While the lines sometimes blur between these groups, the philosophies by which each operate remain pretty distinct.  Starting at the basic mission and pro/con level, here is a pretty good summary (adapted from CareerSherpa).

Next, I came across a few online forums and message boards where someone had posed a question about the differences between these groups.  No shortage of people chimed in to try and describe the contrast.  Some of the more interesting (and concise) analogies I found were:

The jaded perspective…

“Recruiters are trying to get you to take a job. HR is trying to take it away or underpay you for it.”

The sports fan’s explanation…

“Recruiters are the college coaches.  HR is the NCAA.”

The cut and dry…

“Recruiting gets you in the company. HR deals with you once you are there.”

Where does Hire EQ fit in?

Well, we are, by design, recruiters.  We focus on finding the right candidate, period.  And, because we are an external resource, we allow clients’ internal (human) resources the ability to stay focused on the day-to-day tasks while we source and screen new talent.  Sourcing and screening doesn’t make us unique, but our approach does.  While most recruiters focus on a candidate’s hard skills (years of experience, licensing, certifications) we are equally concerned with a candidate’s soft skills (character, interpersonal abilities, emotional intelligence).

Sure, some other recruiters care about soft skills, but we have based our entire hiring philosophy on them!  It’s even in our name:  HireEQ.  (EQ is short for emotional quotient or emotional intelligence.)  We strongly believe that assessing these skills up front gives us the ability to see through the good candidates straight to the great ones!  And, no doubt, our clients will back us up on that.

In the end, Recruiters and HR Departments have similar goals and they deal in the same commodity—people.  Both groups place a high value on that commodity, but for slightly different reasons.  To add in my own analogy, “Recruiters focus on finding talent.  HR is responsible for cultivating it.”

All of his tips are great, but the one I (and the grammar nerd inside) found most interesting revolves around the concept of active and passive verbs.  I immediately flashed back to my days as a grammar and composition teacher—even remembering the exact lesson I used to illustrate this same notion.

Hashing out the whole lesson isn’t really important, but the concept is.  Suffice it to say that I showed the difference in verb types by throwing my textbook on the floor and asking students to describe what happened.  In general, it was described as either, “You threw the book on the floor” (active), or as, “The book was thrown on the floor” (passive).

In the first description (the active voice), it gives the impression that I took charge, grabbed the book and threw it on the floor.  It was my choice and my effort that landed it there—I did it!  In the second description, there was no real thrower of the book, no one to take the credit or make the decision; the book simply ended up there (the passive voice).

So, as Junge points out, you can tell so much about a candidate by their language choice—active or passive.  An old mentor taught him there is, “A significant difference in the productivity of people who described their work in terms of accomplishments and results compared to those who talked about responsibilities and duties.”  He goes on to say that, “To this day, I’m much more likely to call someone who has designed, built, delivered, initiated, earned than someone who has been ‘tasked with’ or ‘responsible for’.”

Employers, you may already be using this method to tell the great candidates from the rest.  And, if you aren’t, maybe it’s time you start.  As Junge also says, “As an employer, it makes sense to focus on people who want to deliver and perform, not those who feel like they have to.”

And candidates, how are you describing yourself?  Are your bullet points and experiences filled with things you’ve done, or things that you were made responsible for?  If you aren’t sure, it might be worth your time to check before you submit another application (especially if it’s one to Google).

“Are you interviewing for that new firm on the twelfth floor?”

“Yes.”

“Great.  What do you do?”

…And, GO!

Time to deliver–in the truest sense of the phrase–your elevator pitch.

What follows will either flow naturally or it won’t.  Either way, it’s rude (and in this case slightly awkward) not to answer the question when asked—especially if you have another 11 floors to go—so it’s best to say something.

What generally sets the responders apart is one thing:  forethought.  Aside from this textbook definition of the elevator pitch, there are plenty of other confined spaces, chance meetings, and networking functions that will afford similar opportunities.  So, with that in mind, why not spend a few minutes planning and practicing for it ahead of time instead of just trying to shoot from the hip each time?

Not sure where to begin?  Well, Harvard Business School published a great online tool that walks you through the process.  It is broken down by sections:  who, what, why, and goal.  Not only does it offer suggested words to use for each section, it also offers to analyze the pitch for you!

Here’s what it looks like:

It’s incredibly easy to use and, if nothing else is a great exercise that will force you to think through the pitch.  (For more on what to say and how to structure your 30 second spiel, this recent INC post also offers great tips.)

The moral of this post is that even though you may not ride an elevator with strangers every day, you don’t live under a rock either.  With that, social interaction is inevitable and, job-related or not, most chance conversations likely start with some version of “tell me about yourself,” and will eventually circle to, “So, what do you do?”  And, no matter what the social situation is, having a concise way to describe yourself can only help.  Someone who gives a direct answer will always leave the impression of being a more confident, competent individual than someone who fumbles through with a few shrugs.  And, if a new job is your goal, then confident and competent are certainly impressions you’d want to leave.

What some organizations call an “operations manager” others will call “operations coordinator.”  So which, if either, is more significant?  Which has higher rank, status or pay?

We find ourselves scratching our heads and wondering the same thing all the time.

Employers, here is our best advice when it comes to titles.  They should be:

1.  Representative:

You know the expression, “call it like it is”?  Well, that should absolutely apply to selecting an appropriate job title.  If someone is a bartender, don’t call him/her a “beverage dissemination officer.”  Mail room assistants should be referred to as such, not as a “communications distribution assistants.”

2.  Understandable:

As with #1, the time a recruiter has to spend trying to figure out what it is that a candidate does, the more likely they are to abort the effort and move on to someone else whose qualifications are plain to see.  Keep in mind that ambiguity is NOT a good thing either.  Directness and clarity are keys to being noticed and understood.

