The Perfect Fit

The Same Company For An Entire Career?

I attended a seminar this morning presented by the St. Louis Business Journal, "The New Economy".  Michael Forster, Managing Partner of Sandberg, Phoenix & Von Gontard and Doug Mueller of Mueller Prost PC were the presenters.  The discussion centered around what businesses can/should be doing as we move (slowly) out of the recession.

While much of the discussion dealt with business operating methods and protocols, there were times when issues affecting employees were discussed.  Actually, it was more like how employees affect businesses.  I was struck that there was no mention of the need for programs to support (if not assure) employee retention. 

I've written previously in this blog about how employees have a responsibility to themselves to find appropriate training and grow professionally (The Workplace Has Changed . . . Have You?).  Hopefully, employers are supporting (and paying for) that effort.   I've also talked about the need for the retention of premier employees (Are you Being Taken Care Of . . . Or Taken Advantage Of?)  Employees need to grow in their careers, and employers should want to keep those employees who consistently do that.

There was what I considered to be an interesting observation made by Mr. Forster.  He suggested that in the "new economy", we had to behave more like in the "old economy".  He talked about the need for dedicated hard work for everyone, no matter what you do.  Hard work like in the "old days".  Hard work like our parents and grandparents talk about.  Interesting . . . that seems to fly in the face of theories of accommodating the newest generations X & Y. 

Further, it was suggested that the development of "real expertise" is being eroded by automated systems, and the reality that employees no longer stay with one company long enough to develop or enhance that company's specific expertise.  Another interesting point.  Think about how few people in the workforce now rise through the ranks from the bottom to the top of the same enterprise.  Can you think of any?

Obviously, innovation in any business creates advantage.  Innovation will be essential to fuel the "real" growth of the US economy.  I'm not talking about getting back to where we were, I'm talking about significant, job creating, lifestyle enhancing, growth.  Innovation is the result of happy, experienced employees. 

It seems like the way things are going, we are not on a track to have many of those!

Think about how your existing job and career might change if you decided you were going to become the CEO of your company.  You wouldn't let those little "issues of the day" bother you.  You'd find better ways of doing things.  You wouldn't take "no" for an answer.  You'd become Indispensable to your employer . . . and in so doing, become immeasurably more valuable ("Are You Indispensable Or Vulnerable?").  If all that happened in the longer term, you'd get promotion after promotion. You'd rise through the ranks, until you reached the top.  Interesting . . .

Do you really have a career strategy to reach career goals, or are you just looking for what you perceive to be a "better job" . . . ?  Are you expert enough to innovate?

Just curious . . .!

Companies Should Send Candidates Thank-You Notes, Too

That's the headline in a recent Ad Age article.  Sub-Head, "It's a Great PR Move for Prospective Employers".  I completely agree with Paul Gumbinner, the author of the Ad Age article. Paul writes,

"After an interview, it's surprising that only about 60% of candidates send a thank-you note (an even smaller percentage sends them after visiting with a recruiter). Aside from being an expression of good manners, a short note expressing interest can go a long way toward promoting a person's candidacy.

Of course, much has been written about thank-you notes in terms of job seekers. But I wanted to tackle something that, to my knowledge, has not been suggested before: Interviewers should send them to candidates, as well.

I would like to propose that this should be the policy at every advertising agency."

It should be a policy at every single employer, period . . . not just agencies.  I know most job seekers would say, "Hey, how about a simple acknowledgment of my interest in your company?"  It's extremely annoying to me that the vast majority of employers (75%+ ?), don't even bother to acknowledge receipt of a resume or inquiry.  Most employers are a black hole for resume submissions and as such, are committing PR suicide.  I've written about this previously with "Screw You, Candidate!"

In the near future, skilled employees are going to be at a premium.  Once you factor in their experience, career goals and fit with an employer's culture, they will be even more limited.  Yet, companies don't take the opportunity even acknowledge an interested candidates' resume.  They should thank every single applicant and treat each one with respect.  Respect is the foundation for retention and for hiring.  If respect exists in a corporate culture, so does employee retention.  You can't recruit someone with disrespect!

Respect (obviously) even goes beyond retention and recruiting.  It shouldn't exist for self-serving reasons.  It should exist because it's the right way to do things . . . everything.

Yesterday, I tweeted the article "Respect: A Key Ingredient for innovation".  The Innovation Tools blog goes on to state:

"Respect is a key ingredient for successfully bringing a new creation to market. In other words, innovation. At the highest level, senior managers should have respect for both the future of the organization and for the people they are responsible for guiding.

The senior management team needs to be seen by the troops as having their best interests in mind, and not just pumping up the stock price. If the senior managers are viewed within the company as being self-serving and unconcerned about the long-term success of the firm, the creativity and focus needed across the company will not flourish."

Why is a lack of common sense, civility and respect so much the norm?  Is it laziness, selfishness or (heaven forbid) expense?  Do employers consider themselves to be "too busy"?   How many of you will ever work for a company who never bothered acknowledging your interest or failed to treat you with respect?

Art Auction For Heart And Haiti In St. Louis

I just found out that a former employee of mine Julie Campbell,  who owns The Three Sinks art gallery in Webster is planning an art auction this coming Friday.  Here's all the info . . .

"Three Sinks Gallery is hosting a benefit event, St. Louis Artists Benefit for Haiti, with proceeds donated to the American Red Cross and the relief effort in Haiti.

Twenty-five artists have donated work to be exhibited at Three Sinks and previewed here on Facebook. 100% of the proceeds of the event will be donated to the American Red Cross. A silk-screen art t-shirt will be available for purchase online and in the gallery. This limited edition t-shirt will be significant to the heritage and plight of the Haitian people.

