Recruiting In Yoga Pants

Dressing up is for suckers

Author: Amy Miller (Page 3 of 4)

What Prospects REALLY Think of Your Inmail (and how to be better)

April 29, 2019 /
Or better said, InMAUL (thank you Uncle Steve).

Y’all I just CAN’T with this today. I blame this nasty cold I’ve been fighting for nearly a week, it’s made me crankier than usual. I was feeling almost human today, so thought I’d respond to an otherwise “meh” inmail (inmaul!) I got last week. Here goes –
Hi Amy, 
I had reached out to you via InMail a few weeks ago and I am just touching base to make sure you received my message! I am currently looking for Recruiters for a few exciting positions at [COMPANY] and I am writing to gauge your interest. I would love to further our conversation if you are interested in recruiting opportunities at [COMPANY] 🙂 Let’s connect and see if we can collaborate either now or in the future. Happy connecting!
  
Ok so this was the 2nd message in a week. Totally fine. The first message was more general networking, nothing exceptional either way. I had every intention of sending a nice “thanks but no thanks” – however being curled up in a miserable ball of sickness derailed that plan. I digress.
I decide to write back this morning – I like to be SUPER transparent and make sure I’m leaving no room for guesswork. Most of the time these responses knock me right out of consideration, which is fair, given that it would take something truly spectacular to pull me away –
hi [AGENCY RECRUITER], happy to chat, but I do want to be clear on where I am in my career / what it would take to pry me away 🙂

I’m full time at Google – Since I’ve been here less than a year I’d have a significant clawback if leaving any time soon. This would obviously need to be accounted for in any potential offers. (I know it may seem premature to mention, we’ve only just met! But I just want to be extra transparent).

I’m also connected to a couple of leaders at [COMPANY ([SPECIFIC TEAMS])] and am having long term chats about future potential. Since you’re representing an agency, I just want to be up front on that, as I may not be a “fee-worthy” candidate. Also, not interested in contract unless it pays VERY well, 100% remote and allows me to finally relocate to Hawaii. 😉

How do you define “exciting positions” at [COMPANY]? I have my own thoughts on what makes a role epic, but curious what that means to you.

Happy hunting!
  Amy 
Here’s the thing y’all – I’m 9 months into my role. I’m having some growing pains like anyone else. I’m CONSTANTLY engaging with / networking with recruiting leaders as you just never know where your career will take you. I’m not actively looking to leave (I JUST FREAKING GOT HERE) but I wanted this recruiter to know that I already know people at your client. You are probably not getting a fee for me.
Here’s the response I got – approximately 5 minutes later –
Hi Amy, 
Thank you for the information! I have many roles across different recruiting teams at [COMPANY]. I work with the direct managers at [TEAM, TEAM, TEAM I ALREADY MENTIONED, and TEAM]. I hire all levels of Technical Recruiters to these teams. Dependant on your skill set I would present you to one or multiple of these teams. The roles are primarily sourcing roles. Let me know if you would be interested in continuing the conversation! 
I am curious, are you full time or contract at the moment? 

Cheers, 
[AGENCY RECRUITER]
Please take a moment and see if you can point out the mistakes.
Ok, have your list? I have one too. But first, my snarky response back because I JUST F%&$ING CAN’T TODAY.
full time

my super power is recruiting strategy and client engagement. I helped build the Business AI team at Microsoft while I was there. I currently manage all senior hiring (engineering managers) across YouTube with a team of 3 (2 sourcers and another recruiter)

I’ve spoken at tons of conferences, conducted lots of trainings, webinars and written many recruiting articles – lots out there that speaks to my skill set and expertise 🙂 If you still think you can charge a fee for me after learning more about me, happy to chat. 

