Once I secured my first job, I was humbled in discovering I would have to be re-initiated into the culture of the corporate workforce. Suddenly, I was not that smart any more.

Looking back at my first jobs before I reached the age of 28, I think I did fine.

But I’m much more sophisticated in my approach, stealth in my tactics, and enormously more successful in my achieving that which I set out to do today, than I ever could have imagined back then. In other words while I was “just fine,” I’m now far more professional and capable. I’m well beyond just “fine.”

That’s not to boast. But rather a statement attributing to the value of tenure in a career and the benefit of honing your craft for decades coupled with maturity and years of ongoing, continuing education.

This year I will be 50 years old. I still feel 20 and can physically do everything I did back then (although the bruises from certain sports remain longer); but I’m better than I ever was in my 20s and 30s. Much, much better.

Looking back at the last 25 years, I can now see more clearly how tenure, seniority, and decades of experience have polished, honed, sharpened, and perfected my performance both on the job with my career as well as my community, civic, and other endeavors I am active with.

Has seniority transformed my capabilities and improved by tactics and skills?

Yes, it has. If Frank Risalvato circa 1989 was to confront me in a business challenge, the Frank Risalvato of today would beat the younger version. And the junior version would not even know what hit him.

Which leads me to Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III, pilot of the fateful U.S. Airways Flight number 1549 which was bound for my new hometown of Charlotte from New York City. The same commute those passengers were making from New York to Charlotte is the same commute I have been doing every few months for the last two years.

While Chesley may go down in history for one of the only safe water landings ever, he should also be the poster child for why companies should not hastily layoff their senior-most employees or engage in premature “pre-retirement” programs or layoffs.

A local article in the Charlotte Observer provided more details than the national news has been offering. Here are some highlights:

1. He was 58 years old.
2. Started as a commercial pilot in 1980 with what later became U.S. Airways
3. His first job piloting was at age 15 — he was a “natural”
4. Endured several cost-cutting and salary/wage freezes (he could have sought work elsewhere but he remained with the company)
5. 28 years on the job

Now let’s compare what could have happened:

1. U.S. Airways could have given “Sully” an early retirement package
2. Replaced him with a 28-year-old pilot (two years younger than he was when he started)
3. Saved lots of money on salary and benefits
4. Applied that process across the board and saved millions in payroll.

Many human resource types I’ve dealt with might view such a balding white-haired man as “old-fashioned” or from “another era.” Those judgments often originate from human resource coordinators in their 20s and 30s.

Had the alternative took place and U.S. Airways pursued a policy of pruning its senior, executive pilots for less costly younger crews, the headlines would be dramatically different.

While many are hailing “Sully” for his deft landing. I believe he deserves notoriety for what a seasoned, tenured, “older” executive can bring to an organization.

I hope human resource representatives and managers learn the alternate lesson of this story: the realization that enormous value and storehouses of knowledge are locked up within your most senior-ranking colleagues and employees.

Do not look at immediate salary savings alone when laying off senior executives.

And next time you interview such a seasoned veteran from another company, I hope you don’t engage in the premature and foolhardy diagnosis that he or she is “too old.”

For all Sully went through with his decades at U.S. Airways, he will most likely have saved the company many hundreds of millions in litigation by avoiding the loss of life and limiting losses to that of baggage, a few bruises, some sniffles and colds, and accessories that are easily repairable and replaceable.

My misplacement of capitalization in the above heading is intentional. LinkedIn spells itself with a double capital so I decided to play along.

There’s been alot of brouhaha over LinkedIn lately. Every conference, convention, and seminar I attend has a LinkedIn workshop. LinkedIn Webinar invitations land in my email inbox semi-weekly.

Here LinkedIn. There LinkedIn … everywhere LinkedIn.

I don’t get it. Is it just me?

Sure, I have an account. And yes I get invitations to “join my network” each week.

I find LinkedIn is little more than an annoyance for the following reasons:

• It has increased my daily unsolicited sales calls by brokers & investors 30% (by making me a more visible target).
• Most of the LINKED invitations originate from people I never heard of and have dubious intentions.
• It increases my email spam.
• I can contact anyone who’s important to me without LinkedIn.

Last year I had one of my best years ever.

This year is taking place to become the same despite the dumb headlines I get tired of reading.

I just had one of my biggest placements ever with another one in the works (net fee just under six figures for the single hire).

Yet not one dime of my 2008 revenue has come from a LinkedIn contact.

I attended a few of these workshops and still don’t see how this will help me in my recruiting practice!

Am I in the minority of successful recruiters that does not see the benefit of LinkedIn?

I’d like to hear from LinkedIn users and non-users alike. Add your comments to this article.

How is it possible that some companies’ human resources departments can act with such indifference that they actually behave in a manner that is inhumane and unresourceful?

In some circles and industries, an increasing trend is taking hold where recruiting departments have resorted to crafting lengthy recruiting contracts issued by newly centralized recruiting departments. In these examples, the departments have gone well beyond centralization and have engaged in a practice and approach best described as militarization.

Before I go on, let me state that I thoroughly understand the need to consolidate recruiting activity, as well as monitor recruiting expenses and costs from one single, centralized function. This is especially true when such companies are no longer medium-sized and have joined the ranks of the Fortune 500 and particularly publicly traded companies that operate under the watchful eye of multiple government agencies.

But when reading the language and clauses of “recruiting agreements” put forth by these emboldened “militarized” recruiting departments, one is left to question the real intentions of such an agreement.

Is it to promote recruiting partnerships? Or, are these contracts being created to confound the search firm from recruiting at all? More of these militarized recruiting agreements seem to point to the latter.

Some of the “recruiting vendor contracts” that have become a by-product of the overall centralization/militarization efforts indicate that the company would actually prefer if you (the external recruiter) fail at delivering candidates rather than succeed in filling openings!

My law classes remind me that bilateral contracts require several key components, which include the following:

• Lack of duress (both physical and economic).
• Both parties are of legal age.
• The contract consisting of lawful activity (you can’t contract a hit man, for example).
• Consideration exchanged for service/goods provided (this consummates the contract).
• Absence of being overly one-sided.
• Good faith/intentions (varying implications depending on industries/types of contracts).

If you sign a contract under duress (e.g., “sign or some harm will come to you!”), that could invalidate the contract. Such harm can be physical or economic.

I know something about economic duress, as I used the economic-duress defense 15 years ago to win a dispute against a New Jersey company that settled out of court in our favor after a judge let it be known which way things were heading.

Deciphering Confusing Terms

Some of these contracts contain baffling phrasing involving non-solicitation clauses; fines for reverse recruiting; are overly heavy-handed, possess lengthy non-compete periods; and impose severe restrictions on communication with management. Some contain clauses that extend too-great authority to the client company with regard to duplicate candidate submissions.

A few creative, clever companies got around point No. 4 by taking the contract wording one step further. Since you can not hold a recruiting firm liable for reverse recruiting under a contract with no business transaction or compensation ? one clause I reviewed for this article demanded that the search firm pay a $10 “consideration” fee in order to become an approved vendor. Now that took some big Chicken McNuggets on the company’s side to put into wording.

To put this into perspective, could you imagine demanding that your landscaping contractor pay you $10 before he could set foot on your property for the privilege of submitting a price quote for a new patio?

Where in this country would you find a contractor or any business professional worth a dime (licensed/bonded/insured/with references) who would pay you for the privilege of providing a quote? The good ones I know will charge me, the homeowner, $350 just for an initial site design (equivalent to being paid to produce a recruiting plan in our industry).

Our recruiting industry takes such abuse on the chin and seems to enjoy the punishment, which no other similar service industry would ever tolerate. When I try to draw parallels with service-based professionals working on a fee/contingency basis, I come up with this list as one example:

• Travel agents.
• Contingency lawyers.
• Real estate sales professionals.
• Insurance producers/sales reps.

Off this short list, I find contingency lawyers and real estate professionals are the closest cousins to the search industry. No attorney would work on your case on contingency, knowing you are “cheating” while using two other attorneys. That would create chaos if the case went to court. Same goes for competent real-estate marketers.

