Risk

Whew! What a frustrating week. My job as a Corporate Recruiter is very rewarding, and frustrating at the same time.

We keep hearing about the high rate of unemployment almost every time we turn on the television or read the paper. So you would think that finding people that are interested in working would be easy right?

Last week I called and emailed about 300 people. All of these people have their resume posted on Monster. For those of you that don’t know what Monster is it’s a giant database of resumes. Job seekers choose to put their resume there to let recruiters know that they are looking for work. If I actually call 300 people can you imagine how many resumes I actually reviewed?

This week was more frustrating than most. I left a lot of voice mails, and followed up with emails. That’s pretty typical. The frustrating part was how rude the people I talked to were. Most of the resumes that I called on have the last employer listed in 2008. That means that these people have been out of work for almost two years.

Now I know that the position that I am recruiting for is not the right fit for most people. It’s B2B, Outside Sales, 100% commission and 1099. So I expect that about 75% of the people I talk to will pass on the opportunity, and I am completely ok with that.

After this week I am wondering what happened over the last two years? I have been talking friends that are recruiters and they have the same frustrations. I have also been talking with people that I know that are out of work. Their frustrations are high because they are tired of being told they are “over qualified”. What exactly does that mean? I know what “over qualified” meant three years ago, but I have no idea what that means today.

When I was looking for a job, I was just as frustrated as the people I know. I was equally shocked at the way I was treated by recruiters. Now I am recruiting again, and trying to find a way to bring balance back to recruiting.

I recently read an article on ERE. The Electronic Recruiting Exchange, called “It’s Time to Hire Tiger Woods” http://www.ere.net. The title of the article caught my eye, so I just had to read it. I was really glad that I did. It talks about hiring the “over qualified” candidates. Yes there are risks involved, but no great reward ever came with out risk.

At what point do we, as recruiters start taking a risk? It’s time to start talking with those “over qualified” candidates. Are they going to be a fit? Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Maybe they will be a great resource for referrals. Remember everybody knows somebody.

When are job seekers going to stop being bitter, angry, and rude? If we are not willing to give each other a chance, how will we ever be able to help each other? Recruiters may find that dream candidate, and job seekers you may find that dream job, that you never knew you wanted.

Risk is a very scary thing. It’s uncomfortable, and there is no guarantee. Think about the times when you took a risk, what was the outcome? How did you feel after that? I know that every time I’ve taken a risk there has always been a great reward.