Your priorities define you...

Happy holidays everyone!  Hope things are going well.  It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged but I really wanted to share something.  I had an interview this week and the candidate made a comment to me that I really loved, I mean….loved.  They said:

“The priorities we set define us”

It got me thinking, for those of you experience a job search or thinking about moving your career needle...what kind of priorities have you set?  Now, the idea of priorities is pretty complicated and honestly only you can set your priorities but I did spend a lot of time thinking about this and had a few thoughts I wanted to share

Rank your priorities - This one is obvious right?  The question really is, do you want to be the best parent in the world?  Best recruiter?  Does money matter?  Do you work to live or live to work?  Literally, there are a bunch of things to consider.  What you need to do is figure out what really matters to you...define it and then optimize your more tactical priorities from there.

Set sub-goals - Ok, so you have your high level priorities set.  Awesome...huge step and most people never get there so feel good about this.  Next, start trying to define what each one of those priorities really means and what you need to do to accomplish them….and be realistic.  

Build a timeline - You’ve got your priorities set and you’ve got a bunch of tactical steps you need to take to accomplish your goals...now you need a timeline.  The timeline will keep you honest and make you focus.  A key here again will be to be realistic.  For example, you can’t say you are going to interview for 50 jobs in the next month...not enough days in the month.  So, really focus on setting a timeline that you can work with and get things accomplished.

Get going - This is the most important step.  Get going and get it done.  The difference between superstars and everyone else is superstars get stuff done.  Now is the time to define yourself by not only setting priorities but getting them done.

That’s it this week, I’ll try to get a few more posts done by the end of the year and start strong again in 2014.

Good luck out there, the holidays are a GREAT time to amp up your job search

The importance of setting goals

Been thinking a lot about this topic so kind of excited to write about it.  Now, it’s kind of boring and a little lame...I’ll admit it.   But the truth is, without goals you’re screwed and your career will go no where.

Let me explain.  Goals get you places right?  I mean...I’m going to get my Master’s Degree is a goal.  Get it done, check the box...winner right?  Well kind of, there is a lot more to the idea of goals than checking off a few things on your list.  With that, here are a few thoughts on the importance of goals

1) Yeah, they get you places - See above but when you’re talking about recruiting or your career they are even more important.  For example - Saying “We are going to hire 50 Software Engineers” allows you to understand resources, develop benchmarks and understand the difference between success and failure.

2) Goals tell your story - Ever complain about the dude across the cube who got promote but you think  are the better performer??  Chances are, he had goals, articulated them to the powers that be...and crushed them.  The best way to show off your success it to set some lofty goals and get them done.

3) Shared accountability - Ah, here is the big one.  Setting goals, allows you to clearly state what each person on the project owns.  So, when the rubber meets the road everyone is accountable for their piece.  If the project succeeds everyone knows why/how….if it fails, well that’s ok but everyone will know how and why as well.

So there a you go a few thoughts on goals...the key to all of this is setting realistic goals and trying to get them done.  If you’re working on a recruiting team that doesn’t have goals or even worse has messed up goals...take a stand and figure out goals that will work for your team.  Trust me, you’ve been far more successful w/ rock solid goals than if you just float around and wish for a positive outcome

More soon

It's not just a recruiting problem...

I’ve been totally slacking with the blog lately, my bad.  Big topic this week, and it’s one I’ve been wanting to write for a while.  

You hear a lot about companies or hiring managers who complain about their recruiting team and how they can’t find the right people.  Well...maybe, I mean sure..some recruiting departments suck but a lot of the time it’s a company wide issue but its much easier to just blame the recruiters.  Why take accountability when you can just thrash the recruiting folks?  It's easy, that's why. However, the truth is recruiting is a company wide project, everyone needs to be all in or you all fail.  It’s that simple.  Here are my quick thoughts on what each person in the company needs to do in order to successfully recruit...leaving out the recruiters of course because um you guys just do your job.

Hiring Managers -  So, these guys are key.  If you’re a hiring manager you've got a huge job to do here.  You need to respond quickly to resumes and be decisive.  If you meet someone great..hire them..don’t play games, hire the person.  Another key way to contribute as a hiring manager is to help sell candidates and close candidates on joining the team.  The last one, and this is important...hiring managers need to be engaged.  They need to listen when the recruiters push back on the process or decision making process.  Recruiters and managers are partners in hiring.

The rest of HR - The rest of HR play a huge role in recruiting.  The biggest, and frankly the hardest is attrition.  HR absolutely needs to focus on making sure people are leaving out back door as fast (or faster) than the recruiting team can hire them.  A lot of HR teams don’t like to hear that but it’s true.  If you have high attrition, you could have greatest recruiting team on earth and you’re still screwed.  HR also can focus on compensation, benefits and all the cultural stuff to make a company attractive.  Like I said above, it’s a team effort and HR/Recruiting are the essence of team so make sure you’re truly supporting each other.

Interviewers - Ahhhh, the interviewers.  Honestly, probably the most unappreciated piece of the recruiting puzzle.  Hiring Managers, HR and Recruiters can all do their job but if the interviewers are late, disrespectful, uncalibrated or just plan bad…….everyone fails again.  As an interviewer you've got pretty clear responsibilities.  Be prepared, be positive and make sure you give the candidate a great experience.  When you’re done, give prompt and decisive feedback to the recruiters so they can hire great people.

Executives - For senior leadership it’s pretty easy.  Stay engaged.  Don’t float above the fray and assume hiring will be easy.  Get into the process, talk to candidates, review resumes and generally do the things you’d have done before you became an Exec.  A lot of exec are “too busy” to interview or give timely feedback….I call BS.  If hiring and recruiting is a priority...get it done or delegate the authority to someone who can and will meet the companies hiring objectives.

The moral of the story here is simple.  Recruiting and hiring is a company wide project.  It’s not just the recruiters who are responsible for hiring...sure, we carry the heavy load but if the rest of the company can’t convert the pipeline to hires….you lose.  It’s that simple.