The Recruiting Animal

In Defence of Salesmen, Part 2

(Audio version here)

Last week, I criticized a young, corporate recruiter for slandering salesmen on his blog. Well, he got in touch with me because he didn't like hearing me say his philosophy is well suited to cult members and cream puffs but not strong women and real men.

And you know what that means? That even after listening this little punk still didn't get it. So I'm going to have to teach him another lesson, today. And, I'm going to start by telling him -- and you -- about a conversation I had with Maureen Sharib at the end of last week's show. Maureen, as you might know, is the Queen Bee of Telephone Sourcing and she was telling me how a sourcer will call a stranger inside a company to ask for information.

Sometimes the person you're talking to won't know the exact information you're asking for but you know she does have some information that can help you so you have to coach her then and there on how to give you what you need. For instance, you might ask for the Director of Strategic Sourcing and she says, "Oh we don't have one of those". So you say, "Well, do you have a Director of Procurement?" And she says, "Gee, I don't know."

My point is that this person might be busy so she might get impatient and Maureen was telling me that she can hear the impatience in that other person's voice. But here's what I want to point out. She's not afraid of it. It doesn't scare her. She's not thinking, "I'm afraid because this person is getting mad at me." She's not thinking, "If she gets angry the sky is going to fall down." She's not thinking, "If she gets mad and hangs up before I get what I need this search is going to be shot to hell and everyone's going to be mad at me and I won't be able to earn a living and I'm going to lose my house and that's going to be a total disaster."

No, Maureen doesn't think those things. And you know why? Because Maureen has the heart of a salesman. She doesn't feel any fear. And that's what separates her from everybody else. She isn't afraid of other people. And that's what I was trying to say last week when I was defending salesmen against the slander of that lily-livered, corporate man.

A salesman is someone who goes out among strangers and tries to get them to do what he wants. And if you're going to do that, you can't be afraid of other people's thoughts and feelings. You have to see them as facts, not threats. They're neutral facts you have to work with, not something you have to run from.

And you know, recruiters and sourcers, last week Maureen and I we were also talking about a famous song called, "Viva Las Vegas". It's a terrific song with fantastic lyrics, and I want you to listen to this verse.

"There's blackjack, poker and a roulette wheel
"A fortune won and lost on every deal.
"All you need's a strong heart and nerves of steel.

Maureen Sharib has nerves of steel. Real salesmen have nerves of steel. They're ready to ask people for things those people don't want to give -- and they don't care. If you don't like them that's just too bad. They see a negative reaction as an opportunity to turn you around. And that's more personal power than most of us can ever imagine having.

Me, personally, I'm a Clark Kent. These guys, they're supermen. They're unstoppable. And, that, Mr Corporate Recruiter, is the kind of person I want to be and if you understand what I'm saying, you should want it too.

In Defence of Salesmen, Part 1

Animal Show July 30 NOON EDT

GUEST: Jerry Albright, The Einstein of Indiana
TOPIC: Recording Your Calls

Jerry has a new invention that allows you to record your interviews directly to your hard drive then upload them to a website where your clients can actually hear your candidates answer questions (and vice versa)

LISTEN HERE

Happy Birthday Maren Hogan

The Red Hot Mama From Omahama makes a bold, clear, meaningful declaration for a new year.

And don't forget: Maren will be signing autographs at RecruitFest

But, tell me, when is she going to get a chance to speak at an industry conference? Really, ask yourself: How come Maren, an eager Gen Y woman who loves to speak and is so full of good ideas, has been passed over when it comes to delivering a talk, in favour of a bunch of old white men? Who's holding her back?

You know the answer. The Baby Boomers. The fat cat experts who fear Gen Y. They're doing it -- again. Just wait till my man, Barack Obama gets in, then we'll see some change -- when Michelle and Oprah start kicking some boomer butt.

        And it's burn baby burn.
When am I gonna get my turn

Don't Hire People Who Have Young Children

Interviewer: Do you have little kids at home?

