What Do People Think Recruiters Do

What Do People Think Recruiters Do Recruitment: Unless you work in the industry yourself, its a bit of a mystery to the outside world. Most people will have had contact with a recruiter for one reason or another and have probably formed some kind of idea about what the job entails; but  just how accurate are their perceptions of the job? From the candidates point of view, to a confused parent  trying to figure out their childs career choice, here are a few amusing ideas about what it means to be a recruiter. What you think you do: Youre pretty much Cupid of the jobs world. You make perfect matches between candidates and clients, using a very refined set of skills and oodles of  charm to win over both sides. You work long hours and attend lots of meetings to ensure that all needs and requirements are being met and the hiring process runs as smoothly as possible. What your parents think you do: Theyre convinced that you just talk for a living, as all your job seems to involve is you being glued to your phone or checking emails 24/7. Anything to do with social media, Skype or mobile apps is territory that isnt even worth entering when discussing work, as it will just lead to a lot of confusion. What your friends think you do: Attending meetings with clients and candidates on a regular basis is just an excuse to get out of the office for a pint or two. The same goes for all of the phone calls; chatting to a candidate about last nights football result or who left the X Factor this week does not equate to a hard days work in their eyes. Its called building a rapport and theyre just jealous! What acquaintances think you do: You mention in conversation that you work in recruitment and suddenly youre the answer to all of their job seeking problems! Despite the fact that you recruit into an industry a far cry from the kind of role they are looking for, they expect you to be in the position to find them their dream job and make shining recommendations to all of your contacts who are currently hiring. What your clients think you do: They think you can wave your magic wand and have the perfect candidate for them that fits a criteria list the length of their arm. They dont know much about the process that you go through to get these candidates in front of them, they just want it done quickly and they want them to fit the bill. They probably think you pull them out of a hat or something. What candidates think you do: You may as well have just come out of a lamp, because they think that youre there to grant their job search wishes. If they dont get the role, its 100% down to something that you did wrong; on the other hand, if they landed the job you are their number 1 hero! What you actually do: Finding the perfect candidate is like finding a needle in a haystack. It will taking a lot of searching through databases, social media and your own personal connections before you find and screen someone who you feel is well enough suited to put in front of your client. At this point you still dont know if its a done deal though, as there is still the possibility that the client doesnt like them, or the candidate changes their mindand the cycle begins again.

When Should You Begin to Write Your Book - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

When Should You Begin to Write Your Book - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career One of my most frequently questions about writing a brand-building book is: Whats the best time for me to begin to write my book? The major options include: Im going to start now, and get it written as soon as possible. Im going to wait until I have signed a publishing contract. Im going to wait until I finalize the table of contents. Im going to start writing my book a little at a time, and get my ideas out there as soon as possible. Lets examine pros and cons of each alternative. Im going to start now and finish it as soon as possible On the surface, this makes a lot of sense. You would think that this approach would enhance your chances of getting published. However, books frequently change during the writing and publishing process. This is especially true if when your book will be published by a trade publisher. Everyone involved in the editing and publishing process are going to weigh-in on your title, your table of contents, and the basic premise of your book. In addition, the publishers sales representatives are likely going to share your books title and table of contents with book buyers from the major online and offline bookstores. Theyll also offer their own opinions and recommendations. In the committee environment of trade publishing, writing too much, too soon, can be a definite disadvantage! So, if youre aiming for a trade publisher and distribution through traditional retail sales channels, youre best off writing the very best book proposal you can, and two sample chapters. Im going to wait until after I have a publishing contract Until recently, this was the safe approach. You write enough, in your sample chapters, to prove your competence and the validity of your ideas, but dont proceed further until you have a signed publishing contract. I have a couple of concerns with this approach, however. The rise of self-publishing Waiting for a publishing contract made sense when trade publishing ruled the waves, and there wasnt a practical alternative to mortgaging your house, printing a garage-full of books, and hoping for the best. Today, the various forms of self-publishing offer a realistic alternative, unlessof courseyou have a compelling reason, i.e., the need for a credible, brand name publisher. Another reason for trade publishing would be if your topic has so much popular appeal that bricks-and-mortar bookstore availability is a necessity. Hurry up and wait! Outside of the lack of control associated with trade publishing, one of the biggest perennial problems concerns the delays obtaining a publishing contractquickly followed by a need to complete the writing under deadline conditions. It typically takes months to obtain a publishing contract, theres likely to be a lot of negotiation between your agent (hopefully) and your publisher. The contract delays inevitably reduce the amount of time youll have available to write your book and get it to the publisher on time for the next sales season. Two months may have gone by between the deadlines specified in the first version of the contract, but the deadlines probably havent been extended! So, after waiting for a contract, its up to the author to drop everything and finish the book before the original deadlineor the book will be delayed for 6 months or a year. Once again, self-publishing offers a realistic alternative to putting the fate of your book in someone elses handsand then, finding out you have to complete your book under deadline conditions. Im going to wait until I have detailed table of contents This is an interesting point, because Ive always been an advocate of creating a detailed chapter planwith definite content ideas   for each chapterbefore writing. However, at its best, the act of writing is an act of discovery. As you write, what you write is likely to spark new thinking and fresh ideas. Its like asking questions; each time you return to your core questions, like Who do you want to read your book? and How are you going to benefit from writing a book, youre likely to come up with better answers. Every author has to identify the right balance between paint by number book content plans and aimless wandering. If youre interested in exploring further, I recommend these wonderful, and complementary, resources: Clark, Roy Peter. Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer Murray, Don. Write to Learn Newkirk, Thomas, and Clark, Lisa: The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from Americas Greatest Writing Teacher Zinsser, William. Writing to Learn Im going to start writing my book a little at a time, and get my ideas out there as soon as possible Today, more and more business professionals interested in writing a book to build their personal brand are discovering the advantages of getting started as quickly as possible, writing your book, a little at a time, as a series of articles, blog posts, newsletters, podcasts, or YouTube videos. Sharing your ideas with prospective readers as you complete each chapter offers 3 significant advantages: Commitment results in progress. By sharing your ideas at predictable intervals, like weekly blog posts, creates a structure that keeps you engaged and on schedule. Builds anticipation. Sharing your ideas with your followers, or tribe, doesnt detract from future book salesit builds future sales. Feedback. Sharing your ideas and encouraging feedback helps you write a better book; , youll receive reader comments and suggestions before your book is published, while theres still time to act on them. This approach to personal brand-building and writing was pioneered by individuals like David Meerman Scott, who created an evergreen best-seller with his blog-distributed The New Rules of Marketing PR which remains a must read for brand-building. By combining the structure of weekly or daily blog posts with the publishing options made possible by self-publishing opens up a world of opportunities to those willing to explore and commit to taking action. Avoid locking yourself into yesterdays solutions. The Internet and self-publishing have changed the playing field. Its important that you take recent technological advances into account when deciding when to begin to write your book. What about you? Where are you in your journey to a published book? Which of the 4 alternatives listed above best describes your approach to deciding when you should begin to write your book? Are there any other alternatives that I should have included, above? Share your experiences and suggestions as comments, below. Author: Roger C. Parker’s Published Profitable blog contains over 1,100 ideas and tips for planning, writing, promoting, profiting from writing and self-publishing a brand-building book.