The exhibit will be held at Three Sinks Gallery, and will be available for viewing from January 25th through January 30th, 2010. A cocktail reception and silent auction will be held at the gallery from 6 to 9pm on Friday January 29th, 2010.

This event is in conjunction with Finale Fridays, a new happening occurring on the last Friday of each month and designed to give visitors a chance to sip, shop and stroll through unique Webster Groves establishments.

Location: Three Sinks Gallery - 8715 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves MO 63119"

I hope you'll make every effort to attend.  Further, I hope you'll pass this message along to your friends/colleagues and your social network.  Let's get the word out on this auction and help Julie raise some serious money for the victims of the Haitian earthquake!

A partial selection of the art along with additional information can be found on Julie's Facebook page.

Marketing Headhunter Gets Smarter with Twitter

I'm starting to embrace Twitter more and more enthusiastically, as I use it more and become comfortable with it.  I'm an advocate of continuing education and staying abreast of industry news, trends and new ways/ideas for doing something.  I'm finding Twitter to be extremely helpful in that pursuit.

I still read about six or eight trade and professional publications a month.  That has always been my way to know what was going on, hear about new ideas and the like.  I'm starting to find that the lead times for publication make that media almost dated by the time it's published.  Even weeklies like AdWeek and Ad Age print content that I've already seen or actually read through with all the electronic updates I now receive.

I created my Twitter account maybe two or so years ago with the username @HeadhunterBob (I encourage you to follow me!).  I had no idea what to do with that account for the longest time, yet I kept having people follow me.  I couldn't figure it out, I'd never sent one tweet, yet I had followers!

Over the past few months, I've started tweeting more frequently and I'm feeling very good about that for two reasons.  One, I feel like I'm "giving something back" . . . I've been told that followers appreciate the content of my tweets and enjoy reading many of them.  Second, I read more . . . a lot more.  I now read articles from literally scores of sources, including blogs, and articles of others I follow on Twitter.  It's enlightening.  I feel like I have a much better idea of what's going on, much sooner.

I'm sure you know that Twitter now integrates with the LinkedIn update box in your profile.  You can send tweets right from LinkedIn!

I tweet about issues related to recruiting, employment, employee retention, employer culture, marketing and advertising trends, etc.. In short, content that should be of interest to most in our marketing/employer/employee communities.  There are several other applications that have grown up around the world of Twitter, that I've found very useful.  I'd like to share some of those.

The most important is probably Tweet Deck.  Tweet Deck pushes the tweets of those you follow.  On Twitter.com, you have to refresh the page to see new Tweets.  Tweet Deck also allows you to follow several of (your own) accounts at the same time, as well as notifying you of any "direct tweets", or mentions of your username.  It's flattering to be "re-tweeted" and Tweet Deck tells you when that happens.

TweetChat is an application that lets you use the #(hashtag) to find people to follow in particular categories of interest . . . in my case, marketing, advertising, media, etc..  Twitter itself has an advance search capability that isn't so easy to find (you could look for users in your city).  If you'd like to tweet a photograph, use Twitpic.  Twellow is a directory of public Twitter accounts, with hundreds of categories and search features to help you find people who matter to you.

The last tip I have goes beyond Twitter.  It's a preferred method for shortening urls.  The reason it's preferred is that bit.ly tracks the number of times a particular url that you've sent has been clicked.  It's very cool and far superior to tinyurl, for example.

Go to Twitter, create a username and profile and get out into the Twitterverse!  It's fun and you'll actually learn something!

For those of you already using Twitter, do you have any stories of it's benefits?

SEO Training At Buzzhound in St. Louis . . . Superb!

I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on SEO training yesterday.  It was presented by a new local company called Buzzhound.  I was looking forward to the training for two reasons.  I thought I would be able to put additional knowledge to work for the benefit of my website, this blog and in general, my online marketing efforts.  Additionally, I thought it important to keep up with the principles of online marketing.  It's obvious that online/digital marketing is a huge growth area for the future of marketing and advertising.  SEO is fundamental to and the foundation of every company's online presence (or certainly should be).  I want to stay as current as possible.

It took less than 15 minutes for me to be impressed with the presentation and to realize that the two presenters were experts on their topics.  I assumed that would be the case.  What I wasn't sure of, is how they would present the materials.  I wasn't sure how complex the material would be or if I had enough basic knowledge to be able to take advantage at all.

The presentation was incredibly well organized.  It was presented in a straightforward, simple and logical way.  Each of us was given our own computer, already set up with all the documents, tools, links, etc. that we'd be using during the day.  It was slick, it was efficient . . . and it was effective!

It was obvious from the conversations with the other eight participants that they were as excited as I was to be "finally" reaching a level of understanding about how SEO works.  What's more important, is that I believe every one of us walked out of the event with a clear idea of how to improve each of our own websites.  There were some marketing professionals in attendance as well.  It was obvious that they were excited about what they were learning and how they could take that knowledge and add value to their clients.  They mystery of SEO was removed.  We were able to see "behind the curtain" and realize that there are simple tools available to help a website's SEO.

I was also impressed with how organized the presentation was and the support materials we were able to take back to our offices.  Buzzhound provided all of the tools used for key word development, website page ranking and overall site "health", analytics and more.  I think part of the real value of the workshop was having the ability to see someone using these tools.  You can read and/or hear about this stuff ad nauseum, but to see how simple it is to use the tools made all the difference.  In fact, SEO concepts are not all that complex or difficult to understand.  The presentation made sense, so it was easy to learn and understand the material.  The Workbook we all left with has even more detailed than the presentation itself.  I know I'll be able to successfully refer to it for answers, when I have questions later.  Buzzhound even gave us a jump drive with the documents we created during the presentation and the tools/applications and links we used for the tools.

