Check out Capstone's new website!

We are pleased to announce the official launch of our newly re-designed website at www.csgrecruiting.com.  It has been a long time coming and we hope you enjoy all of the updates and upgrades.  It is much more interactive with additional tools and resources for both clients and candidates alike.

Please take a peek at your convenience and enjoy!

Job application woes -- what is a lie and what is an omission?

 

I have had a couple of cases recently where an inaccurate job application cost the candidate the job.  One was a simple misunderstanding and the other was a little bit more misleading.  At the end of the day the employers did not attempt to define what was intentional and what was not.  It is a black and white issue and you have to be on top of your game when completing an application.  Whether it is the first step or the last step, this is something to do with care.  It becomes part of your permanent record with an employer.

Here is the problem - many companies do this online anymore.  Which leads to someone completing the application at 11:30 pm once they have tucked their kids in, done household chores, and have an empty gas tank from an exhausting day.  This leads to missing a small detail.  Or putting in the wrong information regarding your base salary from three jobs ago.  Or having the incorrect job title for your most recent employer.  This stuff matters and it matters greatly.

Oftentimes candidates wonder why this is even a necessary step, especially if it is the first step.  My response is black and white, just like the employers will view it.  It does not matter why, but it does matter how.  Spend some additional time to track down the correct information and be meticulous when completing an application.  Take an extra day to call an old employer's HR department to absolutely certain you have the right information.  Check your W-2's from the previous year to put in salary information down to the penny.

What really drove this idea home for me was my wife's comments after the most recent debacle I encountered with a candidate's "omission" on his application.  She was attending a SHRM conference last week and the speaker said that you only have one chance to keep an employer's trust.  Once you have lost it, seldom will you ever get it back.  So if you show during the most basic part of the interview process (completing an application) that you may be misleading or able to stretch the truth even a little, you will likely be capable of doing that once on the job.  

Lesson to be learned - ALWAYS complete an application with updated and correct information.  It never pays to omit information, even if it is unintentional.  It could cost you when it comes to offer stage.

Five reasons to use a recruiter

 

As you can imagine, we are asked all the time about the value we provide to the interview and employment process from candidates and clients alike.  I have been reminded on many levels in the past couple of weeks why we can play an integral role not only in the introduction phase and facilitation of interviews, but also ongoing success of our candidates and company partners.  Here are five simple reasons to consider.

1) Objectivity -- although many recruiters act as a hammer and the candidate is a nail, a good recruiter can really stand apart from the interview process to provide third party advice.  With nine years of experience in the business I have seen just about every kind of client and every kind of candidate.  I can draw upon those experiences to guide candidates and clients through the choppy waters of a conversation.  I'm not any smarter than either party, but I can point to experiences where others have made mistakes in the past.

2) Communication -- I can't tell you how many times we have had candidates tell us that we seem to really know our clients well.  This comes with time and really making effort to ask in-depth questions.  It can even be beneficial when a candidate doesn't end up going to work for the company.  We even tell candidates when a situation is NOT what they are looking for based upon their search criteria.  This makes for a much more efficient process as opposed to throwing wet noodles at the wall to see what sticks.

3) Transparency -- this goes hand in hand with the idea of objectivity I mentioned above.  This is critical especially when it comes to the offer stage.  If a candidate does not know everything they need to know to make a decision, they will likely hedge.  If a company has any hesitation about a candidate, they may not come out with a competitive offer.  Our job is to get all cards on the table in a fair and objective manner.  This sometimes leads to a handshake and walking away from a deal, but that is much better for everyone involved than making a bad hiring decision.

4) Counselor -- by getting to know our candidates well, we are uniquely positioned to listen to questions, concerns, issues, obstacles, etc.  No opportunity is ever guaranteed to be your last career move, but it is our job to ensure best effort is given while employed.  I have even counseled active candidates that are desperately seeking a new job to stay put for six months or more to wait for the market.  This can ultimately lead to a much better long term career decision and a happier employer down the road.  

5) Friend -- this is the simplest and most complex reason all wrapped up into one.  Who do you go to for advice on your most difficult life decisions?  Who do you ask out for lunch when you have a challenging work issue?  Who do you lean on when you're just flat out having a bad day?  We can play all of these roles and provide an outlet for candidates and clients alike.  But you won't reach out to me unless you trust me.  Once you can find that level of comfort, you are doing more than a job as a recruiter.

