Recruiting Animal

Treat Smart People To Lunch

Hubspot's policy: "Take someone smart out for a meal. Learn something. Expense it. No approval needed. No limits. No rules. Use good judgment.“

At age 24, Shah had a small network so he asked a senior sales rep for guidance.

“His advice: ‘Pickup golf. Big deals are always done on the golf course.’

This was a problem I had never held a golf club and golf took time, money and patience, none of which I had.” Shah tells Quartz, expressing a sentiment that most people who aren’t wealthy white men can relate to.

“So instead, I decided that to replace golf as a way to do business, I would do meals.

"I would reach out to companies in cities I was traveling to and offer to take them out for a really nice meal. It worked so well that we made it a company-wide policy: Anyone could take anyone else out for a meal and expense it to the company.”

Swearing Is Good For You

On The Recruiting Animal Show, guest, Chris Schwacofer, came under fire for his salty tongue. So, here's an article about that:

"For as long as I can remember, I’ve been unable to convincingly curse.... If I’m chatting with a colleague and they start dropping F-bombs, I freeze up ...

"Am I paying a price for talking like Ned Flanders?

"In her new book Swearing Is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language, author Emma Byrne makes a strong case that the answer is yes.

"Swearing is “socially and emotionally essential” and “beneficial to us.”

"Swearing is so fundamental to human expression, that people with neurological conditions that cause them to lose the ability to speak regular words are still able to swear.

"Swearing can offer emotional catharsis and improve productivity. Her hope, she writes, is that we “might give it the respect it fucking deserves.”

Job Search Optimism

The other day, Rob Dromgoole, an excellent recruiter, posted a quotation from Colin Powell on Facebook. It read: "Optimism is a force multiplier".

That was one of of Powell's rules for leadership. He also said this:

"I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says, "We can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals... Give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day". 

This struck a positive chord with me but I think that it can be misleading.

When it came to taking military action, Powell was very cautious. The so-called Powell Doctrine  demanded that a lot of conditions to be met before you did anything.

• Is a vital national security interest threatened?
• Do we have a clear attainable objective?
• Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
• Have all non-violent means been fully exhausted?
• Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid entanglement?
• Have the consequences been fully considered?
• Is the action supported by the American people?
• Do we have broad international support?

This makes him sound like a real "pick your battles" kind of guy who shared a lot of concerns with the "grim realists" he denigrated. In a job hunting context, it would mean "Don't apply for anything and everything". 

Michael G. Cox, another smart recruiter, quipped that Wayne Gretzky, the hockey player, ruined job search when he said "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take".

What did he mean by that? Gretzky's optimistic maxim encourages people to act on the basis of their unrealistic aspirations so they apply for a lot of jobs that they are clearly not qualified for.

As a result, recruiters are overwhelmed with useless resumes. And they resent it. They have no respect at all for people who apply for anything and everything. Doing that just makes you look stupid.

So, rather than taking Gretzky's optimistic advice or Powell's, stick with the more sober Powell Doctrine. Don't apply for a job unless you meet most of the qualifications and have a realistic chance of being able to do it from day one.

 

Fearless Cold Calls - Free e-Book

   It's called an ebook but it's really just a pamphlet. An easy read. 22 pages in a big font (plus notes).

 

It offers a few reasons why you might be uncomfortable making cold calls.

And it suggests a fairly simple way to address the problem. 

To get your free copy just send an email to [email protected]

Put EBOOK in the subject line and I'll send it to you in a pdf.

You won't be sorry. But if you don't like it you can criticize it all you want. I want to know what the critics have to say.

 

Lovely Lisa Rosendahl wins Tim Sackett Day

Hello Dahly, This is @animal, Dahly.
It's so nice to see you up where you belong.

Man, sometimes I wake up in the morning and ask myself: Is there anyone in the arts world as interesting as Lisa Rosendahl?

And then I tell myself: wrong Lisa Rosendahl. You don't know her. You know Lisa Rosendahl the builder of men. But I know that's sexist. Lisa doesn't build men -- or women. She builds leaders. And leading is important.

The president of the United States just said that he wants to give power back to the people so the people have to be to be ready to lead their own lives, don't they?

And how do you become a leader? "Leadership is a choice," says Lisa. "It takes takes practice," says Lisa. "Real leaders practice every day. It's time to grow up and lead."

You have to choose to practice. But you know what? It's the 21st century and some people haven't chosen to learn to type. So not everyone is going to choose to practice leadership but for those who do, Lisa offers herself as a guide.

I see your hidden strengths, she declares. "I see confidence, ownership and strength where it wasn't visible before. And that's the leadership sweet spot for me. It's not a title. It's not my name in lights. It's creating possibility where none existed before." Wow! I need her to be my second mom.

And, you want a surprise? All that leadership stuff is just a sideline. In everyday life, Lisa is the Acting Associate Director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Yes, she's a leader herself. And, Lisa, although I'm not in the military or an American, today, on Tim Sackett Day, I salute you.

 

 

The Bright Side Of Lying

I've got some good news for you today. Everyone knows recruiters have to lie. You call a company to speak to a candidate and the receptionist asks you why you are calling.

Well, you can't just say "I called to schedule an interview for Bill with another company." You have to lie.

And, now, scientists agree. They say that you can't succeed in modern society without the ability to tell good lies.

They say that if you're successful socially you probably know how to lie well and if you are a good liar it means you're smart.

Dr. Kang Lee says children who are good liars are more likely to have future social success. It's the dopes who are bad liars. He says, "Kids with juvenile delinquencies tend to be poor liars,".

If your child is lying convincingly by age 2, you've probably got an exceptionally smart kid because only 30% of children that age can pull off a good lie.

Children under 8 come across as very sincere in their lies but their choice of words gives them away. Their lies aren't cunningly crafted. And that's a lesson for us too. The words you choose make a difference.

And here's a tip for managers. The researchers told kids stories about lying to see how they affected their honesty.

Stories like The Boy Who Cried Wolf that try to scare children had no effect at all but the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree did because it highlights the benefits of honesty.

So fear doesn't work. A positive vision does. And you won't find a show that's more positive than... Jerry Jerry what show is this?

My Facebook Group

I have a Facebook group where recruiters talk about recruiting. It gets a few mentions.

Here's a recent one from 1-Page:

 

 

Here's one I found a year and a half after it was written from Chris South.

 

 

 

 

The Phone Sourcing Newbie

featuring: Maureen Sharib and Pam

 

Counter-Offers

 

More here: KibbenClayton

What Is Content Marketing?

 

More here: Matt Charney On Content Marketing