This conversation breaks down the practical habits and mindset shifts that separate high-performing recruiters from the rest. From prioritizing high-impact tasks to building repeatable workflows, the episode offers actionable insights for anyone looking to improve consistency, productivity, and results in recruiting or sales-driven roles.

Whether you’re new to recruiting or looking to elevate your desk performance, this episode is a reminder that discipline — not motivation — is what drives long-term success.

Sharon shares her remarkable journey—from a terrifying belly-landing that pushed her out of corporate travel, to discovering recruiting through the Yellow Pages, to building one of the most respected firms in the Midwest.

She talks candidly about:

• Her evolution from a 360 recruiter to strategic advisor

• The power of EOS and how it doubled her firm’s production

• The challenge of finding team members with true “it” factor

• Why intuition, courage, loyalty, and resilience matter more than ever

• How long-term relationships led to multimillion-dollar client growth

• What AI can’t replace in recruiting

• The real test of a recruiter: how they react when things fall apart

This honest, funny, and insightful conversation highlights 30 years of wisdom on leadership, hiring, perseverance, and building a business that lasts.

A must-listen for recruiters, business owners, and anyone navigating the future of talent.

Together, they dive into the evolution of the recruiting profession over four decades, the shift from practitioner models to scalable business models, the rise of AI, and why mastering the fundamentals still matters more than ever. Todd Govig shares powerful insights on leadership, accountability, reinventing your firm, and what it truly takes to thrive in today’s search industry.

From personal stories of family legacy to bold predictions for the next decade, this conversation is packed with wisdom every recruiter, firm owner, and business leader should hear.

In this episode of the Veterans Series, discover how a former FBI professional transitioned from national security to executive search — bringing the same commitment to integrity, investigation, and impact into the world of recruiting. A story of transformation, service, and success beyond the badge.

Key Takeaways:

✅ How Jonathan has consistently placed hundreds of candidates and built a million-dollar revenue stream.
✅ The mindset, strategies, and work ethic that set-top recruiters apart.
✅ Lessons from a 26-year career in recruitment and leadership.

🎧 Watch Now:

Whether you're an aspiring recruiter, a business leader, or someone looking to elevate your career, this episode is packed with valuable insights!

#Recruitment #CareerGrowth #Success #Leadership #Podcast

The Roman Empire lasted nearly 1,500 years.  During that time the Empire dominated and ruled the entire known world for over 1,000 years.  How did they do that?  It seems impossible to comprehend how the Romans were able to influence, control and govern that long.  They did it with the best army ever assembled right up to the time their Legions were invaded and outmaneuvered by Germanic tribes on roads the Romans had built. 

The 4 basic principles followed by the Roman Legions are the same basic principles recruiters must follow and adhere to if the recruiters want to be as successful as the Legions.  Those 4 principles are planning, discipline, execution and great numbers.

The Roman Generals were great strategists.  They planned everything to the greatest detail.  They trained their soldiers to have the discipline to hold the line firmly when confronted by their foes.  They executed their plans with great efficiency, and they overwhelmed their foes with superior numbers.  Do you see the similarities to what we need to do to be successful recruiters.

Recruiters don’t typically like to plan because it’s boring.  But you can’t know where you’re going if you don’t have a plan and a recruiter certainly can’t measure their daily success without adhering to plan.  Planning requires more than just putting a list together from your CRM or Linked In.  It requires thought to make sure the recruiter’s efforts have a chance to be fruitful.  A recruiter’s plan allow the recruiter to control their day.  No plan, no control.  The planning strategy should minimize distractions.  If the recruiter doesn’t have a strategy they cannot execute their plan properly.  To start a recruiter’s day without a strategy is starting their day with a hope of success and hope is a losing strategy.  As Ovid said, “He who is not prepared today will be less so tomorrow”…..

Distractions are the recruiter’s worst enemy in their day.  It takes discipline to plan every day.  It takes discipline to execute the recruiter’s plan and STAY TO THEIR PLAN.  Recruiters are so easily distracted.  We have internet and email and administrative tasks to accomplish on top of marketing and recruiting calls and all the other calls we made.  But does the recruiter have the same discipline as the Roman Legions to hold firm to their plan and not allow themselves to be distracted?  When the recruiter hears objections and NO all day long does the recruiter have the discipline to keep fighting through the objections?  Does the recruiter have the discipline to hold firm on their pricing integrity.  And the biggest distraction of all….can the recruiter have the discipline to resist checking their email every 5 minutes because it keeps calling their name?  A plan without the discipline to act on it is a plan doomed to failure before your first call.  As Seneca said “Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence”….

Execution is the next basic principle of success.  If you have a plan, can you execute it?  When the recruiter is engaged in a meaningful conversation, is the recruiter able to extract every bit of information they can during the call?  Can the recruiter identify movement in the marketplace?  Can the recruiter identify other potential candidates and openings in their industry?  Does the recruiter recognize that execution of a call with an HR professional or a “C” level executive requires a different kind of execution as each of those professionals have different views of success for their organization.  Understanding how to execute with both is equally important.

The Romans understood that many victories were won and missions accomplished by going into conflict with greater numbers than their foes.  It’s the same thing with recruiting.  Recruiters need to live and die by their numbers.  The more calls the recruiter makes, the more conversations they have and the more outreaches they have will increase their chances of success dramatically.  The longer the conversations are, the greater opportunity for the recruiter to gather valuable information that allows the recruiter to be more attune to their market and enhance their opportunity for success.  But it’s more than just numbers.  It’s understanding how the numbers work and what the ratios are.  The numbers tell the tale.  If a recruiter doesn’t “hit” their numbers, it should allow the recruiter to determine what went wrong in their day.  Were enough calls planned, is the recruiter making enough calls, are distractions getting in the way, was the recruiter disciplined enough to avoid distractions and stay on task/plan?  The key is for the recruiter to develop habits that become a routine.  Once those habits are established the recruiter has a chance to be as successful as the Roman Legions.  As Cicero said “Constant practice devoted to one subject often outdoes both intelligence and skill…”

As you can see, basic principles of the Roman Empire dominance are the same principles recruiters need to be successful.  PLANNING, DISCPLINE, EXECUTION AND NUMBERS!  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

There are a number of closes that recruiters use that try to assist candidate’s and employer’s making their decisions about joining one another.  The most used closes utilized are the Ben Franklin close, Summary close, Sharp Angle close and Takeaway close.  There are numerous other sales closes but the ones I’ve found most beneficial to saving recruiter’s time are the Sharp Angle and Takeaway closes.  The Ben Franklin close is simply the decision maker makes a list of positives and negatives about the decision and the Summary close is simply the recruiter reviewing the employer’s position benefits to the candidate.

When I was running a desk and made a conscious decision to get to another level, the 2 closes I found the most helpful were Sharp Angle and Takeaway closes.  The reason they worked so well is it allowed me to make an early determination about whether or not I was wasting my time on employer’s and/or candidate’s that really didn’t want to make an expeditious decision about accepting an employer’s position or the employer offering my candidate the position.

The Sharp Angle close is essentially exchanging commitments with the employer or candidate.  If I do “this” for you, will you do” this” for me.  Consider you’re speaking with a candidate that appears to be interested in the position you’re recruiting on.  You ask the candidate to do something such as forward their resume in a timely fashion or return your calls or emails in a reasonable period of time.  The candidate agrees to do those things and in return the recruiter will keep the candidate appraised as to the process of their engagement with the employer, answer any and all questions the candidate may have and of course, return the candidate’s calls and emails quickly.  You explain to the candidate that if they don’t do what they’ve agreed to, you will assume they are no longer interested in continuing with you and/or the process and you’ll consider the matter closed.  The same criteria apply to an employer.  While taking the job order the employer and recruiter agree to the hiring process and calls and emails will be returned on timely basis and if they aren’t, you will again, assume the employer is no longer interested in continuing with the process with the candidate and/or you and you’ll consider the matter closed.  This goes to cooperation.  However, how many times does a recruiter take a job order, agree to a process with an employer, put a plan together, makes calls and identifies qualified, motivated and interested candidates, presents them to the employer only to receive no response?  It happens all the time.   The Sharp Angle close gives the candidate and employer an opportunity to demonstrate their agreed to cooperation.  If either don’t do what they’ve agreed to, the recruiter can simply stop the recruiting process at the beginning and save an enormous amount of wasted time, not to mention frustration.

The Takeaway close is an integral part of a recruiter’s closing repertoire.   At any time during the process whether it be from a candidate or employer, the recruiter gets the impression that either are not certain about moving forward in the process, at any stage of the process, the recruiter needs to declare this situation is not going to end in a positive conclusion and the process should be stopped.  If a recruiter can “kill a deal” early, it never had any chance of coming together anyway.  But recruiters work so hard to put a deal together that they are reluctant to challenge a candidate or employer and pull a deal apart. They ultimately go into sales mode and spend a lot of time trying to push the placement decision to a positive conclusion.  This is absolutely the wrong way to work as a recruiter.  The natural reaction of people having something taken away from them is for the people wanting to take it back.  If you can take something away from someone and they don’t fight to take it back, the recruiter has just saved an enormous amount of time and angst in continuing to work on a placement process that was never going to be successful.

Recruiters tend to overestimate their value in the hiring process.  We prep candidates and employers for interviews and debrief and arrange additional interactions and try to be involved in the offer stage, but in reality, the hiring decision isn’t ours.  It’s the candidate’s and employer’s decision to reach an agreement.  The recruiter should spend a lion share of their time making their introductions and helping along the process, but if the cooperation isn’t there from either side and there seems to be some hesitation on either side, it’s time to test the seriousness of either party’s interest in moving forward in the process and take the opportunity away from the candidate or the candidate away from the employer.  It’s hard to do this when the recruiter has invested time in this scenario but better to stop the process early on and save the recruiter’s time than to invest time and energy into a process that’s never going to end positively.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

Back door hires are situations where a recruiter submits a candidate to an employer for consideration and for whatever reason, the employer hires the candidate without notifying the recruiter of the situation.  This can happen in instances where the candidate is rejected upon submission or after a period of time where the candidate was actually interviewed by the employer but the employer took no further immediate action.  In either case, depending on the contractual arrangement or verbal agreement confirmed through email, the referring recruiter may be owed a fee by the hiring employer.

The contractual arrangement in this circumstance is key to solving this situation.  Even if no fee agreement has been executed, the employer may still owe a fee if there is email documentation of the presentation and confirmation the referral was received and there is an understanding between the recruiter and employer about a fee being paid in the event the referred candidate is hired.

There are instances where an employer decides not to pursue a referred candidate and at a later date, changes their mind and decides they want to hire the candidate.  The employer contacts the candidate directly, not notifying the recruiter of the outreach and ultimately agrees to terms with the candidate and hires that person.  It may be simply an oversight or forgetfulness where the candidate came from, but it doesn’t change the fact a fee is owed to the referring recruiter if the hire takes place within the recruiter’s agreed upon ownership period.  The ownership period is typically outlined in the fee agreement and is usually 1 year from the date of last contact by the employer with the candidate, however, there are some agreements that reflect a 6 month ownership period.

There are other instances where a referred candidate is not acted upon by an employer and several months after the initial submission, another recruiter submits the same candidate.  Unbeknownst  to the hiring official and not detected by the HR department, the same candidate has been submitted twice to the same employer.  This is an unfortunate situation for both recruiters AND the potential hiring employer.  There are times where the candidate doesn’t share with the second recruiter they’ve already been submitted to an employer or the second recruiter doesn’t ferret out where the candidate has already been submitted or the unfortunate situation where a rogue recruiter starts emailing resumes without an candidate’s previous knowledge hoping to “snag” a placement.  In any of these situations, everyone suffers when someone in the submission process doesn’t detect the situation early on. 

In the event of a referred candidate being hired, the initial referring recruiter is owed a fee not the second.  There are times where the employer has made the error and wants to hire the candidate and throws it back into the lap of the recruiters requesting the recruiters “work it out”.  Or worse yet, the employer decides not to hire the referred candidate because of the recruiter conflict.

It always seems the employer blames the recruiter for this situation.  The initial referring recruiter has done nothing wrong and assuming the referring documentation is in place and or a fee agreement outlining terms is still in effect, there is no reason for the initial referring recruiter to acquiesce to an employer’s wishes or demands.  The person that suffers in this scenario is the candidate who may not get the position they were submitted for.   This puts the initial referring recruiter in a precarious situation because the good recruiter wants to do the right thing by the candidate and the recruiter’s situation is held hostage by an employer for the hire to be made.

In the 39 years I’ve been in Executive Search, I’ve seen these situations take place and it’s always the same thing.  The recruiter is held hostage.  The recruiter wants to do the right thing for the candidate and employer but also wants and deserves be treated and paid fairly.  These are always tough situations to handle and the recruiter can decide to hold firm on their contact or documentation or decide to retreat and agree to the employer’s demands.  I’m not suggesting what the recruiter should do, I’m merely stating each recruiter has to make a decision for themselves which is the best way forward.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

The recruiter spends countless hours taking an assignment, building a plan to recruit on, reaching out, making calls, interviewing candidates, arranging interviews, debriefing after interviews, dealing with the needs of the client and hopes, dreams and desires of the candidate.  On top of all that, the recruiter gets involved with the negotiations of the finer points of the offer and all the other intangibles that go beyond just compensation.    The list of elements to be considered are listed below.

Compensation

Compensation includes more than just base salary, when do raises happen and what can be anticipated as to the percentage of raise and how is it determined?  Also in consideration are incentive compensation (commissions) and potential bonuses. It’s important for the recruiter to vet these out during taking the job order but generally that doesn’t happen.  The recruiter needs to understand when the base salary is paid, how the commissions are calculated and when those are paid, if there are other bonuses paid out and are those subjective or objective considerations and if they are paid, when are they paid.  There are also instances where signing bonuses are offered to make up differences in base compensation and if that element is available, when would that bonus be paid.

Compensation can also include 401K considerations.  Does the employer match any percentage of employee contributions?  Are there any ESOP or stock options available?  Is there profit sharing to consider?  All these elements need to be determined in detail and when they are paid and/or vested.

Employee Benefits

Benefits are usually in the form of insurance.  Does the employer offer health, dental, long term or short-term disability, long-term care or life coverage and if so, is it available to just the employee or can the family be included as well?  Does the employer contribute to the premium cost of any of the premiums? What are the deductibles, co-pays and waiting periods?  The recruiter should learn what the actual cost will be for the new employee as this will allow the potential employee to compare what they currently have for coverage versus what the new prospective employer is offering or has available.

PTO

Every company has their own policies about paid time off.  These include vacation time, paid holidays, sick time and maternity leave.  Some companies offer a certain number of hours by pay period when others simply allot so many days or weeks for paid time off.   The recruiter needs to understand there are circumstances where the employee is NOT compensated for time off as well. Lastly, it may be important to understand if the company has a leave of absence policy where an employee needs to take care of a personal matter in their life such as taking care of elderly parents or any other sort of possible family or personal situation or tragedy.

Hours and Location of Employment

The recruiter should know what the hours of employment are.  There are circumstances where the position being recruited in isn’t a Monday to Friday, 40 hour a week position.  What days of the week will the employee be required to work and what are the actual hours?  Will the employee be allowed to work remotely all or some of the time of their employment?  Will the employee work in one location or multiple locations?

Business Expenses

There are career opportunities where business expenses are incurred for travel, conferences, meals and business entertainment.  How are those handled?  Does the position require the employee to have an expense account?  Does the employee receive a corporate credit card or is the employee using their own credit card and then files a report for reimbursement?  Does the employee need to fill out an expense report or need to have approval to incur business expenses prior to the need.  Is there a limit to an employee’s expense account?  What is covered and what is not?  Is the employee’s new position requiring a car?  If so, how are the vehicle expenses handled?  How are the necessary club or association costs paid for?

Ongoing Professional Development

Does the employer encourage and pay for professional development which may include meetings, in person or online training classes, licenses, certifications or seminars?  Does the employer offer any in-house training or types of professional development and if so, how is that handled and when?