I almost made this into a top ten list and could certainly come up with a myriad of reasons why you should consider working with a recruiter in the future.  But I like the image of a "high five" as I want to portray a good experience as many people have had bad experiences with a recruiter.  Perhaps I should have titled this blog "Five reasons to use a GOOD recruiter"........

What have your experiences been with recruiters in the past?  I would love to hear your stories!

Depth chart -- what is your perpetuation plan?

Anyone who follows Iowa Hawkeye football knows the phrase "next man in" well, especially when it comes to our running game.  We were reminded of the importance of that phrase on Saturday afternoon when our first and second string tailbacks were both injured.  In came a non-scholarship player who appears to be more of a fullback than starting tailback.  More than 100 yards and three touchdowns later, the fans were all chanting "Weisman for Heisman!"

We all know that agencies and carriers alike love to hire college grads or life experience hires that they can train, mentor, guide, and build into legacy producers or salespeople.  The problem that follows is quite often total lack of ongoing support.  They say their philosophy is to hope they're "game ready" when they're faced with a tough situation, but they have not had the proper mentality in practice.

Okay, I might be stretching a bit here with football language, but bear with me for a second here.  I argue that Weisman had success on Saturday because he had repeatedly been told in camps and practices leading up to that game that he should be ready to play even if the chances were slim he would see the field.  Prior to Saturday's game he had touched the ball only a couple of times in an actual game.  But because his coaches had ingrained in his mind that he should be ready if called into action, he was able to perform at a high level when his number was called in the huddle.  He even went on to embrace the challenge and looked like he was having the time of his life.

Does your sales leadership remind new producers or salespeople of all of the fundamentals necessary to achieve success in real world situations or do they just throw them on the streets with a pat on the back and hope for success occasionally?  Do they know what the future will hold if they practice and play hard even when no one is looking?  How important are they compared to the million-dollar producer that gets all of the accolades at sales meetings and in the board meetings?

You can't have a highly successful sales team by accident.  You must preach on a daily and weekly basis the idea of what the near future goals should look like to eventually achieve long term success.  The daily grind may not be fun and could come with some pain.  You may see the tenured producers getting away with days off and the "easy life" with big paychecks and carrier reward trips.  But you never know when your number might be called and you could land a huge meeting with a valuable prospect.  Or meet with a broker that could lead into hitting your premium goal with a large association/program.  If you are not ready to be the "next man in", you could lose on the opportunity.  How do you want to be remembered?

All I want for Christmas.......

I know it is a little early to be talking about the holidays, but was reminded of this popular song yesterday afternoon when my son lost his two front teeth wrestling with his cousins.  He took a face plant on the floor and came up holding one tooth and the other was hanging by a thread.  In fairness to my nephews, both were already quite loose and my wife had promised to pull them by Wednesday of this week before school pictures.

Here is the question of the week -- as a prospective employer or active candidate, what are you hoping to get before Christmas?  With the fourth quarter nearly upon us, I am quickly finding out who is serious about making moves before the end of the year and who might just be fishing around in the market. 

Some of my clients are already making plans for fourth quarter hires and interviewing candidates as we speak.  I even have a few that have been actively interviewing for openings for the past 2-3 weeks and becoming quite anxious to fill the positions before October 1.  This strategy will give a new employee plenty of time to get acclimated before the year-end rush, along with getting them ahead of the curve for planning for 2013.  Although there is nothing inherently wrong with hiring someone in November or December, there is a lot of advantage to making a move now if you know it is going to happen in the fourth quarter at some point.

On the candidate side of the equation, I am beginning to see passive candidates turn active, active candidates put their foot on the gas pedal even more than previously, and in general more candidates simply wanting to know what options are available.  As a candidate you must always balance between making a move for the sake of making a move vs. really finding your next long term role.  But now is certainly a key time to at least begin discussions if making a job move is a goal by the end of the year.

Just as I am hoping that my son's teeth are filled in by Christmas, it is also my desire to help clients and candidates alike make their dreams come true before the end of the year.  The question is, are you going to take action and make something happen or wait until it is possibly too late?