After a weekend in Sea Isle City, NJ, or known to Philadelphians as the quintessential summer getaway, I talked to a good friend of mine who like most people is still looking for the perfect job opportunity to continue his career. He had sent a few resumes out and like me he knows the summertime is notoriously slow for hiring because for one decision-makers are, for one, down in Sea Isle or other beach towns across the Eastern seaboard. When asked any takers, he said that he received one message which sort of caught him by surprise. He said that a recruiter responded to him with this three word phrase:
"Position filled. Sorry."
Now, one can take that a few ways. Some may take it as a response to the position actually being filled and moving on from there. Being that my friend, who enjoyed a stellar career as a VP of Business Development for a highly reputable firm in the Philadelphia area, sees things differently. For starters, the first thing he told me he thought of was "wow, I wonder how successful his business is, because for him to turn someone away like that is amazing". Second thing he noticed, which was the first thing that came to mind, was "how do you build relationships like that?"
In doing some research, it was pretty tough to find anything that would point back to the stellar career of this particular recruiter. Both my friend and I searched LinkedIn for the recruiter, and were not able to tie anything back. Is it because the recruiter is so good at what he does that he wants to stay off the grid? It's 2010 and we are closer to a depression than full economic recovery; if I were that recruiter, I would want to develop any relationship I can. People often forget about paying it forward and never think about the consequences of a snarky response.
We live in a world where reputation is built off of networking and hard work. Granted if my friend was not best qualified for the position, I might have phrased something a little bit differently:
"Hi, Ryan. I appreciate the time you took out of your busy day to respond to my posting. While your qualifications are strong, I regret to inform you that the position has been filled. Given the volatility of today's economy, I believe there may be some upcoming roles with which your skill set may better match. Would you be available for a telephone call this week for about ten to fifteen minutes to speak about how we can work together to get you to the next level in your career?
Thank you,
Adam"
Granted the response may be a little verbose, but you are showing 1) respect for the candidate and 2) looking to build a long-term relationship without explicitly saying that you want to keep in touch. I feel it makes the candidate, or the customer, feel good about themselves and more open and willing to have an open dialogue about looking for a new position. Never forget that recruiting is selling, and that you have to sell every day, whether it's telling someone they did not get the job or get invited for an interview to actually closing the candidate on a position.
I can say one thing, if I ever received an e-mail with a similar response that my friend received, I would love to know how much business they are bringing in given the further reluctance of companies to utilize third-party staffing agencies. Recruiters have egos, so my guess is that the recruiter that contacted my friend is still learning the ropes or has strong testicular fortitude. For his sake, I hope it's more of the latter than the former.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
How to Fairly Set an Independent Contractor’s Rate
In today’s job market, more companies are turning to the services of contractors than ever. The move to utilizing contractors in the professional workplace proves to be cost-effective while keeping productivity maximized without slow-down.
Often the question becomes how do you compensate a contractor? The usual school of thought is to derive an hourly rate based on market salary and divide by the number of working hours in one year, which is 2,080 (40 hours multiplied by 52 weeks). However, is that fair to the contractor? A contractor gives up employee-paid benefits such as healthcare, vacation, and paid holidays. Should independent contractors then be penalized since those benefits are included in the 2,080-hour constant? That is the issue we will discuss in this posting.
Recently, I was asked by one of my hiring stakeholders to come up with an effective hourly rate calculation for an IT contractor that we were going to bring on board. Taking consideration of the benefits full-time employees received, I decided to back out those hours* from the 2,080-hour constant. This leaves me with the following:
Number of Working Hours in One Year…………………………………………………………..……..2,080
Less:
Number of Vacation Hours given to New Employees (8 hrs x 10 days)…………………….(80)
Number of Paid Holidays given to New Employees (8 hrs x 10 days)……………………….(80)
Number of PTO days given to New Employees (8 hrs x 5 days)…………………………..…..(40)
Number of Floating Holidays given to New Employees (8 hrs x 3 days)…………………..(24)
Total Number of Hours Available for Independent Contractor to work…………..……..1,856
*- Please note the number of hours used were based off of new, full-time hire benefits.
Market value dictates that the IT contractor would receive a salary of $110,000 per year if in a full-time role. To determine the hourly rate, we will divide the salary by the number of available working hours, which we’ve determined to be 1,856. This leaves us with an hourly rate of $59.27/hour, and most companies would round off to $59 or $60 per hour, depending on how generous they would like to be.