I won’t consider contract unless it’s breathtakingly better than what I’m currently doing (and pays like, $100 an hour or more depending on cost of benefits, etc)
YOU DIDN’T READ MY RESPONSE
I am clearly full time. I said that. Like clearly stated I’m full time and not interested contract. Yet you still asked if I was full time or contract. Is this real life?
YOU DID ZERO HOMEWORK
Don’t bullshit me on this. If you’d done even a cursory scan of my LinkedIn profile (let alone the rest of my social footprint) you’d know a few things about me. You could have cracked a joke about yoga pants. You could have said “great job on last week’s webinar” (even though you clearly didn’t listen to it) you could have said SOMETHING, ANYTHING, that would have indicated I was more than just another target on your inmaul list.
YOU DIDN’T ADDRESS MY QUESTION
I gave you an opening. I asked you why your roles were exciting (YOUR WORDS). You could have given me any kind of pitch that maybe JUST MAYBE would have gotten my attention or possibly given me a reason to refer someone your way.
Y’all I’m nobody special. I’m just another recruiter in a sea of AMAZING professionals trying to do my best and feed my kids. I work for a high profile brand, I have a bit of name recognition because I verbally vomit all over the internet. I’m not the only one, and don’t think I’m any more qualified than the next guy on your list.
The next guy deserves better. So did I.
So does the Engineering Manager I’m about to contact out of the blue. They guy or gal who’s happily leading a team building the next epic thing at a cool company. The leader who’s INUNDATED with inmails (INMAULS) from recruiters like me. The manager who’s more concerned about getting the next feature shipped and NOT their next job.
I have a new rule for any outgoing message I send. How would this MAKE ME FEEL if I was on the receiving end? If the answer is “like a number”, then I should probably rethink before I hit send.
Oh, and if you’re wondering about the response I got to my final message?
Hi Amy,

Thank you for letting me know! At this time that is higher than I would be able to pay. If that changes I will be sure to reach out!

Cheers,
[Agency Recruiter]



Hawaii, here I come!

Get Out Of My (Talent) Pool

March 15, 2019 /


Add this to the list of things I never thought I’d read today.

Recently a good friend and fellow recruiter shared this gem with me, thinking I’d 1) enjoy a giggle and 2) make a hell of a post out of it. She was right on both counts.

  
This is a legitimate inmail received by a professional CORPORATE recruiter at a large company. It CAME FROM an alleged professional at a large (non-tech) company. I looked up the person – trying to make some sense, find some rhyme or reason, as to why this is ok to send. In the sender’s defense, they haven’t been in recruiting that long. Apparently before joining our profession, they worked in HR.
Somehow, that’s worse.
You might be asking yourself – “what’s the big deal”? Or, “why is she so bitchy, picking on a poor recruiter just trying to find a damn django developer”!
Because that ain’t RIGHT, y’all.
Maybe it’s time we settle what we mean by “candidate” and even better, “candidate pool”. A CANDIDATE is someone who has not only expressed interest in a role, but is actively being considered for the company. They are people who’ve applied, been sourced, or in some fashion engaged with our company, and usually in part due to some effort from the staffing function.
No. You don’t get to dip your toes in our pool.
The question was not “who do you know” or even “have you rejected anyone”. No…. you want to get into our “candidate pool”. For free. Because we’re nice, or something. Oh but that’s not all! They want to “share our pipeline”. More fun with definitions! A “pipeline” is generally a list of people we’re carefully cultivating for current or future opportunities. Now look, I’ve written before about the bullshit that is candidate ownership. That doesn’t mean I’m going to serve up my list on a silver platter because you can’t find what you’re looking for. Don’t even get me started on the legal ramifications! When I’m considering my next move, I’m very cautious and methodical about who I share my resume with AND WHEN. I don’t mind if people recommend me for roles, on the contrary, that’s a compliment. But my candidacy status or any other private info I’ve shared with a company I want to work for? Hard pass.
Maybe what he meant was “hey we’d like to engage you FOR A FEE to help us fill this hard position”. In which case I have lots of agency friends who might take that call.

Where did February go? Or, self care for recruiters.

March 12, 2019 /

Y’all. We need to talk about something.

Taking care of yourself.

Here’s the thing – I spent most of February laid up with bronchitis and barely able to breathe let alone function. I did my best to keep up with work, irritated my sourcing partners and bosses to no end I’m sure (they’d never say that, they’re so nice 😉 ) and generally felt like shit on toast.

What I did NOT do, was take a freaking day off to just heal.

