Features

The Recruiting Nightmare – Introduction

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I spent weeks dumping my brain droppings on the blog about what I learned in my job search – that applies to job searchers.  I hope it was helpful, I think it was useful, and if nothing else it was immensely therapeutic.

But there’s another side to it that it’s time to address.

As most readers know I also help out recruiters and HR people I know.  I encourage everyone to do it, from passing on good contacts, to being a resource on market info, and so forth.  Recruiters have a hard time.

In my job search as well as my other activities, 2012 is also a year where I have come to the conclusion that Recruiting Is A Nightmare.  Which of course is also an awesome name for a column series.

Oh, yes there are many good recruiters – more than you realize.  There are many happy recruiters – it can be a very satisfying profession.  It’s just that right now, at this time, the level of stupidity, frustration, and utter insanity recruiters face is unbelievable.  I had trouble believing it until I started putting the pieces together as part of my usual research and helping out the recruiters I knew.

Recruiting is painful these days.

So of course beyond helping out recruiters I know, referring people, and being a shoulder to scream on, I realized I should write up my findings for a few reasons:

  1. It’ll help organize my thoughts to help my readers, be they in recruiting or not.
  2. It may lead me to figure out other ways to assist them.
  3. It’ll provide insights I and others can use.
  4. You, the job seeker, can learn to work around the craziness, help out recruiters, and reap the benefits of better jobs, as well as helping your fellows.

So what’s wrong with recruiting these days?  I’d call it a perfect storm in a way – there are many factors that individually don’t always seem bad.  However when you add these factors up . . .

[TO BE CONTINUED]

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

Promoting Professional Geekery #50 – Get Others To Follow Your Lead

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(For more Promoting Professional Geekery, see this Roundup of past columns.)

And we come to the end of the series.  Yes, my challenge was to see if I could come up with as many ways possible to promote professional geekery.  What’s terrifying is that I’m ending it at 50.  I have more, but those will come in the future.

And this one of the final things you can do to promote professional geekery, the love of turning meekness into a career.  That is . . .

. . . get other to get involved.

You’re connecting with all sorts of progeeks, all sorts of people like you (if not as good looking and charming).  All of them have stories, all of them have tales, just like you.

Some of them, probably most of them, have experience and information to share that differf from yours, perhaps radically.  Each of them can make a unique contribution different from you.  You just need to prod them.

So get them to do all the things in this list.  Get them to work cons or write books or whatever.  Spread the word – and show them how easy it is with the examples from your own life!

Give them the list from this series for that matter.  There has to be something in there they can and want to do.

Done right this spreads the word even more.  They support progeeks.  They tell others the idea . . .

So there you go.  50 different ideas.  Start today and find a way to promote professional geekery!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

 

Promoting Professional Geekery #47 – Keep A Recruiter List

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(For more Promoting Professional Geekery, see this Roundup of past columns.)

“But wait,” you say, “Steve you constantly talk about having a recruiter list.  How can this be new to this series?”

And I can respond “Shut up, that’s why.”  But in reality because there are specific recruiting list issues you want to follow if you’re specializing your focus on promoting particular career goals.  Goals like, say, using your geekiness on the job.

So for those of you who haven’t heard me go on (or like to hear me go on) I always encourage people to keep a list of recruiters to hand out to people on a job search.  You can of course flesh it out in your own job searches, and have a handy list to give out fast.

This is great for promoting professional geekery.

There’s the obvious solution, of course: you can help people out fast on the job search.  But there’s another reason as well.

You get to know these recruiters, know who works, and know how they interact with people like you.  You can make sure they’re right for the present and future progeeks you know – you can even keep sub-lists or let people know what recruiters truly fit “them.”

It may take a little extra effort to tweak – especially depending on your own career and experiences.  But it’s a good way to help people out.

Also you can encourage others to do this and start sharing lists.  Maybe your artist friend has an art list, your friend in gaming has a gaming list . . .

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/