Talent Search Partners, Inc.

TALENT SEARCH PARTNERS, INC.

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Author name: Troy Saddler

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Dispelling The Myths

Employer Insight, Recruitment /

Hiring Manager – “We will probably post our job and see what comes through before we engage any recruitment partners. Does that work for you?” That’s great! You should be posting your jobs. There are many advantages to posting your vacancies externally. The issue that I have with this approach however is thinking that you will find exactly what you need through just posting your position. Understand that your brand has a reputation, whether good or bad, and there are people in the marketplace who have an opinion about your company and will base their decision of whether or not to apply, based on what they’ve heard. Many candidates who will see your job ad and could be interested in the position, will not apply because of what they know about your company through information circulating within their network. This information typically stems from grievances that have been aired out by disgruntled former employees. This sort of bad PR will subsequently prevent qualified candidates from applying for your position. It takes a good recruitment partner who will reach out to these prospects who are normally passive, but willing to consider a career move if the right one presents itself. A good recruiter is having these tough conversations and dispelling many myths that exist about your brand. Some of the most gratifying experiences in recruitment come when a prospect was on the fence for reasons that had nothing to do with the actual role, convincing them to form their own opinion of the company, closing the deal, and having that candidate who started at the company say 6 months in that it was the best decision they’ve made to join your client. It’s even more gratifying to see them exceling! The sad thing about this is that most organizations are oblivious to their own brand perception (or they know it, but don’t want to accept it). A Brand Ambassador – Recruitment?! A good recruiter is a brand ambassador. They are taking your company, your values, your mission, your products, your services to market and acting as the face of the brand during those interactions with candidates. It behooves organizational leaders and HR to groom that relationship with their recruitment partner to make sure they are accurately and enthusiastically conveying your message to prospective candidates. The alternative to this is bad for business.

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All She Wanted Was A Call Back (A Note To Recruiters – Part 2)

Career Insight, Career Preparation, Recruitment /

Your time away from your field or profession does not diminish your value… I’ve learned a great deal about people (and myself) over the past few years. More recently, I’ve seen my Wife selflessly sacrifice her career and what she enjoys doing to raise our Kids… Her desire to get back into the workforce has been an eye-opening and humbling experience for me to witness. I’ve seen her receive offers from those in my profession and companies that don’t come near her worth and what she can contribute to an organization. Kudos to her for not settling… A lesson to all of us…(especially recruiters and hiring officials within organizations)… Taking a career break for personal development, to prioritize your family, or for the sake of your well-being shouldn’t be penalized nor exploited… I am sorry for my years of poor judgment.

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A Recruiter is Calling…

Career Insight, Career Preparation, Inspiration /

A Recruiter is calling… Why not take that call? If you’re good for now, I get it. Who wants to waste their time speaking to a Recruiter when there’s no need to. “I only speak to a Recruiter when it’s in my best interest to do so…” …but why not take that call? “I’m doing well in my career…I work with a great team in a great environment. I’m progressing with my company and will be next in line for a lucrative promotion that will break me into a higher income bracket!” …but why not take that call? “I’ve never had an issue with finding meaningful employment. I’m highly sought after within my industry, and I’ll always be a high performer wherever I land…” …but why not take that call? “Recruiters are all the same – they take more than they give and never follow up with you after that initial call. I don’t need a Recruiter to find a job!” …but why not take that call? Better yet, why not meet for that coffee or lunch at the Recruiter’s request…It may seem unproductive to you given your present situation, but there are a lot of people who thought they were secure and insulated from the realities of the marketplace, only to find themselves now in need of a job… Now you’re willing to take that call?? I tried reaching you several times over the past year! …why didn’t you just have that conversation.

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Control vs. Faith

Inspiration, Recruitment /

Everything in business takes time to turnaround. The past 6 months have been a real test of patience… Recruitment and patience are like oil and water… …Control, Control, Control! (you naive recruiter!) True wisdom is realizing that we don’t control anything, especially people… It’s humbling to realize that you can do everything right and still not get the desired results… …keep pressing forward! Candidate & Client control are myths… Outcome control is a greater myth…(and laughable) The only controllable is your attitude (especially during perceived failure)…it’s at this intersection that you truly become patient with yourself, people, and situations (a time-tested recruiter) Don’t pay for a personality assessment to uncover who you are, just become a recruiter.

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Thanks For Another Great Hire, Troy! So, How Do I Retain This Talent?

