With Or Without A Computer, I Am A Recruiter.

With or without a computer, I am a Recruiter.

And so are you.

But, I’m afraid that sometimes some of my fellow professional Recruiters and I have gotten so hopelessly caught up in techniques and technology that we sometimes forget that the very essence of our business is what we *all* are: PEOPLE!

Our focus must be tightly coupled with developing healthy “people relationships”.

Because recruiting is about people, it’s serious business. Companies depend on recruiting. Individuals depend on recruiting. And, in a certain sense, life depends on recruiting. A world 100% devoid of recruiting is an unimaginable world. And it’s one that we won’t see in our life time.

Let others recruit as they wish but for me, I am a Recruiter because I…

1. Recruit people. What does it mean to “recruit”? Recruit means to nourish the core. Never let anyone pull you away from this richest of definitions of what is arguably one of the most significant functions of our society – or ANY society, for that matter. Without a doubt it’s one of the most important functions for any company that requires people to get its business done. I have a Recruiter’s mentality. I Recruit people.

2. Empathize with people. You can’t empathize with a resume, a profile, a CV. You can only empathize with people. Empathizing means a.) listening, b.) identifying with what you hear, c.) remembering what you’ve heard, and d.) acting according to what you’ve heard – always remembering that you’re actually dealing with people. I listen to people. I Empathize with people.

3. Care about people. Don’t gag! If you don’t care about people, you CAN’T recruit people. Period! You may get someone to take a job in someone’s company but that, in and of itself is not recruiting. Caring is not some wishy-washy, lovey-dovey, frilly-dilly, weak little thing. Caring takes strength. It takes a strong man, a strong woman to actually care – which may be why there appears to be so few people caring. Caring is something that even the most masculine man and the most astute woman can and should do. Caring is the heart, the very essence of professionalism in recruiting people. I Care about people.

4. Respond to people. The essence of recruiting is communicating. And you can’t fully communicate without responding. Here’s my challenge: I challenge you to recruit without responding to the people you want to recruit. This does not mean that you respond to every incidental post or twitter that comes into your inbox. But, you respond to those whom you intend to recruit. I don’t respond to email messages. I don’t respond to voicemail messages or IM messages. I Respond to people.

5. Uplift people. Now, I know that this might be the least expected “U” word you could imagine in my acronym for the word “R.E.C.R.U.I.T”. However, please tell me a better word than this one. Indeed, how CAN you recruit without the uplifting lever of good news? And what is good news but “uplifting” people? This is not about fawning over people and it’s not about any fake emotion or other manipulation. It’s about “accentuating the positive”. And that uplifts people. I Uplift people.

6. Invite people. I don’t invite resumes, CV’s, online profiles, portfolios, etc. I invite people. I invite them to come talk with me and my clients about the outstanding opportunities we have for PEOPLE. Thus, when I invite, I Invite people.

7. Think WITH people. Without thinking with people, all we do is just exchange information in a form not much different than extracting information from a glorified database. But, in thinking WITH people, we enter a relationship. Recruiters aren’t in the technology business. Recruiters are in the relationship business. I am in the relationship business. As a Recruiter, I don’t give 100% of the answers as if I’m some deity speaking from on high. Thus, I ask professional level questions to get people to give me professional level answers. And I extend my hand to my recruits in encouraging them to ask professional level questions to which I do my level best to give them professional level answers. This is the essence of professional relationships. I Think WITH People.

Again, let others recruit as they wish but for me, I am a Recruiter because I RECRUIT people.