| Houston, Texas - When Rob Gladstone started | | | | been in the business a while. |
| recruiting in 1994, the old style relationship building | | | | One of the guys had come up with a great |
| philosphy had yet to give way to the frenetic search | | | | candidate. She had a Harvard MBA, had been with |
| engine hunt for RESUME, RESUME, RESUME that | | | | one of the best advertising firms, had impeccable |
| often leads today's recruiter to submit 20 resumes | | | | references and she was moving to Houston. |
| where they would once submit three. | | | | She had sent her resume to all the great companies |
| Now, recruiters increasingly find themselves under | | | | in the area and had come up blank. But, she had sent |
| pressure from job boards, like monster.com, Career | | | | those resumes to HR departments. As soon as the |
| Builder and Yahoo Hot Jobs. Most even flood those | | | | recruiter found out, he got in touch with hiring |
| sites with their own postings, even though the clients | | | | authorities he knew. Two weeks later, she was |
| also have those same postings there. Recruiters | | | | working. Two weeks after that, without realizing she |
| spend their day combing through the thousands of | | | | was already on board, HR called to tell her they didn't |
| resumes listed on those same job sites. | | | | have anything for her. |
| Candidates also visit, of course,as well as going | | | | Well, everyone involved in this placement knew what |
| directly tocompany web sites to postresumes and | | | | this candidate could and would do for this company. |
| signing up for | | | | The hiring aurthority wasn't going to let this lady |
| "job agents" that promise to elec-tronically knock on | | | | come to town and slip through his fingers. He made a |
| their doorwith great opportunties asthey're posted. | | | | place for her." |
| Thankfully, great recruiters are fighting back. Not by | | | | And that's what gets missed by the internet. These |
| jumping on board the frenetic search engine quest | | | | judgments don't get posted on job boards. Those |
| for resumes, but by reminding hiring authorities and | | | | decisions don't get made by HR. It starts with the |
| those most special candidates that great | | | | people who make things happen. |
| opportunities and great candidates don't belong in | | | | As convenient as the internet makes it to track |
| want ads or sitting in HR in-boxes. | | | | resumes and jobs, job boards are still want ads and |
| They remind all those who'll listen that great | | | | HR still can't take the place of the strategic decision |
| candidates can go unnoticed just as the ho-hums can. | | | | makers that the headhunter gets to know. |
| "It reminds me of a placement that took place my | | | | The headhunter is not a resume bank. He or she is a |
| first year in the business," recalls Gladstone. "It wasn't | | | | specialist in understanding career and business needs. |
| mine, but it was beautiful to watch and and hear | | | | The headhunter is a builder of human networks. |
| about. A great learning experience from a guy who'd | | | | |