Is ‘Dream Recruiting Job’ An Oxymoron?
When I had to hire a recruiter (I’ve hired a few of them over the years, they know all the tricks so it’s kind of hard), I’d always throw this question in there:
If you had to recruit for the same role for the rest of your career, what would that role be and why?
It’s a stupid question, but I got some interesting answers. You should try it – it actually works for almost any kind of job with a little find & replace action. I’ve never been asked this myself, so I haven’t had to really give my job seeker answer of “whatever was the most mission critical position in the company.” Boom. But I have given it some thought.
One Req for the Rest of Your Life
When former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced his retirement, the NFL simultaneously included in its press release on the news that it was giving the search for his replacement to Korn/Ferry. I remember reading it back when I was recruiting corporate execs for a company your kids talk about and coincidentally the worldwide leader in sports. That was the easiest job in the world, really – imagine a job where literally every call to a candidate gets returned and there’s absolutely no such thing as a candidate who won’t at least listen to your pitch. But even then, I remember thinking: “Wow. Some recruiter gets to open a req for NFL commissioner.”
By the way, this is my attempt at a topical article. Stay tuned for next week’s installment: “What If Perry Mason Was A Headhunter?” followed by “Golden Girls: 5 Lessons for HR.” Actually, that last one might do really, really good traffic on the #SHRM hashtag. I was going to write about USC’s coaching switch, but that was conducted by an internal search committee – it probably took so long because that’s what happens when hiring managers have to recruit for themselves.
But it reminded me that there are some recruiting gigs that are actually pretty gravy. No STEM jobs or visa sponsorships. 7 figure comp ranges. No really clearly defined requirements or qualifications – use your gut. Think about it: you get 30% of a 1 percenter’s annual salary to fill a job that our current president has been subtly lobbying to get in line, leveraging a little executive power to maybe get put in their succession planning strategy. You don’t have to source. It’s obviously (and exponentially) an eminently more desirable gig than being the leader of the free world. That’s the kind of recruiting gig I want (hint, hint blue chip brands hiring for C level execs…)
Of course, it got filled with an internal candidate, but most requisitions ultimately are, statistically speaking.
I’d still go with in house over agency (where my peeps at?) any day of the week (apologies to Greg Savage). But in this case, agency wins – although I did interview with KFI for the same group a while back, and then withdrew after the senior executive I interviewed with “resigned” the next day. Which is really always a good sign for a position they’d been trying to fill for months. In social media. Go figure. But I digress. Like always.
This isn’t really a blog post as a really long question: what’s your dream recruiting gig?
And since mine turned out to be a dud, I’ll go with the head of TA for Twitter or the guy who runs employer branding for Hooters. What’s yours? Remember, it has to be in recruiting – because obviously, your dream job isn’t in recruiting (mine is gentleman farmer, by the way. Not kidding).
Snark Attack 
I got this comment from my Dad, who didn’t know what a blog was until this Thanksgiving. It might be the best comment I’ve ever received, since he’s not the kind of guy who’s too emotive:
“I have to comment how really intelligent your blogs are, although I only skim because I’m not into recruiting, HR, etc. I’ve always known you to be an excellent writer, and you surely haven’t lost your touch. And you’re prolific. And I like the artwork. Where do you get all your ideas? You should write a book.”
i really like that how much you do research on this topic. Recruitment refers to the process of identifying, attracting, interviewing, selecting, hiring and onboarding employees. In other words, it involves everything from the identification of a staffing need to filling it.