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Vol 8, No 6, June 2009
Dear Hiring Manager:
Over the past few months, I've received many phone
calls from people I know, both candidates and hiring
managers alike, whom I've worked with over the years.
They want to know how I view the current
market. So, let me spare you the time (although I
always love to hear from you!) and tell you what I tell
them.
Although I started my recruiting career in a
recession (1993) and survived a second down-turn
(2000–2002), this downturn is
different.
The difference is that there are many good
people who have been downsized from their
companies — people who met their sales
quotas, marketing objectives and everything else. So,
the supply of extremely good talent is robust,
to say the least.
I think most competitive companies are seizing this
opportunity to scoop up some of this talent as they
plan for future growth. With so many talented people in
the hiring pool, the question is: how can you
accurately assess if you're talking to a top
candidate who has been regretfully laid off from
his or her organization, or a candidate of mediocre
talent who was "thankfully" laid off?
This month I'll give you four tips to make your
assessment a whole lot easier.

Betsy Harper
Managing Partner
Sales and Marketing Search
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Hiring Lessons from Antiques Roadshow
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I had a fun time this past weekend with my best friend
Julie. Last Saturday was a gorgeous New England
spring day and we jettisoned our garden chores to
spend the
day together.
We met at a local restaurant in Ipswich,
Massachusetts and after an enjoyable lunch, headed
off to a fundraiser art show in Essex, the next town
over.
After the show, we poked around a few of the many
antique dealers found in Essex, sometimes
known as the "antiques capital" of Massachusetts.
Essex is a veritable treasure-trove of
fine furniture, decorative arts and everything else you
could want — mixed in with a fair amount of
junk, quite frankly.
The truth is, although I love
antiques, I never buy at antique stores. The
simple
reason: I can't tell the good from the bad.
I don't
know if that bonnet-topped highboy in the window
is worth
$20,000 or $20.00. I don't think I'm alone on this
either, which probably accounts for the popularity of
Antiques
Roadshow!
Real Gem or
Not
Some hiring managers I know are feeling the same
way right now. Like me in an antique shop, they can't
tell the "crazy not to buys" from the "not the real deals."
And that's a problem, because a bargain is no
bargain if you don't know it when you see it.
If you have similar doubts, you'll want to use the
following four steps to help you determine if that
laid off
candidate is a gem or just a fancy imitation.
- Get detailed circumstances of the
layoff. How many
people were involved? Was the candidate let go in the
"first round" or was he or she one of the last to be cut?
Get the whole chronology of circumstances
preceding the layoff. Needless to say, there's a big
difference between the candidate who survived many
rounds of layoffs and the one that was first to go!
- Get a reference from their
last employer. This is
very important. You want to speak with the person to
whom the candidate reported. Many times, laid off
candidates
offer even more than one reference.
Get as many as you can so that you can get the
first-hand
information you need.
- Do the reference check early in the
hiring
process. Once you have the reference, check it
immediately. For one candidate we worked with, we
checked two references even before the first interview.
Candidates who are solid performers will welcome
this early step.
- Get the right information when
checking references. Ask detailed questions
about two
things: the candidate's performance and the
circumstances of the layoff itself. (If you'd like a copy of
the reference check sheet we use to get this
information, just click here
and send me an email.)
Needless to say, I didn't buy anything last
Saturday.
But, I do have my eye on a small, tiger maple, roll-top
desk that would fit perfectly in my home office. I think
I'll call an old friend who once owned an antique shop
to get his opinion on it!
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