Now let’s look at the real estate industry for a moment. Realtors have to be trained like recruiters. They have to be licensed like recruiters (in most states). They can go on to acquire additional certifications, like recruiters.

Stop and imagine a Realtor entering into a home marketing agreement and then letting you sign two or three other Realtor listing agreements simultaneously. Would that happen?

Absolutely not!

No Realtor would put up with the idea of your using multiple realtors while they invested thousands of dollars of their own monies to bankroll marketing, advertising, attending/hosting open houses, posting Internet features, etc. to drive traffic to your home.

Yet our search industry puts up with this daily. We allow a client to sign a contract. And just as we begin work, that same client is probably racing to get two or three more recruiters involved on the same “search party” simultaneously!

It’s a disgrace to both the companies and recruiters that engage in this type of charade.

We get what we deserve. We treat ourselves cheaply and as a dispensable commodity, and we are now getting the treatment we’ve come to ask for from militarized recruiting departments forced to close the gaps for those in our industry who do not engage in self-regulation and self-discipline.

Some of these agreements are getting too ridiculous and insulting to our profession. Too many militarized recruiting agreements reek of false pretenses that have nothing to do with establishing a recruiting protocol.

From Contract Confusion to Contract Reality

While many centralized agreements are honorable and prepared with good-faith intentions, a number of agreements are apparently designed to create the illusion that recruiting alliances would continue with chosen search partners.

However, these agreements instead seem to place greater value on other concessions buried within the contract.

So what is it these companies are after if it is not recruiting services?

Why use these agreements if they truly never intend on using your services, or plan to issue searches under impossible constraints?

I spoke with employment specialist attorneys around the country on this subject, as well as several national recruiting trainers and speaking gurus I consider esteemed colleagues and reliable sources. The consensus was unanimous that a growing number of “newly revised” militarized recruiting contracts written by battalions of in-house lawyers are dubious in nature. Although I am not an attorney (please consult your attorney for all contract-related questions), I find that the real hidden value contained in these contracts include:

• Non-employee solicitation clauses. This is probably the most valuable benefit the company might derive from an otherwise useless contract.
• Non-communication clauses. If communication is restricted to the appointed recruiter, he or she can stonewall all day about job-search status and you will never know better.
• Illusion. The “illusion” of continuing a recruiting relationship to invoke the above two clauses.
• Fear. If they can intimidate you into believing there is hope you will not raid their company.

Actual Contract Language Revealed

Consider some of these real-world examples:

“? No communication or dialogue is to occur with any hiring manager ?”

Funny.

If it were not for the hiring manager’s knowledge of the search firm’s abilities, human resources would never have known of the firm to begin with. I can count on one hand when human resources actually reached out to any recruiter without being cattle-prodded by management.

If you do not trust the search firm, do not hire them. If you trust them, let them do their job, which is to fill your company’s positions. This process requires constant communication with decision-makers and not middle-person interpreters, translators, or revisionists. If you must stay in the loop, then participate in conference calls.

” … Payment in the amount equal to one-year’s salary is required for any recruitment of company’s existing employees ?”

In this case the “fine” for reverse recruiting (poaching) would be the value of the recruited candidate’s first-year salary. You can’t blame the company, as case laws around the United States have favored search firms when poaching did take place while the said search firm was attempting to place a candidate with the simultaneously poached client.

Some of this raises more issues, such as who is a client, and how long is a client considered a client after no activity? At IRES, we abide by NAPS ethics and guidelines in the absence of a client-specified statement on client status. That period is one year.

One recruiting representative of a financial-services firm based in the Northeast stated:

” … I don’t care what vice presidents may be in charge of. Regardless of the title on the business card, I’m in charge of determining who interviews which candidate and which location gets to interview. I run this company, not our VPs; they just think they do …”

That person was a low-level recruiter earning in the mid-fifties range yet felt he exerted more authority than vice presidents. Ouch!

This is an example of militarized recruiting. I forwarded this email to the actual VP, who was astonished to discover the manner his centralized recruiter used when speaking to other business partners.

Here’s another:

” ? In the event of multiple resume submissions, the company shall make the sole and final determination as to which recruiting vendor has earned the fee ?”

Very endearing language, isn’t it? And here I thought as president of my search firm that such decisions rested upon my shoulders.

Final Thoughts

The only time a company needs more than one recruiter is when the first engaged recruiter turns out to be incompetent. Period.

The company is setting itself up for failure when you invite search-party tactics.

If you are using five recruiters, they must all stink or you wouldn’t need so many. Either that, or your company stinks and you have an impossible position to fill.

The companies we have the greatest consistent success with and have decades of ongoing relationships with are those that allow us to work as the experienced, competent, professionals we are. The successful companies allow us to interact harmoniously with decision-making managers whereby executive recruiting consultants and internal recruiting are all being treated as equals.

There is no animosity. No tension. No hidden agenda. And no struggle for the protection of internal fiefdoms or job-security juxtapositioning by internal HR.

Many newly formed centralized recruiting departments were designed quite well and avoid the troublesome issues outlined in this article. Most permit necessary management dialogues necessary to perform a quality professional service.

To be fair, not all centralized recruiting departments micro-manage, exhibit insecurities, or constrict the ability to perform the very recruiting services that were requested. This is, after all, the way it should be for any professional to deliver professional results.

The next time you are confronted with a newly militarized human resource contract, consider it more carefully and read between the lines to find the true hidden meaning before you sign. Consider the repercussions to your industry and whether your value and integrity is worth compromising to corporate arm-twisting.

Two recruiters called me last month to offer recruiting assistance on a particular project they heard my company was working on. This was a routine search in the $50,000 to $60,000 range that we had filled hundreds of times before. In this particular instance, however, we were caught in a backlog.

The recruiters were right about the period of time being longer than usual. Since both were esteemed individuals I’ve known and respected for well over 10 years, I decided to invest about a half hour with each to fully explain the search.

I should emphasize that both of these individuals travel through recruiting associations, attend conferences, keep their skills sharp, and represent that single-digit minority I would entrust sensitive projects to.

You could understand why I was frustrated when both said, “We’ll get right on this” but proceeded to not call back for one week. Then two weeks. Then three weeks.

Sadly, this is the manner in which many recruiters treat their clients. This type of behavior is not limited to recruiter-versus-recruiter relationships alone. And this is why most clients and hiring managers develop a disdain for recruiters.

At the very least, one could have called back after two weeks and stated something along the lines of, “You know, Frank, I really worked hard on this but could not find anyone suitable to refer.”

Or something such as, “I’ve had some other commitments come up and can’t work on this. I wanted to get back to you rather than leave you with no follow up communication.”

There’s nothing worse to a hiring manager (I consider myself a hiring manager as well as a recruiter) than long periods of dead silence after a recruiter is enthusiastic about helping you out.

It would be best had you not called at all. Now not only did you not perform up to your expectations, but you actually fell short of your previous image and brand you created.

The Grace Period

Is there such a thing as an appropriate “sound of silence” timeframe? And if so, is it one week? Two weeks? One call per month?

I say it depends on the level of a search and specificity of the industry and skill set.

For a few exceptions, when you are dealing with positions in the under-$75,000 per year range, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t call your client and provide feedback on a semi-weekly basis.

I have one account that demands we conference every Friday. We did just that until there was an ample pipeline of candidates and the conferences were no longer needed.

I like clients who demand action, because I usually get reaction in return for our efforts.

In my real-life experience, whenever I have actually called a client and “fessed up” that their search is proving to be more time and effort than what we had anticipated, they have always appreciated the information. This is especially true if there are particulars that go with it.

Sometimes by providing feedback, the client relaxes criteria or increases salary. Other times they have decided to rearrange the retainer so as to not have my firm walk away.

But to not call back at all is inexcusable, unprofessional, and a complete waste of valuable business time. I’m just as mad as any client would be not hearing back from a recruiter for three weeks after being promised action!

The Missing Recruiters

As it turns out, our organization finally found the “right candidate” within the next week or so after sharing this search on a split arrangement with my two trusted colleagues. So the subcontracted assistance was thankfully no longer needed.