Why? Would my team collapse without me? Would candidates be lost to the void or hiring managers left on the side of the road holding an empty pipeline report wondering what happened?

OF COURSE NOT. What a dumb thing to say. So why why WHY did I torture myself? Frankly, I have no idea. If I really peel back the layers of my psyche it’s PROBABLY because I’m so new that I don’t feel like I’ve “earned” the right to take a day off. I still have so much to prove or something. Or, I’m a total control freak who can’t stand to hand over anything. Whatever the stupid reason, here’s one thing I know for certain. No one is impressed by hustle that hurts.

Another February milestone – my mom has been taking chemo treatments for a full year. One full year of biweekly trips to the wonderful Swedish Cancer Institute where she sits for hours, while nurses buzz around pumping her full of medicine. Prior to her diagnosis, my mom hadn’t been to a doctor in I don’t know how many years. If she’d also been a little better at self care (oh look – I come by it honestly!) MAYBE they would have caught the cancer sooner. While I’m so incredibly grateful that she’s responding well to treatment, my heart breaks that it’s even a thing in her life.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve learned was from my previous director at Microsoft, Betsy. She said more than once, “we’re not saving lives”. I mean… so simple, so accurate, so hard to live by. Sure, our work is important, but no one ever DIED from not returning a phone call right away or getting an interview scheduled immediately. Let’s make each other a promise, ok? Promise me you’ll take care of yourself. Get your annual physical. Take a sick day when you need it. Ask for help when you’re overwhelmed.

Remind me to do the same.

The “Hard Close” and Other Recruiting Nonsense

January 30, 2019 /

It’s a candidate driven market, y’all.

If you’re a recruiter reading this, you know EXACTLY what I mean. For certain skill sets, opportunities are damn near limitless. I’ve been recruiting in tech for the last several years and I’m telling you, jobs are more plentiful and offers more competitive than I’ve ever seen.

Enter – the Hard Close.

Recruiters like to play this little game with themselves. The game is called Candidate Control. The objective is Make The Candidate Say Yes. This could be saying yes to a conversation, an interview, and ultimately, an offer. The holy grail of the recruiting process. The end all / be all (especially if you’re on commission).

Full disclosure – I find the concept of “candidate control” to be irritating, annoying, and downright fictitious. Influence? Sure. CONTROL? Ewww. Go away.

So back to the hard close.

This is when you have an offer out to a candidate who isn’t quite ready to pull the trigger. They may have other offers, still be interviewing elsewhere, or just not quite ready to make a decision. So the recruiter (desperately clinging to some semblance of control) does the good old takeaway. This offer will turn into a pumpkin at midnight! If you don’t say yes RIGHT NOW you’ll never get another chance!

Fine. The answer is NO.

See I’ve LIVED through the hard close myself. A few years ago I was approached by a start up newly launching in Seattle. GREAT opportunity to build out a recruiting function. There were some pieces already in place but some really cool work ahead and my potential boss was great. The interview process was smooth, they met my comp expectations, and I was seriously thinking about it.

EXCEPT I DIDN’T GET TO THINK ABOUT IT.

At every touch point I shared my concerns and timeline. What I was walking away from. Assurances I needed to accept the new role. I was ready to say yes, but wanted ONE MORE CONVERSATION to walk through things like benefits, work / life balance, basically sanity checking what I thought I knew about what I was getting into.

I was told I was taking too long and needed to get back to the team THAT DAY. I’d had the offer letter in my hand for maybe 24 hours.

That’s it. That’s all it took for me to decide this was NOT the place for me. I immediately sent my regrets and regards. I didn’t need to change jobs. The company needed me more than I needed them. Sure it could have been an epic opportunity, but there was also a lot of risk. And if the recruiting leadership was not willing to give me another day or two PLUS their time to discuss what mattered to ME – they didn’t deserve me.

Now imagine you’re a software engineer, or data analyst, or any of the other hot jobs out there right now. You’ve got multiple offers with more recruiters calling you every day. You’re ready for a change, exciting about something new, but want to be really thoughtful in your final decision. You just want to make a call with all the available information in front of you. Then the recruiter pulls this shit, probably making you feel insignificant, not heard, and frankly, probably not respected.

