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From the Desk of Brad Smart: How to Get The Best Service From Recruiters When Candidates Are Scarce

AI Resume resume keywords Applicant Tracking System Oct 21, 2022 12:00:00 AM Topgrading Team %

Over the decades, clients have dramatically improved the service they get from recruiters. You can too, whether you use:
  • Contingency recruiters (low level jobs, you pay only if you hire someone they present),
  • Executive search firms (executive level, you pay up to 30% of first year pay, and if you don’t hire someone they present, too bad for you – they got the fee), or
  • Your corporate recruiters.
Each group has burdened companies like yours, because with each the results you’ve probably gotten have been tainted by … let’s be honest ... dishonesty. Our advice has produced much better service from recruiters for hundreds of companies to start-ups to Fortune500 companies; it’s very simple to implement (requiring only a phone call to recruiters), and … what else? … oh, yeah, it’s free. It’s the Topgrading Truth Motivator. You might ask what forms of dishonesty taint recruiter performance. Contingency recruiters typically send you resumes without any interview at all.  Companies tend to call several recruiters, so, as CEO of a global company put it, “They throw crap against the wall to see what sticks.” Poetic, but true. All the major executive search firms know about Topgrading, and some have actually incorporated the Topgrading “Truth Motivator.” However, most do interviews intended to highlight positives of candidates, so their reports glow with candidate strengths, but are shy on weaker points. For the books T opgrading (first, second, and third editions) I asked 200 CEOs what percent of the time, when they used executive search firms, they got their money’s worth. The results were 21%, 20%, and 19%. Your own recruiters have this burden: 2/3 of resumes contain hype and omit real shortcomings, and the idealized social profiles of candidates continue in responses to interview questions. They know they can get away with fooling companies because most companies discourage managers from taking reference calls for fear of lawsuits. Confident you won’t be able to talk with managers they reported to (to get the truth), half of your hires turn out to be disappointing performers. That’s what our multi-decades of research shows. So, contingency recruiters don’t even try to screen candidates, executive recruiters send “whitewash” reports, and your own recruiters are “fooled” because most job seekers successfully game the system. But take heart, the Topgrading Truth Motivator works.

How to implement the Topgrading Truth Motivator:

TELL RECRUITERS THAT YOU WILL ONLY TALK TO CANDIDATES THEY PRESENT IF THOSE CANDIDATES HAVE AGREED, AS A FINAL STEP IN HIRING, TO ARRANGE REFERENCE CALLS WITH MANAGERS THEY HAVE REPORTED TO!

(Usually when a job offer is on the table)

Do this and immediately you will talk to better candidates. They will not BS you, because they know you’ll be talking to their bosses (at an appropriate time, when a job offer is discussed). And they tend to be high performers because low performers do NOT agree to arrange calls with bosses. They are “busted” – their resume contains hype and deception. And OF COURSE, ask finalists to arrange the calls with bosses. Voila – use that sentence and you will replace dishonesty with honesty and weak verification of what candidates claimed with the best imaginable verification. You might say, “Yes, but …” and question whether the Truth Motivator really works, and a book to be published by ForbesBooks entitled Foolproof Hiring will answer every concern, but bottom line, we have heard of zero problems (legal or otherwise) with the use of this technique for hundreds of companies over the past 50 years.

Contact us to learn more.

Improve your hiring success with Topgrading. Our proven hiring process will transform your selection methodology so that you get better hiring results across all industries, including hiring HR professionals.  Our  leadership and candidate assessment  tools will help you assess, hire, retain, and grow outstanding team members.  Contact us  to learn more!

Topgrading Team

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