I want to recommend this training.  I think every professional company should send (at least) one person to this workshop.  I think the money spent is well worth the value received.  I don't know how anyone can be serious about enhancing their web presence, or marketing communications without starting with SEO.  It's the most fundamental essential, after having a website at all!

Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level in Two Decades

In a Conference Board Report released last week:

Researchers have found that employee satisfaction is at the lowest point since they began measuring this in 1987.

Employee satisfaction in 1987 was 61%.  In the most recent survey it was only 45%.

"Americans of all ages and income brackets continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work-a long-term trend that should be a red flag to employers", according to a report released today by The Conference Board.

The report, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, finds only 45 percent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year in which the survey was conducted.

"While one in 10 Americans is now unemployed, their working compatriots of all ages and incomes continue to grow increasingly unhappy," says Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board. "Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend."

Fewer Americans are satisfied with all aspects of their employment, and no age or income group is immune. In fact, the youngest cohort of employees (those currently under age 25) expresses the highest level of dissatisfaction ever recorded by the survey for that age group.

"The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity," adds Franco."

There's a short list of reasons employees are unhappy:
    * Fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting.
    * Incomes have not kept up with inflation.
    * The soaring cost of health insurance has eaten into            workers' take-home pay.

The result is employees working harder and longer hours (in many cases because of layoffs around them) for less and less "real" money . . . spendable money.

Surprisingly, the authors do NOT believe that this lowest ever employee satisfaction measure is just a function of the current American economic downturn.  In fact, they think it is a sign of something far more dangerous, especially as it could impact enterprise success and knowledge transfer from one generation to the next. 

That's a scary thought . . . no growth or stability through expanding on an accepted foundation of past enterprise experience.  The foundation will never stop being built, it may never get past its preliminary stage of being a foundation.  Older workers may be less inclined to share their experience, knowledge and skills with younger employees.  There could be less of a sense of teamwork with the result of a perpetual downward spiral of morale and productivity.  See my earlier post "Turnover Is Going To Build" and "Are You Being Taken Advantage Of Or Taken Care Of?"

Does any of this sound familiar?  Are you less than content, or are you feeling professionally challenged and excited about your prospects of growth within your existing employer?  Are you satisfied with your co-workers' (including your boss) sharing of knowledge and experience?  Has anyone said "Good job" to you lately?  If you're not content, are you doing anything about it, either for yourself or your employer?

Some employees are going to polish up their resumes, start looking for new opportunities, or get in touch with a headhunter.  Premier employees are going to understand the issues involved, and do whatever they can to contribute more to their enterprise.  They'll communicate . . . with their bosses and their co-workers.  They'll identify the issues and try to find a solution.  They won't just quit and try to find something else.  They'll earn their money by performing well beyond their literal job descriptions.

In a similar way, the C-Suite or owners and bosses at every level have to understand what's happening in their organization.  They have to take steps to train and retain those employees who contribute in a positive way.  They need to tell employees they're doing a good job . . . when they are.  They have to do everything they can to staff and pay appropriately.  There needs to be a spirit of cooperation, collaboration and shared success.  I'll say "Communication" again . . . it's essential.

What do you think?  I'd like to hear your comments.

Looking Ahead to "Communicating" in 2010 (And Beyond!)

In the worlds of recruiting and staffing issues, Kevin Wheeler stands out as an experienced practitioner and commenter on current and future trends.  I have a great deal of respect for him, and have learned a great deal from following his thoughts, especially on recruiting.  Yesterday, he posted an article on what he thinks trends are in the coming year.  I thought they had value beyond specifically recruiting, and want to share them.

"Every year I try and predict what trends and topics will dominate our thinking, conversations, and technology in the coming year. Last year my three predictions were pretty much on target: Simplicity in sourcing, the rise of social networks, and internal redeployment. I am not sure how much redeployment actually took place, but it must have been significant as key positions remained filled even when external hiring was slow.

Sourcing remains a topic that I am interested in. It seems to me that the need to conduct in-depth Internet searches and apply Boolean logic to searches is no longer relevant in the majority of cases. Cold calling and other traditional methods of locating people will never go away, but are less significant. Two occurrences have changed the game. The first is social networks whose mass adoption, personalization, and ease of use have put them first in the sourcer’s toolkit. Second, jobs are being redefined and replaced with an emphasis on broader skills and on the ability of candidates to take on a variety of roles. This opens the door to more candidates, except in narrow technical areas where specific skills and training are required. A third minor factor is the recession and the short-term surplus of candidates. This will evaporate as Baby Boomers retire and more people start to work for themselves, but this will be an evolution over the next five years.

I don’t need to comment too much on the importance of social networks. This past year has proved their efficacy as sourcing tools as well as sales tools to motivate and engage candidates. What is going to change this year is the emergence of proprietary networks for specific industries or even for specific organizations, if they are large and employ a lot of people. The Facebook’s and LinkedIn’s will face competition, in a way, from networks that are designed for a specific type of person, role, industry, or geography. These more general networks are already offering this, in a way, through interest groups and pages for specific organizations."

Happy Holidays! . . . And Adios 2009!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all you loyal readers of my blog and followers on Twitter.  It's been a helluva year.  In many ways I'm glad to see it go.  From a business perspective, it was (hopefully) the worst economic climate that any of us will ever have to negotiate in our careers.  I know I'm glad to still be standing.  The statistics about how many retained recruiters went out of business this past year are just scary.  I also realize that way too many of you lost your job this past year.  My hope is that something that I share might be of assistance to you in finding that next killer opportunity.

I learned a great deal this year and I hope grew both professionally and personally.  I want to think that I contributed to the careers of others who I recruited for opportunities that they didn't know existed.  I believe I helped my clients grow and feel wonderful about being able to provide a valuable service to them.  I've become friends with many of my candidates, which is always one of the best perks of this profession.

