There are many companies that have vacant positions for months on end because they cannot find the right candidate to fill the role. To prevent this from happening to them, many companies are using recruitment agencies and consultants to help them gain access to the best talent on the market.
IQ PARTNERS would like you to get to know some of our recruiters. Each month we ask one of them the same 10 questions about their lives, the headhunting business, and what you should know as a job seeker or hiring manager. This month, meet Toronto Recruiter Steven Petroff.
Just like any other industry, there is a need for continuous training in the recruitment world. How to recruit, where to find candidates, and approaches to hiring continue to change, and recruiters who keep their eye on the prize and stay on top of industry trends are positioned to be successful.
Currently there are no barriers to entry whatsoever in the recruitment industry, so while I don’t want to add a layer of complexity, I think there certain criteria (mostly around business ethics) that should be built in, that just aren’t there right now.
Listen more, talk less. There are many times when I have witnessed this business becoming more about the recruiter and their needs and less about the candidate and what’s best for them. More recruiters should listen to their candidates and, instead of just trying to make submissions, try to understand what they’re really looking for. If submitting them for a job takes too much convincing, it’s probably not the right role for them!
As far as agency recruiting goes, there are way too many “fly by night” shops that give our industry a terrible reputation. I have worked with countless recruiters over the years, many of which are phenomenal, and many others – not so much. Too many are focused on their commission instead of the human beings they are trying to help match up.
There’s a story about Pablo Picasso that speaks well to the enormous time investment that recruiters make (to know the candidate market, to really understand the industry we serve) well in advance of actually being engaged in a search. It goes; a woman sees Pablo Picasso sitting on a park bench, idly sketching. She approaches and asks for sketch. He says yes, does it and as he hands it to her says “that will be $5000.” The woman is outraged and says “that only took you 15 minutes!” to which Picasso replies, “No Madam, that took me 40 years.”
What question do I need to ask a candidate to find out if they’re a good fit for your organization?
Believe it or not it actually stumps the majority of my clients… I usually get “Oh, I don’t know, let me think about that…” And then when they do, whatever they come up with is almost always the key to successfully recruiting on that role.
Who are your heroes in business?
My dad (with my mom’s support). He and my uncle ran a construction company called Quarin Brothers for 30 years. In the same vein, my heroes are every small business person who has an idea, empties his/her wallet, and gives their soul into building something.
