Recruiting In Yoga Pants

Dressing up is for suckers

Category: social media

Maybe It’s All Made Up

March 16, 2024 /

I know as well as most of you that there’s not shortage of clout chasers on social media.

I can’t assume that everything folks say on there is true. Especially when it flies directly in the face of common sense and compliance.

EVEN MORE ESPECIALLY when I know the players involved and can say with one million percent confidence 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏.

I have to work on letting go of things I can’t control and stay out of discussions that are not beneficial to me or my audience.

What I WILL continue to focus on is elevating my profession to the best of my abilities, working with my leaders to create fair and equitable job postings followed by a compliant hiring process, and make the best damn offers I can to folks who trust us with their careers.

The rest of the dopamine circus can three ring without me.

Before we go… let’s talk about my silly little tweet pictured above.

Here’s the problem – it’s widely reported that women apply to roles they meet ALL OR MOST of the qualifications for, and men will apply when only meeting some. I’ve even some statistics say women apply when they meet 100% of the requirements (logical) and men apply when they only meet 60%.

I know in MY world as a serious and sane recruiter who understands the definition of the word “required” – this simply means that men are going to get rejected more often. Too many times though folks interpret this to mean that women should ALSO shoot those long shots. Too many times what ACTUALLY happens is those well qualified women get passed over for someone’s frat bro or the CEO’s nephew.

If you’re a recruiter or hiring leader serious about increasing representation of under represented employees, let’s chat. Getting serious about what is ACTUALLY required and staying true to a fair and compliant process will get you there. Otherwise you’re at MAJOR risk of “going with your gut” – which doesn’t always work out for the very people you claim to care about. 🤷‍♀️

A Tale of Two Screenshots

March 10, 2024 /

I remember when one of my sons was in his teens – he was utterly convinced that society was “smarter” because of our near unlimited access to information. As internet connectivity becomes more widespread and literally ANYONE can post content, I disagree.

In many ways, access to whatever passes for “information” these days may be making us dumber.

Why yes I DO recognize the irony of saying this when I am myself one of those people putting information on the internet every week.

Recently a LinkedIn pal shared a gem of a video produced by a well known job board. The video is VERY well produced, with smooth transitions from the beautiful actress reading a script (she did great BTW) to visuals explaining what was being said. Speaking of visuals, let’s take a look at THIS screenshot from the video:

Here we see various steps in the recruiting workflow. The voiceover states “the ATS comes between Candidates apply and Applicants are screened”.

Read that again.

The ATS comes between “CANDIDATES APPLY and APPLICANTS ARE SCREENED”.

Now you may be wondering what’s the problem! Isn’t that how it works? It’s what everyone complains about. It’s what job seekers have been told repeatedly. I mean, who do I think I am to come in with… wait…. THIS:

Sadly I’m NOT an actress nor do I have access to fancy production tools and editing. All I have is an iPhone and a whiteboard. Oh, and 25 years of hands on recruiting experience across multiple organizations including a few FAANG companies. I’ve lost track of how many ATSs I’ve logged into every day for the past two decades. Here is MY visual of what an ATS actually does. Notice we’re covering the same topics:

  • Job is created
  • Job is posted online
  • Candidates apply
  • Applicants are screened
  • Candidates are interviewed
  • Candidate is hired

You might be wondering “Ames, what’s the problem?” Simple – ALL of those things happen within the ATS. And then some.

The digital filing cabinet doesn’t “come between” 2 specific workflows. It CONTAINS those workflows. I’ve talked about this on LinkedIn already. I completely understand that job seekers care the MOST (as they should) about where THEY are in process, and the only thing they can actually control – the information they provide via the application/resume.

So why does it matter? Why spend an hour on a lovely Sunday grabbing the screenshots, writing the blog, and screaming about ATSs into the abyss?

Partially because I have an allergic reaction to misinformation. Mostly, because the nonsensical rhetoric around hiring and recruiting actually harms job seekers.

I dislike that. Quite a bit, as it turns out.

Friends, you can choose who to follow, listen to, believe, and take advice from. It’s absolutely NONE of my business how you structure your job search. The difference between me and a lot of people talking about ATSs (especially incorrectly) is they often have something to sell. To be completely fair, I work for a company that uses this particular job board, with some solid success! They’re great at their core business – why they’re so willing to invest in and run with this flat out WRONG information is beyond me – it makes them look… kinda dumb. Just sayin.

For me, when anyone (company or individual) doubles down on incorrect or harmful information, we’re past a single data point. We’re now spotting trends – whether it’s endlessly repeating one wrong concept or repeated violations of common sense. Those trends help me determine where and when to spend my emotional (and actual) currency. It’s certainly not going to be with people and companies who are willfully misleading job seekers.

