august 2009 newsletter

Thanks to the many of you who took the time to reply to last month's newsletter about "candidate branding" with your thoughts and comments. I thought I'd share with you the common thread of so many of the responses as it is an all-important message. Many of the folks who responded are in positions where they are responsible for hiring so this will be particularly noteworthy for those of you out there who are in "search mode" or thinking about a change some time in the future.

The gist of the thought is that while branding is worthwhile, and of course a good "meaty" resume is a must, the single biggest factor that seems to influence hiring is what I call "chemistry". It's the fit of the candidate to the corporate and departmental culture. I've always thought that it's often not necessarily the most qualified candidate that gets the job, but rather the candidate with solid qualifications and a great "chemistry match" of personality to corporate and departmental culture. We recruiters like to call it the "love connection". If there's a true love connection, lots of things become negotiable in the deal-closing process.

Now you may ask, if chemistry is really such a big part of the hire, how do you ensure that you're going to have a great interview? One of the best ways is to be sure that you're working with a recruiter that really knows and understands the corporate culture and makes that a part of their opportunity presentation. At Whitaker, one of the hallmarks of our success is the long-term personal relationships we've built with most of our clients. We've been to their facility, met the principals, seen the location, so we really "get it" when it comes to their corporate culture. Consequently when we present an opportunity to you, we really know what will make a good fit and we'll try to guide you toward those opportunities that are the best match not only for your skills but also for all of the other factors that will make a prospective next position feel like a "home" and not "just a job". Secondly, we won't try to put a square peg in a round hole. If we don't think the "chemistry" is right in the interview situation we're not going to push you to accept a position. We'd rather keep searching until we find the opportunity that's just right for you.

Our eye is always on the long-term end game - the satisfaction of the hiring manager and the candidate, and the knowledge that you're going to love your job and plan on being with the company for a long time to come.

We look forward to helping you find your "love connection", whether that be in the form of a new position or a new hire to your organization.