I've made an effort to give back to others through my work with REBUS and MAPSS, this blog and through sharing thoughts and articles through Twitter.  I've received enough positive feedback on all those efforts to know that I'm going to continue them into the future. 

If you're not following me on Twitter, I encourage you to do so @HeadhunterBob.  I share thoughts on marketing trends and issues, recruiting, the retention of employees, and corporate leadership issues affecting corporate culture.

My best wishes to you for a spectacular Holiday Season, and a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Are You Being Taken Care Of, Or Taken Advantage Of?

There was unexpected good news lately with the nation's unemployment rate dropping from 10.2% to 10% . . . doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a start.  The forecasts for spending in marketing and advertising are trending up for next year.  There's already more hiring activity in the 4th quarter than many would have expected.  I'm betting that lots of employees are just biding their time, before they move to a new opportunity.

A survey by benefits consultant Watson Wyatt found that the "engagement" or loyalty, of top performing employees has dropped by 25% over the past year, largely because people who kept their jobs have been soured by layoffs, bonus and benefit cuts, and a stoppage in promotions.  Many employees are keeping their eyes open for their next opportunity.

Employers seem oblivious to making the necessary effort to retain those top performing employees.  While compensation and benefits are obviously very important, they're not the only drivers of employee satisfaction.  Employers could be creating better work cultures.  They could be more aware of what their employees are thinking, by engaging with them . . . yes, actually having a conversation with them in an effort to find out what's important to each one.  I'm not talking about those conversations that happen during "reviews", either!

They'll find that something as mutually valuable as training, or ongoing education is high on most employees lists of things they want more of.  Smarter employees add more value to their employers . . . seems so simple.  Many employees would also like the opportunity to diversify what they do everyday.  They'd like to work in other departments.  Many would enjoy a lateral move to another position in the same company . . . just doing something different can be refreshing and fun.  The result for the employer is employees who are cross-trained, and know more about how the company works, creating a beneficial redundancy . . . all while making the employee happy too.

I've stopped being shocked by hearing the things that consistently drive employees crazy.  At the top of that list is "micro-management" by the boss, or the lack of anyone listening to what are in some cases outstanding ideas to help efficiency or profitability or client retention.  Simple "communication" is a the top of many lists as well. 

My point is that I believe employees are getting ready to move as soon as they can.  It's similar to 2001 and early 2002, when there were huge layoffs, and very few real marketing "career" opportunities.  Employers had employees working additional hours, while being understaffed ("lean" as employers call it).  There was nothing an employee could do, other than simply be happy they're employed.

I know most who are employed today are thankful.  We're getting through the worst economic climate in any of our lives.  Being employed, even unhappily, is an ok thing.  Employers had better start paying attention, and working harder for their employees, or they're going to be very unhappy when the exodus begins.

What do you think?  Do you think your employer is taking advantage of you, or taking care of you?

Are Employers "Paralyzed by Perfection" in their hiring?

This week I've started wondering if employers are literally unable to hire because of a need for "perfection" in candidates.  Some of the interviewing processes seem so complex with so many interviews, sometimes stretching out over weeks and including multiple senior executives, I don't see how they actually can get anyone hired.  It's like approval by committee, it never works!  There's such a fear of hiring the wrong person, that the company is completely paralyzed by the search for (their perception of) perfection.  They end up not hiring anybody . . . imagine what that costs!

As an example, a candidate I'm working with sent me the following email.

"Wanted to also let you know that I've made it to the fourth round of the interview process with a private company in St. Louis... a Director of Marketing position. After my resume made the cut, I've had three different telephone interviews (HR Director, interim Marketing Director and VP of Marketing). Got the call yesterday for a personal interview. As far as I can tell, they're down to 4-6 candidates so I've got
my fingers crossed. If I can pass this phase, I think there's one more round of interviews with the President for the last 2-3." 

It was about three days later, I received this note from the same candidate,  "So I made it through seven face-to-face interviews and five phone interviews in five different 'phases' with the same company, only to learn last week that they have renewed their search and still haven't found "the right candidate."  Said they'd received over 300 resumes.  Hard to believe they couldn't find ONE candidate they believed could do the job. Oh well, live and learn."  A total of 12 interviews before this company decided this isn't the right candidate?  Wow!  How could it possibly have taken that long to make a "No" decision?  What was everyone talking about for all that time?   Imagine the time and expense in that many interviews with "4-6" candidates?  Does that company have any idea what they're looking for? I think not. 

The same thought of "paralysis through perfection" comes to mind when I hear horror stories about putting candidates through "Personality Profile or Assessment Testing".  You know, the kind of test that's generally taken online (pr sometimes in person) by the candidate?  There are loads of them out there . . . Caliper, Wonderlick, DISC, Kolbe, Myers-Briggs.  Some companies have the candidate complete more than one!  In many cases the current employees of the hiring company haven't even taken the tests, so there's no benchmark for performance in their own culture.  It's a very good idea for those involved in the hiring process to take the same test they're asking candidates to take . . . or why bother?

Testing seems like just one more level of "CYA" on the part of the hiring authorities . . . one more hurdle in the search for candidate/employee perfection.  I understand how some in occupations, testing is a good idea . . . airline pilots jump to mind, but I'm skeptical about it's value in many, many other functional roles.

Thoughts?  Have an interview or job search horror story to share?

Who's Hiring? What's Hot? Marketing Hiring Trends . . .

I've had three candidates this week ask me for my opinion on the "hiring environment", regionally.  After answering each of those inquiries individually, I've just received a fourth and decided to respond here.  The questions most frequently asked are:  Are many (any) places hiring?  What types of jobs are being hired for right now?   I'll take them one at a time.