Trouble is, they don’t know that due to their own inadequacies.

You see, I decided to call them to notify them of our success. Just in case they were working late into the evenings making dozens of calls and foregoing golfing on weekends on my account, I decided to advise them their services were no longer needed and that our candidate had been selected.

And the real punch line to this story? When I called and left a message, they still did not call back!

This tells me that they:

• never took the search seriously.
• lacked respect for my time.
• probably never spent more than one hour once they got off the phone with me.
• probably treat their clients the same way.
• have little regard for their image.

In a recent Fordyce Letter column, more than a few recruiters from around the country reported they had no qualms “walking away from difficult clients” if the search proved to be no longer worth the effort.

Walk away? Just like that? And leave another client scratching his head as to what’s wrong with our industry?

To walk away with no explanation tarnishes the search industry. To walk away and explain why this is necessary is a much better choice.

Please don’t give the rest of us a bad name through your long periods of silence! Call your clients. Call them weekly or semi-weekly. But please let them know something rather than handing them long periods containing nothing but the sounds of silence.

A good title for this article would also be “What to do so that hiring managers will always want to use your competitors?and ensure they will never use you.”

Here’s what I’m getting at: Every single week at our office, just like clockwork, we receive some dozen or so inbound calls from recruiters.

Almost always, they drop the ball when given the smallest task to perform as a test of their capability or skill. Nearly 99.9% of the time, they fail to demonstrate competent follow-through skills. So why bother even calling in the first place?

I’ll break down the calls and inquiries we receive into two classifications:

1. Recruiters calling to recruit the recruiter.
2. Recruiters wanting to work a split, enter into a joint alliance, or be hired as a recruiting employee of IRES in some form.

Recruiters Cold Calling to Recruit a Recruiter

In nearly all cases these calls are made by those who are rookies, poorly trained, given no Internet-search/reference-checking skills, or don’t have a clue about the “secret pass phrases” or proper terminology/jargon they must use to capture my attention.

This type of call generally goes like this:

Rookie Recruiter: “Hi Frank?it is Frank, right?”

Frank: “Yes, how may I help you?”

Rookie Recruiter: “I learned you’re a good recruiter in your area and have some years of recruiting success.”

Frank: “Yes. Go on.”

Rookie Recruiter: “Great, because I have a job for a recruiter to run a [pick your choice: Desk, Office, department, launch a new specialty, etc.] and was wondering if you would consider making a move?”

Frank: (Sighing) “Hmmm. First tell me how you got my name?”

Rookie Recruiter: “Well ? uh ? I ? er? um ? it’s on this list here and I have no idea where the list came from but it says ‘recruiter’ next to your name!”

Duh. The simplest question from me totally throws this person off every single time. Here’s where it gets fun:

Frank: “So how do you know I’m a recruiter? How do you know what kind of recruiting I do?”

Rookie Recruiter: (Falling deeper into despair for lack of having conducting any modicum of research whatsoever?) “Well, it sounds like you’re really busy. Maybe you can refer someone who might be interested in making a move?”

Frank: “Why would I want to refer someone else? Recruiters are tough to come by and if I knew of someone making a move, I’d hire him or her myself. Why should I refer them to you who I don’t even know?”

And so goes this dumb dance, day in and out. I can’t blame the rookies. It’s their managers that let them loose on John Q. Public without proper education. It shows.

Attention search firm owners: Don’t put rookie recruiters on the phone unless you plan to train them and provide the tools they need to succeed! If you actually train these poor souls they just might have a chance at pulling a recruiter candidate in for you!

Not one of these individuals ever took one second to click a quick Google search on who they’re calling. Even if they forgot?they could have done so while still having me on the telephone.

Not one bothered to develop rapport, or find out more about their prospect, or determine how to actually succeed in getting a referral. Now for the next category of dumb calls.

Recruiters Wanting to Split, Get Hired, Subcontract, Source, or Form Alliances

This type of call goes like this:

Recruiter: “Hi. I saw your name on?(splits board, Web ad, heard through a candidate, association roster, Monster, HotJobs, or similar ad) and wanted to talk to you about your insurance-recruiting needs.”

Frank: “Great. Tell me something about yourself. How long have you been a recruiter?”

Recruiter: “Well, I’ve been an independent for two years, after five years with another firm?and?”

Usually the response here is quite good. More often than not, these experienced recruiters come across polished and trained during the initial contact. The experience is good. In fact, the employment calls for recruiters wanting to be hired progress far better than the prior type of call. Well, at least during the first call.

What’s frustrating about these calls is not how they start, but how the process quickly falls apart quite prematurely.

As standard protocol whenever the first telephone screen goes well, I always give the individual a small task to perform. If for no other reason, I do it to test their seriousness, sincerity, and ability to get back within a reasonably prompt time to demonstrate follow-through skills.

For example, I ask them to visit our website (which most admit never doing prior to calling, even though all our ads link to it) or to Google my name to check out some of my articles to better understand my approach.

In just these past three weeks alone, I’ve had at least five recruiters vanish when asked to do these tasks. Why do we never hear back? Why would someone take the time to call and send a resume, but then not bother to follow through? Do they expect me to chase them around?

In a business that requires credibility, the easiest way to demonstrate this is by your actions, not your words. I guess I’m too demanding.

Recruiter Do’s and Don’ts

1. Don’t promise what you have no intent to deliver.
2. Don’t say, “I’ll call you back on Monday” if you plan not to.
3. Don’t be na?ve about contracts. If you ask to do a split, you will be asked to sign a split contract.
4. If you are asking to join a company with a multi-million dollar revenue stream, you will be asked to sign a non-disclosure. Be cognizant of what these are: joining an association would give you more knowledge as to what is standard versus non-standard.
5. Never promise to get back if you don’t plan on doing so. I will never believe anything you say to me again.
6. Don’t waste hiring managers’ time by not being prepared.
7. Don’t call if you have not even bothered to follow the link on the ad and at least peek at the website.
8. Do your homework. Google is free. So why aren’t you using it?
9. Do undergo training. Understand what motivates your target. This will help your calls obtain greater benefit and return on your investment.
10. Never say, “I’ve heard of you” if it is not true. This turns me off and makes your lying transparent and approach shallow.

Not only is this a great career, but it saves me lots of money on cable movie-channel subscriptions, as nothing can be as entertaining as the fits and starts, about-faces, shenanigans, internal conflicts, behavior irregularities, lies, deceit, and manipulation our sometimes prospective clients and candidates endear us with.

Here are three of my most notable stories, which are funny looking back 10 years later, but they were not quite so funny at the time:

First Story: Will a Job Offer Get Me Promoted?

A managerial candidate from a familiar company called, desperately seeking help to get out of her current situation. After meeting with her to determine that she was committed and not just having a “blue” day, I took on the project of representing her to a select group of presidents I knew would have interest.

She had a professional appearance, solid resume, and articulate demeanor, but I had that little voice deep inside that cautioned me, as she was too perfect in some aspects and a bit too scripted.

In about four weeks we had an interview, which led to a second and third meeting and to an eventual six-figure offer with a multi-thousand dollar sign-on bonus. Everything came in precisely at the price point she had stated she required on multiple occasions to accept the offer.

She accepted and resigned. My first “red flag” was when I found out she gave a five-week resignation notice. Five weeks! And no she wasn’t quite that important in her current role.

On the Tuesday after the Monday she was to begin her new job, I received a call from the president’s office of the new employer. “We assume you’ve heard what happened?”

I replied sarcastically and said, “No. Why would anyone think of informing me of anything?”

“She called here Friday,” the company manager said, “leaving a confusing message about a counteroffer and that she’d call back, but she never called back and never showed up yesterday.”

In calling the candidate, I found out this was not her first counteroffer acceptance. But she did not reveal this. I had a co-worker reveal her past history to me.

In fact, it was not the second counteroffer acceptance.

I discovered this was the third time she accepted a counteroffer with the same employer within the five-year period she was working there! She received significant salary increases, a larger office, and enhanced staff and working conditions or a combination thereof each and every time!

