brute force stamina to doggedly pursue the talents of other people. This is the process that forges the recruiter’s talent. This talent, when functioning at its best, is impossible to find.

Ashley Meyer, Staffing Consultant and Social Media Coordinator