Whether or not "many" places are hiring is relative.  Companies and agencies are hiring, but obviously on a very conservative, selective and thoughtful basis.  Both agencies and corporations have opportunities.  It's safe to say that employers are looking for absolutely top-notch candidates.  Every company is running as "lean" as they can possibly afford to.  Any new hire has to be able to add significant value, if not generate revenue, right away.

The hiring environment is improving.  I've seen improvement in activity since the middle of the summer.  Activity is continuing to increase.  Industry wide, temporary and/or contract positions are seeing more action, which is a recognized precursor to hiring for permanent positions.  If a company loses a valuable employee through attrition, that position might have to be replaced simply because staffing is so "lean" that there is nobody else who will have the time to be able to also do the work of the lost employee. 

There are agencies and corporations who are taking this opportunity to aggressively hire new employees.  They're looking to take advantage of top notch talent to grow for the future, wanting to be perfectly positioned when the economy starts really humming again.  Many are replacing existing employees with new employees who they feel can better deal with the marketing communications evolution into the future.  (If you're not enhancing your own knowledge and skill set, you're quickly becoming obsolete.)  Companies are "top-grading" from the Board level to entry level.  No company can afford to have someone who is not contributing and adding value.  If they're (you're) not, they (you) could be gone.

In both corporations and agencies, new business development is a sought after skill set.  People who have consistently demonstrated success at sales are in demand . . . and probably always will be.  People who understand how to go beyond what's expected to add value, wear multiple hats, and contribute beyond their literal job description . . . top performers (at every level) . . . will always have opportunities.

It's not surprising that new media, online marketing, electronic communications . . . call it what you will, is changing rapidly.  Almost every position I've recruited for over the past year, on both the client and agency side, had a new media component to it.  Whether a VP of Marketing, or a Group Account Director, fluency in online marketing (as evidenced by participation) is becoming an essential component of every marketing functional position.  It's a very good idea to have a professional presence online.

My suggestion is to always be ready for whatever the future may hold.  You should have all appropriate materials (resume, portfolio, online profiles/presence) updated and ready to go.  The economy is not necessarily out of the woods yet, and it's likely that unemployment is going to continue to increase.  You need to be ready to start a job search should you find yourself laid off.  You should be ready to respond to a new opportunity, professionally and promptly. 

Start positioning yourself as a thought leader and top performer in whatever your function is.  Be proactive!

New Business Development and the "Virtual Agency"

I received an email from a friend and candidate yesterday.  He's an online marketing Creative Director, who has significant additional skills as a Producer and Developer.  He's a very nice guy and with his skill set under "normal" circumstances, should be having no trouble whatsoever finding a superb employment opportunity.  Unfortunately, as we all know, things just aren't "normal" out there . . .

He was curious about how to find that  "Rockstar Sales Person", when he has a very, very limited budget.  I'm posting his questions and my response, because I think it has value for others that I know who are contemplating the same thing. 

He wrote:

I want to pick your brain for a second.  (Then I will owe you a bottle of Scotch or drink/payment of your choice, should you choose to respond.)

Since I have not been finding exactly what I want in a "job/career" I am thinking of creating it.  I also have a large pool of friends/talent in the same boat (nation wide) that would be interested in playing along.

The two things that I am missing to make this happen are: 1) a kick ass, take no prisoners Sales Person that understands multi-media and how to sell it, 2) the cash to pay this sales person out of the gate.

Doing the work is the easy part, especially with my pool of rockstars.

So my question is this; how do I find that Rockstar Sales Person that will take the gamble to help create a "new media" agency?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!

My Response:

Thanks for the note . . . Here's my top of mind thoughts/reaction.

You're right that you need that person.  There are lots of boutique (small), virtual agencies that have formed in the last year as a result of all the marketing and advertising related layoffs on both the client and agency side.  There are scads of very qualified, premier performers who are not having any luck finding that next killer opportunity, because they don't exist . . . yet.  Most of these "virtual" agencies have very qualified creatives available for work, depending on client need.  The issues with these firms, is that there are rarely any clients.

International Retained Search Associates Fall Conference

I returned yesterday from the irsa Fall Conference in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  The event was held at the Inns of Geneva National, adjacent to the 54 hole Geneva National Golf Course.  This was a spectacular venue where 15 of irsa's 24 members gathered to share information about retained recruiting's best practices, industry trends, business trends, etc..  Members came from every corner of this continent, and from as far away as Beijing!

The thing that makes these meeting so incredibly valuable is the willingness of all of the members to share every piece of their business strategy, workflow and documentation with other members.  Some of these guys have been doing this for more than 25 years.  You can imagine the value I get, as someone who's been recruiting for eight years.  Each of these recruiters is at the top of their profession, with many having been executives in the industries for which they now recruit.  They are experts in their area of specialization and the art of recruiting.  I can ask absolutely any question, and there will be several of these pros willing to help.

The format of the meetings is to start early, and spend five hours on the topics of discussion.  In this case the topics ranged from "What's the single best idea I've implemented since the last meeting, and what else didn't work", to hearing Eddie Lou, a partner in OCA Ventures (a venture capital firm) talk about how recruiters can work with VC firms to help build executive leadership.  The discussions are interactive and insightful.  These are conversations with peers that are difficult to have in the industry.

We spend the rest of the day on the golf course, talking more recruiting and of course golf, and all the other things guys talk about when they play golf and have fun together!  We rotate playing partners over the course of the weekend (generally playing at least three rounds), so that we get to know each other better. 

The only alternative to an organization like irsa, is to attend the industry trade shows presented by recruiting and staffing associations like the Natinoal Association for Personnel Services (NAPS), or our local Missouri Association for Personnel and Staffing Services (MAPSS).  While those events have value, and at the very least facilitate the comraderie of a profession, they take too broad a view, and are too similar to each other to have high level value.  Irsa is special, I consider myself very fortunate to have been invited to join.