Do with that information what you will – and for more on what ATSs ACTUALLY DO, check out the playlist HERE.

What Does Your Social Media Content Say About You?

April 7, 2023 /

This might sting a little.

Now I say this as someone who is pretty darn transparent on social media… I’m far from the example anyone should be following! That said – I am a recruiter, and I read profiles for a living (along with some other stuff 😉 ) So what is an active job seeker to do? Now this is not your profile – we have another video about that you can check out HERE. We’re talking about posts, comments, and engagement.

Get ready for some very loving truth bombs…

Truth Bomb #1 – Your posts are incredibly vague

You’ve seen them – “don’t ignore my post!” or “I need a job!” Well, yes. I believe those things are true. Unfortunately a lot of those posts don’t say much else. They often lack context or a clear call to action – so what’s a reader to do? Unfortunately a lot of readers will make comments like “you got this!” or the dreaded “commenting for reach!” but seriously…. does that actually get you anywhere?

Truth Bomb #2 – your post is about YOU, not how you solve THEIR problem

This one sucks. I want you to think about this though – there’s a difference between “I need” and “I can do”. One is self-serving, the other is value adding to the audience. The reality is a stranger on the internet doesn’t care if you’re about to be homeless. YOU care, hence your content asking for help. The readers of your content? Not so much. They have their own wishes/needs/agenda, and if you speak to that, you’re way ahead of your competition. Instead of “I need a job” try “I am excited to land my next role where I can provide X by doing Y” or something to that effect.

Truth Bomb #3 – you need a talent shaped box

Another tough one – so many folks are hesitant to get too specific. If I post about how great of a recruiter I am, and that I’m really good at sourcing engineers, no one will consider me for a marketing gig! Well… that may be true… but are you QUALIFIED for a marketing gig? It’s absolutely ok to consider a career change – and your content should speak to that. The reality is the more targeted and specific your pitch is, the more likely it’ll get noticed by the right people!

The goal is to create a mental picture of how you can solve someone’s problem. Companies hire people to DO things. Buy, sell, build, consult, influence, direct, manager, manufacture… you name it. Show you can do that thing, and watch your engagement go up.

Check out the video HERE.

Networking With Recruiters! 2022 Amy’s Version

October 15, 2022 /

I wrote about this back in 2019 and hahahahaha OMG how things have changed since then.

You can read it here, if you’re curious.

So what’s changed Ames? Well, the SHEER VOLUME of requests I get. Every. Single. Day.

Simmer down haters. I know how y’all like to get confused about how recruiting works. Keep reading.

So let’s start with WHAT recruiters actually do anyway. We are hired by companies (internal or agency) to find, engage, and deliver qualified candidates. As such, our PRIMARY FOCUS is on engaging with people in our specific niche/line of business/talent populations. There are other business facing priorities, but let’s focus on the candidate/applicant/prospect side.

For many recruiters, our priorities are as follows:

  • Applicants (folks who applied directly to our open roles)
  • Employee Referrals
  • Sourced prospects

My personal policy and what I encourage my team to do, is to check the applicant buckets first thing every morning. Yes, some roles get hundreds of applicants, but rarely overnight. Even in those cases it’s still a good practice to quickly review/forward/disposition on a daily basis. Over the last few years direct applicants have been my personal best source of hire! Sourced candidates (found by me / my team) and formal employee referrals (via my company’s internal career site) round out our list.

OK Ames, we get it – but what about people who want to approach you?

Let me clear up one ridiculous misconception RIGHT NOW – I LOVE interested, qualified prospects sliding into my DMs. Love it. Absolutely love it. You think I dress up in silly costumes every week and come up with funny ways to bring attention to my open roles for the hell of it?

Y’all – I WANT people who could fit my roles to find me and talk to me.

Those folks are my SECOND priority, after direct qualified applicants. I try to quickly scan my various inboxes daily to make sure I’m not missing any hot prospects or urgent requests. I also share contact info for our entire recruiting team, which is the single best way (AFTER applying directly) to get in touch with us about roles we’re hiring for.

But what about everyone else? Job seekers need help!

Y’all have to understand that my day job is what allows me to create all the other content for folks I will never hire. That means my day job HAS to be my priority. I started this blog and later YouTube channel BECAUSE I was no longer able to keep up with all the one to one requests. I have no special skills. I was not born into privilege, nor was I handed any opportunity. I had to figure out the hard way what worked for me, how to network effectively, and what a proper job search strategy (FOR ME) looked like. My primary goal with this “side hustle” is to help the average, every day job seeker who does NOT have certain privileges navigate all this better. My content is FREE, no strings attached, and available to anyone who wants it.

