Yin and Yang: Reclaim the Recruiting Past but Look to the Future

#TBT Recruiting #TBT Candidates

It’s never good to live in the past. It’s more productive to live in the moment & forge ahead.

But we can’t deny that bits and pieces of our past help shape our decisions and create the lens that we use to see the world.

As I look to the past as a job seeker & recruiter, I have to admit, I do miss the simplicity of the “old ways”

As a job seeker it was simple but if you never experienced this you may think it’s complicated.

We faxed or mailed our resume. No email, no internet, no computer. It was job ads placed in the newspaper.

We were able to go to a Fortune 500 office without an appointment and go directly to their “Personnel” department to complete a paper application. Maybe we would be lucky and the Recruiter would interview on the spot.

We received calls on the landline. We made calls and the recruiter picked up the phone. We had conversations.

The recruiter would remember you for other jobs. There was a true connection. There was follow-up

The competition was local because there was no internet. So our world was smaller, less volume (pros and cons). Less candidates applying also due to less job movement.

Personalized hand written thank you notes. Oh, those were the days.

But now, we have innovation to make our lives easier. But does it?

Emails, ATS, job boards, PC’s, texting, cell phones, online assessments, online tools, etc - Oh my. 

But when I compare the “old times” to now – I feel the candidates were treated better, the candidates were more engaged, and they had a better chance.

Is there too much volume? Have we made the process too impersonal? Are recruiters closing the door on the viable candidates? Are Recruiters in complete information overload?

Honestly, we do need to keep the best of the past and forge ahead with best of the future.

To honor the past: Recruiters pick up the phone. Candidates, mail a thank you or a resume (you will stand out now, for sure). Recruiters, get to know the candidates and follow up. Recruiters, have an open house recruiting event at your company to meet and greet candidates in person. 

There are days that I want to unplug from the world. But it’s impossible because somewhere in my brain, I know there is text or email waiting for me. Back in the day, you couldn’t miss it because you never had it. In recruiting, sometimes we just need to go back and try our best to pretend the current technology world doesn't exist. At times, it serves us well to bring the best of recruiting retro back like our adidas sneakers and tracksuit.

Gail Tolstoi-Miller is an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO, Career Coach and Staffing Strategist. Consultnetworx provides companies successful recruiting strategies, process, brand and unconscious bias remedies to attract and hire the best talent.  Careernetworx, helps mid-career job seekers to land the job of their dreams. Gail's book, Networking Karma was recently awarded Best Business Book by IndieReader.