Why Corporate Recruiting?

How / Why did you get into recruiting?

That's a question I got when I was interviewing.  It's also a question I frequently get when talking to friends.

My journey to the Corporate Recruiting world started in 2004.  I was finishing school, interning for a private money management company in their sales department.  They brought me on full time once I finished school, and I went into a sales role.  Cold calling.  Appointment setting.  Tracking the money I was bringing into the firm.  I was better at sales than I ever thought I could be, especially in an industry I honestly knew nothing about.  I made a lot of money.  But I wasn't happy.

What was missing?

In sales, it's very much about "how can you help ME?"  When, in turn, I really wanted to help THEM.  I wanted to provide them with their best options - whether or not it was truly with our firm.  I started thinking about a way to combine something I was good at (sales) with something that would make me feel good about what I was doing for a living.

In 2008, I was approached for an internal position as a Corporate Recruiter, and I jumped at the opportunity.  What better way to fill that void I felt!  I landed in a position where I would "sell" the managers on candidates that I was presenting to them, where I would "sell" the candidate on what makes our company great to work at, where I fulfilled my own desire to be helpful.  I was helping a company fill its organization with great talent, while helping someone looking for a great "home" to display their expertise.

Selfishly, I made the move for myself.

And in the end, that decision to move out of sales, away from the big money income, the glorious "President's Club" trips, and the pretentiousness of being the best has left me feeling extremely fulfilled in my career.

I have considered moving to the agency side of recruiting, but I want to feel like I am helping to grow ONE organization.  I want to live, breathe, and BE the culture I am promoting and supporting.

I love what I do.  I love the feedback I get from managers when I find their perfect candidate.  I love the emails I get from candidates saying they had the best candidate experience and "THANK YOU for helping me."

I am a matchmaker.  I am the one who walks away with a sly smile knowing that all is right in the world for *this* exact moment.

Now... let me ask you... why do you do what you do?

Your Resume: The Basics

Ok.

So you've finally decided to get off your butt and look for your dream job.  Whether you are a "freshie" (coming right out of school) or just someone who has been off the job market for 5, 6, 7, 15 years, the following rules will always apply.

• Make it readable.  6 point font is not okay!  After reading thousands and thousands of resumes, our eyes just aren't what they used to be.  If it is too difficult to read what you've accomplished, we will not read what you've accomplished!  If you are trying to squeeze your resume onto one page, throw that rule out the window; old habits die hard.  

• Tell me where you live and how to contact you.  Does that sound creepy?  It's not meant to.  A lot of positions will require a certain geographic territory.  Whether the office is based in San Francisco and needs an onsite employee, or the sales territory is in Chicago and needs a sales rep who already resides in the area and has a network.  You aren't fooling anyone if you don't put your location on your resume.  Address is not necessary, but City/State are appreciated.  Also, please make sure your email and phone number (the one we can reach you on most reliably) are on there.  And make sure they are correct.

• Make it chronological.  I've seen resumes where applicants list their experience by "relevance", which really confuses the heck out of me.  How did your resume jump from 1999 to 2013, back to 2002, to 2012, back to 2001?  I don't get it.  Again, if it's too difficult to read, we aren't going to read it.  Harsh, but it is the truth.

• Organize.  If you have more than 5 years of work experience after college, your Education section no longer belongs at the top.  Experience is worth more than your degree.  

• Quantify.  This is especially true for anyone in sales.  Quantify, quantify, quantify.  Tell me how much over-quota you did in 2013 Q1, Q2, Q3.  Tell me how much you make your fellow sales reps look like they're lazy!  If you saved your department $100k in licensing fees, tell me that.  If you oversaw 21 customers, tell me that too. 

• List skills.  Fluent in Spanish?  PowerPoint pro?  Excel guru?  While the position you are applying for may not require them, recruiters/managers are always looking for someone that can enhance their team.  What can you do for us?

This is just a short-list of "must haves" for a resume that will get a glance.  Do this, and you are well on your way to dream-job-success!

PS - Don't forget to spell check!