See who is already coming to #socialrecruiting summit in November!
How do you find top talent? We, along with our clients look for passive candidates using a variety of methods. Active candidates can also be in the pipeline too, especially because there are many folks who have found themselves unemployed for reasons beyond their control. My question today is will your clients look at unemployed professionals?
If yes, that is wonderful and if no how do you persuade your clients to look at an "A" Player who is unemployed?
Look forward to your replies.
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I fully agree with Jim. The two critical things are the 'reasons for leaving' fully explained and thorough reference checks. If the recruiter has done their job on those two factors and the client still won't interview 'anyone unemployed' then it's likely the client will find further spurious reasons to reject other valid candidates you refer.
A good signal to dump that time-wasting client and move on to greener pastures.
I believe that the "rules have changed" during this downturn. In the past years being unemployed was a "red flag" that may clients saw and raised the doubt in their minds. This was because most of the "A" companies realized that even if they had downsizing that they would "protect" their top talent - so in their minds if a person was unemployed (for any reason) that they were not a top performer.
Currently things are changing, ableit slowly. When entire plants shut down there is no way to keep ANYONE, when staffs are cut and managers tell you that they are no longer losing "fat" but cutting into muscle and bone then even the A+ players get sliced and diced.
I have found that BEFORE presenting an unemployed candidate for a position that I do the front end work and present the reasons why the individual is on the market AND present references to back them up. Even my most adamant "don't send me unemployed" clients are starting to understand that it could be them in the next round and have loosened up for the true A players that were in the wrong place at the wrong time!
BUT if you are unemployed and have a track record of multiple short term jobs - you will have a difficult time finding someone that will have a mindset to hire you.
Do your work and present true top players and clients will respond (if they are really interested in finding good talent) if they don't and won't give you "real" reasons - time to move on to other search assignments!
Jim your comments were right on target. Using "why is that" is a great tool that so may people don't use. We have all run into the same issue with requiring college graduates even if the degree they have has nothing to do with the job.
In the end the customer is always right (wink wink, nod nod) but that doesn't mean you have to work for them.
Sheila,
Great question, and very timely! First, if a client positively will not consider an "A" player who is unemployed, I would certainly not consider them an "A" client. Having said that....
I would very directly ask them, "Why?" The answer they give will tell you what direction you might take to persuade them, or if there is any chance of doing so. Obviously, there are too many variables to the "why" question to address all possible responses, but here is one that I would certainly try at some point:
"So, let me see if I understand this correctly...you would rather have me present you a "B" candidate who is currently employed than an "A" candidate who has been unemployed for a month?" If the client waffles a little, or backs off from the "unemployed" concern, then you press for more info to find out what the real concerns are. If the client confirms that they would want to see the "B" rather than the unemployed "A", I would have to accept that, and move them to my "B" client list. That does not mean I would not try to find someone for them, it just means I would move my "A" clients/job orders ahead of them.
The most important issue here is that first we must find out the "why" behind the concern. Get the client to talk, and you will learn much more than if you just launch into a well-prepared pitch about why unemployed candidates should be considered. Good luck to you!
Jim thanks great comment!
As someone who chose to take a buyout because of the company's financials and is now unemployed and looking, I will be very interested in the responses to this blog.
This is why I posted this. Deborah I am very interested too. Let's hope we get some great responses.
This continues to be a problem for hiring managers and companies that have not developed good methods of evaluating skills, knowledge, and abilities in candidates. Dependence on broad categories like a degree (who cares where or what) and whether someone is employed (without understanding the context) is classic discrimination based on broad perceptions that frequently are not rooted in reality.
Trying to move an individual like this is like moving a mountain. It's unfortunate that hiring managers with this level of skill were not laid off since hiring is one of the key skills that qualify them as managers. I applaud a recruiter that can successfully educate a hiring manager to move away from this simplistic, dare I say mindless, approach to one that focuses on the needs of the job, the organization, and the candidates fit.
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