So, independent contractors, the next time you negotiate your hourly rate, here is some information to take into consideration.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
When to Use a Phone Screen during the Interview Process
Today, a colleague of mine called me excited about having secured an interview with an industry leader in his profession. He was so pumped and had been doing his homework on the company from what we were discussing. One thing, however, made my eyebrow raise a little as he was describing what the interview entailed. My colleague told me that this was not a face-to-face interview or something he would be able to Skype, but a 90-minute phone screen with one of the key decision-makers.
Say what?!?
As a recruiter, I often put on my consulting hat and advise hiring managers on how to conduct a smooth interview process. Personally, I think the last time I was on a 90-minute phone call was when I was in high school chatting away with my girlfriend. In today’s demanding job market and economy, I’d like to know who really has the time to conduct a 90-minute interview, let alone one entirely over the phone? I find this to be a little excessive and would want to sit down with hiring managers and devise a new strategy.
Phone screens are great tools and an integral part of today’s interview process. When used properly, a hiring manager can break out the conversational part of the interview while setting the benchmarks to further refine a qualified pool of candidates. This way, the pool of qualified candidates can easily be managed. These candidates should speak with a decision-maker on the phone for no more than 30-40 minutes, depending on how technical the conversation can get. The key is to develop a questionnaire tailored to unraveling the core requirements and how the candidate matches up to those.
Common sense should come into play when budgeting time for interviews. If you have a pool of five candidates that you want to spend an hour and a half speaking with, that means that you want to take roughly over seven hours of your work week interviewing. Let’s say after those screens you would like to bring in all five candidates for a face-to-face. At five candidates multiplied by four decision makers at an hour each means that you are tying up your staff for twenty hours, a half-week’s worth of time. Since resources are being spread too thin as it is, I have found it to be most prudent to use a phone screen to speak to those candidate for a half hour each (which would last two and a half hours) and bring in only the top two or three that best qualify for the role. Take three key members of the team, two managerial, and subordinate or peer, and conduct the interview as such. Three candidates at the max times three hours is nine hours of time. By effectively using the phone screen process, you can shave nine hours or one work day off of interviewing and in the long run, make more sound hiring decisions.
Say what?!?
As a recruiter, I often put on my consulting hat and advise hiring managers on how to conduct a smooth interview process. Personally, I think the last time I was on a 90-minute phone call was when I was in high school chatting away with my girlfriend. In today’s demanding job market and economy, I’d like to know who really has the time to conduct a 90-minute interview, let alone one entirely over the phone? I find this to be a little excessive and would want to sit down with hiring managers and devise a new strategy.
Phone screens are great tools and an integral part of today’s interview process. When used properly, a hiring manager can break out the conversational part of the interview while setting the benchmarks to further refine a qualified pool of candidates. This way, the pool of qualified candidates can easily be managed. These candidates should speak with a decision-maker on the phone for no more than 30-40 minutes, depending on how technical the conversation can get. The key is to develop a questionnaire tailored to unraveling the core requirements and how the candidate matches up to those.
Common sense should come into play when budgeting time for interviews. If you have a pool of five candidates that you want to spend an hour and a half speaking with, that means that you want to take roughly over seven hours of your work week interviewing. Let’s say after those screens you would like to bring in all five candidates for a face-to-face. At five candidates multiplied by four decision makers at an hour each means that you are tying up your staff for twenty hours, a half-week’s worth of time. Since resources are being spread too thin as it is, I have found it to be most prudent to use a phone screen to speak to those candidate for a half hour each (which would last two and a half hours) and bring in only the top two or three that best qualify for the role. Take three key members of the team, two managerial, and subordinate or peer, and conduct the interview as such. Three candidates at the max times three hours is nine hours of time. By effectively using the phone screen process, you can shave nine hours or one work day off of interviewing and in the long run, make more sound hiring decisions.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Oriented versus Orientated - The Battle Continues
Today I was reviewing a resume for an open position for which I am currently recruiting, and I see the term growth-orientated.
I cringe because to me growth-oriented sounds better and flows more smoothly than growth-orientated. In reviewing this website, I learned that this is more of a preference versus something that is grammatically correct.
So, if you are thinking about sending me your resume, please use growth-oriented. I would greatly appreciate it.
Also, please do not use the word analyzation. I have learned that it is indeed part of the English language, but if you want to sound professional talk about an analytic process versus analyzation.
