Viewpoint - Viewpoint

When I was in transition, I spoke with plenty of recruiters. Most of them had a job description in hand and would look for a mirror image of that job description on a resume.

It was easy to see that if there was one bullet on the job description that wasn't listed on the resume, the conversation stopped.

I want to know why recruiters treat intelligent people like they're incapable of learning? Learning is ongoing for professional people and let's face it, the Internet provides an amazing springboard for research.

Every position cannot be all-inclusive to every company and recruiters and hiring managers should understand that an intelligent person can learn new areas of their jobs if it's a requirement.

If recruiters have a strong candidate, they should make an effort to build a relationship with the candidate so they can make a professional assessment about their current competencies as well as the candidate’s innate abilities to take initiative and want to learn more. There are, what I like to call, "Steady Eddies" who are great employees; however, they're not superstars.

Not everyone is a superstar and that's okay too, but that's a topic for another day. In addition, hiring managers and companies need to stop expecting recruiters to wave a magic wand and find their perfect candidate. The perfect candidate is non-existent!

In closing, it would be peachy if recruiters and hiring managers would understand that people aren't perfect and companies aren't perfect. There will always be a hole or a void somewhere on the resume and it's a matter of determining the priority of that skills void. Talk to the candidate and let them share their work and personal experiences with you.

Stop using the recruiting process to rule out candidates and start using it to court them. When a candidate knows you want to learn more about them, they'll be less nervous when they speak to you and inclined to share their experiences candidly.

Maybe then candidates will stop being on the defensive with recruiters and recruiters will stop accusing candidates of lying.

This is human nature folks, don't overcomplicate it. Thoughts?

---------------------------------

BIOGRAPHY

Kimberly is a senior Human Resources leader with over two decades of progressive experience as a strategic business partner and creative thinker. Her experience encompasses strategic planning and execution with a strong knowledge of HR Management.  Kimberly recognizes that businesses, cultures and people are different. She believes in making the workplace relationship a win-win through leadership coaching, improved performance management and engagement.

While passions lie in helping others become better leaders to foster engagement and employee development, her greatest accomplishment (and challenge!) in life has been being a single mother to twins who are now in college.  Kimberly blogs at Unconventional HR and you can connect with her on Twitter as @kimberly_roden and on LinkedIn.

Comments: