Don’t give up, the next candidate is the one you will hire.
I read two great blogs this past week; they are from Mike Nale, Managing Partner of The Brand Management Group, LLC in Hawaii, http://www.ere.net/blogs/The%5FRookie/. The first is Job Search, Persistence Pays Off, and the second is Probing Effectively.
Persistence is something I live by, and having been in a pure sales role, and now in a slightly different sales role as a recruiter a key asset that will dictate your success is persistence. I used to coach a Dale Carnegie class and the woman who taught the class would quiz everyone on the greatest sales book ever written. Give it some thought; SPIN Selling, How to Make Friends and Influence People, Think and Grow Rich, Zig Ziglar on Selling… All of these are great books, but I think an argument can be made for a non-sales book by Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham. How many times does this guy ask if his friend wants the green eggs and ham, 25 -30 times and each and every time the answer is NO. Does he take it personally, not at all, he tries to find ways to add value, in a car, on a boat, in the rain, on a plane. When he FINALLY gets to a yes his friend is glad he tried them and appreciates the persistence.
Next, probing effectively I believe is one of the most important skills of a recruiter. People have been trained since they were 5 yrs old to tell us what they think we want to here, and many people are good at this. For us to be successful we need to find out what we need to know, which is what we are not being told. This includes taking a job order or interviewing a candidate. Hiring managers tell us what they hope will make us go away so they can get back to their job. This is a short-term gain that can lead to long-term pain. Candidates will try to snow us if they think we are blocking them. Mike talks about the need to ask as many questions as necessary to get to the meat of an issue. I would suggest taking it a step further and asking a couple of questions they demonstrate your expertise, develop a bond with the manager or candidate and provides you with a deeper understanding of the requisition or the person.
With the hiring manager I may ask, “The job description says 3 plus years, but I know you have no time to train someone new, would 5 or 6 years of experience be better?” He or she may now see you as someone looking out for their interest, not an HR person going through the motions. I may ask an account, “How many days are in your monthly closing process, or are you running a soft close?” I am letting him know, in his language that he cannot get over on me, and we can get into some details without wasting his time. I think of these as the under the table questions, like a wink and a nod that I am looking out for his or her best interest.
When selling someone a job, or a candidate we need to be persistent. But to be successful we need information, which will require asking good probing questions.
Thanks Mike for some great points.
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