Today’s guest blogger is Liz Carey, network coordinator for NBN, operators of www.searchbankingjobs.com and www.searchaccountingjobs.com. NPAworldwide and NBN merged in September 2014, and our two networks are working toward a full integration effective January 1, 2016. We’re happy to have Liz on our blogging team.
In New England, a favorite summer activity for many is fishing. I saw some folks fishing off a local bridge last weekend and it got me thinking – recruitment is a lot like fishing (minus the cargo shorts and cold beer, maybe). You must first have the knowledge, insight and patience to understand exactly what your client is looking for in a perfect fish (candidate), and then find the right fishing spot and dangle the right bait (an attractive job order) to reel in that perfect person.
Job seekers are the fish, swimming around, looking for the best possible bait – a role with a great employer to provide them with money, security, training, leadership and opportunity. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but in regards to talent, you’re bound to have some bottom-feeders, as well as a few prized fish like tuna and salmon.
Like a fisherman trying to catch the right fish, if you are a recruiter, you are looking to reel in the perfect employee to provide your client with the skills, knowledge, and cultural fit they’re looking for. So you have to know where to go. Kind of like how fishermen anticipate migration routes, you have to stay upstream of market trends to stay afloat. Maybe you have to travel away from your regular fishing pond for some variety. If you haven’t gotten any bites and don’t have the right candidate in your database, maybe talk to some trading partners to see if they have a candidate who wants to relocate to your client’s area. Fish actively.
When you fish, you must make sure you have the right tools and bait to catch the kind of fish you want. Similarly, recruiters have to make sure they have the right “bait” to attract the kind of candidates they want, because others will likely be fishing in the same spot, too. When you post your jobs online, you can’t throw out a broad net, because you’ll only be scooping up the bottom-feeders; you need the right bait (a clear, concise and specific job posting) to attract those select healthy fish in the candidate pool. Choose the type of fish you want to catch before you choose your bait and tools, and tailor your job posting to that exact candidate.
Once you’ve found a suitable candidate and dangle the bait (their CV) in front of your client, keep a finger on the line so you know when there’s a bite. Just how most fish escape because the fishing line is taken slack, recruitment is no different – make sure to follow up and give feedback often. No one wants to harp on ‘the one that got away.’
While fishing is a leisure activity for many, it takes years of experience to become a great fisherman. If you know the best places to “fish,” have other “fishermen” to bounce new ideas off of, and the right tools, you’re well on your way to landing that big catch.
First of all, the bias about people on job boards is, in my opinion misplaced. After all, if I find the person on LinkedIn or through networking, I think they are good. If Dave Nerz finds them on a job board, they a re now a bottom feeder. As someone who helped create the myth of the passive candidate many years ago, this is the flaw that I recognized in the argument I created.
BTW, it isn’t just the bait, it’s where you choose to fish. For many, they cast lines in the same river and within a few feet of many other fishermen when it might be better to fish in different waters.
As always, there are many ways to do our work; they all work . . . but never as well as we would all like them to work.
Thanks, Jeff. I didn’t interpret the post to mean that candidates found on job boards are “bottom feeders” – Liz clearly says the quality of the job posting has a lot to do with the types of candidates that are attracted: “When you post your jobs online, you can’t throw out a broad net, because you’ll only be scooping up the bottom-feeders; you need the right bait (a clear, concise and specific job posting) to attract those select healthy fish in the candidate pool.” I would agree that there are a lot of not very well-written job postings that probably don’t attract the right candidates. Job boards are just another tool – like many tools, they are neither inherently good or bad but are dependent upon the skill of the user. You are right – many ways to be successful in this business!
Liz, great article! Well written. And Jeff I see what you’re saying too, absolutely. There is such a stigma about Job Board candidates and truly, lots of good ones on there. What about someone 9mo – 1yr old on a job board? How is that different than having them in my personal ATS in a way? It’s all about HOW you use the tools you have, which is what Liz was getting at. Great job!