One of the other topics of conversation was how best to educate clients on the difference between retained and contingency recruiters, and the the additional value clients receive from the retained recruiters.  I've previously written about how "Retained Recruiters add Value", and will no doubt do it again.

I'll be writing more about the discussions of the weekend in the next days.  I now have to start implementing some of the ideas presented, before the real work of the day starts.  I encourage you to visit the irsa website, and check out the "Insights and Resources" tab, for information on the job search, how to work with a recruiter, etc..

You Can't Just "Retrain" Creatives to Communicate Effectively

I received an email from a friend and former client of my from my days as a commercial photographer.  He's probably in his mid-40s now, and when I worked with him he was a young art director at the hottest creative shop in town, if not the midwest (or even arguably the US).  He was pretty good at what he did.

I thought his email had value for more creatives than just him, so I'm going to publish my responses to him.  The reality is that if "veteran" art directors, writers or even account people don't expand their awareness about how to communicate with a targeted audience beyond the traditional "mass" means of doing so, or through print collateral, POS and the like, they're dead . . . and unemployable.  Sad but true.  Great ideas and mastery of the Adobe Suite are no longer all it takes to get hired and be a valuable asset to your agency and clients.

"I hope you guys are keeping busy and pushing unemployed creative types into job openings all over town with reckless abandon.

I've been hearing about funding out there for unemployed people which provides education for 'retooling' people's careers. From your vantage point, what would you suggest an overly experienced art director/creative director/occasional copywriter to do to make him more instantly hirable by generous and adoring employers?

I'm guessing web design is high on everyone's list of things they want - right along with "knows every program ever created, washes windows and bathrooms and speaks twelve languages." I've worked with a web designer and know how to design for the web but never got into the programming aspect of it.

If you're ever lounging around, give a yell and perhaps we can grab a drink sometime."

I'm going to ignore the part about "pushing unemployed creative types into job openings", because that is so far away from what retained recruiters do, that it's another whole blog post.

The questions posed in my friend's email could be written about in depth and detail.  I'm going to take a "blogger's approach" and keep it simple, realizing there's just a lot more that can be said about this.

I don't think web design is high on a list  . . . it's a given.  So is online communication.  The days of drawing a hard, bold line between design and programming is fading quickly too.  While creatives might not be able to completely program a website, there's no question that the more you know about it, and I'm talking beyond simple "design", the better off your're going to be.  There has to be a basic understanding of html, user interface and information architecture.  You have to know the basics about SEO and designing a dynamic website . . . not just a pretty one.  And yes, if you have a familiarity (at least) with other apps like Flash, Dreamweaver, After Effects, JavaScript and the like . . . there are dozens . . . you're also more valuable. 

Bob Lachky Delivers St. Louis Advertising To The World

I’m glad I decided to attend the Ad Club’s Bob Lachky honorarium lunch last Wednesday on the campus of St. Louis University.  I was inclined not to go, as I felt the whole event was rather self-serving on the part of the Ad Club.  Let’s have an event where we honor someone who’s going to sing the praises of St. Louis agencies . . . It just somehow felt disingenuous.  As it turns out, it wasn’t.

I started feeling more hopeful when I read an article in the Post-Dispatch Wednesday morning, written by Jeremiah McWilliams, “A Real Man of Genius”.  McWilliams wrote a very nice article about Lachky’s, successful career, retirement, and what he’s doing now.  The line that really struck me was, “Now, one of Lachky’s unofficial roles seems to be chatting up the potential and track record of St. Louis agencies.”  Wow!  What a good idea!

While the event itself was rather pedestrian from a “staging” or decorating perspective, it turned into a fun, enlightening couple of hours where the value delivered by St. Louis agencies was truly celebrated.  The agencies that were featured included Waylon, Momentum, Cannonball and Shaw.

Bob Lachky did a wonderful job of deflecting the accolades from himself to his agency partners.  In listening to Bob and some of the Creative Directors of the featured agencies, one couldn’t help but to be proud of being a member of the St. Louis creative and marketing community . . . especially if you were even a soldier in “the beer wars”.  There is some very fine work being delivered by St. Louis agencies to world class clients, of which of course, AB is one.
 
The St. Louis advertising community has historically had very low self-esteem, starting when Gardner closed over a period of about 10 years , culminating in the closing of D’Arcy, formerly one of the world’s (yes, world’s) largest agencies.  The city just never had the confidence or felt respect in the industry that it had once had . . .

There have been historic efforts to promote the city’s quality of work and the advertising community, but when local companies that could stay in St. Louis to support the home team agencies and don’t (I don’t need to provide a list, they’re all too familiar and way too prevalent), it’s obviously going to be a tough sell outside of the region.  There has been little if any success in these efforts.
Bob Lachky and Anheuser-Busch have managed to keep St. Louis on the map for consistently superb marketing and advertising.  As it turns out, much of that work (probably more than you really know) is being proudly produced here, but the local agencies mentioned, and (by Lachky’s admission) many, many others.  Here’s to beer!

If Bob Lachky truly wants to talk up St. Louis creative, let’s support him in doing that!  We should put Mr. Lachky on the road for the benefit of the city’s advertising identity and growth . . . and self esteem!  Who better than someone with his credibility could speak to the capability, creativity and results delivered from home town agencies.  Who has more credibility?  Who can get in front of the biggest and most important prospective client audiences, with more to say than Bob?  It’s a no-brainer!