I cringe because to me growth-oriented sounds better and flows more smoothly than growth-orientated. In reviewing this website, I learned that this is more of a preference versus something that is grammatically correct.
So, if you are thinking about sending me your resume, please use growth-oriented. I would greatly appreciate it.
Also, please do not use the word analyzation. I have learned that it is indeed part of the English language, but if you want to sound professional talk about an analytic process versus analyzation.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Exercising and Your Blood Sugar
Ever since I was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic, I have taken strides to improve my health overall. At the beginning, I was very careful with what I put in my body. As morbid as it sounds, I would equate having a bacon cheeseburger and French fries (one of my favorite meals) with having my right leg amputated. Now, I have learned to really take care of my body while splurging once in a while. Exercise of your will and of your body really helps you keep focused.
However, my blood sugar determines whether or not I can exercise and enjoy a good workout. My doctor mentioned to me if my blood sugar is over 140, I cannot work out as my body would not respond to the rigors of exercise and I would tire out easily. Medication and diet are key, but they do not ultimately control my blood sugar. I have learned to adjust over the past few years and have found that I have a much better workout in the morning as my resting blood sugar is in the low to mid 90s. I feel energized after a good morning workout and I am able to replenish my body with a nice balanced breakfast. Sometimes at night after I leave work, I will test my blood sugar to see where it stands as I like to go swimming at the gym. Usually I find my blood sugar to be in the range of 120 to 130, so I am able to get another aerobic workout in for the day.
If you are a newly-diagnosed diabetic, it is important to know what part of your day your blood sugars are normal. It will be the difference of feeling at your best versus being lethargic and will help determine if you are able to enjoy a good workout.
However, my blood sugar determines whether or not I can exercise and enjoy a good workout. My doctor mentioned to me if my blood sugar is over 140, I cannot work out as my body would not respond to the rigors of exercise and I would tire out easily. Medication and diet are key, but they do not ultimately control my blood sugar. I have learned to adjust over the past few years and have found that I have a much better workout in the morning as my resting blood sugar is in the low to mid 90s. I feel energized after a good morning workout and I am able to replenish my body with a nice balanced breakfast. Sometimes at night after I leave work, I will test my blood sugar to see where it stands as I like to go swimming at the gym. Usually I find my blood sugar to be in the range of 120 to 130, so I am able to get another aerobic workout in for the day.
If you are a newly-diagnosed diabetic, it is important to know what part of your day your blood sugars are normal. It will be the difference of feeling at your best versus being lethargic and will help determine if you are able to enjoy a good workout.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
When Should I Follow Up After the Interview?
So, you just hung up the phone with the recruiter or human resources professional confirming your interview for the big position you’ve had your eye on for a while. It’s on your calendar, you have your favorite suit pressed and ready to wear for the big day, and you have done all of your research to prepare for the interview.
There is a lot of excitement that goes into the pre-interview process. It’s the time after the interview that is crucial. You know you want the job, but you don’t want to come off too desperate for the position. What’s the appropriate wait time between the interview and following-up? When should I call? Should I wait for them to call or just do it myself? How should I sound or what should the tone of my note or e-mail be to the recruiter? Today’s posting will give you pointers on how to handle this situation.
1. Ask for the business card after every interviewer you meet.
As a candidate at the end of interviews, you should always ask for the interviewer’s business card. I know it may sound like common sense, but in the excitement of the interview sometimes as candidates we forget this crucial step. Granted you may have the contact information of the hiring managers you’re meeting with, it’s always good business etiquette to ask for the card so that you will always have it.
2. The Five-Day Rule
Company employees who interview generally will not make a decision on hiring someone on the spot. The larger the company, the more complex the hiring process is in selecting talent. The interviewing team needs to get together with the recruiter to discuss all of the candidates they have met for the open role. While it is important to an organization to have the position filled, the company does not stop its entire operation to dedicate their resources for hiring, everyone on the team needs a few days to make sure the company is running smoothly before sitting down to discuss who is the best candidate for the role. Usually, this takes about three to five business days, so my advice would be to wait five business days before following up with the recruiter.
3. Be confident.
It is extremely important to maintain the same level of temperament and enthusiasm you exhibited on the interview when following up with the recruiter. This is the stage of this process that most candidates, at all levels, end up hurting their chances to secure the open position. Sometimes as candidates we can become frustrated that things may not go according to plan, and while we may feel that way, our emotions may get to the best of us. That is why it is important to stay even-keeled while reaffirming your interest in the position. It shows the hiring managers and the company that you are able to stay focused and positive through any situation.