Employer Insight, Inspiration /

One of the weaknesses of business leaders is their inability to cultivate a culture that grooms talent, and to make sure that their top performers are put on a career path that leads to new challenges, personal development, and ultimately, financial gain. Let’s not trivialize the importance of the financial motivation. Dangling carrots is not only insulting, but it’s the easiest way to kick your best producers out of your company. If you as a leader for your group, division, branch, or office, have not crafted a clear and realistic career path for your top performers that will allow them to see continuous growth in their profession and fresh challenges, then I’m afraid that it’s only a matter of time until your roster thins out. This career path program should be monitored closely and fine-tuned periodically. You should be talking to your people about their career goals, and aligning them with the resources, tools, and training to get them to where they need to be. If you don’t, then your competitor will. And don’t be so egotistical to pretend that it doesn’t matter to see your best walk out your door – the cost to hire is far greater than the cost to take care of your people in the first place.

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“I Respectfully Declined The Search Assignment”

Career Insight, Recruitment /

Hiring Authorities have a responsibility to qualify their recruitment partners. The model has been fractured for years and it will only improve if both sides are willing to take an honest look at how they’ve been handling the relationship. There is a lack of trust (and with good reason) when it comes to the recruitment profession and hiring managers have failed to leverage the skills and network of a good recruitment partner. The only way to change this paradigm is by having conversations. You shouldn’t complain about the crookedness of recruiters when you’ve engaged in transactional behaviour that fosters similar actions from that recruiter. A good recruiter can be an extension of your company if they are leveraged properly. I had a conversation this week with a hiring manager who is looking to fill a vacancy for an employee who is leaving to pursue higher education. I was told that they already had 3-4 agencies on the search, but they were willing to let me run with it to see what I could come up with. I respectfully declined the search assignment. Too many recruiters work from a place of desperation and take anything that a hiring manager flings at them. They engage in these scavenger hunts against their better judgement and realize very quickly in the process that they’ve wasted their time with a search that had a low barrier to entry, and an even lower barrier to exit. The misconception is that the more eyes (i.e., recruitment agencies) you have on a given search, the greater the chances of finding that ideal candidate. This is absurdly incorrect!! This is precisely why ghosting is a thing. Our brand has been designed to change the narrative around the recruitment profession and to inject some much-needed credibility back into this industry. The secret sauce is really not a secret – return phone calls and emails and do what you said you would do! I don’t get the disconnect, but I’m working to repair the breach, one phone call at a time.

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Counteroffers – Part 3 (Candidate Story)

Career Insight, Career Preparation /

February 1st, 2022 – The following counteroffer took place… …I was moments away from finalizing a major deal for a new Chief Financial Officer for a manufacturing customer of mine… After presenting the offer to my candidate, the following conversation took place… Candidate: Don’t worry, Troy. The only way I don’t take this offer is if they throw “stupid money” at me (Stupid Money = an exorbitant amount of money that you’d be stupid to walk away from). Me: Okay, let me know how it goes (an hour or so later) Candidate: So, I just had that conversation with the owner of the company and they offered me stupid money…………I think I’m going to stay where I’m at. I’m sorry, Troy. May 10th, 2024 – This is precisely why you should never accept a counteroffer from your current employer! It’s been over 2 years since this candidate took the counteroffer from his company. I decided to call him today… It’s not good news! Shortly after accepting the counter, he was approached by senior management and told that they were hiring another CFO and that his role would become redundant. He was given time to find another position while they transitioned this new CFO into the company. He was paid during that time, but not given a severance. “…I should’ve listened to you, Troy…” For those wondering whether I said, “I told you so!” I held my peace. This was not an “I told you so” moment – it never is… It was a lighthearted conversation, and it was great to catch up with him… I could tell that it was a learning experience for him, and reaffirmed to me that counteroffers may seem attractive in the moment, but you’ll face the consequences of your decision at some point… The candidate remains a top prospect in my mind, and I hope to work with him again!

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All She Wanted Was A Call Back (A Note To Recruiters)

Inspiration, Recruitment /

My Wife had a personal breakthrough today… After taking 5 years off to raise our 2 kids, she decided to jump back into the workforce. It’s been a few weeks since her search started, and it has been an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. But today was different… After many applications, rejections, & attempts to reach recruiters via phone and email, she finally received a call back from one of them today. All she wanted was a call back! The fact that the recruiter couldn’t do anything for her in that moment is secondary… All she wanted was a call back! That call back to acknowledge her resume provided the hope that she needed to keep going… The value that recruiters can bring to people’s lives is immeasurable… The simple act of returning an applicant’s phone call could be the difference between them giving up or pressing on… Let’s strive to be remembered for more than just the money we made.