This was one of those rare cases where the company loved being manipulated and this person had the process down to a science.

I know what you must be thinking: Frank didn’t prep his candidate.

No, we actually went through this discussion ad nauseum just as Byrne, Bruno, Finkel, and all the great recruiting trainers have taught us to do. I even became sick of hearing myself enforce the “counteroffer pitfalls” to the candidate during her resignation period.

It turns out the employer in this instance, contrary to the majority of cases that contribute to the statistics, actually raised this person’s salary and enhanced her job duties each and every time she resigned!

The candidate had utter control over the company and knew exactly when to manipulate her employer repeatedly to her personal advantage. I was clearly duped and taken advantage of when I discovered I had been exploited to benefit someone’s current financial status. (I did get some revenge later in due time, but that’s another story.)

Second Story: Should I Have Resigned?

Every now and then we come across a client who loves our first candidate so much that they decide to take over the entire finalization of the interview process. These are the guys or gals that feel “they know darn well” how to extend an offer and no longer need us.

Ahem.

This is not so bad if it’s a professional, well-trained, and knowledgeable corporation completing the hiring process. It’s also not bad if you’re on retainer and it doesn’t matter how the second interview/offer is handled, as you get paid regardless.

It does matter if your license is on the line, you’re working in a state with high Errors and Omissions insurance premiums (like New Jersey), and the company is an entrepreneurial firm that needs to be monitored closely so as to protect the candidate from prematurely resigning without having a written official offer in hand.

Such was the case when I found out on a Friday a few years ago that the candidate I had sent in the Friday before was invited back in for a second interview the following Wednesday (without my knowledge or notification) and offered the job on the spot by the president.

Great, I thought. Less work for me and the same fee rate.

I called the president’s executive assistant to find out what the official start date was for final billing.

She could not tell me. “Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because the candidate is getting back to us next week after working things out with her current company.”

After multiple calls to the candidate’s cell and home number I began getting worried when by the following Wednesday, one week after she supposedly received her offer, I still could not reach her. This was a case of overindulgence in arrogance and self-confidence where both candidate and employer felt they had everything under control.

They didn’t.

I finally called her at work, which I was instructed to not do, but I had no other choice.

That morning the president of the company stated that if she could not start in two weeks, he would rescind the offer.

I nearly blew a gasket and scolded him for circumventing our services and extending the verbal offer directly without my guidance and consulting. I explained that had he clued me in to the intended verbal offer I would have advised her to not resign until we both knew she could accommodate the start-date requirements.

Had we been included in the decision-making process, I would have avoided this problem by making sure she had a written offer letter first before resigning and that we had pre-anticipated potential start dates before reaching this point.

Here we had a candidate who resigned from her job a week ago, and still did not know which Monday she’d be able to start (whether she needed two weeks or had to wait until the third week to begin the new job).

The president was not pleased, as he was traveling to Europe on the third week and insisted the candidate start in two weeks flat and not in three weeks.

Obviously, we were not fond of doing business with this particular company again so we sent in a new contract with substantially higher rates so as to curtail having to hear from them unless it became well worth it.

This candidate was almost caught in job limbo as she decided on her own to resign based on a wishy-washy verbal offer that lacked a firm start date agreement. Had she come to us for guidance and advised us of the second interview (the company is also to blame) we would have consulted otherwise.

We now use this story repeatedly to impress upon candidates why it is imperative for them to have the company deal with us and not accept direct offers. We now convince them that we have their interests at mind and not just the company’s.

Third Story: Why Did I Even Quit?

It was around the year 2000 when a certain insurance industry person came to me to assist with his new job search. As usual, I waved my magic wand, called industry hiring contacts, and within a month or so had him on interviews that led to the job he described as his “dream” job.

Great.

He started on a Monday. The department manager called late Friday afternoon.

“Frank, might you know what happened to Joe? He told us he was leaving for lunch around noon and we never heard back from him. If he quit, which is what it’s starting to look like, we were wondering if he had at least informed you as to what happened.”

I made calls that day. I made calls the rest of the following week.

“Joe” (name changed to protect and conceal his extraordinary stupidity and lack of business etiquette) never called.

About two months went by when I decided to call his former employer. Joe had gone back to his previous employer.

For the next few years, the inside joke was, “You’re not sending us another ‘Joe,’ are you, Frank?” when referring to the experience of this vanished candidate.

After four years, Joe had the audacity and block-headedness to actually call me back. He sent his resume stating “he was having a tough time with his divorce” and noted “other personal problems.”

Having been suckered into these games before, I told him “Sorry, Joe, but you only get one chance with my firm, and you had yours.”

I’m glad I passed on him.

He then contacted a recruiter of ours in our Albany location. And yet another recruiter in Philadelphia. I sent a mass email out so everyone representing our company knew to not represent Joe and why.

We found out weeks later that he was under investigation for possessing a handgun and working in the insurance industry forging coverage and selling policies without proper licensing.

We never heard back from Joe again.

His legacy spread from coast to coast, and when in need of a laugh, or when someone feels like sticking it to my ribs, to this day they bring up old “Joe.”

Some years back I was made to realize that even the highest-level corporate chieftains can find themselves at a loss when it comes to knowing which questions they should ask a recruiting firm.

There I was, sitting face to face with a well-known chairman of a significant public corporation seated behind his expensive mahogany desk. The CFO was to my right; the HR executive vice president to my left. The conversation was going well until I was thrown a curve ball.

“What kind of information technology background do you have, Frank?” the chairman asked.

Ouch. How could I answer that without sending the dialogue into a downward spiral?

During the next few seconds, the following chess moves were rapidly played out in my mind:

If I replied “I have no experience in IT,” that might send the wrong message and portray my firm as one that lacks experience required to recruit for the job. At that time, I had 15 years’ experience filling such V.P.-level positions. Still, it would not sound right to say I had no experience.

I could not say “I have experience in IT,” because I really did not, at least not to any modern level of a company of this size that made a difference.

I realized I was at an impasse no matter how I replied.

It then hit me: My trouble was due to the flaw within the question itself. Within seconds, I replied back:

“The question you ask is a good one if I were the candidate you were considering to hire. But in all fairness, the question you are asking does not address what my firm’s recruiting track record consists of. You are hiring me to recruit and not to manage your IT department. Therefore, it is my organization’s track record and ability to recruit that you might be more interested in. Would it not be more informative for you to know of our success in filling executive-level positions?”

Since his facial expression did not signal resistance to my closing question, I immediately followed through with references I had prepared in hand.

As I spread the laminated “Thank You” letters in front of him, each of which was a full color copy with recognizable corporate logos imprinted on them, he raised his hand and asked me to stop.

He was satisfied. Our firm received the retainer and we filled the position within 90 days. But it was a close call that I was ill-prepared for.

Over the years since then, I compiled a list of the six most critical questions a hiring manager should ask.

Each week my questions quickly expose those who are amateurs from the real McCoys as I use these same questions when receiving countless “cold calls” from recruiters who don’t know I’m a recruiter here at my own office.

These questions quickly expose those who have failed to invest in their business and those whose business practices are ill-conceived or simply inadequately trained:

1. Are you able to supply references? Anyone with a few years’ experience under their belt would be proud to share references. Some corporate CEOs may not want to be bothered, or there may be confidentiality issues. In such cases, candidate references ought to be available in lieu of client references at the very least. If they can’t supply references, find out why. This could be a red flag.
2. Where is your firm headquartered, and are you licensed? Every week I receive unsolicited “cold calls” from recruiters located from Florida to Nevada. Many firms seem clueless that a license is even required for placing here in New Jersey! To be fair, licensing for professional-level direct hires (where the fees are paid only by hiring companies) is not required in some states. It also doesn’t accomplish much, as in 19 years I’ve only had two surprise audits from state officials. Still, some oversight is better than none. According to Robert Style, legal counsel for the National Association of Personnel Services, the states that require licensing as of December 2006 are as follows:
   

   “District of Columbia, Hawaii, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York (if you place people at $20,000 per year or less), South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming. The following states require registration: Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Wisconsin. Only New Jersey specifically requires licensing (registration) of out-of-state recruiters who make placements to firms located within the state.”

