How many of us really help and respond to career seekers?

I appeal to the TA and HR community on LinkedIn, if you are fortunate enough to be contacted by a proactive job seeker, please take the time to respond. Together, we can make a difference.

2024, the year my Son Kai Squires graduated and commenced a career search. I educated Kai on the importance of finding a career aligned to his key strengths, and an industry that he found of genuine interest, something he can believe in! Do you research and be intentional, do not make your career search a numbers game!

As a seasoned Talent Acquisition and HR professional, I shared my views, explaining a career search is a full time job, requiring daily periods of time and consistency to identify your future. Kai, has a LinkedIn network, but I encouraged him to expand it, utilise it, simply applying for a job on a careers page is not enough, be a recognised proactive candidate who takes the initiative to scope and own their career. Reach out to tailored individuals, explain the purpose, and ask for help, people love to help (I thought), especially in recruitment.

Sadly, my theory was incorrect, without specifics, I was shocked with the lack of engagement, the majority of messages were read, and ignored. Be persistent I advised, people are busy, drop them a polite chaser... the chasers were sent and read, the responses remained incredibly minimal. The main audience of approach was TA and HR, the category of professionals I most expected to appreciate the outreach and respond.

I would like to end this article with a thank you to the handful of highly professional people that did respond to Kai, and gave their time to help define Kai's career.

Do not be the statistic that ignores the LinkedIn messages, and remember you represent the company you work for, so if you are in TA, and do not politely reply, you are negatively impacting #Employer Branding in a highly competitive and visible market.