As a recruiter, I’ve had to learn to adapt to many different personalities. (Haven’t we all?) This applies to both candidates and hiring managers alike. When it comes time to make an offer, you’d better know the personalities on both sides very well if you want to make the deal.

There are candidates that can’t stand negotiating; they hate it as much as they usually hate…

What a rough few weeks. You've probably heard a couple of things about me lately – I lost a friend / colleague, and I changed jobs. After nearly two years as a corporate recruiter for Zones, responsible for just about every department outside of sales, I left. Coming on the heels of a death in our department, it was especially hard to say goodbye.

The past month has been full of difficult conversations. I was not actively looking for a new role. Some might even call me a passive…

We have had a lot of requests to repost this offer so here it is!....see below

Hi Everyone!

Each month we like to send free tools to the RecruitingBlogs community so that everyone has the opportunity to search like a pro. If you haven't heard, TheLadders now has a completely free way to source candidates at any level. …

HR on the Warpath. Not pretty, and potentially dangerous. Like an elephant gone mad with no concern for damage inflicted on others or himself, this person is bent on destruction. 

Short Back story. 

Our client needed to hire someone who could be the director over several facilities. The position is new. We recruited several candidates. The candidate that they were interested in was currently making 125,000. 125,000 was the most this client wanted to…

Having recently read a number of blogs on this subject I feel compelled to write this as I believe most articles are very one sided in their viewpoint. Most are focused on outlining to candidates the many reasons why, when they resign, they should not be tempted to stay by a counter offer. I don’t think I have read anything explaining the reasons why you SHOULD accept a counter offer but here’s the thing - there are times and there are circumstances when…

Many misinformed professionals have no hesitation in considering a counteroffer.  In fact, many will reason that a…

We’ve all had this happen to us. Just when the process is purring along and our client has made their final candidate selection they go pull the “low-ball” offer! Despite ongoing consultation on what the offer should be, some of these clients still seem to get it wrong!

Even after being retained and after a challenging search and protracted interview process, the client decides that although they know that the candidate is currently making $185,000 salary, and they were prepared to go…

Have you ever sourced the Best Candidate; sold them on the opportunity with your company or client; worked with them through the interview process, answering their questions; helped the hiring manager determine the best compensation package; extend the offer that they accepted; and then lost the candidate to a counter offer?  If you have been in the recruitment business for any amount of time, you have experienced that sinking feeling when they stop returning your calls.

When…

Have you noticed how terrible most job postings are? Not very many stand out from the thousands of computer generated/outdated job descriptions from stuffy HR departments. Your postings tell candidates an awful lot about your company as soon as they see it. Will they read on or will they just jump to the next one that…

Here’s a news flash – finding top IT talent is becoming increasingly difficult as budgets loosen up and employers are desperate to fill positions requiring high demand skills.  The problem seems to be that there are more jobs (believe it or not) than qualified candidates (who are actively looking for a career change).

Finding top talent can be a bit challenging in today’s market, but that’s what IT recruitment agencies like…

This blog, the second of a two part series, focuses on candidate salary requirements and how job seekers should handle salary issues before and after an employer makes an offer.

Last week we blogged about candidate salary requirements, and things employers need to consider before extending an offer. We gave an example of a highly qualified candidate who provided her salary requirements to the recruiter…

This blog, the first of a two part series, focuses on candidate salary requirements and what employers need to consider before they make an (attractive) offer. Part two will concentrate on job seekers and handling salary issues once an employer makes an offer.…

The question made me remember my recruitment consultancy training of how to handle such situations.  Fortunately, now possessing the in-house experience I was in a better position to offer balanced(ish)  advice for…

Each week, we blog about things that will help job seekers land the perfect job. We blog about these things because we’re the experts when it comes to recruitment. We’re the experts, but sometimes we find ourselves in sticky situations – like not finding out what a candidate’s real motivators are until after a job offer is on the table. …

True story. A recruiter at Agile was working with a candidate for a position at a client company. It was a terrific opportunity, and the candidate – let’s call him Chuck (not his real name) – wanted the job. Chuck had been unemployed for several months, so it’s only normal that he was anxious about closing the deal. The process was taking longer than he had anticipated, partly because the hiring manager was on the fence about Chuck.…

A few years back I wrote an instruction sheet for candidates on how to look at a counter offer when they are presented with one at the resignation stage.

The content is fairly old school and you have probably seen it and said it to your candidates before, but for those of you that need a refresher or are new to the industry feel free to use and distribute it.

This always helped me with some counter offer situations but alas not all of them. Hope it works for…

The Customer Is Always Right?

Did I really put a question mark on this phrase? We’re taught from our first job bagging groceries and ripping up movie stubs that the phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ will end in either an exclamation point or period. It’s a subject that has finally got me motivated to begin my blog…

I have a client who is a tremendously successful businessman, salesman, and entrepreneur who currently owns a business that…

The current economic situation has made screening resumes more difficult for recruiters. Today, a large employment gap is commonplace and the percentage of applicants that are currently unemployed is significantly higher than just a few years ago. The first inclination may be to write off applicants whose last full-time employment was a year ago or more. However, dig a little deeper into why they have remained unemployed all this time and the answer may surprise you.

According to a…

Many employers, correctly seeking to act quickly on a good candidate, put together and extend offers as soon as they decide a candidate is right for them. The minute the offer is extended, all control moves over to the candidate, and the employer’s ability to influence the decision, or help “close” the candidate is diminished. An important strategy is to test-close or pre-close the candidate, mostly to surface…