Each employer the recruiter works with will have some similarities in all these categories however, it’s important for the recruiter to dig in “under the hood” so to speak to be able to answer any questions a recruited candidate may ask during the process.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

There are several ways for a recruiter to gain notoriety as an accomplished professional search consultant.  One is by word of mouth.  Top people hang out with top people.  They talk to each other and they all know the value of a good recruiter that are the eyes and ears of the candidate in the marketplace.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a hiring authority or candidate, word of mouth is terrific.

There are missed opportunities everywhere for a recruiter to demonstrate their professionalism and accomplishments.  These missed opportunities aren’t the recruiter espousing their greatness but others doing it for them.

If a recruiter solves a problem or issue for an employer or candidate, why doesn’t the recruiter ask that person to write a recommendation on their Linked In profile page?  Linked In reports that the United States has more Linked In profiles and users than any other country on the planet.  They report 70% of all U.S. professionals have a LI profile.  Since almost all recruiters utilize LI in one way or another, why wouldn’t recruiters capitalize on the good feelings that are generated by the recruiter?  An employer’s problem is solved, ask the hiring official or officials to write a recommendation and post it on the recruiter’s page.  Most placed candidates are really excited about the new opportunity presented by the recruiter as well as the compensation negotiations the recruiter provided the candidate.  That’s the time to ask the placed professional to leave a recommendation the recruiter’s profile.

There are many occasions the thankful parties want to do something for the recruiter to show their appreciation for the solutions recruiters provide.  Time to ask for a recommendation.  There are even instances where an employer’s opening isn’t filled or candidate is not placed by but the recruiter and yet is still recognized for the efforts extended in the failed effort.  Those involved many times feel grateful for the recruiter’s efforts.  Another good time to ask for a recommendation.

When we do reference checks, isn’t that a good time to include the reference’s statements about a candidate in their marketing presentation.  A LI recommendation is a validation to everyone and anyone about the value, professionalism and assistance the recruiter provided.  It doesn’t matter what the recruiter can share with an employer or candidate.  There’s no real validation in that.  But someone else impacted by the recruiter writing and posting things the recruiter has accomplished speaks with a much louder megaphone than any recruiter can share about themselves.    Don’t miss the opportunity to have someone else shout your praises.  It’s free advertising and will make a serious impact on any employer or candidate wanting to know who the recruiter really is and what they’ve done.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

The contingency fee agreement is the most used agreement issued by either the recruiter’s firm or the client.  It’s pretty simple….the employer hires a candidate referred by the recruiting firm and the employer pays a fee.  There are several significant nuances to the contingency agreement we should be aware of to the protect the work product of the recruiter that go beyond the typical fee percentage and guarantee period.

In newsletters 35-37 I discussed the various types of fee agreements and the general points needing agreement prior to the recruiter engaging in action on behalf of an employer.  There are some nuances in the contingency agreement that should be addressed to protect the recruiter.

The first is ownership of a candidate referral to an employer.  Most employers don’t really understand that when a recruiter refers a candidate to them, that the recruiter has ownership of that candidate for a period of time.   That time usually runs either 6 or 12 months from the date of referral.  However, the recruiter should hold fast that ownership of a referred candidate should be extended to 12 months from the last date of contact.  If a candidate goes through multiple interviews over a period of time and the employer decides not to hire the referred candidate for whatever reason, the ownership of the referral should be 12 months from the date of last contact.

There are occasions where the recruiter makes a referral and the employer chooses not to move forward with the candidate.  In that instance the ownership of the candidate is from the date of the referral.  However, if the recruiter is in contact with the same employer and resubmits the same candidate again, the ownership clock starts over again and the 12 month ownership period extends.  On occasion employers will begin speaking to the recruiter’s candidate and not make the recruiter aware of the action months after the referral was made.  The recruiter learns from the candidate of this action and when the hire is made, the recruiter has to “remind” the employer of the referral and invoice for the placement.  I’m not accusing an employer of any dishonest or nefarious intent, but the ownership clause of an executed contract is binding and protects the recruiter’s efforts. 

OR, several months after the candidate referral is made and no action is taken by the employer, another recruiter submits the same candidate and the employer doesn’t recognize the situation of multiple referrals of the same candidate and the employer is in a “pickle” so to speak.  2 recruiters have submitted the same candidate, and the employer wants the recruiters to “split” the deal.  The ownership clause will preclude the initial referring recruiter from agreeing to this arrangement.  The employer has made an error and wants the 2 recruiters to pay for the employer’s mishandling of referred candidates.   This happens more frequently than we like to admit but the ownership clause can and does contractually obligate the employer to pay the initial recruiter’s fee if the referred candidate is actually hired.

The other 3 nuances worth noting are what state’s laws are binding in the event legal action is needed.  This is not normally a problem, however, many states have different laws relating to recruiting activity, so before the recruiter agrees to which state’s laws are enforced, the recruiter should perform some research to insure the rights of the recruiter are protected sufficiently. 

The second is a late payment clause.  Some contingency agreements outline payment for services is due on the start date.  Other contracts may state payment to be paid 30,60 or 90 days after the hired candidate’s start date.  It is not unusual for payments to be late.  The contingency agreement should outline a percentage of penalty or interest will be applied and a new invoice being reissued for late payments.   There is a direct correlation between the guarantee period for a hired candidate and payment terms.  The recruiter should be careful with these 2 issues as they are linked.  The employers try to avoid paying until the guarantee period is exhausted.  Which leads to the last nuance worth mentioning.