Candidate: Yes, we do.

Interviewer: Nice meeting you.

People with young kids are always tired.
This is typical:

"I often feel worn out before the day even starts.
The other day I was nodding off at my desk."

When people lived in the forest, they could lay down for a snooze whenever they wanted.

Now, with both parents obliged to take baby duty during the night and go to work the next morning, no one who has little kids ever gets enough sleep.

And we all know how important sleep is, don't we. Every health article is harping on it all of the time.

So, why would you want to hire someone when he's bound to be inefficient? Isn't it enough that you're stuck with the parents you brought in when they were single.

Although it was tongue in cheek, this posting got a lot of comments first time around. Papa said it helped us reach "new lows".

This week, we'll take a look at the biggest surprises and disappointments in the Recruiting blogs. Pretty slim pickings.

Recruiting.com, who we are still trying to love, reaches new lows with "Don't Hire People Who Have Young Kids" and....
-- interbiznet, August 04, 2005

Canadians Are Nice People

Toronto Weekend Violence

"Police investigating two shootings in Toronto's west end are asking witnesses to step forward with information about the spate of violence that left two men in hospital, one with life-threatening injuries."

Gen Y Candidate Not Transparent

Obama campaign arrogant and controlling

From: End of the Affair, The New Republic, Gabriel Sherman

Last year, when Hillary Clinton campaigned as a front-runner, Obama provided access to the press corps and won over the media.

One night, during a campaign stop in Iowa, he met reporters for off-the-record drinks. He cooperated for magazine profiles and appeared on the cover of GQ.

....Reporters who cover Obama these days grouse that Obama's flacks shroud the campaign in secrecy and provide little to no access. "They're more disciplined than the Bush people," a reporter on the Obama trail gripes. "There was this idea of being transparent, but they're not. They're total tightwads with information."

Reporters are grumbling more and more that the campaign is acting like the Prom Queen. They gripe that it is "arrogant" and "control[ling]," and the campaign's own belief that Obama is poised to make history isn't endearing, either.

Obama's press liaison, Robert Gibbs, has built a particularly large reservoir of ill will.... David Mendell.... wrote about Gibbs as "the anti-Obama" and described him as "Obama's hired gun, skillfully trained to shoot at reporters whose coverage was deemed unfair.

....."if [Gibbs] feels you're necessary to achieve a campaign goal, he will give you access and allow you in. But, if he feels you're not going to be of help, he can just ignore you."

....the campaign hasn't helped itself, approaching reporters with a sense of entitlement. "They're an arrogant operation. Young and arrogant," one reporter covering the campaign says. "They don't believe in transparency with their own campaign," another says.

See also: Gen Y Idol Worship

US Winning Iraq War

Associated Press claims that the Iraq is now focusing on peace building rather than combat.

The enemy can no longer threaten the central government. The steady bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and ambushes have all but ceased.

This is happening because the Sunni Muslim minority has switched sides in return for money and political support from the Americans.

Shiite Muslim extremists were kicked out of the Sadr City slums of eastern Baghdad in the spring and they are losing support among the Shiite population because it is no longer so afraid of the Sunni Muslim terrorists

Systematic sectarian killings have all but ended in the capital, in large part because of tight security and a strategy of walling off neighborhoods purged of minorities in 2006. That has helped establish a sense of normalcy in the streets of the capital.

Mr Moustache Rides Again

On July 23, 2008, Mr Moustache Richard Becker of copywriteink.com made his third appearance on The Recruiting Animal Show.

In his recap of the show, Moustache points out how ignorant recruiters can be about branding.

Simply saying “I’m a recruiter” is not really a message; it’s a job description... it doesn’t do much to help a prospect decide why they might choose to work with one recruiter over another.

Moustache also takes a shot at companies that are too chicken to blog for fear of what readers will say in the comments.

Some professionals and companies... tend to shy away from social media because they are too afraid of what other people might think, say, or do.

Personally, I think that’s baloney. If your professional or company message cannot stand up to a challenge now and again, then your message probably doesn’t have much merit at all.