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HIRING MANAGER! Ask That Recruiter These 5 Questions Before Proceeding

Employer Insight, Recruitment /

A few months back I wrote a blog article about the questions candidates should ask recruiters every time they are approached about a new career opportunity. As I was driving back from my local farmers market this morning, it dawned on me that hiring managers have an equal responsibility to properly screen their recruitment partners and to go beyond the surface questions like, “what is your fee and what is your candidate guarantee period?” These are important, but I’d encourage you to dig deeper to unearth the quality and motivation of that recruiter. The reason why ghosting exists is because the proper steps towards due diligence are not being considered. Both sides are unfortunately engaging in transactional, “show me what you got now” type of behaviour, and they’ve forgotten that the best relationships are based on communication and trust. That first intake call between a recruiter and the hiring manager/human resources should set the tone for the future relationship and establish credibility from both sides. These are some of the questions that I believe every HR representative or hiring authority within an organization should ask during that next call: 1. Do you have client & candidate references who can vouch for what you’ve just described to me? 2. Tell me about your value-add beyond just supplying resumes? 3. We have a valued partner at the moment that we’ve had reasonable success with, and they haven’t given us a reason to look elsewhere. Why should we work with you? 4. What has been your longest search to date? (If the answer is more than 6 months, the next question should be, what compelled you to stick with one search for that length of time?) 5. Your fee works for us, but it’s incredibly low. Why is that the case? The key is to be informed and to ask the right questions. I’ve heard countless remarks about the poor quality of recruiters and how bad we are to deal with, but what are you as an organization doing to make sure that you partner with the right recruiter. You are willing to vet every other 3rd party organization that you work with, why not do the same with your recruitment partner? Hiring Managers – reach out to me if you’d like to set up a 30-minute consultation around this topic.

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Career Move Regret – How To Avoid It

Career Insight, Career Preparation, Job Interviewing Tips /

Most candidates don’t know how to properly qualify a position that they are interested in. The most generic questions that candidates ask hiring managers when interviewing for a new position are: 1. What is the salary range for this position? 2. Can I work from home? 3. What are the primary tasks related to this position? All important questions, but in order to really get to the core of the position in question, you’ll need to be more thoughtful and strategic with your line of questioning. The heart of this issue is that most people have not been trained to ask good questions. They make decisions based on superficial questions & superficial answers that sound reasonable to them, not realizing that there is so much more to a career opportunity than the 3 questions mentioned above. I’ve outlined some thought-provoking questions that will help you make better career decisions: 1. Why is this position available? (Asking “why” is one of the most important questions you can ask in life). Don’t take anything at face value. Question the legitimacy of the position that you are applying for. 2. If you don’t fill this position, how will that impact your business 6 months to 1-year from now? If an employer cannot provide a credible business case for this position, then I would question the significance of the role and whether the position has support from the leadership team within the company. 3. What are some of the investments you’ve made in the growth plans you’ve outlined? “You say you want to be a market leader in the development of……, but what are some of the steps you have taken towards accomplishing this objective? What is your timeline for delivering this product/software to market? What happens if you don’t meet this deadline?” 4. How will your personal role be improved/impacted by filling this position? Again, dissect the relevance of this position to your immediate manager/team and to the organization. 5. Since I have to relocate for this position, how will the company support my relocation plans? Don’t always attach a $ sign to this. Is the company expecting you to figure out the move on your own or are they willing and able to provide ongoing personal support to you where necessary. I’ve seen many positions that have involved relocation fall by the wayside. Again, these are basic questions in theory that any reasonably minded hiring manager should have the answers for. If they don’t, question that, “Why don’t you have an answer to this question?” There is more to a career than money or whether you can work remotely. As a Recruiter, I can tell a lot about the quality of a candidate simply from the questions they ask me. I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve had with people who have told me that things didn’t work out the way it was advertised to them, or there was a significant change in the structure of the position that caused their layoff or forced them to resign. Things happen, but there’s a lot you can uncover by simply asking better questions. If you’d like to set up a personal coaching session on this, please reach out to me directly.

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