Contingency agreements will often contain money back guarantees.  What I can never understand is why the recruiter should send money back to an employer after a candidate is hired and started when the hiring decision was made soley by the employer and the recruiter’s work is done at that point.  The recruiter’s agreement should include an agreed upon guarantee but if for some reason the hired candidate’s tenure of the company is terminated under the guarantee provisions, the solution should be the recruiter will replace the candidate or at the very least provide the employer with additional candidates to interview without any additional fee being owed.

Contingency agreements, no matter whose they are, have many variables that can be negotiated.  Many agreements protect the employer without much consideration of protecting the recruiter.  That’s why it’s important for the recruiter to “read the fine print” as the devil is in the details.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

Reference checking calls are the easiest calls a recruiter can make.  For some reason, recruiters don’t seem to check references until the candidate has gone through a lengthy hiring process.  The hiring authority asks for references and then the recruiter calls the candidate asking for them.  This whole process should have been completed by the recruiter before the candidate was even presented to an employer.

There are 2 types of references.  Those direct references that are submitted by the candidate and indirect which are off the record comments made by the person that has referred the candidate or backchanneled by the recruiter through confidential contacts the recruiter has.

References submitted by the candidate are generally positive.  The candidate knows the person referenced and feels the reference will say good things about the candidate.  Once in awhile, a reference submitted by a candidate can be less that positive but that’s generally not the case.  References identified by the recruiter often provide a more accurate description of the candidate’s track record, personality and nuances about the candidate that might not be discovered or even as flowery and complimentary as references submitted by the candidate.

If a recruiter is going to market a candidate, they should check references before a marketing plan is even created.  Assuming the references the recruiter identified themselves or are submitted by the candidate are positive and insightful, they will help the recruiter avoid any surprises about the candidate’s background during the recruiter’s presentation to a prospective employer or even during the interviewing process.

Checking references are important for 2 main reasons.  The information gathered about a candidate can and should be used by the recruiter in their presentation to a prospective employer.  When making the presentation the recruiter can share what the reference said about the candidate so it’s not just the recruiter’s sales pitch, it’s demonstrating to the employer, hey, I checked this candidate out and they’re terrific.  Almost as important is the prospective hiring authority will be impressed with the professionalism of the recruiter establishing credibility immediately.  The second reason is most people return calls that are asking for a reference checks and this is an opportunity for the recruiter to not only check the reference but also potentially recruit the person referenced.  If the reference is a previous hiring manager of the candidate there’s a great opportunity to explore the possibility of working with this referenced person’s company.  If the recruiter is doing their job correctly, they not only check the reference but can obtain further information that can be helpful with other opportunities and potential additional candidates.

Reference checking is easy and an integral part of the recruiting process.  There are many benefits to the recruiter to not only learn about their candidate, but create opportunities for additional business.  Reference checking protects the candidate and the recruiter.  And one last point….if a candidate is reluctant to provide a reference that is clearly a red flag and must be considered by the recruiter carefully in determining whether or the not the recruiter should work with that candidate.

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

There are 2 kinds of phone calls.  Voice mails and live presentations.

The average recruiter makes 60-80 calls and 10-15 presentation call a day.              Every presentation call is valuable.
The results of every call has 1 of 3 outcomes.

• Yes, I’m interested

• No, I’m not interested

• Maybe, what/who do you have?

Regardless of any response, the art of your questioning after the reasons is what separates a good recruiter from the rest of the mindless herd.

YES is easy.  But don’t rush in. Be inquisitive, challenge the person you’re speaking with.  If you’re making a marketing call and the hiring official is interested, then you need to determine why they’re interested.  Ask questions to find the WHY and then transition into learning about what the hiring official is looking for exactly.  What is the level of urgency?  What have they don’t to help themselves thus far.

If you’re making a recruiting call the candidate is interested, again you need to determine WHY?  What are they about?  You need to determine the motivation and THEN the fit.  Once you’ve gathered that information the recruiter can make a determination as to whether or not they can do business together.  Now the REAL work begins….

We talked previously about FLIPPING THE CALL. Talking to a hiring official has different question than speaking to a candidate. The purpose is to gather additional information to determine if the recruiter can even help either the company or the candidate. All these questions will enlighten and ultimately save the recruiter’s valuable time.

Handling the NO answer is what separates the good recruiters from the rest. The recruiter can either do their job or surrender with the response, “I’ll send you my information or job description and if you think of anyone or anything, give me a call” and then just go on to the next call. Spending time overcoming objections is hard work and most of the time, fruitless, so how can we gleen something from a NO call?

What information do we want?

• Where are the openings we don’t know about?

• Who are the prospective candidates we don’t know?

The following is a list of questions the recruiter can ask when they hear NO.

Hiring Official

• WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HIRED SOMEONE?

• WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?

• DID YOU INTERVIEW ADDITIONAL CANDIDATES YOU DIDN’T HIRE?

• WHO WERE THEY AND WHAT COMPANY WERE THEY WITH?

• IF YOU WERE LOOKING TO HIRE SOMEONE NOW, WHO WOULD YOU GO AFTER?

• IF YOU DON’T KNOW ANYONE, WHO WOULD YOU CALL TO FIND OUT WHO YOU SHOULD GO AFTER?

• WHO IS THE BEST PERSON YOU KNOW DOING WHAT YOU DO?

• DO YOU BELONG TO ANY ASSOCIATIONS? WHO IS YOUR CONTACT THERE?HAS ANYONE LEFT YOUR COMPANY/DIVISION/UNIT IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS? WHO ARE THEY? WHERE DID THEY GO?

• WHO IS THE BIGGEST GOSSIP IN YOUR INDUSTRY?