Hopefully this will give you some guidance the next time you are debating on how to go about following up with a recruiter after an interview.
There is a lot of excitement that goes into the pre-interview process. It’s the time after the interview that is crucial. You know you want the job, but you don’t want to come off too desperate for the position. What’s the appropriate wait time between the interview and following-up? When should I call? Should I wait for them to call or just do it myself? How should I sound or what should the tone of my note or e-mail be to the recruiter? Today’s posting will give you pointers on how to handle this situation.
1. Ask for the business card after every interviewer you meet.
As a candidate at the end of interviews, you should always ask for the interviewer’s business card. I know it may sound like common sense, but in the excitement of the interview sometimes as candidates we forget this crucial step. Granted you may have the contact information of the hiring managers you’re meeting with, it’s always good business etiquette to ask for the card so that you will always have it.
2. The Five-Day Rule
Company employees who interview generally will not make a decision on hiring someone on the spot. The larger the company, the more complex the hiring process is in selecting talent. The interviewing team needs to get together with the recruiter to discuss all of the candidates they have met for the open role. While it is important to an organization to have the position filled, the company does not stop its entire operation to dedicate their resources for hiring, everyone on the team needs a few days to make sure the company is running smoothly before sitting down to discuss who is the best candidate for the role. Usually, this takes about three to five business days, so my advice would be to wait five business days before following up with the recruiter.
3. Be confident.
It is extremely important to maintain the same level of temperament and enthusiasm you exhibited on the interview when following up with the recruiter. This is the stage of this process that most candidates, at all levels, end up hurting their chances to secure the open position. Sometimes as candidates we can become frustrated that things may not go according to plan, and while we may feel that way, our emotions may get to the best of us. That is why it is important to stay even-keeled while reaffirming your interest in the position. It shows the hiring managers and the company that you are able to stay focused and positive through any situation.
Hopefully this will give you some guidance the next time you are debating on how to go about following up with a recruiter after an interview.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Confidence versus Obnoxiousness
As I talk with other recruiting and human resources professionals, there is always a story that comes up as “one for the books”. Most of the time, the “ones for the book” usually have a negative connotation to it, but there are some positive aspects if one has a good sense of humor.
Since we deal with different types of people and personalities, our cynicism may come out a little bit and distort our perception of candidates. Every recruiter is guilty of this and has done this in the past. Recently, I was at a recruiting event at a large, local university as juniors were looking for summer internships. These days it seems everyone is competing for internships, or a chance to work for a good, stable company. With that being said, I meet more graduating seniors and graduate students looking for internship opportunities to gain experience in lieu of the juniors.
One such person sticks out in my mind. To give you a visual, think the voice of a Phillip Seymour Hoffman with the looks of an Andy Richter/Chris Farley, but not nearly as funny or charming. The person walks up to my table with an insincere smile on his face and proceeds to introduce himself and tell me all about himself and his work experience (as he was a graduate student) without telling me how he got to graduate school or what made him successful. After politely telling this person that we are considering full-time students for internships but would be interested in holding onto his resume should a more, appropriate position come up, he gave me his insincere smile again and said to me “Well, this conversation’s over,” and walked away. Never had I experienced a reaction like that as for the most part people extend the courtesy of a thank you. This indeed was going to be “one for the books” in my mind so I spoke with other recruiters with whom this person visited at the on-campus recruiting event. I found that these other recruiters got a similar reaction.
Was this person confident or obnoxious? The consensus was that the candidate needed to improve on both his social and selling abilities. There was no lack of confidence in this candidate, but the level of obnoxiousness was turned up. What prompted the candidate to say that the conversation was over, was the question I asked, which was simply “If you are a successful manager, what techniques could you potentially bring to my company?” My hope is that the candidate will learn how to put more relevance in his confidence approach to counterbalance the level of obnoxiousness. So, to answer the question (like most graduate school answers ) is that it depends on what the recruiter perceives in expressions of confidence.
