Our brightest day is still ahead. Will you join me?

To my RECRUITER & TALENT ACQUISITION network. The last seven months, have without question been the most challenging times in the modern labor market. Large swaths of entire industries have been forced to lay-off many of their best employees due to Covid-19.

 We're talking about entry level individual contributors as well as accomplished individuals in leadership roles. Each individual representing a life, a family, many of which have dependents that rely on them as a means of support. Many members of our national workforce are unemployed due to no fault of their own.

 People are hurting: I encourage you to let that sink in for a moment. As RECRUITERS and PROFESSIONALS in the TALENT ACQUISITION space we are so fortunate to be doing what we do, especially those among us who are fortunate to still be working. We pride ourselves on being experts at proactively sourcing, screening, and engaging top talent, having a compelling employment value proposition and removing unconscious bias when making a selection.

 We are so blessed to work with such incredible and talented hiring leaders. I share this with you because now is our time to shine as professionals, now is the time to let your humanity and emotional intelligence shine through. I spend much of my time doing pro-bono job search coaching for individuals currently in between roles and reviewing and often rewriting their resumes. I’m so disappointed when I hear stories of how candidates have been treated poorly from a member of our profession.

 Now is not the time to put candidates through grueling interviews only to ghost them after the fact. If experience has taught me anything: it’s that this too will pass. We will eventually return to times of low unemployment and those same candidates that felt slighted will remember you. Remember it’s our company’s brand that is on the line. As a brand ambassador for your employer, the candidate experience is still KING. We must be mindful of this. Now is the time to live out our company’s core values of humility, empathy, and treating others with respect. Now is not the time to be indifferent to our candidates on the phone regardless of their level of experience or lack there of. Now is not the time to rush our candidates through a phone screen and not permit them to ask any questions of their own. Never has there ever been a good time to ghost a candidate, that still remains true today. Not replying to an email and failing to return a phone call, still is not acceptable. Failing to do so, only undermines our own credibility as a professional. 

 I will close with the following: we’re in a unique position to make a person's burden a little easier. We’re in a unique position to live out our personal and company core values. In short: NOW IS OUR TIME TO SHINE.

Will you join me? 

Our brightest day is still ahead of us!