• HAVE YOU BEEN CONTACTED BY ANY RECRUITERS LOOKING TO FILL A POSITION LATELY? WHO WAS THE COMPANY LOOKING?

• IF I HAD A REALLY GOOD OPPORTUNITY, A REAL DIAMOND OF A ROLE, WOULD YOU WANT ME TO GIVE YOU A CALL ABOUT IT? I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT CALLING YOU EVERY WEEK OR MONTH, BUT MY CLIENTS PAY ME A LOT OF MONEY TO BE A TALENT SCOUT ON THEIR BEHALF, I’D HATE TO TALK WITH YOU IN 6 MONTHS ONLY TO LEARN YOU WISH I’D HAVE CALLED YOU WITH WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY.

CANDIDATE

• MAYBE YOU CAN STILL HELP ME IF YOU HAVE A FEW MINUTES?  I’M LOOKING FOR ______________, ARE YOU AWARE OF ANYONE QUALIFIED FOR A ROLE LIKE THAT?

• HAS ANYONE LEFT YOUR COMPANY IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS?  WHERE DID THEY GO?   WHO WAS IT?

• HAS YOUR COMPANY HIRED ANYONE IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS?  WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?  WHO IS IT?

• HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?  WHERE WERE YOU PRIOR TO YOUR CURRENT SITUATION?  IS THERE ANYONE AT YOUR OLD EMPLOYER I SHOULD INTRODUCE MYSELF TO?

• WHO IS YOUR CLOSEST FRIEND IN THE INDUSTRY?

• WHO IS THE BEST PERSON IN YOUR FIELD AND WHERE ARE THEY?

• WHO IS THE BIGGEST GOSSIP YOU KNOW IN YOUR INDUSTRY?

• WHO IS THE BEST BOSS YOU EVER HAD?

• HAVE YOU BEEN CONTACTED BY ANY OTHER EMPLOYERS OR RECRUITERS ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES?  WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THEM?

• WHO IS/WAS YOUR MENTOR?

• WHO’S IS THE BRIGHTEST UP AND COMER IN YOUR INDUSTRY?

• WHO IS YOUR MOST FEARED OR BEST COMPETITION?

• IF YOU HAD QUESTIONS YOU COULDN’T ANSWER ABOUT YOUR INDUSTRY, WHO WOULD YOU CALL FOR ANSWERS?

The goal of every person-to-person call is to do 1 of 4 things.

• Arrange an interview for the candidate

• Identify and take a job order

• Get a new candidate

• Get more candidate and job order leads.
  

The moral of the story is every call has value.  It’s up to the recruiter and the recruiter’s questioning skills to determine how valuable that last call was.  Did the recruiter gather information that helped them move their proverbial ROCK?

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

• Some of the biggest mistakes we make are working on JO’s or with people that have no chance of going together

• We take shortcuts in not taking a full JO or CDS

• We don’t challenge what we’re being told, comp, experience, education

• We don’t define the hiring process, we don’t pin down the hiring timeline

• We don’t exchange commitments….if I do this will you do __________

What are the two most important things to determine when talking to a potential candidate?

Motivation & Cooperation

So, let’s say you’ve taken a CDS and candidate says they will send a resume and you think you have a great relationship when in essence all you’ve done is gained rapport and you haven’t exchanged a commitment….go to context selling….so Mr. Candidate….here’s what’s going to happen…..if the candidate doesn’t do what they say their going to do, like send a resume or return the recruiter’s calls in a timely manner, it brings into question the candidate’s true motivation and certainly doesn’t demonstrate the kind of cooperation the recruiter has asked for.  Time to cut the candidate loose unless there’s a good and reasonable explanation from the candidate.

Let’s assume you’re marketing an MPC/IP and it goes well and the H/A wants to see a resume…..

Agree with the H/A about the resume and turn it around by asking a simple follow up question?  I’d love to send you a resume, why are you interested….?  They keep talking to us because they believe we have something they want/need….

What are the two most important things to determine when taking a JO?

Urgency & Cooperation

If those are the two most important things, then why do we ask “what are you looking for?” first?

What can you ask to determine the urgency?  Hiring process….

This should be your first question….Ask the question….”what have you done to help yourself so far?  Or what have you done to fill the   position so far?”

Challenge the process 3 times….

• What is your process?

• Tell me about the last time you hired someone

• If I bring you a candidate tomorrow, what happens?

• So you send a fee schedule…..context selling….

• So you send a resume….context selling

• So you send some information about your company…..context selling

• So you schedule an interview and don’t get any follow-up information

• So you finish the final interview and are ready for an offer and you don’t hear from the employer

Selling in context is sharing what the future will be and that future is based upon the experiences you’ve already had….it is also the sharing of the outcomes/consequences.

The goal of Context Selling is to get an exchange of commitment….because if you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.

Context selling is the continual challenging of things people say and sharing with them the outcomes of action or their inaction, but it also operates as a take away close. 

What is someone’s reaction to a takeaway…. They want it more, right?  If you don’t do this for me, I’ll assume you’re no longer interested and I won’t bother you anymore…and I’ll know you weren’t motivated or your situation isn’t urgent….so why don’t we just all save ourselves a lot of time..?

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

Everybody knows that in most situations, less is more -- your accessories, eating habits and especially your résumé.

Job seekers do themselves a disservice when they send out résumés with too much information. Employers don't have the time or the patience to sift through irrelevant information like your hobbies, interests or how many grandchildren you have. Just stick to the basics and you're good to go.

