During tough times, recruiters need to do all they can to improve their internal image among senior managers and budget-cutting CFOs. Unfortunately, most recruiters and recruiting departments miss a great opportunity to build their internal brand when they outsource the recruiting of high-level jobs. Recruiting has it “bass ackwards”! From …

If you have been involved with recruiting for more than six months, then you have probably experienced a wide variety of “dumb” things those connected to the process do with regard to screening candidates. From hiring managers who insist upon basing their judgment of candidates’ abilities on the quality of …

One of the most common questions I get from directors of employment is, what is the appropriate requisition (or “req”) load for a recruiter? It’s a tough question to answer, but no tougher than determining how many employees a manager can supervise, how many customers a waiter or waitress can …

Almost every recruiter I have ever met says, when asked, that they are “the best recruiter in the world.” Salespeople also seem to have the same tendency to brag a little. But if you ever wanted to find out for sure how good you or your recruiters are, now there’s …

The uncertainty caused by layoffs can impact both companies and employees in many ways, most of them negative. During large-scale layoffs, morale and productivity can plummet. Even more importantly, it’s common for firms to lose their focus on the customer. If a firm is to avoid the need for future …

Layoffs are coming…layoffs are coming. We all know that it’s true, but few firms really want to confront the layoff issue until it’s too late. When they do start, most firms don’t really know how to do them right or when to begin layoff planning. I’m secretly a layoff strategist …

If you are going to start (or improve) a college recruiting program, it’s essential that you look at what most firms do with a cynical eye. Almost all college programs follow a cookie-cutter approach. They are run on emotion and tradition. Few, if any, have any hard evidence that they …

In a tight job market many corporate recruiting functions are strained to the limit. One option is to “outsource” your higher-level searches to executive search firms. Unfortunately, because of the large number of firms, it is often difficult to decide which firm to choose. Should it be a small “boutique” …

There are literally thousands of articles written in HR about the need to become a “business partner.” What is unique is that there is not a single article on what specific things a recruiter must do in order to become a business partner. This article walks you through the 14 …

If an airline bought a new 747, and then let it sit for two months on the runway because they didn’t have a pilot, what would the cost be to the airline? In other words what is the cost of a vacant position? Many firms calculate the cost of a …