Meaning, they might have a good message but not the service to back it up.

I wanted to talk to Moustache about many things but I didn't manage the time properly. (I guess I let Cliff Mintz hog the floor because he's got a PhD.) So I'll have to have Moustache back again.

One thing I particularly wanted to discuss were his thoughts about apologies. I think he advises us do it once and move on because it's better to take a hit from angry victims than try to placate them endlessly. I like the spunk in that answer but it requires some clarification.

Clip from the show: Branding by Company name.
See also: Dave Manaster vs Susan Strayer on branding.

In Defence of Salesmen

(Audio version here)

Are recruiters salesmen? There are two schools of thought here. One says yes but there's a whole bunch of other guys who go around bragging that they're not into sales. I came across one of them last week on Fistful of Talent.com. His name is Jason Pankow and I want to take a look at how this little punk, I mean corporate recruiter, builds his case against sales.

First he sets up a straw man. Right off the bat he tells you that a salesman is a hustler, someone who doesn't give a hoot about anybody but himself. All he thinks about is how he can trick you into buying a lousy product for a lot of money.

And just in case we don't get the message -- because it's so original -- right beside his posting he put a picture of a greasy guy in a loud suit standing in a used car lot.

But, you know, I think that must be a picture of Jason himself because, really, what difference is there between a classic used car salesman and a guy who tries to sell you the kind of shoddy argument Jason Pankow is shopping around? The answer is not very much.

Before we go any further I'm going to tell you what a salesman really is. Because it's not at all like Mr Pankow says. A salesman is a gutsy guy who isn't afraid to go up to complete strangers and ask them to do what he wants.

And when they say no he doesn't slink away like a wounded animal. He doesn't run and hide under a rock. No, he tries to show them where they're making an mistake.

Now a person like this has a lot more courage than the average guy. In the war for business, he's not peeling potatoes somewhere behind the lines. No, he's right up there at the front in hand to hand combat bringing in the orders that make the company run.

So everyone is jealous because beside him they look like nobodies. So what do they do? Instead of simply admitting that they are chickens and he's a hero they complain that sales people are pushy and salesmen are liars and then they pat themselves on the back for being such nice guys.

Did you see Beverly Hills Cop? The hero, Eddie Murphy, he's a salesman. The other guys, they're Jason Pankows. But here's something funny. When you first read Jason's postings you might think that he's as far from being a salesman as anyone could be.

I mean, he's got an article that tells recruiters they have to eat, sleep and breathe the corporate culture. And after you see that you say to yourself: a salesman is an individual, a hunter, a real American -- and this guy doesn't have an independent bone in his body.

But don't kid yourself. Panky is a salesman too. He might have merged his identity with Big Brother's but what do cult members normally do? They try to convert people. And this guy is watching like a hawk for any opportunity to show the candidate that he's just like him.

"You played frisbee at college? Me too. You like softball? We've got a league." Just like any salesman Jason is trying to reel the guy in. It might be soft sales -- for cream puffs -- but sales it is no matter how much he denies it.

And again, how different is it, really from what the used car salesman does? My friend, The Funny Banker, says that all sales is lying. That sounds outrageous, I know, but in a way, it's true. If you put your best foot forward you're hiding your worst foot, aren't you? And, I'll bet you dollars for donuts that anyone who sees himself as a missionary for of the corporate culture isn't focusing on the downside of the job.

Feedback
I spent many years denying my "salesman" mentality. My breaks came when I embraced exactly what you describe: I have the guts to talk to people I don't know, I rarely take "no" for an answer, and I am not afraid to ask again... I'll keep my worst foot well behind the other, thank you very much.
-- Rayanne Trumbo

Pose as a career consultant to sell candidates on jobs

Margaret Graziano says:
If you act like a career consultant, candidates will trust you.

So, forget about the job you are trying to fill for 45 minutes and get to know the candidate well. Just like a career consultant would. Then have a great sell.