It was late in the afternoon on a Friday.  The food-coma from a company luncheon was finally wearing off and I needed a rally to help bolster the research before the day was over.  The goal was to find Plant/Site Managers at sawmills or paper product producers in northwestern United States.  After a few hours had been spent on this project we were running short on places to research.  Obviously there are only so many sawmills within any given geography.  By searching the depths of the internet I found an article posted on the website of a local association for sawmills and other related businesses.  Doug Fir from ABC Paper & Wood Products received an award from this association for a reason I can’t recall.  It was perfect; ABC Paper & Wood had not been targeted yet…   
 
“ABC Paper & Wood, how can I help you?” a friendly sounding receptionist greeted.
“Hi, I’m looking to get in contact with Douglas Fir please.” I said.

“Hmmmm… Douglas Fir, Douglas Fir” she replied as if she was thinking.  “OH OK!” the lady said as she began to laugh into the phone.  To avoid an awkward moment of silence, and in an effort to seem friendly I began to giggle.  In reality I was actually rather confused.  The laughter quickly subsided.  After a brief moment of silence she asked, “Who else can I put you in touch with?”

“Well, just Doug would be fine for now, if he feels there is someone better for me to speak with then I’ll just call back,”  I replied cluelessly.  I remember thinking “what is with this lady and what the hell is so funny?” 

“He doesn’t take calls sir” she said in a giggly tone.

“OK – Is he out in the field or something?”  I responded skeptically.

“Yeah, he’s in the field alright” The lady said again as her laughter was building.

“Does he have an assistant?” I asked as I was still totally confused.  At this point I figured she was maybe laughing at a co-worker or there was something distracting her.

“Nope, no assistant” The lady said, only this time she was basically hysterical with laughter.  My eyebrows began to tense as I was too confused to even speak.  I waited in silence for her to finish laughing.  The laugher quickly subsided and she said, “Do you seriously need to speak with someone, or did you just call for that?”

“Ma’am, I have no idea what you are talking about and I’m a little confused.” I told her.  “Is there a Doug Fir there or not?” I said in a tone that probably hinted at my frustration.   

“Yeah there is a Doug Fir back there; in fact there is a bunch of Doug Fir back there.”  She said as she again began to laugh.  “We sell it too – It’s a type of wood.”

I have a confession to make – I never dreamed of being a recruiter one day. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an archeologist, and yes, just like Indiana Jones.

I used to imagine myself digging up some incredible find and turning history as we understand it on its head. Instead, the closest I get to archeology now-a-days is watching Time Team America and Bone Detectives on television.

That doesn’t mean I don’t do some amateur-style archeology in my spare time though. My wife thinks I’m pathetic, plodding around our backyard with metal detector and trowel in hand, meticulously unearthing some of the rarest artifacts ever discovered in rural Virginia. Ok, I’m stretching the truth a bit, but those old nails and ancient car parts are really cool, at least to me. I have boxes full of the stuff in my garage. I have found some neat old bottles and other, well, trash, but my wife certainly doesn’t appreciate my finds as much as I do.

Imagine my glee when one day I found something truly remarkable. While I was trimming the grass around our house one fine summer day I saw a perfectly round stone about the size of a small potato partially buried near the foundation of the house right outside our back door. Its near perfect roundness caught my attention as it just didn’t look like any of the “normal” rocks lying around our place.

Intrigued, I grabbed my trowel and started digging, and to my utter astonishment I found another, and then another. All different sizes, but all nearly perfectly round stones in this one spot. I think I found about a half dozen of them altogether. I secretly brought them in the house and cleaned them in the sink, trying desperately to keep my new find from my wife who just wouldn’t understand or appreciate the significance of what I had found.

I quietly retreated to my office with the round rocks where I could take a closer look and see if I could figure out just what I had discovered. My mind raced – Native American maybe? They weren’t buried too deeply, though. Some left over stones from a former occupant? Colonial American maybe? But I couldn’t imagine what they would have been used for. I started Googling. I read books on American Indians in Virginia. I secretly showed my new treasures to visitors and we debated about what they could be. I would need some answers before the Smithsonian accepted them into their collection.

Months later, after the rocks had been stuffed in a drawer and nearly forgotten, my wife started in on me about all this junk I kept dragging into the house. “Junk?” I said in disgust. “I’ll have you know that I’ve found some pretty cool stuff out there. In fact, I’ll bet you can’t tell me what these little gems are.” I ran to my office and brought out my secret stash of round stones.

“Ok, so what do you think about these?” I demanded. I had her on this. She would have to admit once and for all that I had totally missed my calling and should promptly get back to school and start working on my new career in archeology.

“Where did you find these?” she asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“Right in the corner by the back door steps,” I huffed.

She just looked at me with a curious look, as though I were four years old and had just pulled a frog out of my pocket.

“Glen,” she said quietly, yet sternly. “Those are river rocks I picked up one day when we were hiking about seven years ago. I never found a use for them so I threw them outside the backdoor. You are an idiot.”

So for now I’m holding off on buying that Fedora and bull whip.

It’s ALL in the Details – From a Recruiter’s perspective

What do we recruiters need to know to help find that perfect candidate for our clients?  Is more information or less information better? Is just a job description enough?  Well for me, a recruiter at a contract research recruiting firm, partnering with our clients is almost as if we work at their site.  We are actually an extension of their recruitment team and sharing the right information is key to our success. 

Sure, job descriptions are important and yes, all the technical requirements are a must have to find the right candidates, but honestly it’s not enough. Clients need to provide details such as:

-why the positions are open
-team or department structure
-details on hiring manager (his/her management style)
-expectations
-what the team lacks
-how long positions are open
- challenges as to why they have not been able to fill the position on their own to date

I can go on and on; you get my drift, right?  Details!!!  Speaking to a hiring manager is also a bonus; his/her version of the position and ideal candidate provides incredible insight.  Sharing their knowledge, what he/she really is looking for, what the must haves are for this candidate, what he/she is willing to bend on or be flexible on is very valuable.  This type of information can’t be picked up from a job description alone. So yes, hiring managers on intake calls should be a RULE.

(more…)

It was well over a years worth of hype that I resisted before joining the popular social networking site, Facebook.  One of Facebook’s top competitors, LinkedIn, has been my primary selection of social networking for a few years now.  Through my experiences with these two sites it’s been made certain to me that both have slightly different purposes that can make a huge difference to their users which should be considered when building a network.

(more…)

*Definition:
• Main Entry: com•mu•ni•ca•tion
• Pronunciation: \k?-?myü-n?-’ka-sh?n\
• Function: noun
• Date: 14th century
1 : an act or instance of transmitting
2 a : information communicated b : a verbal or written message
3 a : a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior <the function of pheromones in insect communication>; also : exchange of information b : personal rapport <a lack of communication between old and young persons>
4 plural a : a system (as of telephones) for communicating b : a system of routes for moving troops, supplies, and vehicles c : personnel engaged in communicating
5 plural but sing or plural in constr a : a technique for expressing ideas effectively (as in speech) b : the technology of the transmission of information (as by print or telecommunication)
*Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication

Communication… a vital part of human existence, yet an area in which we all fall short at times.  A noun by function, dating back to the 14th Century, communication has been a key role in every aspect of life, sometimes in ways we don’t even realize.

(more…)