   Any recruiter who possesses pride in the execution of their services will at least know where they fit into the state and federal regulatory puzzle when it comes to such mandates. If they’re not familiar with state regulations, imagine what knowledge they may lack about more important federal guidelines and laws?

3. Do you carry adequate insurance? Is E&O included? Any recruiter placing executive-level IT or finance professionals is playing Russian Roulette when it comes to the fiduciary responsibilities such placed employees carry within the organizational structure. These high-level individuals have exposure, passwords, and user IDs to some of the most sensitive information a company has. Eventually, even the best screening and referral methods will fail. In those instances, you may have comfort knowing the firm you’re dealing with can name you as a co-insured for Errors or Omissions. Some national corporations demand to see insurance certificates each year before retaining for mid-level management positions responsible for multi-hundred-million dollar divisions and branches.
4. Are you a member of any professional trade association? If so, which ones? Many of the best recruiters are genetically predisposed to abhor memberships and associations with just about anyone. These are maverick-type individuals. They are fiercely independent and pride themselves of being untethered to any corporation and surviving as a financially independent entity. While this can strike you as cocky, such are the very traits you want in a recruiter if you anticipate success. Despite this bipolar love/hate relationship with associations, a smart recruiter will affiliate with some association, if not for professional development then at least for candidate pipeline development. Are they a member of the National Association of Personnel Services or other similar organization such as AESC or NAER? While my preference has always been the NAPS organization, any affiliation is better than none, as such membership stipulate codes of conduct one must abide by. The absence of such affiliation does not mean you should not use the firm, only that you should look at this information in context of the other factors I’ve outlined. Some very successful recruiters are consistently able to pull rare rabbits out of the proverbial recruiting hat for their clients, with not one conference, membership, or trade show attended in decades. They might even tell you they can’t afford to waste such time at these events due to their high success level remaining at their desk.
5. How many positions do you fill monthly and at what levels? This is self-explanatory. The reply should be realistic and credible. Four to five positions a month is achievable at staff level functions and disciplines. At management tiers, one or two per month can be considered high performance due to the extra time requirements. Climb up a notch to VP levels and even one complete search per month or quarter can be considered outstanding.
6. How long have you been recruiting? It’s no secret the recruiting profession is an easy-entry profession. Ease of entry, however, does not translate to long-term success, which is an entirely different matter. Many search firm owners consider “the hump” to be somewhere between 24 and 36 months, during which a recruiter advances from apprentice to industry specialist. Determine whether the person you are speaking to will actually recruit, or if another researcher will support him/her behind the scenes. Some companies use their most polished recruiters to “sell” to corporations and then switch the search work to a lesser-skilled apprentice. Find out who will remain accountable during the search.

Google the Recruiter’s Name

One final piece of advice, in addition to the six questions to ask, is to take research tasks into your own hands. For example, anyone who is visible within a certain network should have left some digital footprints in cyberspace that will come up in a Google search.

Simply place the recruiter’s name in Google and see what you find. You might be surprised. If you find nothing whatsoever, you may have some due diligence on the preceding questions to follow up on. Ask, “How come I see nothing about you when I Google your name?”

One thing you will notice by the above list is that previous corporate experience within a specific discipline is not important. I have hired recruiter trainees from the ranks of director to executive vice president from the corporate world.

Despite their “black books,” decades of seasoned tenure, and Rolodex of names, most of these recruiter-trainees failed miserably within the first year despite intense training.

Having a network is useless if you don’t possess the soft skills of massaging and nurturing such network contacts and transforming them into a consistent candidate pipeline.

This career requires a personality make-up that is at the opposite end of the spectrum from that of the classic corporate citizen. If someone excelled in the corporate world, they most likely will have difficulty recruiting, which demands intense entrepreneurial resourcefulness. It calls for a completely different genetic brain composition.

Don’t be impressed with previous experience in a particular corporate function, as this presents little correlation with current recruiting and placement success.

• She is speaking using a higher-pitched and more strained tone of voice than normal.
• She is breathing rapidly with very shallow breaths.

The candidate mentions some seemingly irrational issue as being the deciding factor against starting the job. The excuses might range from among any of the following (or others):

• “I can’t deal with highway traffic. This job will require that I sit in heavy traffic for 45 minutes a day, and that’s too much.”
• “I can’t work in a room with out windows.”
• “I can’t work at this office because its above the 20th floor.”

You quickly realize that no amount of re-convincing at this hour will work, especially the evening before she was supposed to start. You now attempt to guess at what happened and what could have been done to avoid this situation. Your immediate thoughts turn to having to confront and inform management, which will obviously not be happy at the news you must relay. What happened? As recently as the late 1980s, such instances would probably have been referred to as a bad case of “cold feet,” “last-minute jitters,” or something similar. These bouts of heightened anxiety can happen during major life events ó and sometimes unbeknownst to the individual themselves that they have a predisposition to them. Anxiety can occur during a wedding, the birth of a child, moving out of state to a new home, or changing jobs. In most cases the “butterflies” created are just the result of the garden variety nervousness we all have and get over fairly quickly. For some of us, however, anxiety can spiral into an “attack” of the highest variety. As recruiters, we must be prepared for dealing with anxiety that occurs from the latter. Since the 1990s, significant advances have been made by the National Institute for Mental Health in identifying and categorizing various mental health issues. But don’t expect your family doctor to be on top of such things, as mental health disorders (if that’s the right term) are often undiagnosed properly even by well-intentioned medical practitioners. Anxiety disorders are not rare; millions of Americans are afflicted by mental health concerns, such as anxiety or panic, even though they are engaged in very successful productive lives ó this includes even CEOs of major organizations. That’s why so many “self help” programs are advertised on radio stations. I’ve observed countless recruiting training “gurus” in action, and I have been disappointed that I have yet to a single guru mention behavioral issues as they relate to recruiting in their training curriculum. Instead, recruiters are taught to think like “salespeople” or “businesspeople” and offer packaged rebuttals instead of truly learning the complex issues they may be confronted think. If you’re confronted with a candidate undergoing a panic or anxiety attack, no polished script will work. None. Period. I became interested in psychological issues around eight years ago when I first confronted them in my own office. One of my top recruiters was talking to me while standing just outside my office. I noticed his voice was strained, so I looked up and observed the familiar patterns. He was a former executive for a Fortune 300 company. He was accustomed to working under extreme pressure and deadlines; his job had involved hiring hundreds of professionals. This time, I noticed he was very pale, with a strained, high-pitched voice. He was talking while taking rapid shallow breaths. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked. He mentioned that he was experiencing what appeared to be “heart palpitations” (which had nothing to do with his heart) and had been taking Xanax, a tranquilizer, for a few days. He was having a panic attack right in front of me. The cure for him was getting back into a conventional position in corporate H.R. and out of recruiting. Even if I had increased his salary base, the thought of having to start all over again each month with production and commission goals was too much and triggered anxiety attacks. I spoke with him a few weeks ago, before writing this story, and he mentioned that he has never experienced an anxiety episode since being back in corporate HR for the last eight years. For my old friend, the symptoms disappeared as soon as he moved to a position that eliminated the trigger. Whether it’s a particular job, detaching oneself from something one has become comfortable with for most of one’s life, or facing a move to a new state, panic and anxiety attacks affect tens of millions of Americans. More information can be found on www.nimh.nih.gov and www.apa.org/pubinfo/panic.html for those of you who are interested. If you are not currently interested, it’s best you become so ó as this issue will directly impact one of your placements soon, if it hasn’t already. Chances are you’ve already lost placements and were not aware of what the underlying cause was. Remember, in such instances the candidate himself may be very embarrassed to reveal the truth, and you will not know unless you have educated yourself on the subject. Sometimes the candidate or may not know what he/she is even experiencing either. By the way, don’t think this happens only to low-level office support people; there are CEOs of the largest corporations being treated for anxiety. It affects people at all salaries and professional levels right through boardrooms themselves. According to the American Psychological Association’s website, these are a few of the telltale signs you must observe in order to determine if you may be facing an anxious or panicked candidate:

