Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

…ring, ring

Me:  This is Chris

Jeff:  Chris, this is Jeff Smith, man how are you?  I need your help!

Jeff Smith is calling and needs my help?  I immediately get into my normal excited state knowing that something great is coming.  Either he needs to hire a new team member or perhaps has a client that can utilize the support of my team for their hiring needs or recruitment training.

For years Jeff was consistently a top competitor when we worked together at the same company, relentlessly trying to outperform each other in a very positive but “A” player sort of way. Not just making the President’s list but getting the shiniest trophy and most time with the CEO and other Sr Managers.

Me:  Jeff how can I help you? What is going on with the greatest global sales manager I know?

Jeff:  Nothing good, I was just released (from Fortune 225 Company) last week…

Wow, not the call I expected from Jeff. How will they manage the millions in revenues he has brought in over the years?

…Pop, pop, pop CK is sending me instant messages.

Me:  Hey CK, what’s up, how hot is your desk right now?

CK:  Not so great, I need your help.

Me:  Can you give me 5 and I will call you, where are you in the US today?

CK:  At home, not sure I can talk right now.

Ok, if CK is IMing me and needs my help then we must get ready to put a new staff member on her team or she has a project she needs us to help recruit on which they have sold. After all, she is 300% above budget for the year and the last hire we made produced revenues in her second week! CK is the top GM for her niche and is great about not only hiring, training and managing her people but also the strongest operations manager I know.

Me:  Ok, must be swamped how can I help?

CK :  Need a job, and a few minutes tonight to help me walk through where I might have gone  wrong

Me: Job? Did you quit lol

CK:  No Sir, they cut my entire staff 30 minutes ago, including me and replaced us with a support team from home office

If you have not clued in yet, the two examples above are “A” players in their industries and have been released from their respected (well not by them any longer) companies. See, I am writing to bust a myth I keep hearing and reading about from various periodicals, organizations and “people in the know;” Talent Management, SHRM, NAPS, SalesDrivers, News Paper Writers and Editors, Employment Gurus, Trainers, and Business Coaches. The myth which seems to persist is that “A” players don’t or are not being cut nor impacted by the current economic conditions. WRONG!

Ridiculous I say, spend a week on my phone or in my email and I can show you hundreds of “A” Players who have been impacted over the last 20+ months now, and it continues. For definition, an “A” Player is someone at that top 3-10% level in any company, any skill set and in any industry. Some are only known internally in large-mega organizations while others are known internationally or industry wide. It has long been a myth, and more so true with the current economic conditions, these people just don’t get released, laid-off, downsized, or whatever your terminology is for them losing their job while still being at the top.

So why do the top 10% of any job category get impacted?
Too expensive – Top 10% performers generally receive compensation rates commensurate to the level of their performance. One way companies perceive they can impact the bottom line and make true reactionary decisions is to cut the most expensive people and replace them with technology, jr-level home office support or in some cases they do nothing with the expectation that it will not negatively impact the company’s revues or client retention.

Marginalized business – Many companies and some industries operate on such low margins that any blimp on the economic cycle creates major cash-flow and credit issues, so the top just have to go and more jr people or senior management get handed business or jobs the “A” players worked so hard to attain.

Poorly supported region or geography – Lack in upper management leadership or true “out of site out of mind” support for a region that may be profitable but not large enough or unknown to senior management is likely to get the axe.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) – As we have seen in all industries, the consolidation has created duplicate roles or left individuals and their projects totally unsupported or not needed as the new company has a different vision and/or resources.

Person was miss-hire to begin with – Some of these cases are truly a miss-hire and the company was overly ambitious or sometimes exceedingly lucky to gain the addition of an “A” player in their industry. The company has just not been able to keep pace with this individual and in many cases their production has lead to cash flow, product production or servicing issues for smaller companies

Why this blog piece? I thought it was important to highlight the reality behind the unemployment numbers as we continue to hover around >10% in the US. These 8 million or more impacted are not all the bottom performers of our workforce, nor just hourly, nor retail or manufacturing, nor in outdated industries. In fact, many were high-earners for their employers that for some reason or another their organization just could not “afford” to keep that individual onboard. So I caution, before over-looking the unemployed take a minute to truly study this individual’s background and track-record. After all, unemployed is not, and should not be a four letter word when hiring for top talent!

UPDATE: Jeff went on to take one of three offers, running the West coast Division of another fortune company. CK is managing a new company that has a unique service offering, adapted to the changed economy we now love.

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.

Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

Ok people, we were all given a “proper” name or at least one much longer or more formal than the one in which we go by, send out emails with and answer to when called. So why is this important in the World of Work? Just like in my previous post, “Is Your Resume Format Hurting Your Job Search,” there are some challenges with not knowing and following how modern technology(s) and recruiters work so you can take full advantage of these systems. More so, you don’t want the little items such as what I rant about below to be the cause for not getting the job! While I am sure my mother had good reason to give me such a grand name as Christopher Clyde Wellington (Wellington came from my adopted Alaskan family), if I don’t use this across the web, in my emails or even in answering the phone how would the recruiter or HR person looking for me, well know it is truly me?

The biggest challenge lies with modern HRIS or ATS systems (you know, that “system” many recruiters and all HR people say you need to apply to). The platform has advanced such in the past few years to more accurately capture or “parse” the information off your resume in a very automatic, non-human operation. The computer has evolved as has the software, but it still can’t call Christopher Clyde Wellington just Chris. No, now when the recruiter goes into the system to look for me, well I am just not there. Truth be told I am there just not as Chris. This is much more of a problem when people use their middle name, nickname, family name if not from the US, etc.

The same holds true for social media profiles and being found on the web. Today’s recruiter, even some in corporate recruiting jobs, use social media more and more for their primary recruitment tool, or to find you on the web. But it’s impossible to truly swim through the sea of Christopher’s if I am known only as Chris. Besides all the fun people will have in “reviewing” and sharing my given name (thanks mom), it does not help my personal branding efforts, a critical component in this modern era of high visibility.

So what happens in this situation? Again if you have been following my blog posts, trainings or web articles you will know recruitment has evolved to a lazy, speed game in my opinion. Instead of seeking out why Jonathan J Weeber is not in the “system” the recruiter or HR person will tend to move on to the next candidate they can find. So what if Jonathan goes by Luke with no Middle Initial* on the internet nor in his email, next! If you are Jonathan J Weeber but go by Luke Weeber, have Luke Weeber on your resume, job boards, social media profiles, and so forth.

In short, don’t try to get overly fancy and presumptuous on your resume. Throw out the old-school rules of having the formal name given at birth (or after) and go by what you are called on a daily basis so that your resume and the social media profiles can allow you to be found in the current sea of competition. After all, you will have plenty of time to write out that more formal name, over and over again, on all the mandated paperwork and internal hiring documents ONCE YOU LAND THAT NEW JOB!

Good luck and keep working at it!

Chris

*One side note, careful using your Middle Initial on your resume. Most applicant tracking systems and even major job boards are still struggling with this extra name field and as such so are the recruiters and HR people using them.

^{To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.}