I am incredibly addicted to my Nintendo Wii - I'll admit it!  I grabbed one of the few Wii Fit available last weekend and have only increased my addiction.  When my wife convinced me try one of the yoga exercises yesterday - well... lets just say... yoga and I do not seem to get along.  As I was told - the pose I did was a relatively easier one - but that did not matter... my back is killing me now.  I need to stick to positions my body was meant to be in.  Well - what does any of this have to do with recruiting?  Who knows..

As I was sitting on my couch trying to figure out why I tried to do yoga - I started thinking about what was important in the Wii exercise.  Almost every 'game' they have you has one underlying theme - center of balance.  My center of balance seems to key in creating the most effective work out (hey!  no picking on me for working out with my gaming system more than I do anywhere else, okay?!).  So I started thinking (thankfully to myself - my wife thinks I am crazy enough already) about center of balance when it comes to recruiting.  In order to have the most effecting recruiting experience - we must be in a state of recruiting balance.  This is a list of what I could think of that I need to be in balance to create the most effecting recruiting effort for me

1) Client need: This is an easy one - there must be a need for my services

2) Candidate need: Easy one as well - I need to have candidates that need my assistance in their job search

3) Timing: Yes, all searches are "urgent" or they wouldn't need a recruiter - but I need to have adequate time to dedicate to sourcing, recruiting and managing my candidate relationships

4) Job Details: I don't need all of the details that my candidate would be doing - just the main points would be nice. 

5) Compensation: I need the amount of time that I am going to put into a search to be financially beneficial.  This is an area that I am not sure many like to talk about but is very important.

So here is my question - what is your recruiting center of balance?  What do you need to have in balance to create a productive and profitable environment?