The one question most recruiters and TA specialists won’t ask

“Why’s someone going to leave their job to come and work here?”

Simple enough question, right?

So, why don’t most recruiters and talent acquisition “specialists” ask it?

That last sentence could be a sweeping statement. It’s not. Here's why.

Maybe it’s the thousands of people (aka candidates) who complain about the lack of detail they receive from recruiters and TA specialists. Ironically, for a job that requires an attention to detail.

It’s possibly the ransom notes (cheers, Mitch) on display across every job board. Waves of ‘you must’ and ‘you will need’ demands hopelessly disguised as ‘exciting’ jobs.

It’s also the copied and pasted lists of duties that have been lifted from job descriptions. Confusing business speak that looks more out of place in an ad than a body-popping politician at an extinction rebellion rally. 

According to some, we’re still fighting a war for talent. It's all about wresting for eyeballs and cleverly attracting the best talent around to our brand. That's what our industry keeps telling us is happening.

Want to know what's really happening? Picture a front line of blank-firing water pistols aimed at the people laughing back at an industry that gets paid to attract ‘high-calibre talent.’

Steady

Now before a few of you put fingers to keyboard and send me another ‘recruiter-bashing’ blast, think about who you’re speaking to and writing to for a moment.

Most people aren’t daft. They read job ads and think, “Which family member have they captured this time?”

These are people like you and me who might be open to hearing about what’s going on outside their work environment. People who can’t make an informed decision over whether the job on offer is actually better than the one they’re in.

They're missing the vital components that'll offer them the opportunity to weigh up what they’ve got – and what they could have.

Of course, there’s a missing link here. One you’ve probably now worked out. It’s the answer to the first sentence in this blog – and it’s a question we have to ask every hiring manager when taking a job brief. 

Why?

Contingency recruitment is going in-house

For the most part, this is true. Last week, the AFR finally latched on to the changes happening across the recruitment industry. Changes that’ve been noticeably progressing across Perth since 2014.

Some will call it disruption. It's actually common sense. 

The “Why would they use a recruitment agency to send a stack of CVs off Seek when they can throw an ad on there themselves” stage show is performing its final encore.

If there was ever an example of cost outweighing a serious lack of value, it was right there.

The one question most recruiters and TAS skip is the one question that’ll make their jobs easier to sell – and fill. A question their clients will appreciate when they see the quality of their job ads, their sales material – and the resulting candidates.

The very question that might just help you avoid the inevitable change that’s coming.

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide that'll help you with the last four sentences.

7 steps to taking a simple brief

1.   Prep work: Imagine you’re the candidate

For this to work, you’ll have to imagine yourself looking for a job. Picture your boss micromanaging every square inch of life out of you. Or the forks disappearing from the kitchen again.

What sort of things would interest you in a company? What would get your attention if you saw them in an ad, or if someone called you to talk about a job? Would it be something about the team, the manager or how interesting the work is? Write your ideas down.

2.   Prep work: Imagine you’re the hiring manager

You know where I’m going with this, right? It’s called flipping the telescope. As a recruiter you have to see things through the eyes of a candidate – and a hiring manager. What would get your attention about someone who’d be right for your team? (Passionate, dynamic and a good attention to detail won’t cut it).

If you really want to persuade someone to join you from a competitor, what would you offer or say to them? Write your ideas down. You’re going to share them with your hiring manager in a minute. 

3.   Set up the job brief meeting

Let your hiring manager know you’ll be meeting with them to take a full brief. That’s not to fill out two sides of a post-it note. Let them know you want to help them find the right person for their team. You want them to get that promotion they've been angling for. And to do that, you'll have to take a lot of helpful notes.

By taking a comprehensive job brief, your chances of finding the right person increase dramatically. You can also tell the hiring manager their ad will stand out in a production line of job descriptions. Finally, let them know you’ll have one or two curly questions that’ll make them think differently. There, you’ve set the scene.

4.   Review your job brief form

You know the form I’m on about, don’t you? The one you put together to make yourself look good to hiring managers. The one you use to make your ads and pitches stand out. If you don’t have one, it might be time to create one. (Drop me a line if you’re struggling for ideas).

Before you meet with the hiring manager, you’ll want to make sure your brief form is tight. Cut out unnecessary questions like, “If we found someone doing exactly the same job at the same level elsewhere, which companies would you like them from?” Those types of questions show you've not thought things through properly.

5.   Meet with the hiring manager

You’ve set the scene, you’ve got your job brief form and your notes from your analysis of the candidate and the hiring manager. This is where you'll advise or consult. (You’re a recruitment consultant or recruitment advisor). This is where you’ll want to gather info like:

-      How long the position is open and why it’s open

-      What work is involved

-      What the person will be fixing / improving

-      How their work impacts those around them (and wider communities)

-      What someone will likely learn doing the job

-      What’s good about the team they’d be joining 

-      Why they’d leave their current job to come and work for your company

Share your ideas on what you think will sell the company and role. Let your hiring manager know you’ve thought about what would probably appeal to candidates and what ideas you think they could share. Write every thought, idea and answer from this meeting on your job brief form. 

6.   Don’t leave the meeting until you’re both happy with the answers

It’s pointless wrapping things up if you’ve made a list of things like, “Diet coke in the vending machine” and “Nice view of the pond from the window.” Those won’t sell your job or company to a candidate. Unless, of course, they like a lunchtime dose of aspartame while feeding the ducks.

Repeat back the selling points, ideas and thoughts to the hiring manager. It’s likely they’ll be able to shape what you’ve written down into something better.

7.   Draft and ad / pitch and get it signed off

You’ve written an ad and something you can use when speaking with interested candidates over the phone (or LinkedIn InMail - Imagine getting something appealing instead of the usual, "Saw your profile on LinkedIn. Here's a job. Click the link to apply.")

Run it all by the hiring manager so they’re happy with it. Get their approval to proceed. After all, they’ll be selling the same points when they’re interviewing people. You’d think. Of course they will. (Some ideas on that in a future blog).

Why would someone leave their job to come and work for your company? It’s a question that’ll help you stand out from a tireless number of recruiters, who somehow see no value in asking it.

And with the rise in contingency in-house recruitment, that’s all too plain to see.

If you’ve any questions or thoughts, please throw them in the comments below. Thanks for reading.