Try the Opposite

Try the Opposite Tim Ferris, author of the 4-Hour Work Week, started out after college in a job he hated. He sat in a cubicle “Smiling and dialing,” making cold sales calls to busy executives. It was hard work, with practically a zero success rate. Then he had an epiphany: One day, I realized something: All of the sales guys made their sales calls between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Obvious, right? But that’s part one. Part two: I realized that all of the gatekeepers who kept me from the decision makersâ€"CEOs and CTOsâ€"also worked from 9 to 5. What if I did the opposite of all the other sales guys, just for 48 hours? I decided to take a Thursday and Friday and make sales calls only from 7 to 8:30 a.m. and 6 to 7:30 p.m. For the rest of the day, I focused on cold emails. It worked like gangbusters. The big boss often picked up the phone directly. He tweaked some other techniques in the same way, and it paid off. “My last quarter in that job, I outsold the entire L.A. office of our biggest competitor.” If you’re in a job search, you may have the idea that you should be looking for jobs. What if, instead, you flipped the script and forgot about jobs? What if you spent your energy finding a company you wanted to work for, regardless if they have any openings that fit you â€" or even, any openings at all? That’s the theory Brad Raney proposes. He’s a motivational speaker, author, sales trainer, and life coach. He spent over 25 years in sales and sales management in the broadcast industry before becoming a speaker and author. His theory on job search strategy is that culture is the most important factor in your career satisfaction. “Find a great company that you want to be a part of, then figure out where you’ll fit in.” Raney coaches candidates to get to know people inside the company to learn what it’s really like to work there. Make a connection and ask for a few minutes of their time to learn   more about what they do and how they like the company. If they ask about your interest, you can say that you’re not sure yet, but the company may be someplace you want to work. You’re looking for a fit, and people are the best source of information. Eventually, as your form relationships, you’ll get closer to someone in the company who can help you out with connections that might have opportunities for you. You’ll get information you’ll never get from a job posting. “Karen in the hiring manager, and she’s incredibly hard working.   She’s at her desk every morning at 6:30, thinking about how to improve her team. That’s a great time to reach her for a conversation.” (Tim Ferris nods wisely.) Brad Raney says that most jobseekers focus too much on their prior experience and skills. They also let the company drive the interview.   “After the first screening all and serious interview,” he says, “You should be asking the questions.” Come in with a list of 10 â€" 20 thoughtful and detailed questions that will give you the information you need to make a decision about the company. “I see that you’re planning an expansion into Canada over the next two years. How does that impact your logistics operations?” “What’s the biggest problem facing your staff this year? How do you see me helping with it?” These kind of questions help the interviewer see you in the role, Raney says. “I’ve had people say ‘it feels like you work here already.’ If the company is that good a fit for you, you will seem like you belong there.” The idea of doing the opposite works to help you get unstuck in your job search. Instead of pursuing only jobs that meet your requirements, you are free to interview for any job that lands you in the right company. If an interviewer says you may be overqualified for the position, you can flip your response. “Thanks â€" I hope I am. I’d still like a chance to work for you â€" this seems like a place that values real talent. If not this job, I hope you’ll keep me top of mind for anything else that comes up.” What else could you flip the script on?   Leave a comment and let me know.