Confident people tend to answer questions and give examples in a calm yet enthusiastic manner. Obnoxious people tend to show their insecurities through being brash and abrasive in terms of telling their stories on experience and why they should be hired. Confident people take rejection with poise while obnoxious people tend to be a little more emotional and compensate for overselling in other areas. As a recruiter, I will usually tend to go to bat for candidates who exude confidence but may lack the skills that we are looking for in our current needs. It’s a great way to build relationship and a testament to hire strategically versus a plug and play approach. Obnoxious candidates usually do not get that chance as recruiters can see that big chip on your shoulder.
In reading this blog post, how should one identify in their own mind if they fall in the confident or obnoxious category? Think of it in this light – how often do you get together with your friends and do your friends go out of their way to contact you for special events? Do you find yourself always planning events for your group of friends? If you are the one “feeling left out” because you’re never invited to go out socially, then it may be due to having the proverbial “chip on your shoulder” and proving your worth at all times. People are not drawn to that. One hiring manager I work with asked that I seek out candidates with “humility” for his sales position because having someone who is humble will be able to relate better to the customer in an emotional sale. Someone who is humble is confident in their abilities and not always asking someone to tell them how good they are. Humility will move you more toward the confident category and away from obnoxiousness. So, in your next interview as a candidate be confident by showing your humility by not overacting on describing your accomplishments. Recruiters can also refrain from being obnoxious by staying even-keeled throughout the interview process while maintaining a high-level of enthusiasm.
Since we deal with different types of people and personalities, our cynicism may come out a little bit and distort our perception of candidates. Every recruiter is guilty of this and has done this in the past. Recently, I was at a recruiting event at a large, local university as juniors were looking for summer internships. These days it seems everyone is competing for internships, or a chance to work for a good, stable company. With that being said, I meet more graduating seniors and graduate students looking for internship opportunities to gain experience in lieu of the juniors.
One such person sticks out in my mind. To give you a visual, think the voice of a Phillip Seymour Hoffman with the looks of an Andy Richter/Chris Farley, but not nearly as funny or charming. The person walks up to my table with an insincere smile on his face and proceeds to introduce himself and tell me all about himself and his work experience (as he was a graduate student) without telling me how he got to graduate school or what made him successful. After politely telling this person that we are considering full-time students for internships but would be interested in holding onto his resume should a more, appropriate position come up, he gave me his insincere smile again and said to me “Well, this conversation’s over,” and walked away. Never had I experienced a reaction like that as for the most part people extend the courtesy of a thank you. This indeed was going to be “one for the books” in my mind so I spoke with other recruiters with whom this person visited at the on-campus recruiting event. I found that these other recruiters got a similar reaction.
Was this person confident or obnoxious? The consensus was that the candidate needed to improve on both his social and selling abilities. There was no lack of confidence in this candidate, but the level of obnoxiousness was turned up. What prompted the candidate to say that the conversation was over, was the question I asked, which was simply “If you are a successful manager, what techniques could you potentially bring to my company?” My hope is that the candidate will learn how to put more relevance in his confidence approach to counterbalance the level of obnoxiousness. So, to answer the question (like most graduate school answers ) is that it depends on what the recruiter perceives in expressions of confidence.
Confident people tend to answer questions and give examples in a calm yet enthusiastic manner. Obnoxious people tend to show their insecurities through being brash and abrasive in terms of telling their stories on experience and why they should be hired. Confident people take rejection with poise while obnoxious people tend to be a little more emotional and compensate for overselling in other areas. As a recruiter, I will usually tend to go to bat for candidates who exude confidence but may lack the skills that we are looking for in our current needs. It’s a great way to build relationship and a testament to hire strategically versus a plug and play approach. Obnoxious candidates usually do not get that chance as recruiters can see that big chip on your shoulder.
In reading this blog post, how should one identify in their own mind if they fall in the confident or obnoxious category? Think of it in this light – how often do you get together with your friends and do your friends go out of their way to contact you for special events? Do you find yourself always planning events for your group of friends? If you are the one “feeling left out” because you’re never invited to go out socially, then it may be due to having the proverbial “chip on your shoulder” and proving your worth at all times. People are not drawn to that. One hiring manager I work with asked that I seek out candidates with “humility” for his sales position because having someone who is humble will be able to relate better to the customer in an emotional sale. Someone who is humble is confident in their abilities and not always asking someone to tell them how good they are. Humility will move you more toward the confident category and away from obnoxiousness. So, in your next interview as a candidate be confident by showing your humility by not overacting on describing your accomplishments. Recruiters can also refrain from being obnoxious by staying even-keeled throughout the interview process while maintaining a high-level of enthusiasm.
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