• Racing heartbeat
• Difficulty breathing, feeling as though you “can’t get enough air”
• Terror that is almost paralyzing
• Dizziness, lightheadedness or nausea
• Trembling, sweating, shaking
• Choking, chest pains
• Hot flashes, or sudden chills
• Tingling in fingers or toes (”pins and needles”)

So what do you do if you have a candidate who is running away from the job for apparently no rational reason? If the person is having a real panic or anxiety attack, unfortunately the best thing you can do is provide empathy, agreeing with him or her that this is not the position they should be pursuing. Thousands of dollars of therapy over many years can treat, but rarely completely cure, this disorder. Therefore, no recruiter is about to perform a miracle either. Your best approach is to:

1. Empathize. You will earn respect if you shed light and empathy.
2. Agree to assist in smoothing over the notification to hiring management of the candidate withdrawing (protecting the candidate’s integrity and acting as a “linebacker,” if you will).
3. Determine what the “triggering issue” was, so that perhaps you may still have in front of you a good candidate for another position.
4. Never belittle or ridicule the candidate’s issue; this will only aggravate the problem.

I have had cases where I’ve lost deals due to panic triggered by air travel, tall skyscrapers, and even offices without windows. These were good candidates by the way. In fact, they can be stellar candidates ó provided you stay away from what you have determined to be their anxiety trigger. One last word: Separation anxiety, which is one form of the various anxiety disorders, does not always stem from a mental predisposition. It can be caused by environmental and experiential factors as well. I have had a few cases during the last decade where someone who had been on the job for a period of 10 years or more simply could not bring him or herself to resign when the time came. In one instance, it happened to a six-figure controller. The memories of the office parties, golf outings, and holidays spent with co-workers became overwhelming, and the person could not resign. In his case, the thought of separating from his long-time employer became too much to deal with when push came to shove. For this reason, whenever I find myself dealing with people in the same job for 10 years or more, I spend extra time going over what the resignation process will be like (if an offer is imminent), to make sure it gets “internalized” and that they are motivated and able to go through with it. Another great website where you can obtain a crash course on anxiety disorders during your lunch hour is the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

1. When a client hiring authority asks, “What is your fee?”
2. When a client hiring authority asks, “What is your specialty?”

Answer either one of these questions incorrectly, and a loud buzzing sound goes off, indicating those of us on the staffing side of the equation just lost the game. Pause a second or two longer than the client deems appropriate, or use a tone of voice or inflection that indicates any hint whatsoever of a lack of confidence or conviction, and, simply put: YOU ARE DEAD! You have lost the deal right there. Of course you won’t find out until later, as it won’t be made obvious to you. But you will make or break the deal during these most two critical issues. For the purposes of this article we will examine only issue number one: The “What is your fee?” challenge. It does not matter if you came highly recommended. It will not matter if you spent two years chasing that client ó whether you sent postcards, fancy brochures, or took him or her to a fine restaurant. The entire process will funnel into the narrow bottleneck of the above two issues at some point. And if you’re not ready, you are as dead as the English Beagle that is now probably part of the Martian dust the U.S. rover will soon be examining. I’ve studied the fee issue with great fascination for nearly two decades. Even recruiters interviewing with our firm who work with the competition are often clueless as to the proper way to address this issue. So let’s move on and examine the do’s and don’ts of fees and where the problems occur. And hopefully, corporations will appreciate us that much more and mutual happiness will be the outcome. First, I’d like to point out glaring examples of extraordinary failures when it comes to discussing fees. Example #1 A recruiting firm (true story), which we will refer to as ABC Search of NYC, sends out a cheap mass mailer. I happen to be on their list (mistake number one: always double-check your list and make sure the competition is not among your recipients!) The letter states briefly: “Dear Client, Enclosed is a pocket schedule of the upcoming Giants Football season. I hope you enjoy the games and remember to call whenever you need IT contractors or technical temps.” The letter is signed, and at the bottom is a line that reads: “PERMANENT HIRES ALWAYS ONLY 15%.” What? Fifteen percent? What is this, Wal-Mart? This firm clearly does not “get it”. They are clueless as to the high degree of one-on-one consulting client companies expect. Instead of placing their emphasis on service, they have chosen to highlight fee. This is wrong. It undermines and cheapens my impression of such firms. Even if I needed a secretary, this would be the last one I’d ever contact, judging by their approach. Next problem: What if I hate football? Apparently no one has ever thought of that at ABC Search. What if I love the opera? Or what if I love Broadway plays? Or art? Or museums? Or hikes, or…etc., etc. Their approach is a gender-assumptive approach that focuses not on the prospective client needs but rather on the self-centered interest of the person that sends these out year after year. Everything about this approach is dead wrong (I happen to know the director of the firm that puts out these ridiculous marketing pieces, and he’s been a diehard football fan with season seats for more than a decade). ABC Search is doing itself a gross disservice and anyone employing such tacky techniques is in desperate need of high-end urgent professional training by a professional recruiting trainer. Example #2 An executive recruiter with 23 years of staffing experience is sitting across from my desk during an interview. This was last year. At one point she asks, “What fee do you charge clients?” Odd question for someone presenting herself as a seasoned veteran. If she were good she would be telling me what her terms generally are to secure long-term relationships! I respond by saying nothing, as this question has always caused me to be very concerned about the ability of the recruiter. If the recruiter is truly capable of delivering a service, the emphasis should be on the competency of recruiting and never the fee. My response eventually, after I have probed and challenged the individual’s skills more in-depth was something along the lines of, “Our fees are set at whatever reasonable level is agreed upon by both ourselves and the client, so that the client is in agreement that the service will be more than worth the eventual investment.” The Right Way To Do It Time and time and time again, I hear recruiting trainers and “gurus” stating that fees should “never be compromised.” Hogwash. Easy for them to say when their income is derived almost entirely from speaking and training engagements ó and not from recruiting any longer! Some say “only 30%,” others will stomp their feet at the podium and insist “25%, never a penny below!” If you listen to some of these “expert trainers” your recruiting business may be in deep trouble! The honest truth is that I have carefully studied, spoken with, and visited the offices of some of this country’s most remarkably successful recruiters. The top 10%. I have also had the pleasure and honor to be invited into some of their homes. The truly successful ones are rarely seen in public. Many will never be seen training. Some may accept speaking engagements on limited occasions; many choose not to. Instead, most successful recruiters simply go on working in their modest offices (most of the extraordinarily successful ones have modest and understated offices as they don’t need nor want to show off). So if you want good advice, do not go to an expensive two day seminar. You’ll probably wind up paying more for entertainment than content. Instead, find out through your local staffing association who is really good and call them directly instead! But I digress. Let’s return to the issue of fees. To summarize… Company: “What is your fee?” Recruiter: “Have you worked with recruiters before?” Company: “Yes, with varying degrees of success.” Recruiter: “What was the rate you agreed to with those which were successful, since I anticipate to succeed as well?” Company: “Well let’s see it was, um, er, 25%.” (Here’s where I get to provide more than what they expected.) Recruiter: “How about we start at 22.5% on this first one, and revisit the fee should you return to us later this year, with the understanding you will provide us 45 days to produce the first two candidates exclusively?” (I always get a yes. Of course, this can be done only if there is ample room in the fee range in the first place. If the current fee is a ridiculous 10% this may not be a feasible option.) Company: “Sounds great! What else do you need from us?” The process then continues or returns to specs or to whomever the conversation must continue with. Once again the answer to “what is your fee?” is: whatever makes the client extraordinarily happy. I have more than 35 different contracts filed electronically, each having only slight modifications from the other. But those slight differences are what the customer wanted and made the customer happy. We have agreements written one way for the pharmaceutical industry and science/PHD searches, another way for insurance, accounting or finance niches. In some cases the managers did not want a discount, they demanded more attentive service. Fine. This was incorporated into the agreement. In other case, the client did not want a lower fee, but they did want assurance that we’d stick with them and help find a replacement within 90 days if the individual didn’t work out. Again, if we thought the nature of the position made a replacement possible, so be it ó 90 days it is! Another common oversight is the long-term value of the relationship. Just as some investors focus too much on what a stock will or will not do within the next 90 days, so the rest of us couldn’t care less about the initial fee, as we plan on revisiting the relationship only after another five years or so go by. So while some are focused on this individual fee, they are often overlooking the value this client may bring year in and out for the next eight years or more! I don’t know about your experience, but in mine, being able to provide a competitive fee coupled with the highest credibility has been a combination that, over the long run, has won many clients away from the competition, clients who return to us year in and out. I have always been more loyal to someone who does more than average for our firm and tend to stick with them during a longer term period. Most corporate hiring managers of any product or service would agree. So stop focusing on fee, and start focusing on what your client’s departmental hiring needs demand instead. If your case is made with conviction that your service will produce outstanding results, the fee agreement should fall into place effortlessly!

