How Do You Say No to a Recruiter?

One of my buddies (name removed…) just shot me this question:

What’s the best way of saying “thanks, but no thanks” to a recruiter who contacts you about a gig?

Here’s my answer:

Depends - if you think they’re an ass, just be polite and say “thanks, but I’m happy” (you ass)

If you like them: Let them know that either A: you’re really happy right now, and want to focus on what you’re doing, but would like to stay in touch with them every 6 months since you never know; or B: you may be open to hearing about roles, but the one they called on isn’t of interest - then, let them know what would interest you.

Choose A if you’re happy. B if you’re not.

If they seem like they’re a good recruiter (i.e., not a used car-salesperson), help them out - it can pay dividends. Offer to be a source for candidates. Ask them not to call you constantly for referrals, since your time is tight. Let them know the types of people you tend to be aware of. If they have a search that fits those parameters, ask them to shoot you a quick email and you’ll get back to them if you have anybody.

If you liked how they approached you, assume they’ll approach other candidates the same way, which is a good thing if they’re on your side. See if they want to do some work on our company’s behalf if you’re using agencies - they’ll _love_ you for that, and that will also prevent them from poaching out of your company. If they’re a corporate recruiter, let them know that you liked their approach, and turn the tables (in a nice way) - ask them if they’d ever be open to hearing about recruiting opportunities with your company if any come up. They’ll be flattered, and you may have a way to make some quick employee referral money down the road.

If you’re somebody who’s earned some favors by providing them referrals, they’re going to work extra-hard on your behalf if/ when you’re looking for your next gig. You’ll be on their radar for extra-juicy assignments.

Bottom-line: be nice to recruiters when they call. You’re going to be looking for a job again, and having a few career agents working on your behalf at the right time can make all the difference.

 

Shameless, Shameless Plug…

…for votes :)  For whatever reason, Good to Know  is up for best recruiting blog of the year.  I’m pretty sure it’s not because my employer is paying for the grand prize (seriously - what I suspect is that Jason Davis, the guy who runs RecruitingBlogs.com, the organizer of the whole contest, is just ridiculously nice and felt bad at how poorly I did at poker last time we hung out).

While I’m under zero illusion I’ll win, I wouldn’t mind not coming in dead last.  Seriously.  Soooo…. if you’re so inclined, I’d appreciate it if you clicked here and exercised your right to vote.  Primarily in categories #1& #6 - well, feel free to vote in the rest, too - in fact, I’d recommend checking out all of the nominated blogs - there’s a lot of really great guidance out there, from a gang of remarkable minds.

New Year, New Job (yeah, right, and I’m a Chinese airline pilot)

One of the most cliched New Year’s resolutions is the one about getting a new job (let’s not even go into the fact that the  whole New Year’s resolutions thing is a cliche - it’s just kind of confusing, like a mirror reflecting a mirror).   So: yeah, it’s a cliche.  And, yeah, it’s a good time to look.  You’ve likely gotten your year-end bonus, hopefully a raise, etc.  Plus, a lot of firms (we’d be one of them) went into December in growth/ hiring mode, but found themselves slowed down by the holidays.  Which means they (and by this, I mean us) are going to be entering January in a bit of a frenzy.

All that said: you can do yourself a huge favor by getting a jump on your job search now.  I know it’s tough, with parties to attend, excuses to develop to avoid said parties, mall parking lots to drive around and around in, etc al.  Still.  Do it - if you start a conversation with a firm you’re interested in now, while everyone’s trying to figure out where the stores stock egg nog (and why), you’ll have a huge jump on the competition come January.  Even if you get an offer now, explain to the folks you’re talking to that you have a bonus that pays out on X date, and that you can give your notice the minute that the money hits your account.  Trust me on this: they probably won’t mind.  We have two people we hired in November who are in that position, and we’re okay with it.  Their desks are ready, and we’re excited to have them.

Green Career, Anyone?