I sincerely welcome any and all messages from anyone who wants to get in touch – I’m merely asking for a little grace and understanding if I can’t respond right away, or worse – completely miss your message and fail to respond at all. I will never – EVER – be mad that someone reached out to me.

Now there are SOME individuals who think I could provide more value by responding to hundreds of people every week with “sorry can’t help you” instead of “making videos every day”. (Once a week, sparky. I make videos once a week. Math is hard I know).

Now that we have a bit more CONTEXT, let’s dig into what job seekers CAN do to stand out and get helpful responses!

Get clear on your ask

If you just want to network or add someone to your LinkedIn connections, that’s totally ok! You can say that! Unfortunately I’m at the max LI allows, but I encourage folks to follow me to stay connected. Feel free to engage in comments, tag me in posts, I’m cool with that! If you want to DM me, please tell me EXACTLY what it is I can help with. If I see the message (and honestly, I get SO MANY I know I miss a bunch) I’ll do my best to answer quickly – even if it’s redirecting you back to a video or post I already made.

Do your homework!

I cannot stress this part enough – contacting the RIGHT recruiter(s) is such an important first step. Most of us are pretty good at highlighting our industries, the company we recruit for, and the kinds of roles we’re looking to fill. Simply targeting your message to the RIGHT kind of recruiter is already a game changer, and fairly low lift.

Connect with / Follow industry pros

So many job seekers default to RECRUITERS, which is fine! Most of us really do want to help and it’s like Christmas when qualified folks land in our inboxes. However, those messages can be accidentally missed in a sea of other requests. Don’t sleep on networking with fellow (insert title here) and their leaders! If I was looking for a new recruiting job, you better believe I’m hitting up RECRUITERS and recruiting MANAGERS at companies I want to work for.

OK Ames you’ve convinced me – now what do I SAY?

I got you! I’ve written targeted networking templates you can access HERE. These templates are intended to give you a framework you can personalize to your specific requests and target audience. I have lots of other content like Salary FAQs, Recruiting FAQs, all kinds of stuff to help you navigate this all more effectively. If you like videos, I’ve curated a whole playlist you might want to start with. – Job Seeker Survival Guide

To sum it up –

Friends, let me be vulnerable with you for a moment. While 90% or more of the reactions I get to my content is positive, I get my share of very loud haters. I’ve had people tag CEOs of three major tech companies (my employers) trying to get me fired. I’ve been insulted, threatened, and accused of all kinds of nefarious nonsense. I refuse to share my family on social media (rarely even pictures) because my KIDS have been targeted by strangers angry that I didn’t give them something they demanded of me.

There is NO profession – including recruiters – that deserves the vitriol certain folks lob our way. The fact that recruiters remain accessible after what we go through should be celebrated! I know my content (let alone my style) is not for everyone, and that is OK! My only ask is if you HAVE benefited from anything I’ve shared, please pay it forward. Share with your friends. I don’t want lifelong followers – my hope is that folks leverage my insights, get the role(s) they want and help the next group of job seekers.

I never want to shame anyone for seeking help. EVER. Asking for help is a sign strength, in my opinion. Recognizing your gaps, or where you need a lift, is a wonderful thing. I sincerely want to be that lift to as many people as I can, as effectively as possible.

Recruiters are human too – don’t forget that when asking us to put the HUMAN back in Human Resources.

P.S. – for the salty little potatoes in recruiting who think I owe literally every single person who contacts me a response – please leave your contact information below. I will add it to my auto-responder so that these folks can go to YOU for the direct, one on one assistance I am unable to provide. We thank you for your service. Alternatively, you can see if shutting up is right for you.

Say Hello to The Dude

February 20, 2021 /

My husband does not do social media.

Like, at all. He has a Facebook page which he generally ignores unless I tagged him in a meme and mercilessly hound him to go look at it. He finds the whole idea of being “out there” on the internet to be a HORRIBLE waste of time. He avoids the whole mess as much as possible.

He’s the smart one in this relationship.

Then there’s me, who apparently CANNOT HELP MYSELF from saying stupid shit online and getting into petty squabbles with strangers. It’s pretty darn silly when you think about it.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! There’s my job seeking community I love so much. Someone referred to me on Twitter earlier this week as a Job Seeker Advocate and I legit CRIED, y’all! (it’s a great list by the way – check it out here) I care deeply about using my privilege to help those around me. I fought hard to get to this stage in my career, and am obsessed with paying it forward to the next generation of job seekers and recruiters.

The Dude makes this possible.

