Keeping the Faith

Hi Danny, I'm a 20-year veteran of the business and have had a fair amount of success ($5+ million in placements). However, I specialize in IT and, as of late, find myself rethinking whether I'm still capable in this field. I've zipped two months in a row and am having a very hard time staying positive and pounding the rock. I find myself disgusted by 2 p.m. and indulging my own personal "Weapons of Mass Distraction." I've worked my way out of slumps before and weathered the recessions of ‘82 and ‘91/92 but am finding this recession even more frustrating. Other than increasing my confidence through success (placements) which obviously works, is there another elixir of confidence out there? What should I be reading, listening to, drinking, smoking? Hey, trust me; I'm keeping all options open on this. Danny's response, If this were 12-18 months ago, my advice would be the same that I gave the two IT recruiters in my office, and the two IT recruiters I had working virtually for me on the West Coast. That is to say: “Stick a fork in it. You’re done in IT. Move on. Let’s try Biotech.” In the case of the people in my office - one does pharmacists, the other [...]

Should I answer or ignore?

Hi Danny, It seems like all the training, etc says to block out hours of time to execute - do not answer the phone during these times. Here is my question - I am calling and leaving voice mail after voice mail - both marketing and recruiting - don't I want to answer the phone to see if it's one of these people calling me back? Yes, I have caller ID but sometimes it's hard to tell who is calling. I have tried leaving specific blocks of time when I can be reached for callbacks on voicemail messages but often people don't pay attention. How does it work with your top producers? Danny's response, There would be zero shoplifting, a billion dollar problem in America, if we installed X ray machines and hired Bar Bouncers at the entrances to beat up anybody caught doing it. But then nobody would go in the store. So “Retail Reality” is you are going to take the risk of some loss in order to have an overall “flow” to your business. I feel the same way about your issue. Once in a great while you might miss a call back of someone you wanted to talk to. And like our retail brethren [...]

Making Your Senior Recruiters Partners

By: Danny Cahill What differentiates a senior recruiter from a rookie? Money? Sure. Expertise? Of course. A certainty of carriage and knowledge? Without question. But until you make them partners, real partners, with equity roles and a true stake in the company's well being, they're going to wake up one day and say, "What have I got that I didn't have as a rookie, other than these lines on my face?" And they're right. Our industry is run by maverick risk takers. Small companies spearheaded by entrepreneurs who don't like the idea of giving up control. But Danny did this in 1998 and found his company morale increased dramatically, and his decision making was more effective because he had a sounding board of like minded people he trusted, all sharing one goal, grow the company. In this meeting Danny will lay out the logic behind his partner's agreement. He will discuss how he structured it, the legal and accounting reasons why it works, and what you can learn from mistakes he made when he became one of the first owners in the country to offer an ongoing "Partner Career Track" to his recruiters. When someone starts at Hobson Associates, they do so knowing what they are shooting for: [...]

Email Script Critique: No Sleepy Emails

Script Submission Good afternoon, I hope this email finds you well. I am reaching out to you today because I came across your profile, and it really piqued my interest. I was most impressed with your extensive UX background, and capability to drive end-to-end research and design work at ABC Company. I noticed that you've been working at ABC Company for about 2 and a half years now (that's awesome!), and I hope it's still going great. But, in case you're looking to explore something new, I have a UX Designer role and a Senior UX Designer opportunity in mind. I think these roles could be a fit, and I'd love to share them with you. I am always looking to network with passionate and ambitious design individuals, and would love to learn more about you and your career goals. Are you open to a conversation? Let me know if you are available anytime this week to chat. I look forward to connecting! Danny's Critique: So there are these cool eye tracking studies, and they prove that when someone reads a web page, they unconsciously go to two areas, the very beginning, and the very end. (This seems right to me intuitively, all speakers know that you have [...]