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Talent Trade Tidbit - When In Doubt, Go Find Out
They say that the quickest path is a straight line, and that’s true in conversation as well. Learn why if you’re at all unsure, whatever your situation, it’s best to just talk it out.
Transcript
Hi, this is Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead Search.
Speaker:Today I want to have a conversation with you about having the conversation.
Speaker:When in doubt, go find out.
Speaker:It's very interesting for my personal search desk in business.
Speaker:A hundred percent of the people I talk to are bankers.
Speaker:Five percent are in a category of, Hey, I'm really happy.
Speaker:Um, my next step is retirement and that's in the next six months to a year.
Speaker:Thanks for reaching out, but no thanks.
Speaker:I'm not going anywhere and nothing could possibly change that.
Speaker:The next 5 percent are, Oh my gosh, thank goodness you called me.
Speaker:I am absolutely miserable.
Speaker:What do you got?
Speaker:What do you got?
Speaker:What do you got?
Speaker:I'm most likely not going to place that person either.
Speaker:Or the first one.
Speaker:Where I spend most of my time is in the 90 percent and these are the folks that are not actively looking but actively Listening and my counsel to them is you never know Actively looking is very different than actively listening Really good opportunities don't come up every single day And even if you're happy, you can't bury your head in the sand Now, that certainly doesn't mean that you change jobs every two years.
Speaker:That is absolutely the wrong path.
Speaker:But what it does mean is that you stay listening.
Speaker:And if you're not sure if it holds any appeal, go have a conversation.
Speaker:It can't hurt.
Speaker:It's not active interviewing.
Speaker:It's just listening.
Speaker:One of the unique parts of my world is I spend just as much time talking to hiring managers about how to do better and more effective hiring as I do with candidates about how to make better job decisions, whether they're saying or leaving or whatever the case may be.
Speaker:And I actually love that I play for both sides.
Speaker:Now, with that being said, one of the themes that has come out of a lot of dialogue has been this idea of having a conversation.
Speaker:In the past, when I have worked with hiring managers, they have only wanted to interview folks if they absolutely believed that based on their resume and some conversation that we had when I represented them, that they were absolutely hands down a fit for the job.
Speaker:And usually that was okay.
Speaker:But times have changed and if you ever watch the best recruiters, whether it be college coaches or folks for professional sports or whatever the case may be, they actually start recruiting years before the talent that they want becomes available.
Speaker:It's an intentional strategy.
Speaker:So, maybe you take a look at somebody and they're not quite right, or they're, uh, I just don't know.
Speaker:I'm going to be pretty tough until you go have the conversation anyway.
Speaker:Maybe they're not right right now, but maybe in two years when they are, and trust me, you're going to have an opening, they will be, and they'll remember the conversation and how much they enjoyed it, and they'll want to come talk to you again.
Speaker:Maybe they won't.
Speaker:Maybe it'll totally go nowhere, but in the meantime, somebody comes up to them and goes, Hey, I got a call about an opportunity with XYZ organization.
Speaker:What do you know about them?
Speaker:Oh man, I actually talked to them about six months ago.
Speaker:It wasn't the right time or the right position, but man, they're a great organization.
Speaker:You think that might help right now?
Speaker:You have no idea what is happening, what conversations are happening all around you that make recruiting and hiring easier or harder.
Speaker:So why not stack as much in your favor as you can by going out, having conversations and leaving folks with the impression you want them to have of your organization.
Speaker:There's also just matters of misunderstanding.
Speaker:Earlier this week, I was talking to a potential candidate about an opportunity.
Speaker:And before we got too far into the dialogue, he said, Hey, let me do a little research.
Speaker:I'll call you back with questions.
Speaker:I hadn't really had an opportunity to tell him much other than the name of the position and the bank.
Speaker:So a couple of days later, he sent me an email and said, Hey, I read the job description, did a little bit of research.
Speaker:I don't think this is the right fit for me, but I'd still like to talk to you because I think I do want to make a move sooner rather than later.
Speaker:Take care.
Speaker:So, we got on the phone a couple days later and, you know, I said, Hey, I'm just curious.
Speaker:What did you see that you didn't like?
Speaker:And we started to talk through it.
Speaker:Well, come to find out, he looked at the job description and candidly misinterpreted a couple of the things that it said.
Speaker:But once we had an opportunity to really talk through what the job was, what the responsibilities were, what the environment was like, he said, Oh, wait, I actually am really interested in that.
Speaker:I like the bank.
Speaker:I just thought the role was more like this.
Speaker:Instead of how you're describing and it just made me think about that for a second.
Speaker:How many times do we write things off because we kind of glance over it.
Speaker:We hear something.
Speaker:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker:I'm not sure.
Speaker:We're just so busy these days.
Speaker:We don't take the time to really find out.
Speaker:He could have missed out on his next great opportunity.
Speaker:So maybe you hear about an opportunity you think may or may not be for you.
Speaker:Go find out.
Speaker:Go have a meeting.
Speaker:I know that sounds self serving from a recruiter's perspective, but is it really?
Speaker:Is it serving me or serving you?
Speaker:Chances are it's serving both.
Speaker:Now, at the same time, candidates, listen up.
Speaker:Historically, I don't love the idea of window shopping.
Speaker:I think it wastes everybody's time.
Speaker:I think it sets you up to look unfavorable.
Speaker:However, there is a difference between window shopping And having productive conversation.
Speaker:If you're working with a recruiter, make sure they represent you appropriately.
Speaker:But I tell candidates all the time, Hey, I don't know if this is right for you right now, but there's something going on at this organization.
Speaker:That you need to know about and you don't need to hear about it from me.
Speaker:So let me do you a solid.
Speaker:Let me set you to go have a conversation.
Speaker:You hear it from them directly, then we can decide what to do.
Speaker:These are good, healthy, productive conversations.
Speaker:And whether you're a client or a candidate.
Speaker:You should be filling your days and weeks with these types of conversations all year long.
Speaker:So, when in doubt, go find out.