Blue collar to his Midwestern core, salt of the earth, holds the door for me but sits back and lets me conquer anything and everything that comes between me and my goals. 

The Dude makes sure I’m fed, caffeinated and loved beyond measure. He’s loves our kids and dogs, managing our household while I devise new ways to take over the world (or at least design silly t-shirts). 

He’s the most gracious, kind and loving human I’ve ever known. My biggest fan, rocking my favorite gear. 

Everything I’ve accomplished in the last several years is BECAUSE I’ve had his unconditional love and support. If I’m of any value to my community (online or off) this guy made it possible.

We got a bunch of samples in today from the shop, and I made him play model with me. He sighed and let me grab this selfie, because that’s who he is. No matter what I need – big or small, easy or hard – he just rolls with it. To y’all this might just be a random picture of a couple of crazy Gen-X kids all grown up, but to me, it’s a reminder that this man has my back in every conceivable way, no matter what the situation.

I have SO MUCH in my life to be grateful for – including The Dude. So thank you, Mr. Miller – for being you. And for letting me be me.

There’s a sucker born every minute. Some go into recruiting.

October 5, 2019 /

1997. I was attending a vocational school night classes in Lacey, WA (since bankrupt) in an attempt to learn how to type and be a receptionist. I had two little babies at home and I knew I need to get some training and make some money. Natalie (I can’t remember her last name) was the branch manager of our local Office Team. She came to speak with all of us students about “temping”, why we should consider signing up with Office Team after our training and we knew how to answer phones and file documents. She stood there in her branch manager suit, all polished and professional, and I knew in that moment – I wanted to be Natalie when I grew up.

So began my path to recruiting.

I signed to be a temp for Office Team, and spent several weeks covering the front desk while their receptionist was on parental leave. When I was offered a role as a Staffing Manager, I couldn’t run away fast enough. All the Staffing Managers I worked with went home crying every day – no way in hell I was signing up for that. Fast forward a few more months and I somehow networked my way into a recruiting gig for a local boutique firm hiring truck drivers. Thus began my recruiting career.

Twenty years later, I’m living the good life as a senior recruiter for a well known tech brand. I’ve learned SO much over the years, the most important lesson is that I’m actually really good at this. I often joke that I’ve been in recruiting so long that I literally cannot do anything else. Probably true, but besides the point.

In all my years I’ve seen disruptive new models come and go. There was the company that offered to pay you to speak to recruiters (it’s ok they’re working on a relaunch). The latest is a firm that is going to do some cool stuff with blockchain and prepaid visas. I listened to the amazing Chad and Cheese Podcast about this today and there was a reference to “Equifax for Resumes” which frankly freaked me the hell out.

Am I in a Black Mirror episode??

Y’all can read the posts and listen to the podcasts yourselves, but let me just say this – ALL of this seems to hinge on the willingness of job seekers to be, well, seeking a job. There’s also apparently a claim that the 5% fee received by the JOB SEEKER is enough for a so called passive individual to make a change. There’s also some discussion about how staffing agencies can actual leverage this tool – which is FASCINATING since the early premise seemed to be that staffing agencies suck or something (my words not theirs, simmer down internet folk).

Alrighty. All that, leading up to THIS – Turn Recruitment Into a Second Income.

leo dicaprio GIF

I’m CRYING, y’all.

So the basic premise (maybe?) is that you can do this really hard work on the side and by leveraging the fine folks behind this shiny new tool, make some side money. After all, You go and get a job requirement from a company, agree to your terms with them at a 20% fee.

That’s all! Just go get a job requirement. From a company. Get them to agree to your terms at 20% fee.

Easy peasy.

Sure, working with this outfit reduces your fee, but they also remove all the risk and challenges recruiters face and skip right to the money making part (absolutely THEIR words this time, y’all. You can’t make this shit up).

I gotta tell you my emotions are all over the place with this. I went from being mildly amused to pissed off to confused and now am squarely in the sit back and pop some popcorn camp. I think recruiting is BIG ENOUGH for all kinds of people to try all sorts of neat things and make great money doing it. What I DON’T like is anyone reducing my hard work to a simple transaction.

In a phrase, F*CK OFF.

I work REALLY hard to engage people who otherwise wouldn’t consider a job change. I consult all the time with managers, convincing them to take chances on people who may not look “right” on paper.  I constantly peel back the layers to understand the emotional currency of my candidates, and try to help them navigate the really hard, complex interview process at my company. I GIVE A SHIT about my clients and candidates. I did at my last several companies. I’ll do it again at the next one.

If you think you can distill all that hard emotional heavy lifting into signing up for a f*cking job board you don’t know recruitment.

