There’s an executive recruiter who’s been calling me for a few months. Every time we talk and we like each other less and less. She asks a lot of questions, never listens to my very honest answers, and then is annoyed that I’m not interested in the jobs she’s trying to staff (which are in direct contradiction to all of the answers I’ve given to her never-ending list of questions.)
I don’t understand why she keeps calling me, on my office phone number no less. And then on Thursday afternoon, I finally realized that I needed to explain to her exactly why she’s having trouble getting people like me (and everyone I know) to take these postings seriously: they don’t pass the BS test.
She was totally annoyed by my advice. I found a more professional way to explain the BS test but the general sentiment is the same – don’t give me some high-brow job description filled with jargon. Tell me what’s amazing about the company and the team and why I want to be part of it. Don’t try to dazzle me with buzz words like “high-level strategy”, “high-visibility”, “senior-level exposure”. Tell me what a day in my life could be like there and what I’m going to learn. And please don’t tell me what my skills can do for a company. I already know that. Instead, relate to what I care so deeply and passionately about – developing products and services that make people’s lives better.
Corporate HR and executive recruiters need to really push their clients, meaning the hiring leaders. Really push them to accurately represent the jobs they’re looking to fill and exactly what those job descriptions are in plain English. Then they need to tap into their other customer base, the people they’re trying to recruit, and listen, really listen, to exactly what it is those candidates want to do and why. Any other path is just an extraordinary waste of time – for recruiters, for companies, and would-be team members.
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
5 thoughts on “Leap: Corporate Recruiting, We Have a Problem”
Obviously she hadn’t done any research on you – a quick google would have found your blog and given her ways to talk with you if she didn’t “get” that you were leaping. Ah well. Obviously many improvements can be made.
So true, MJ. I find most of them aren’t good researchers. The ones that are the exceptions and really do their research are so valuable. I’m working with another one from Dave Partners, a firm that specializes in start-up staffing and they have been wonderful. Nice to find the ones doing it right!
Sadly, most recruiters seem to follow a numbers game approach to recruiting: if they serve up the non-specific, garbage description to enough people, someone is bound to bite. The best recruiters however are those that, like you say, take the time to get to know their candidates and thoughtfully match jobs to their wants. I’ve come across 2 of those in my career and I actively stay in touch with them every 6 months because of the quality of their approach.
Christa Avampato 
Excellent point
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Obviously she hadn’t done any research on you – a quick google would have found your blog and given her ways to talk with you if she didn’t “get” that you were leaping. Ah well. Obviously many improvements can be made.
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So true, MJ. I find most of them aren’t good researchers. The ones that are the exceptions and really do their research are so valuable. I’m working with another one from Dave Partners, a firm that specializes in start-up staffing and they have been wonderful. Nice to find the ones doing it right!
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Sadly, most recruiters seem to follow a numbers game approach to recruiting: if they serve up the non-specific, garbage description to enough people, someone is bound to bite. The best recruiters however are those that, like you say, take the time to get to know their candidates and thoughtfully match jobs to their wants. I’ve come across 2 of those in my career and I actively stay in touch with them every 6 months because of the quality of their approach.
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We need more recruiters like the ones you work with Jeff!
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