So what’s a recruiter to do? Yes I understand there are timelines – roles can’t sit open forever and you can’t let someone take 3 months to decide if they want to accept an offer or not. There are two critical questions you should always be asking your finalists –

1. What other information do you need (from me, my company, or outside) to make your decision?
2. What is your timeline to make a decision?

And finally, SHARE YOUR TIMELINE TOO. If you know this offer is going to expire, or there is a business need to put a specific deadline (need to respond to other candidates, team is going to implode if we don’t fill the role, whatever) TELL YOUR CANDIDATE.

A little honesty and transparency goes a long way – a hell of a lot farther than “hard close” takeaways.

Real Talk About Req Loads

January 18, 2019 /

This one’s going to sting a bit.

One of the favorite games recruiters like to play is HOW MANY REQS ARE TOO MANY. Now this is probably more of an issue for my corporate brethren, but if my agency friends will indulge me, you’ll perhaps find something useful here too.

I won’t argue if you have 30, 40, 50, or even 100 reqs. Of course you do. What I will ask you – are all those reqs created equal? PROBABLY NOT.

There are so many variables at play here. Some things we need to consider –

  • Which reqs overlap? Let’s say I have 10 openings for a call center representative. If the profile is EXACTLY the same (or damn close) and I’m working with a single hiring authority, that is a far cry from 10 reqs with wildly different requirements and hiring managers. There are lots of creative ways to do high volume hiring – treating each headcount as an individual hiring need may not be the best use of your time.
  • Internal Only posts. Here’s the hard truth – some roles are just not yours to fill. AND THAT’S OK. If a hiring manager already has people in mind, or just isn’t that into external talent for whatever reason, LET THAT SHIT GO. You can follow along and/or keep track of the hiring process (depending on how your company does it, you might have internal transfer responsibilities) but you are NOT launching a full scale recruiting effort. So stop acting like it.
  • It’s not a priority. One of my favorite lines to use following an intake with a new hiring manager – “I’ll give this as much priority as you do”. Here’s the simple truth – if the HM is not willing/able to play ball, why should you? This doesn’t mean you won’t put in ANY effort – but again, not all reqs / hiring needs are created equal, and it’s totally ok to have a different strategy for each.
    • Pro-Tip – clear this with your boss / HM’s boss or someone who can cover your ass when the HM bitches that he/she never hears from you. Also, thorough notes/emails to prove your effort (and their lack of) can go a long way to CYA.
I know some of you might be thinking this doesn’t apply to you. I can’t possibly understand YOUR situation. I have NO IDEA how bad you have it, how busy you are, and how every single one of your 100 reqs require daily, individual, and specialized attention. So let’s talk about it.

Send me an email at amy@recruitinginyogapants.com and I’ll schedule a 30 minute check in. We’ll review your req load, talk about your hiring partners and I’ll give you a strategy or two on how to straighten out the mess on your desk.

I’m in. Are you?

How to tell if a recruiter is full of shit (and what to do about it).

January 10, 2019 /

A recruiter called with a job just PERFECT FOR YOU! Great news, right….? I mean, recruiters are AWESOME! Recruiters connect people with jobs! Recruiters are the happy go lucky bridges between workers and managers making dreams come true! Recruiters are….

Oh.

Here’s the real deal y’all – recruiting is a game of rejection, unfortunately. As much as we’d like to pretend otherwise, we have to tell a lot of people NO. Whether it’s narrowing down our short list with hiring managers, or following up after interviews, there are all sorts of opportunities for us to anger people. Sure, there’s lots of advice on the best way to have that conversation, but this is not that blog post. This is for the passive target just minding her own business AND the active applicant who both desperately want to know – just what the hell is wrong with this recruiter and WHY should I trust them with my career?

First Contact
So you get a call from a recruiter. Or an email, tweet, inmail (shudder) or some version of outreach. This recruiter has NEVER SPOKEN TO YOU BEFORE. Should you respond? If yes, how?