Now – if your premise (which is what I took away from the podcast) is that you’re a supplement to recruiting firms / TA teams, that’s cool. But that’s not your premise, right…? You LITERALLY POSTED that recruiting is basically driving around and picking people up in your car.

To the founders, executives, writers, anyone involved that wants to discuss – let’s do it. Amy@recruitinginyogapants.com. I’m open to a conversation – I’ll give you my personal cell phone and we can talk all about it. We could even meet on the Recruiting Animal Show. Let’s talk about how I can make great money with no qualification. Surely you didn’t mean it to come across the way it did…

Right?

Applicants, Bikinis and Instagram – OH MY!

October 4, 2019 /

EVERYBODY is talking about the latest kerfuffle between aspiring marketer Emily Clow and some salty chicks over at Kickass Masterminds, who have since taken down all their social real estate (THAT HASHTAG THO).

If you’ve been living under a rock or maybe just haven’t paid much attention (someday I’ll learn this) there’s tons of articles, but I’m digging the write up HERE. Another not so flattering spin found over THERE. The founder (as of this writing) still had her old YouTube channel up – in this video she gives advice on how to lose weight, including the reason “I want to wear a bathing suit to the beach without being embarrassed”. The internet citizens are NOT KIND, y’all.

SO ANYWAY – in case you’re not keen on clicking away and really dying to know what I think of this situation, here ya go – young woman applies for a marketing job with kick ass company. Kick ass company tells her follow them on Instagram to be considered a top candidate or some such shit. Candidate does. Company finds candidate’s insta feed full of bikini, vacay, and food photos. Absolutely horrible decision making ensues.

The company posted a cropped photo of Ms. Clow showing her in a bikini and with the caption that basically said they’re not hiring a bikini model and stop putting these pictures on the internet if you want a real job. One has to wonder if the same person behind that update ever told their founder to take down the photo her herself in a tank top that said “Feisty As F*ck”. Y’all know I love a good snarky t-shirt but that might be a bridge to far even for ME.

Sigh. the irony of this blowing up on #MeanGirlsDay is not lost on me.

Image result for mean girls day gif

Here’s the BIGGER QUESTION –

What right / expectation / understanding should exist between employers and candidates with regards to Social Media? I gotta be honest – I’m pretty dang open on social media, and I’m sure if you looked really hard, you’d find some less than flattering stuff (please Lord don’t ever let me go viral). I ALSO stand by the crap I say and even when it’s less than popular, well, I own my opinions. I’m not for everybody, but I sure hope my current employer doesn’t tire of my shenanigans any time soon. I digress. Here’s what I REALLY THINK.

As a recruiter / company representative, it’s none of my damn business.

There I said it. I can already here the chorus of “but Amy what about (insert awful thing here)” but the reality is, my job is to vet your ability and interest. CAN you do the job. Do you WANT to do the job here. I have absolutely zero right to go looking for trouble. You being a vegetarian, a Republican, a Zoroastrian, or hot girl in a bikini has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to write solid code.

The issue is NOT that during the course of an interview process / background check unsavory information came to light. I get that can happen. I’m not even as concerned about the company searching the applicant’s IG feed (ok I don’t LOVE that, but again, they’re hiring a marketer – I see the relevance). It was the extra intentional step to shame a girl rocking a bikini. Would a male applicant in a tank top or better yet, shirtless, have received the same shitty treatment? Some have defended the company, saying the job seeker should have kept it private, or that since her head was cropped out, they didn’t call HER out. Oh BS. She quickly identified her photo (with captions!) and asked them to take it down. Nicely. This was a HORRIBLE decision on the company’s part, and quite frankly, they should be ashamed of themselves.

So what’s a job seeker to do? Look, I can’t change the rules of the game for you, but I can try to help you win. Lock down your profiles (or at least sanity check what can/can’t be publicly seen). If you’re active in your job search, ask professional pals to take a look and give real, honest feedback on how your social footprint shows up. Take a look at the profiles of people who work for your target company. Are they fairly free-wheeling with what they share? Might be a great fit for you! Are they more reserved? Now’s the time to make a decision on how hard you want to pursue a role with them.

How about my recruiting brothers and sisters? Do you really think you’re the social media police and you should go LOOKING for something to be mad about? Here’s my advice to YOU – if your client / employer has a specific social media policy – then YES. Give your prospects a heads up. Again – we can’t change the rules of the game, but don’t we owe it to our candidates to help them win? If we KNOW that companies are going to react badly to a bikini photo (still think that’s dumb, but – whatever) shouldn’t we clue our candidates in? I vote yes.

What say you?

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