I think back on all the various efforts to promote the city,.   They’ve all been well intentioned, locally focused and unfortunately unsuccessful.  Let’s hire Bob and put him on the road with a killer reel, some AB product and let him loose on the world (or at least the Midwest).  Once again, "Making friends is his business!"   I’m betting he could have more impact with one media tour than all the previous efforts combined.  It can’t be very expensive.  Considering the possible results, it’s downright cheap!

Succession Planning or Getting Out Alive?

St. Louis is blessed to have a myriad of small to medium sized firms, many of which are doing absolutely outstanding work.  Some of them are creating "properties" beyond normal marketing communications, which will turn into "assets" and reap absolutely sensational sales and profit.  There's an exciting diversity of work being delivered by a wildly diverse group of organizations.  Some of those are more organized, than others.

Many of the principals and owners in this group of agencies (for lack of a better term) are in their 50s, some staring at 60 or more. (I should point out that the same thing is happening with privately held companies, and the phenomenon is not limited to St. Louis).  Some of those principals have done an admirable job of planning for the succession of leadership in their shops, many more have not.  It's surprising to me. 

The benefits of succession planning include the ability to plan for stability and growth into the future . . . beyond the working years of the existing leadership.  That is of course to say that properly executed means the existing principal can continue their income beyond their working years.  The additional benefit of succession planning is the retention of existing employees and the ongoing ability to recruit new ones.

Employees worry when there's no clear plan for succession.  They're not stupid . . . they "get it".  From the employee perspective, lack of succession means lack of stability which inevitably leads to a lack of long term security for them.  The obvious and logical next step for those employees is to actively be keeping their eyes open for new opportunities as they become available.

I know of cases where the only thing keeping existing employees (and I mean productive and successful employees) where they are is the lack of alternative opportunities.  Even though I make a living recruiting premier performers to other career opportunities, I'm continually preaching to my clients that they need to focus on retention.  If they have great employees, they need to keep them, period!

There are loads of reasons owners don't focus more time on retention, they're "too busy", it's too soon, they believe their value to be such that it can't be replaced, they can't "let go", or even worse they don't care, or believe that they're the ones who're actually going to get out of this alive!

There are probably others, but none of them work.  They're all excuses.  If an owner has a viable business and is not focusing how how they can keep that business stable in the longer term, one has to wonder why.

Working With Headhunters, Part III

It's interesting to me to see which posts elicit responses and which do not.  If you haven't been following the saga surrounding the provocative email I received from candidate Jeff, you might start by reading Working with Headhunters and then Working with Headhunters, Part II.

Here's another thoughtful comment that was emailed to my by my friend John Salazzo, Director of Marketing for Craftsmen Industries, the leading manufacturer of customized vehicles for the event and promotion industry.

"I know its strange to hear from me twice in the same week but I saw your post on Plaxo about recruiting and had to make a comment.

I’ve been on the other side of the equation for years, hiring and working with recruiters. You know I haven’t worked with you yet so please realize this is from my experience with others. There are two important points I’d like to make.

Point One is that many recruiters don’t really do their homework and confuse quality with quantity. Some just aren’t good listeners and feel that through their salesmanship they can convince a company that the three selections are right for them when they are not. Additionally, the fee structures are high, especially when the recruits they send are not the right fit. One more thing, some recruiters take weeks to “comb over resumes”, I can tell you from this side, we all feel its an excuse for the high rates. Its especially true when the 3 resulting candidates are completely unimpressive.

Point Two is that many unemployed people are scared, desperate and naive about recruiters. They need to understand that they are the inventory for the recruiter. You work for the Company, he is your client. If there is no demand from a client for their skill and qualification set then they won’t get contacted every week by the recruiter. I don’t touch the spaghetti sauce until I’m making spaghetti—sorry for the poor metaphor. Recruiters can get a bad wrap from both sides. The candidates feel they are ignored after several very good conversations with the recruiting firm (“why don’t they call anymore”) and recruiters get burnt by candidates and companies. The candidates inflate their resumes and experiences, which makes the recruiters look bad and the companies either try to “backdoor” the recruiter or don’t really know what they are looking for.

It’s a tough business, especially now. I hope your experiences have had none of the above. I’ve used recruiters in Boston, NYC and London and there is a common thread. Recruiters are in business to make money. They exist to deliver a quality product at a perceived value, to meet a requirement. Like I said, it’s a tough business but I’m glad folks like you are in it."

I would love you to post that response as a comment on my blog at www.TheMarketingRecruiter.com.  Your comments are well put and to the point.  One of the reasons I’m writing this blog is for exactly these sorts of reasons.  I’m trying to help candidates better understand what recruiters do and how they do it.  Your note moves that conversation forward.

Thanks John.

I understand that many candidates don't know what to expect from a recruiter.  I try to manage expectations from the first contact. I try to be clear on my website, when I talk about "What should you look for in a recruiter?"

Working With Headhunters, Part II

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Jeff, a candidate I didn't know who was suggesting that all recruiters are frauds and/or liars, and should be avoided.  If you haven't seen that yet, you should read it first.

I've had a couple of friends email me after that post, saying how unusual (strange?) it was for Joel to write to me to get advice on where he can publicly post information on how inept and/or (worse) deceitful recruiters are.  It seemed strange to them.  It was strange for me too . . . Nonetheless, I felt compelled to reply.

I've since received a follow up email from Jeff . . .

"Thank you for taking the time to respond to my e-mail. As an update and for your information,  I offered the recruiting agencies that I referred to in my email  the link  to look at  the e-mail that I sent you. Not one of the recruiting  agencies had the  professional courtesy to  get back to me.

It appears to me Bob  that  you are the only recruiter I have had the opportunity to interact with that has any professional ethics or is concerned  as to how people view recruiters.

If you decide to publish this e-mail please let me so I can  refer other people to the link."