Here are 10 things to leave off your résumé and why:

1. Your picture
Why to leave it off: Unless a job posting specifically asks for your picture (and very few jobs will), don't include it just for fun. Not only are your looks irrelevant to your potential as an employee, but you're putting employers in a bad spot. If they have a picture of you and choose not to hire you, it's possible that you could come back with a discrimination lawsuit. In most cases, they'll throw your résumé away without looking at it, to avoid the issue altogether.

2. Interest and hobbies
Why to leave them off: Unless your interests and hobbies have something to do with the job you're applying for, there's no reason to include them. If you want to show how your passion for art would be an asset to a graphic design position, that's one thing. But telling employers that you love to skydive on an actuary application is another. In general, make any applicable connections between your hobbies and the job in your cover letter. Better yet, save them for the interview when you're asked what you like to do outside of work.

3. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Why to leave them off: Most employers assume that if you're OK with sending out a résumé littered with typos and mistakes, you'll have the same lack of concern for the work you do as an employee at their company. While spell check picks up most errors, it can miss something major -- did you work the late night shift? Or did you forget to include the "f" between "i" and "t"? -- so have several eyes look over your résumé before sending it out to employers.

4. Personal attributes
Why to leave them off: Similar to sending a picture with your résumé, your height, weight, age, race or religion are all unimportant to an employer. Though it's illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants because of any of these factors, some will do so, regardless. Keep everything on your résumé pertinent to the job, and you'll be fine.

5. References
Why to leave them off: Many job seekers still include references on their résumé or they include a line that says, "References available upon request." This tactic is not as effective as it used to be. Jack Harsh, adjunct professor at the University of Richmond Robins School of Business, says that when he receives a résumé with references attached, he gives them virtually no weight. "They seldom are specific to the role my company seeks and are not meaningful in considering qualifications or traits of successful candidates," he says. Wait to broach the topic of references until you're asked for them.

6. Minute details
Why to leave them off: Hiring managers don't need to know the details of every task you've ever done in every job you've ever had. It's just too much information, and usually half of that information isn't relevant. Employers want to be able to see at first glance that you're a great candidate, so pick out those details that are most relevant to the job for which you're applying and omit the rest.

7. False information
Why to leave it off: Plain and simple, no one wants to hire a liar. Don't say that you have a master's degree if you've only earned your bachelor's; don't say you're presently employed at a company if you've recently been fired; don't list your salary history as 20 percent higher than it was. Everything you tell an employer can be verified, so play it safe and be honest.

8. Flair
Why to leave it off: No one wants to look at a résumé on fluorescent paper, covered in crazy fonts and symbols. Similarly, links to personal Web sites, your photo-sharing site, or strange e-mail addresses can also be left off. Employers are less likely to respond to likes2party@email.com than just DMiller@email.com.

9. Negativity
Why to leave it off: Never put anything negative on your résumé. Don't include your reasons for leaving. If you left the position due to a layoff or you were fired, for example, bring it up only if asked. Never write anything bad about a previous employer. Don't explain gaps on your résumé by stating that you were in prison for 10 years for killing your husband. Keep your résumé all positive, all the time.

10. A selfish objective
Why to leave it off: Employers are trying to determine whether you're a good fit for their organizations, so everything on your résumé should point to your experience. Employers would rather see a summary of qualifications that displays your accomplishments and background than a generic objective statement like "To gain experience in..."

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.

Recruiters work hard to identify openings, get the full job description from the client, get fee agreements signed, create a plan to contact qualified candidates for the position, contact potential candidates, present those candidates that are motivated, qualified, and interested in the position, arrange interviews, prepare candidates for the interviews, debrief candidates and employers, work through a complete offer process, notify the client of a candidate’s acceptance and start date and then forward the invoice for services.  Then, out of the clear blue, after great cooperation by the client, the hiring official is resistant to pay a fee with the following positions and excuses.

We knew of the candidate prior to the recruiter’s presentation.

The most common excuse we hear from debtors who do not want to pay a recruitment fee is, “We already knew the candidate.” In most cases, these types of backdoor hires are the easiest to refute. The recruiter’s biggest obstacle in this scenario is to help the client to understand that knowing the candidate previously and knowing they are looking for a job are two very different things. 

What’s really under the hood here is the hiring official is angry at themselves for not thinking about the candidate prior to accepting the recruiter’s referral and quite possibly also angry that their HR person didn’t recognize and/or identify the candidate prior to accepting the referral and even interview the candidate.

We never want to think the worst about our client but have to consider the possibility that the company simply doesn’t want to pay a fee and is trying to try any tactic to avoid paying the recruiter’s fee.  This is certainly not a company or hiring official the recruiter will ever want to work with again. 

One way to overcome this is at the beginning of taking the job order.  The recruiter should be asking if there are any candidates that are hands off.  In other words, ask the question about who the hiring official has engaged with previously about the position.  Once that list is established, contractually it eliminates this excuse the client may try to use.

You (the recruiter) didn’t work very hard to place this person.

Experienced recruiters know that speed to hire is critical to identifying and presenting qualified, motivated and interested candidates.  Many times the recruiter understands their market and has spoken to hundreds of candidates in the past and is able to identify those type candidates very quickly.

This is an opportunity to explain to the candidate they company is paying you for the solution to their problem, not necessarily placing the candidate.    The recruiter can very easily remind the employer that if they’d like to pay the recruiter for the thousands of calls they’ve made to be able to provide the employer the solution as quickly as humanly possible the client is getting a very highly discounted fee.

We (the employer) didn’t sign the fee schedule/contract so we don’t owe a fee.