If you are interviewing during early summer months (which is when most people have vacations already planned), here?s the right way of mentioning pre-paid vacations before you accept: Never mention pre-paid vacations, honeymoons, or other plans during the first or second interviews. Once you have received an offer, your recruiter will suggest that the offer is accepted ?contingent upon the following issue” (the issue being disclosed is the weeks you need off). At this time, a company will rarely rescind an offer just because you need one or two weeks off in upcoming months … especially if its mid summer and these type of plans are a normal part of the interviewing process this time of year. 8. What if Your New Job Does Not Work Out?

Since so much preparatory, pre-screening, time goes into each interview, it is very rare a candidate has a problem with his/her new job. However, once every other year or so, a problem will occur. In the rare event your new position through an executive recruiter does NOT work out…what should you do? Quit? Not show up? No. First call your recruiter and ask to speak with him/her ?off the record? regarding the problem. In more than 60% of the cases where a problem occurs, it can usually be resolved right then and there by the recruiter discreetly intervening in whatever way is most appropriate. If the problem can not be resolved, you owe it to your recruiter to at least work out a mutually acceptable ?resignation process.? This is important since your recruiting firm, depending on their contractual obligations with the client, could stand to refund tens of thousands of dollars, should you resign within a designated ?guarantee period.? These periods generally range from zero to 90 days. Financial damage to your recruiter can be prevented through proper resignation planning. You maintain a valuable industry contact, your professionalism remains intact by resigning with dignity, and the process becomes smoother by opening a conversation with your recruiter. Not only are you working a proper exit out to help your recruiter, but this also works to your favor in reverse since your recruiter will now have every incentive to place you as a priority candidate and may be in the best position to help you again. Even if not directly, a good recruiter will be happy to help even indirectly by giving you more names, contacts of other recruiters. 9. Little Things Are Not Little

Some of the following quick tips provided through the courtesy of ?A funny thing Happened at the Interview? published by Edin Books, N.J. A.) Send thank you letters post marked the same day….make certain they are brief and well written. Some companies have been known to make hiring decisions based on how someone sent the thank you letter postmarked on the same day. B.) Always call your recruiter back the same day your interview takes place as soon as possible afterwards. C.) Dress appropriately…find out corporate culture. D.) Make certain answering machines are working properly during your search so you may retrieve message promptly. Try to clean your message tape as often as possible. E.) Take advantage of the Internet to find out MORE about the company you are interviewing with or industry. With the internet, and most companies having web sites, it is now much easier than ever to obtain information even on small privately held companies than ever before. 10. Referral Reward Program -

Got the offer? Accepted it? Happy with your new job?? The best way to let your recruiter know is to refer other friends, family, or business buddies to the person that helped. Some recruiting firms have a formal referral reward program. Others may not have a formal one in place, but will nevertheless highly appreciate your gratitude being returned in the form of referrals of friends, family, or other business associates.

Most individuals interview for a new job an average of once every four years or so at best. Because of the infrequency the typical person interviews, many don?t know how to determine what a good salary offer is. I’ve taken statistics on each placement from hundreds of interviews conducted annually, and arrived at a formula you can always use. Regardless of your current salary, whether it is $44,000 or $444,000, you know you have a good offer on your hands if that offer is at least ten percent ABOVE your current compensation. However, you may do even better. Any offer falling between 12 – 15% ABOVE what you are currently earning is excellent. Occasionally we may see an individual secure an offer that is 16 to 20% above their current income. In rarer cases yet, an offer may exceed this percentage. KEEP IN MIND this is a rare occurrence. Here is the formula you can use: Offer is 10% above current salary – GOOD

12 – 15% above – VERY GOOD

16 – 20% above – EXCELLENT

Above 20% – BEYOND EXCELLENT Your recruiter will try to determine if you have exhausted any possibility of remaining with your current company in another position. If you think you may be able to negotiate an increase, a promotion, or departmental move, the time to do it is BEFORE YOU HAVE REVEALED securing an offer from another company! The professional way, to handle an offer, is to give it one to three days maximum (most offers are accepted or declined within 24 hours since by the time we have reached this point the candidate has generally had ample time to study the position, research the company, and get comfortable with the people he/she would be reporting to).

If you accept, do so with appreciation and gratitude toward your new employer. If you decline, do so decisively, take no more than two or three days. It is best for future relationship building if you tell your recruiter specifically why so that she/he may help avoid the reason which made you turn the offer down going forward as you are presented to other companies. YOUR recruiter will appreciate being recognized for their hard work, whether you accept or decline. Do so with professionalism and thank him/her. You are most likely to encourage them to work with you again in the future if you leave your bridges unburned. Here is an example of the professional way to decline an offer: ? Thanks Mr. Johnson. I?m flattered they offered me $65,000 and chose me of all the candidates you interviewed for this. Although this may disappoint you, I must respectfully decline as I have chosen to (remain with current company/accept another offer at higher salary, etc.). I hope we can keep our friendly business relationship open in years ahead.? That my friends, is the correct way to decline.

In one case, a promotion took place in the midst of the search, we believe as a result of his current company suspecting he had interviewed with us. We were able to obtain an offer in exceeding the candidate?s NEW higher salary by still another 10% … yet were turned down only after asking for a week to think about it. It?s a sure bet to blemish your credibility and professionalism, and portray yourself as someone other recruiters may not want to ever approach again once word gets out (recruiters do regularly meet at association meetings…word will inevitably get out) that you may be an indecisive candidate to work with. Not to mention, this could annoy some more aggressive recruiters into raiding the department or staff of the manager engaging in such behavior. No professional recruiter would want any candidate to accept any offer you feel is not right. What IS expected is to make such a declining of an offer with empathy, courtesy, gratitude, appreciation and professionalism. Doing so ensures you will have a business contact to speak to in the future. Its a matter of simple respect, the same you would like to be granted toward yourself. Other offers/Multiple offers:

If you accept or are about to accept an offer with another firm, call your recruiter and let him/her know. Not only will this flag us to stop further efforts, but in case we can accelerate something we?ve already invested time in, now?s our last chance to see if we can bring something to the offer stage in case it has been stalled. 5. Counteroffer -

According to a recent article in the National Business Employment Weekly, 82% of individuals which negotiate or accept counter offers with their original employer, are fired within nine months. Accepting a counter offer is UNPROFESSIONAL. You should always explore internal opportunities first with your current employer. If your current employer requires you ?blackmail? them with another offer in order to obtain a promotion or increase, why would you want to remain with such a company in the first place? Accepting a counter offer may also blemish your professionalism in the marketplace. In certain industries and niche disciplines, word will get out, and may without your even knowing it, adversely effect your chances of getting other offers if you decide on interviewing again months later. I?ve personally seen cases where this happened! A professional candidate thinks carefully about the offer, makes inquiries as to possible ?wiggle? room for upgrading the offer or throwing in perks, and then accepts or declines with conviction in two to three days. Once you have made your decision stick to your guns. Tell you employer, ?I?ve thought about this carefully, and I?m sticking to my decision … thank you for your counter offer … I?m flattered…but my decision is final.? In the end, everyone will respect your more for not waffling and being decisive. Stick to your guns.

