6 months and no placments..no nothing...what's going on?

Well folks it's been 6 long months since I opened the door to my nice new office here in Orlando, FL and well...I see it coming to a close right before my eyes. With thousands and thousands gone for websites, rent and supplies here I am humbled.

There was a time when making $100k was fun and challanging but in the end you got your placements..now an experienced person in the staffing & recruiting game for the past 9 years and well.....I have nothing.

More and more people have fallen off, clients aren't responding and well...the economy sucks.

I am sitting here in my nice office as we speak thinking about what should have been and the reality of what now is and how I have now squandered my savings to do something I have always wanted to do at the worst possible time to do it.

Now I need to face the realization that I can no longer afford school for my daughter, my car or my rent..let along my cell phone.

Where do you go from here and with nothing...how the hell do you get there?

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on February 9, 2009 at 11:59am

Michael,
It's posts like these we need to see more of. Thank you for sharing (and baring).
You're not alone. We're all in this together.

Can you go back to the basics? When I say that I mean lose the office and the trappings. Can you regroup to home and work from there?

Think about this: Why did you open an office in the first place? The answer to this many times is wrapped up in imagery we hold in our heads of ourselves - not the reality. As hard as this is to hear, and I know it is at this point in your life, it's just stuff. It means nothing. It's not who you are. It's not why your daughter loves you. It's not about the car you drive or what people think about you. It's what you think about you.

Regroup. Remove the stressors. Rethink. Refocus. Reinvent.

What can you do (and what can't you do) this week to change things? This month? This first quarter? This year?

You're not alone. We're all in this together.
Maureen

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fortin on February 9, 2009 at 12:07pm

At this point I am willing to do what it takes to at least see the least bit of success. If it means I need to relocate to the complete other side of the US, than that is what I will do.

I am forcing myself to remain positive, but just after I got done writing that...I had a client call me to tell me that their project is OFF. We had been counting on this to get 3-5 people working in the next week....

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer LaVigne on February 9, 2009 at 12:13pm

I wish you good luck and I know that this too shall pass...Ms. Maureen gave pretty good suggestions...cutting off major expenses and maybe doing work from a home office may help you a bit..I know that the owner of the healthcare company where I am working for right now..obviously started his office at home and now his company is really growing...and speaking of healthcare recruiting...I have been in the IT industry for a long time and now is not really the best time for that market- good thing I got a job in the healthcare industry and so far..on my 5th day working for this company...we do not have a problem with job orders...because we really do get a lot.

I only hope and pray all the best for you, your family and your company.

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on February 9, 2009 at 12:15pm

Step it out Michael, one thing at a time. Remember, as bleak as you feel right now, doors don't close but windows open. What open windows can you see through right now? What can you do TODAY to ease this burden you're feeling? Tomorrow? On Friday?

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Permalink Reply by Slouch on February 9, 2009 at 12:17pm

Have you figured out how many placements you need to make this year to keep things semi right?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fortin on February 9, 2009 at 12:39pm

I think that if we could make 3-4 solid placements anywhere from 12-15k a piece we would be good. Even if we could get some temp/per-diem billing we would be good.

Did I mention we only do Healthcare and Dental?

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on February 9, 2009 at 12:46pm

Michael - can you maybe shed just a bit more light on the roadblocks you have been facing? From everything I read - Healthcare is up for recruiting. Can you pinpoint a specific area that needs addressed?

Are you getting no job orders? Are the fees too low? No enough candidates? Fall offs? What specifically is the problem - maybe we can offer some constructive ideas. (not that messages of hope and good thoughts aren't helpful - they sure are - but let's dig into the tool box and start working on something tangible.)

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fortin on February 9, 2009 at 12:56pm

Jerry,

The biggest thing I have faced is not getting job orders. Our/my main focus is and has been per-diem nursing. Facilities are not giving us the chance to get contracts (hospitals, nursing homes) nor are many of them using per-diem at this point or so it seems.

We do have several Perm orders but we submit individuals to the clients and they say "we already have them" but for some reason have decided to pass. We find individuals for some of the hard to find perm positions and the facilities aren't willing to relocate anyone..so then it goes up in smoke.

We have had 2 $20K positions that took our candidates to the end of the process and then said they were going to hold off.

Jerry Albright said:

Michael - can you maybe shed just a bit more light on the roadblocks you have been facing? From everything I read - Healthcare is up for recruiting. Can you pinpoint a specific area that needs addressed?

Are you getting no job orders? Are the fees too low? No enough candidates? Fall offs? What specifically is the problem - maybe we can offer some constructive ideas. (not that messages of hope and good thoughts aren't helpful - they sure are - but let's dig into the tool box and start working on something tangible.)

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on February 9, 2009 at 1:05pm

Michael, when they say they "already have them" why is it that they already have them?

Nursing is a tough space - they're not willing to relocate - is this reasonable?

"...to the end of the process and then said they were going to hold off." Why? The financial meltdown in the last four months?

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Permalink Reply by pam claughton on February 9, 2009 at 1:35pm

Michael,

The nice thing about this business is that you don't have to spend a ton of money on overhead. Stop paying rent and start working out of your house. That should take the edge off. If you're having trouble getting jobs are there any other recruiters who you could do splits with? Try to have as many balls in the air as possible so that when two searches go on hold, (which is very common), you still have other things that could hit.

Focus on activity, one day at a time.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fortin on February 9, 2009 at 1:36pm

The clients have been telling us that they won't accept candidates they already have in their "systems". This means if they have ever applied there in the past or sent a resume. Unfourtunetly during the candidate screening process they have no clue who they have and haven't sent resumes.

We spend time and resources to recruit what we think is a great candidate only to have them shot down.

I am unsure why we were told to hold off on our candidates, clearly they like the candidates enough to take them through 3 and 4 interviews respectivly. Financial or not, I really have no idea why they pulled the plug other than them saying "We're going to hold off for now".

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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on February 9, 2009 at 1:45pm

Maybe I'm naive here but I'd want to know more about why they were pulling a plug on my efforts. I learned very early in the sourcing game the value of "push back". Maybe some of that is needed here?

Are you working retained or contingent?

I second Pam's suggestions.

Them: "We're going to hold off for now."
Me: "May I ask why?"
Them: "We're uncertain what to do in these uncertain times."
Me: "The job order didn't say anything about "uncertain times".

Maybe I'd be out of line but I'd sleep better knowing the truth.

Them: "We won't pay you for anyone we have in our system."
Me: "Then I need to know who's in your system so I don't duplicate your efforts."

"...shot down." How are they being shot down? For what reasons?