Save the world.  Impress your friends.  Love your job.  Get into heaven - free!*

Nope, this isn’t some scam job-ad on CraigsList.  I’m talking about a career in an industry that’s being forced - literally - into high growth mode (re: lots and lots of job options).  One that impresses sexy women/ men when you’re out at the bar.  The type of work that lets you walk around looking smug, and sleep well at night.

That’s right: think about a Green Career.  Now, I know, I know: Birkenstocks. Natty Dread on repeat.  The smell of patchouli oil everywhere.  But that’s old school do-good.  The green industry has gone mainstream - Good u imprint, Your Good House, devoted their November, ‘07 issue to green home makeovers.  Bear in mind: these are the folks who run a blog called “Glinda the Good Enough Blog” devoted to being a daring experiment in good deed doing.  Not exactly people who are inclined to unfurl the freak flag at the drop of a hat.

So, what does this mean to you?  Maybe nothing - you may love your job (but then, why are you looking at this page, said the sultry bar blond to the married man).  That said, it may mean everything.  If you’re looking to change roles, but can’t quite find the one that seems to “fit” you, it may not be the day to day.  It may be the industry in general.  there’s all kinds of work in a green economy - from sales to accounting, marketing, etc.  It’s all just business, baby, and business is good.  The environment seems to be shifting, there’s now water in Georgia, and well, an industry is born.  Don’t belive me?  Go check out GreenBiz for some more in depth research (i. e., more than me sitting on my couch at 7 am on a Saturday morning blogging off the top of my head), a job board, career advice, etc al.  There’s a pretty useful report buried in there on the topic of making an environmentally savvy career change - to, say CitiGroup.  I ain’t kidding, and that’s about as mainstream as you get.

Now’s the type to jump in - the bar is still pretty low regarding these firms requiring experience out of a green company, but as things ramp up they’ll start requiring it.  And there you’ll be: relevant experience in hand, attractive spouse who was impressed that you were doing good for a living, and sleeping oh so good at night in your 100% unbleached cotton, hypoallergenic sheets.

*These statements are not to be taken as any form of guarantee.  The author of this blog can’t even guarantee that there is a Heaven, and he’s pretty sure it’s bad news about Santa (with apologies to Virginia if she’s reading this).  While it’s possible that there is some sort of place where good people go after they shuffle off of this mortal coil, it’s also possible that the place has lowered its standards like a US military during an ill advised land war in the Middle East, and you could get in by simply avoiding committing homicide.  It’s equally possible that the place has kept it’s standards, in which case they’re admitting about 1 person per year right now.

Resumes on the Web

I’m going to let you in on a little trick I use to find people on-line - most of my recruiting brethren already know it, so if you’re one of them feel free to skip this.  But, if you’re job seeker or novice recruiter looking for a quick tip, here you go:

Get your resume on-line.  You can publish it through a blog, or upload it (free) through services like Scribd.  Before you do, make sure you have the right key-words on the resume (if you need to, you can simply put a “skills” section listing them off).  Here’s why - one of the ways I dig is to do this: I’ll go to google or ask.com, whichever, and do an advanced search.  In the box for required words, i’ll type (no quotation marks, fyi): “inurl:resume” followed by some terms I want to see (IE, “marketing” “.Net”, etc).  Then I’ll go to the box that lets me put in “must have one of these terms”, and I’ll plug in all the area codes (separated by a space from each other) that I can think of for the area I’m searching for candidates from.  I’ll choose to only see resumes that have been updated or touched by their author in the past 6  months, and hit “enter”.  Then, if I get a shitload of results, I’ll search through them to drill down.  We just hired a Director I found that way, who was just being passive with her search and hadn’t posted anywhere else. 

See, and be seen.  Employment Digest has a few good tips here on the same topic, but I want to offer one bit of advice that runs counter to theirs: they say don’t be afraid to apply, and apply, and apply again for the same role.  I’d caution you to only do that if you’re applying to some massive corporation where your pretty sure it’s a black hole.  If you’re applying to a small company (ie, a ZoomInfo), most resumes do get read on the first application, and if you aren’t called back it’s because of lack of interest or fit.  Applying over and over feels like stalking.