Not every message deserves a response. There I said it. While it is KIND to reply to everyone, you and I both know it’s not REALISTIC. If I responded to every single form of outreach I ever received, I’d get hardly any real work done. So no – you don’t HAVE to respond, but you might want to. Questions to ask yourself –

  • Does this recruiter work for / represent a company I’m interested in learning about?
  • Does the job (assuming they’ve given you some context) sound intriguing?
  • Am I at a point in my career where I MIGHT be willing to make a change for something AMAZING?
  • Did the recruiter write a relevant, targeted message that clearly indicates they have a clue and did their homework on ME?
If the answer is YES to any of these, a response is warranted. Even if it’s a “no thanks not now” response, that’s ok! I know I would appreciate it.
The Call
So you respond. Recruiter wants to talk, promises to share comp info, company detail, more about the role once they get you on the phone. THIS IS A TACTIC. Of course it is, we’re trained to plant the seed to get you on the phone. This is not wrong, necessarily… but it can feel a little gross so it’s totally fine to be blunt here. It’s ABSOLUTELY acceptable to tell the recruiter you can spare 15 minutes, are willing to provide a brief overview of your background and lay out your expectations. A good recruiter would be all over that. A GREAT recruiter will do more listening than talking in this first conversation. What we want to know –
  • Are you open to making a job change?
  • Are you skills and abilities a fit for my hiring need(s)?
  • Do you have reasonable expectations?
Now you’re wondering what’s reasonable… great question, and a recruiter should be able to tell you. Whether it’s average comp for your industry / expertise, appropriate level / chance of getting to the next step in the hiring process, timing… all of this can and should be readily answered by the recruiter. It’s worth mentioning that in the course of this quick chat, one of both of you may decide it’s not the right time/opportunity. THAT IS OK. You can agree to follow up in 6 months. The recruiter can offer to connect you to other teams / colleagues. You can agree to never speak again. There are no wrong outcomes, but CLEAR outcomes with specific next steps are the best.
Pro Tip – if you’re not comfortable getting on the phone, lay that out in your email response! I have literally done this as a prospect myself. I am interested in chatting IF (insert laundry list here). A smart recruiter knows better than to waste your time and will be thankful. If we can hit those hot buttons, AWESOME! We’ll tell you that and set up a call from there. If we can’t… well, in my experience recruiters just go away never to be heard from again. It happens. 😉
Red Flags
Full disclosure – this is MY perspective as a candidate / prospect who gets hit up all the time. I try really really hard to NEVER be this recruiter. I fail at this. A lot. But know it’s not who I want to be.

  • Can’t or won’t disclose any details about the company / job / team. We’re not holding the nuclear codes here, people. If the recruiter doesn’t KNOW, then the recruiter is not truly a strategic adviser to their client and knowledgeable about what they’re recruiting for. Proceed with caution.
  • Talks WAY TOO MUCH. Well shit. I’m guilty of this. I get excited, probably over share, so… the previous bullet isn’t really a problem 🙂 BUT – recruiters should be making it about YOU the candidate and taking lots of notes. If you have to remind your recruiter repeatedly that no you absolutely CAN NOT RELOCATE then it’s a good indicator they’re not listening. And that’s bad.
  • Pretends to know more than they do. I don’t know shit about coding. I often joke about being the least technical tech recruiter on the planet. I won’t ask you a bunch of questions about latency or distributed systems or the difference between Java and JavaScript because frankly I’m not keen on embarrassing myself (much). I’ll ask you for a high level overview and understand enough to know what you want to do and where you could potentially do it (in my company). Equally important – I will be the absolute EXPERT on RECRUITING, what it takes to get from point A to offer, and how to help YOU navigate the tricky tricky process that is interviewing and negotiating. That’s MY super power. What’s yours?

Hello 2019! Now about those resolutions…

January 2, 2019 /

I don’t really “do” resolutions.

But if I DID…. it would look sort of like this.

1. Run a race every month
2. Train for a full marathon by the end of 2019

That’s it! I’m not going to make myself any false promises, lofty goals, or anything “hard”. I’m not opposed to “hard”, but I am opposed to forcing resolutions on myself just because the calendar flipped over.

Frankly, I sorta feel like my life is pretty on track. I have an AMAZING career, the best husband a girl could ask for, and my kids are all happy and healthy. Sure I could lose a few pounds, smooth out some of these wrinkles, and moisturize more frequently.