Always have a type written (better yet PC wordprocessor-printed) resignation letter in an envelope to add formality to your resignation meeting. We?ve seen cases where candidate will sit on an offer for nearly an entire week or more (only where the company hiring manager generously allows this will a recruiter even let an offer go so long), then go from manager to manager of their current employer mentioning the offer without ever formally resigning, as if to ask for advice suggestions, etc. regarding the new opportunity. This could be interpreted as veiled blackmail, or searching for a counter offer – in sum, most unprofessional. The correct way is to make your decision on your own first, then resign in person through a face to face meeting and BACK IT UP with a written resignation letter. Period. There is no other correct way. All the career books such as Adam?s Job Bank, Executive Recruiter Directory will echo the same advice. Unfortunately, the people who need this advice most never read those books. 6. Resignation -

Even six figure financial directors and CEO?s can be horribly sloppy when it comes to a clean resignation. Again, face to face meeting, and back it up with a resignation letter. Resignation letters should be brief but courteous. Example:

Mr Jones, CFO,

F & C Financial Services Corp.

Dear Mr. Jones,

I wish to thank you and F&C for all the wonderful years I have enjoyed as controller of this company. Because of F&C, my career began as an auditor, and advanced several times to Director during the last ten years. However, the time has come to move on. As of today I submit my resignation which will be effective (some future date two or three weeks maximum). I wish to express I will miss working with you all, but have thought about this decision carefully and feel it is time to meet a new challenge and opportunity. I hope we can maintain a friendly, professional relationship in the upcoming years. Sincerely,

Ken Jones

I will conclude with items (7) Upcoming Vacations and other contingencies; (8) What if the new job doesn?t work out; (9) Little things that aren?t little; and (10) Referral reward — in the last part of the series.

1. Honest, two-way communication
2. Your resume is your property
3. How Many Recruiters?
4. Evaluating the offer
5. Counteroffer
6. Resignation
7. Upcoming Vacations and other contingencies
8. What if the new job doesn?t work out?
9. Little things that aren?t little
10. Referral Reward

1. Honest, open two-way communication. The number one most frequent cause of problems with the interviewing process being conducted through the services of a professional recruiter almost always stems from miscommunication. Usually, a candidate withholding information about other jobs, or companies you may be interviewing with or other recruiters you may be using at the same time will be the source of great frustration later.

   Dealing with a recruiter is like dealing with an attorney you choose to represent you. You either trust that attorney one hundred percent and divulge everything so that he/she may help you best, or if you have any doubts, find another attorney. We will do our best to disclose to you our plans and intentions of which companies we will approach on your behalf. In the meanwhile, if you know you are pursuing another job at the same time TELL US SO THAT WE WILL NOT DUPLICATE OTHER EFFORTS. Not only that, but revealing such information to our client may help expedite or even increase your offer! Nothing can be more frustrating than having a recruiter working for three weeks on a particular company/project thinking you will be pleasantly surprised with our efforts once we get permission to set you up for an interview, and then be told you already met with or had your resume there. It is equally important for you to disclose to your recruiter any and all other efforts you are focusing on or pursuing so as to ensure we approach fresh company prospects for you.

2. Your resume is your property. Any good recruiter will do their utmost to treat it with the most discretion and confidentiality possible. However when you turn it over to a personnel firm you are allowing us permission to manage your search in a way we as experts in your field see fit.

   Recruiters must be allowed some flexibility when it comes to our usage of your resume. In most cases, your recruiter will tell you beforehand of any company he/she is planning to send your resume. However, company hiring managers can change their mind overnight and over a weekend. In some cases, a good search firm will be able to influence the creation of a job, or even accelerate the beginning of a search which, without our prodding, would have begun months later.

   It is this ability to accelerate the process through assertive, careful, expert marketing techniques that makes it important to have leeway. The job market and search process is a dynamic, rapidly changing one. In certain rare cases, it may not be possible to notify you in advance as to where your resume is going.

   Depending on how quickly you can be reached or how easily you make your self available, we sometimes may have to send your resume first, then notify you. In those cases, where we feel we must act quickly on our candidate?s behalf in order to secure you an interview in the midst of competition, and where you may not be reached in time, we will make certain your resume has not already been submitted by any other recruiter to avoid duplication of recruiting efforts prior to submitting it on your behalf. If the latter becomes necessary, we will always contact you within 48 hours to notify you we have submitted your resume to company on your behalf.

3. How Many Recruiters? This is the second most common cause for conflicts and interviewing problems: too many recruiters.

   Think about this for a moment: Your recruiter and you have been working for a few weeks. You have developed a trusting relationship and have obtained a few interviews as a result of the recruiter?s efforts. How would you feel, after two, three interviews over a four week span of time, if you received no offers? How would you react if when you asked the recruiter why, the recruiter replied to you ?I sent five other candidates out on those same interviews Jim. You were just one of five. Sorry but one of the other candidates got hired in both of the last interviews!?

   You would be upset, if not angry. You?d want to know why you weren?t told several others were being represented by the same recruiter wouldn?t you? All the time wasted, risk of job loss, taking time off, etc.–just to have a one in five chance of ever being hired. YET, candidates do just this to recruiters regularly when after weeks of hard, laborious, sensitive work we are told ?Sorry, you were just one of five recruiters. I had three other interviews from four other recruiters and this was just one offer of three during the last two weeks. Now put yourself in the recruiter?s shoes? How would you feel having kept the offices open, paid rent, a recruiting assistant forty some odd thousand dollars a year plus a recruiter representing you for maybe one, two or often three months to be told the same? Not only would you not be pleased, but the financial loss would run into the tens of thousands of dollars of wasted search time. We work hard and diligently for the candidates we represent. We do our best to make certain our candidates have an advantage over all others.

   What to expect of us – Most good recruiters will represent one, and only one candidate per job at a time. This avoids the creation of internal competition. This helps you and us. More candidates submitted at the same time means longer a company will take to see them and to make a hiring decision, which means the longer the decision will be for ALL involved and for us to collect any remaining portion of our fee which is usually predicated on successfully completing the hire. Only after giving you 100% attention and service, and doing our best to see the process develop through to the offer stage, will we then introduce another candidate. We ask for the same professional courtesy by candidates we represent. Give us a few weeks. See how things are developing. The typical search process can take four weeks to three months. If after giving us a few weeks of your time you are then not finding things moving as quickly as you like, LET YOUR RECRUITER KNOW you will be registering of applying with other recruiters. As a general rule, if your are employed, you should not use more than one recruiter at one time. Once unemployed, you may cautiously step up your efforts.

   What we expect of you – As a rule, you should be working with no more than one recruiter at one time. Any more than that is a recipe for trouble especially in niche industries such as electronic engineering sales, etc. In many of these niche disciplines, it is a common scenario to have no more than one or two dozen opportunities open within a wide geographic area. A search process that one competent recruiter could handle in just one afternoon of calls (at least begin the process in one afternoon, the follow-up and scheduling would then take weeks).

   There would be no reason to use five search firms if the industry barely presents more than two opportunities. SPEAK WITH YOUR RECRUITER FIRST! If you feel you want to use more than one, ask for an honest evaluation. A good recruiter will tell you if you should use others. At times, when we feel we can do little to help, we may even encourage it … but you both need to know where you stand BEFORE work is begun.

   Always send ?Thank You? cards to the company managers you meet with. If you are rusty or need help (this is suggested even for seasoned executives) send a copy of the thank you letter past your recruiter. He/she will be glad to proof it for any key words or issues they know will get the manager?s attention. We always encourage you fax or email a thank you letter by us so we can give it a ?once over? before your mailing it to the company.

I will explain items:

1. “How to Evaluate Offers,”
2. “Dealing with Counteroffers,” and
3. “Dealing with the Resignation”

in Part Two of this three part series. Make sure you save this part to add to the next two parts to complete your entire three part candidate/recruiter guide.