Best regards,  Jeff

There you go . . . another tiny tale from the world of social networking and marketing.  Dealing with "human assets" in headhunting is fascinating.  There's never a dull moment!   I'm looking forward to what might be next!

Working With Headhunters . . .

I received the following email yesterday from a candidate I don't know.  I was surprised at his previous experiences with recruiters. 

I realize how anxiety provoking it is to be out of a job, and I understand how people in that position need and want help.  I also realize that people without jobs frequently turn to recruiters they may know or have heard of, for assistance and support.  They want that recruiter to "help them find a job". 

Here's the email I received:

“My name is Jeff and I live in Schaumburg, Illinois. I saw your information on RecruitingBlog.com.  I have been out of work for the past six months and working towards finding full time employment.  Over the years I have not been impressed with  or feel very  good about recruiters  and what they do. However, recently I offered another opportunity to three different recruiters  that I would work with  them follow their instructions, guidance,  speak with them whenever they contacted me and really believe that my opinion of them would change.

I can tell you now   that I have wasted my time and my original impression of recruiters is the same. They can not be trusted to work for a job seeker and a  potential employer  equally.  If you would like in another e-mail  I would be very pleased to name the three recruiting forms that I am speaking  about and offer you specific instances of my frustration  and disappointment with recruiters.

If  you can guide me in the right direction or forum that I can publicly state the recruiting firms,  specific instances of their lies and deceit without being sued I  WANT TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH PEOPLE THAT ARE DISAPPOINTED WITH RECRUITERS so other job seekers that are   looking for employment do not waste one more moment of their time like I did with these recruiters.

I look forward to hearing back from you. Bob please do not be like the other recruiters  that I have spoken with and just dismiss my opinion and no follow through on your part. Granted, not all recruiters are painted with the same brush however, when multi bad experiences  are the outcome of dealing with recruiters a large generalization  of all recruiters  is the end result.”

I (obviously) felt like I needed to try to respond to this candidate.  If I didn’t respond, I’m sure that I’d simply be additionally re-enforcing his perspective of how incompetent and untrustworthy recruiters are.  As I was writing my response, it occurred to me that his disappointment and my response might provide some sort of perspective for others who are considering working with recruiters.  As I’ve mentioned previously in this blog, “Retained Recruiters Add Value To Relationships”.

"Thanks very much for your note.  I’m sorry to hear that you have not been satisfied with your experience with the recruiters you mention.

I hope you’ve had a chance to visit our website (below), to find out a bit more about my company and me.  There is additional information available at my LinkedIn profile.  I encourage you to invite me into your LinkedIn network.  I also invite you to follow my blog “The Perfect Fit” at www.TheMarketingHeadhunter.com.  I hope you'll add it to your feeds.

I am not in the business to “bash” any of my colleagues in the field, although it is clear that some do the job better than others.  I do not know any of the recruiters you mentioned personally.  I do know that some recruiters have different approaches than others.  There is no one “right” way to do our job.  I also know that there are always two sides to every story, so I’m not willing to make a judgment on what other recruiters did or didn’t do, or why they acted the way they did. 

Replace Resumes With Social Media?

A friend sent me an email a couple of days ago and asked "are resumes dead?".  After giving it some thought I decided no, but their role is changing.

Resumes are still essential documents in providing a concise overview of your employment history.  I am constantly working with my own candidates (and others), trying to explain that the resume must "Prove Value".  The resume document must "sell you" to your prospective employer, to the point where you get that interview.  The resume is no longer the only tool you can use in that effort to impress future employers.

I've said it before, I'll say it again . . . LinkedIn is becoming a standard addition to any/every resume.  A recruiter and/or employer will check out your LinkedIn profile as additional valuable information.  If you don't have a LinkedIn profile, it's a bit unusual.  If it's not thoughtfully and thoroughly completed, including recommendations, it may not be an asset to you.  On the other hand a complete and well written profile that is accompanied by recommendations can be of additional benefit to you.  Why not take advantage of this additional tool?

I'll also repeat once again that candiates need to make it as easy and convenient as possible for an employer (or recruiter) to add their information to a database.  Everyone is used to doing that with a resume (don't send us to a website to find your resume, just because it's already there . . .).  Once a candidate is in our databases, it's easy to add a huge amount of additional informaton, documents, links, etc...  Getting you into the database is a time consuming operation.  If an employer or recruiter has the ability to have you upload your own resume and supporting information, do it.  Follow up with an email to the recipient.

I responded to an inquiry of  a Creative Director-Writer candidate in New York City and asked him to upload his information to our website.  Instead, he responded, telling me all his information was on his LinkedIn profile.  He missed the point . . .

If you're more creative, then you need a website or blog of your own to show your work and/or what you care about (blogs can be free!).  We're looking for people who live their life and approach their career with enthusiasm, motivation and passion.  If you're a photographer, you should be shooting pictures all the time.  If you're a writer, you should be writing and if you're a painter, you should be painting.  You do these things because you can't stop yourself from doing them, not because someone is paying you to do them . . . that's passion.  If you've got it, share it!

My friend was wondering why, with all the social media sites out there packed with so much information, why is a resume still needed?  It's needed because it's a document you craft to highlight your strengths, and selected achievements throughout your career.  It should make it easy for the reader to understand who you are, how you do what you do and how you've added value to your previous employers.  It should hammer those points home to the point where the employer feels compelled to call you . . . immediately.

Fellow blogger Zoli of Cloud Ave addressed this same issue in a post a while back "Resumes Are Dead!  Social Media Is Your New Resume."

The point here is that the more thought or art, or content that you can contribute, the better.  We're all impressed with those who are ambitious, motivated and who contribute.  We're also interested in what you have to say and how you say it!  Use every tool available to let us know why you're the most outstanding candidate for a position.