Today's post is short and to the point – we're efficient like that at FOT…
Right before the holiday, a friend of mine emailed me looking for sourcing advice, and in passing mentioned he had a couple of VP opportunities he was looking to fill, di
d I know anyone?
Yes…yes I do. I live in this quirky neighborhood in the burbs with neighbors in spitting distance that have engineering, telecom, software, sales, business development type experience with a few teachers, chefs and accountants in the mix (and then you've got me, the sourcer who likes to think of herself as an association/nonprofit specialist). And many of these people have clearances too.
And I'm extremely happy to make connections, to see a referral request, check out the job posting and then pass the info on to a friend. I love this time of year, when people are looking for a new career move and want to start fresh in January. It's a fun time. So I'm happy to share the opportunity I have and I always email the job posting link to the friend, because if it's posted it's real, right?
Well maybe in the land of retained search where I live it's real, but apparently in corporate, sometimes it's not. I call b******. If the job isn't real, and you arent' going to interview, don't post the job. Don't ask for me referrals. When you ask me for a referral and then say we're not really going to do anything for 45-60 days, well that's bad.
Really bad.
You and I both lose credibility in this situation. And loss of credibility will cost us future referrals. Me from my neighbor and you from me.
And guess what? I'm totally going to tell my referral what you've told me about the job status. He's got other fish to fry. I'm not going to encourage to wait this thing out. That's silly. We're in a really competitive marketplace and this is a huge problem if you think jobseekers are going to wait for you. They're not.
My advice? Pull down the posting. When you know what you're doing, post it. When you know what you're doing, ask for referrals. Until then? Get your ducks in a row.
Kelly is the Recruitment Manager for Westat, a leading social science research organization headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.