The first lesson to be learned here is NEVER present a candidate’s name without an employer’s signature on a fee agreement, but I digress….

Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence in that a recruiter works on a position without a properly executed fee agreement.  However, this defense by the employer to refuse to pay a fee is a situation where the employer accepted the work of the recruiter with the intent to refuse to pay the fee.  Intent is the key word here.  If an employer is this resistant the recruiter can simply point out that there are many examples of case law favoring the recruiter and the recruiter really doesn’t want to escalate this into a legal situation, however the recruiter can also point out that the employer will wind up not only paying the fee but also the employer’s defense team as well as the recruiter’s legal expenses.  It’s sad things have to devolve this way but unfortunately this scenario isn’t all that uncommon.

The employer wants to renegotiate the fee after the placement is made.

Assuming the recruiter has a properly executed fee agreement by both parties this is simply a matter of contractual obligations.  The employer has no legal option other than to pay the fee. The employer has agreed to the terms of the contract.  But alas, many employers try to renegotiate the contractual fee terms after the fact.  The recruiter is under no obligation to agree to reduce their fee.

The employer may use arguments to support why they want to renegotiate such as they had to pay the candidate more than they wanted to or they decided to hire multiple candidate referred by the recruiter or the employer doesn’t actually have the budget to pay the recruiter or a myriad of other excuses why the recruiter should reduce their fee.

When the recruiter resists the employer will promise there will be many more opportunities for the recruiter to work on in the future or the employer might state they thought the recruiter wanted a partnered relationship or a host of other reasons why the fee should be reduced.

If the employer tries to renegotiate the recruiter must ask themselves if this is an employer they really want to work with in the future.  An employe that can’t live up to their contractual obligations now is showing their true intentions and most likely don’t respect the value and job the recruiter provided them in solving the employer’s problem. 

The recruiter does NOT have to renegotiate.  The recruiter shouldn’t because if they do,  they compromise their pricing integrity moving forward.

There are other objections employers may try use but these are the most common.  You’ve earned the fee you’ve worked hard for.  Don’t surrender to an employer that’s not respecting what your service has provided them.  The solution to their problem.

Recruiters with an active desk are managing chaos.  There are so many things to do.  Plan, research, make marketing and recruiting calls, interview prepping and debriefing calls, follow-up calls, negotiating offers, assisting candidates with resignations and updating their notes, sending fee agreements….the list goes on and on.  There never seems to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything needing to be done every-day.  What winds up happening is the recruiter starts to develop habits in their routine that become shortcuts in the flow of their day and the result becomes an inefficient and mistake prone recruiter.  The professional search consultant knows there are no shortcuts and they develop good habits that become a routine understanding taking their time with each action element on their desk is essential to successful outcomes for a career.

The following is a list of actions that will separate the good recruiter from someone pretending to be a search consultant.  

• Don’t be in a hurry, take your time, be thorough

• Try to develop multiple contacts in different areas of specialty within a company

• Take complete assignments with focus on the client’s process and evaluate the effectiveness with the client H/A and offer insight from what you KNOW works

• Understand the most important questions surround the hiring process which you need to understand in detail

• The quality of your questions differentiates you

• Understand EVERYTHING is important

• Ask about WHY things are important to the client

• Ask about consequences for their actions and inactions

• Ask where you can bring more value to the client

• Effectively communicate the array of services you can offer that will differentiate you are MORE than “just” a search firm/professional by being consultative and sharing you are a one stop HR solution with many of your clients dealing with salary surveys and psychological assessment tools as well as background checks.   

• Be realistic….if the client’s wants are not practical, outline your experience and point out what you believe to be obvious issues.

• If you can’t help, say so!

• Educate the customer about what you do and how you do it.  Outline the 30-step placement process, the planning, execution and completion of the project including bringing value in the offer and counteroffer stages. 

• Explain to them you don’t just go to the database and send resumes.

• Be consultative in outlining different degrees of service to include retained, engaged and/or contingency search as well as exclusivity versus non-exclusive arrangements

• Outline your willingness to conform to their needs and wants depending on their urgency.

• Outline your ability to do a single or multiple hire search in a single or multiple locations and verify with previous experiences

• Agree to a timeline for completion of specific acts on your part including but not limited to when candidates will be presented and your follow up.

• Relate to the client your interest in providing post project metrics as it relates to timeline to hire, evaluation of post interview follow-up and the offer process

• Offer what the “market” is saying about the client

• Obstacles and enhancements to the client’s perception in the market.

• Outline metrics in numbers of calls, number of potential candidates interested versus those interviewed and ultimately offered

• Do what you say you’re going to do

Consequences of your actions.

• When you outline what you do, it’s not difficult for you to assist the client in understanding why you charge what you do versus the discounted fee firms.

• Your thoroughness will be rewarded because your questions, education and explanations have already separated you from everyone else.

• Your thoroughness deepens your relationship with the client

• Timely and cost-efficient hires lead to referrals.

• H/A’s move on but your relationship goes with them to the “new” firm

• Your statistics on time to hire and cost to hire from one client to the next is verification of your ability to deliver a quality service in a shorter time frame than your competition, in other words, you can quantify your success

I’d like to know if you try any of the training items in this newsletter and what your results have or have not been. Please send me a note about that.

If you have any questions about information in any of the newsletters or specific topics, you’d like me to write about, please send me a note on those as well. I will compile a list of questions and post my responses in future newsletters.

I would encourage you to subscribe to these missals. Thanks for reading my newsletter.