Or I can just live my life and enjoy the ride 🙂

Actually, a marathon might be hard. Huh. Doing it anyway.

Winning Friends and Influencing Recruiters

December 27, 2018 /

Y’all – I got my feelings hurt on the internet.

I know I know… you’re thinking “what, is she new to the web?” or maybe “wait a minute she has FEELINGS??”. No and YES. LOTS OF THEM. But I digress.

I get on average about 18.6 million pings a day from prospective candidates or other like-minded folk who want to do business with me/my company (that’s only a little hyperbole – it’s truly LOTS of pings). A lot of these emails / tweets / inmails / connection requests come from people who want to work for my company. 0.0001% of them are likely qualified to do the actual roles I’m recruiting for.

These are NOT “bad” candidates. They are, for the most part, people who are highly skilled or qualified in something I am personally not involved in. I don’t recruit accountants. Or sales people. Or university grads. I work on a small yet critical piece of the Company family – engineering managers for a specific product area.

If you’re looking for a job as a database administrator, I am not your girl.

That said, I know what it’s like to be staring down an online application wishing just someone, anyone, a REAL PERSON would throw me a bone. When I’m asked, I do my best to not only respond, but also respond with some sort of valuable tidbit that allows the person asking to walk away from our interaction feeling just a little better.

It doesn’t always work.

A few weeks ago a job seeker we’ll call “LinkedIn Member” contacted me. This person has a background I know NOTHING about. I explained my role, also adding that I’m relatively new to my company and not sure how to best help, but encouraged the messenger to apply online and offered to give feedback on their resume.

I did exactly what I said I would do. We had a bit of back and forth ending with me encouraging this person to find a recruiter who focused on their particular skillset and have that recruiter (or more than one!) also review the resume and provide additional advice and even better, vet MY advice. Talk to an expert in YOUR field who just might poke holes in what I’ve told you to do. I left the conversation feeling kinda warm and fuzzy about my “good deed” only to get this shortly after –

DID. NOT. WANT. TO. HELP?

Look I’m not saving lives here, ok? I get it. I spent probably and hour, in total, back and forth with this job seeker and reviewing the resume / drafting my advice. Maybe that doesn’t feel all that significant or helpful. But dammit I TRIED. Not just tried to be nice, or respond to every single message like some think recruiters should do, but I tried to HELP. I gave this person not only a recruiter’s insight but also SPECIFIC ADVICE on what to do next.

It stung, y’all. My logical mind knows this says more about the job seeker than it does about me. I have been doing this long enough to know that someone, somewhere, is going to not like you no matter what. While I’m using this specific instance as an example, don’t be fooled. I get this kind of shit day in and out. This particular unhappy person could be any number of people I’ve interacted with over the years. And it ain’t fun.

So the next time a recruiter is snarky or unhelpful or simply just doesn’t respond, give them just a wee little benefit of the doubt, please? Maybe they just got their feelings hurt too.

Yoga Pants of the Day – Work From Home Edition

December 22, 2018 /

Admittedly I don’t work from home as often as I would like… my employer embraces face time as a valuable opportunity to get to know and work more closely with your colleagues. Of course they are perfectly fine with you showing up in yoga pants, and the food is pretty good, so it’s all good from my perspective.

I know a lot of people swear by the whole getting up / getting ready routine. I totally understand and I wholeheartedly embrace the idea that everyone should do what works for them. Just because I’m ok rolling out of bed right to the (home) office doesn’t mean everyone else should do it.

Today is one of those rare “no meeting” days – a bunch of emails to catch up on, a few post-interview loose ends to tie up, some candidate updates to share by phone, but NO ONE has to actually see me today. It’s a GREAT DAY to embrace the messy bun, no makeup, yoga pants look my husband claims to love.

After all, he took this picture.

These yoga pants though? These are my LUCKY yoga pants. I was wearing them when I accepted the offer to join Google. I didn’t wear them during my interview of course, even I’m not that brave. That day I wore my “dressy but still really yoga pants even though no one can tell” pants. 🙂

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