3.  Recognizable

All organizations or companies should have, at the very least, an organizational chart that provides the blueprint for rank and ladder within the organization.  Knowing who someone is responsible to and responsible for will tell you a great deal about what their role actually meant.

4.  Meaningful:

In a tight economy, some companies have gotten into the dangerous habit of handing out new titles in place of compensation.  This “title creep” as it’s often called, is an empty gesture that can really hurt both employees and organizational culture in the long run.

Outside of the military, there may never be a standardized system or title significance translator, but, at the very least, there should be real thought, weight, and purpose behind a title before it is given.  If a recruiter can’t figure out what someone has been, we’re not likely to be able to see them for what they could be.

-          Candidate profiling

-          Generational differences

-          Research habits

The Candidate Profile

It seems that the term “job seeker” can and should be applied to 74% of those already employed.  According to this study, nearly three-quarters of all employees are actively searching for other opportunities—69% of whom say that searching for new opportunities is part of their regular routine.

Based on the candidates that we talk to, we can confirm the same to be true for those who fill our inboxes.  The story is the same—the majority is employed, but still looking.  This seems to be especially true for those working in hourly or per-diem jobs.

Generational Differences

Looking at Millenials VS BabyBoomers, there were some clear differences, but nothing terribly shocking.  Millennials have a 3 year average with any one job, while Baby Boomers average 11 years.  Both claim that they are willing to relocate—83% of Millennials and 58% of Boomers.

Research Habits

No surprise, they found that the majority of workers come across new job opportunities in one of three ways:  online searches, traditional networking, or job boards.  What is somewhat surprising though, is that only 56% reported researching a company online prior to interviewing.  (Frankly, in the information age, there’s no reason for this number being less than 100%!)

For those who are taking the time to do their digging, they aren’t just trusting one source; in fact, most will use 14.5 unique resources when searching for a job.  How does that compare to the average research for other big decisions?  Well, on average someone will use 11.7 sources for choosing an insurance provider, 10.8 for a bank, and 10.2 for a trip.

Unfortunately, the survey data pretty much stopped there.  It would be interesting to see exactly what this “always looking” trend has done for employers.  For instance, are they doing more to encourage employees to stick around?  Or, are they less likely to invest time and money into employees because they assume the employee will turn over or move on long before any investment would pay off?  Has this fluidity negatively impacted work places that are highly collaborative or team-oriented?  (Employers, if you have any thoughts on this, we’d love to hear them!)

Well, we can only hope there will be a follow up study done from that perspective someday.  Until then, as you might have guessed, we are plenty busy trying to help fill all of the openings left behind by the always-searching workforce.

Humans are relational creatures, naturally drawn to others by some common interest or quality.  Be it gender, heritage, profession, hobby or location, people will gravitate to others in the name of just about anything.  These groups will generally have set meetings, regular functions, and events (some of which are actually even fun to attend.)  The real “problem” with these off-line networks is that they also have needs and require two things of members:  effort and time.  These days, those two things are quite a commodity and, for some, are harder to give away than money.

With the job market so saturated today, it’s no surprise that people are relying more and more on their networks to find employment opportunities or to fill key vacancies.  So, what does your network look like?  And, how far-reaching is it?

If you live in Western Massachusetts (like many of our readers do) there are ample opportunities to connect with other area professionals and leaders.

Here are a few local networking organizations to consider:

• Business Networking International
• Junior League of Western Mass
• Springfield Young Professionals Society
• Northampton Young Professionals Society
• Toastmasters Association
• Women’s Business Owners association
• Women in Philanthropy
• Women’s Business Network

A few other more general avenues through which to connect:

• College Alumni Organizations
• Service or Fraternal groups:  Rotary, Kiwanis, Elks, etc.
• Volunteer associations

Even if you are not looking for a new job opportunity right now, it does not necessarily mean that you won’t be some time in the future.  So, what are you waiting for?  Put down your smart phone, dust off your handshake and network the old-fashioned way—it just might be the best thing you ever did for the future of your career!

This nationwide initiative has sparked both awareness and action.  There have been job fairs across the nation (both traditional and online) as well as training classes for employers and veterans alike to help bridge the communication gap.

Monster.com (one of the world’s leading online job search sites) has partnered with Military.com to provide a wildly helpful translation tool for veteran job seekers.  Their tool—the Skills Translator—uses a veteran’s branch of service, pay grade and title to formulate a list of civilian job equivalencies.

Here’s a snap shot of the translator:

After entering a few set pieces of data, relevant job postings are aggregated and displayed.  This appears to be a very simple, yet powerful aid for veterans.

Since the movement began in April 2011, employers have hired more than 90,000 veterans and military spouses through its affiliated efforts–impressive results, but there’s still a long way to go.  Hopefully, with the help of tools like this one, the road between military service and civilian employment will not be such a long one!

According to Monster.com the seasons of hiring look something like this:

First Quarter:  A New Year’s Wave of Hiring

• Most key decision makers are present and able to collaborate on hiring decisions.
• There’s usually a big hiring push after the holidays and start of a new fiscal year (if on a calendar year cycle.)
• The one time of year that demand usually outweighs the supply of candidates
• This can also be a good time for people who are currently employed to look for a new position.

Second Quarter:  Gearing Up for Summer

• For those whose work depends on fair/warm weather, this is your peak hiring season.
• Construction, Tourism and Hospitality industries see a big boom here.
• Industries who want professionals to be up to speed by fall will hire in spring.

Third Quarter:  Recruiters Relax a bit, Vacation Affects Hiring

• Hiring is slower, but so are applications.
• This could be a great time for typically overlooked candidates to stand out as there is less competition at this point.

Fourth Quarter:  A Rush…A Lull

• There’s a big rush on the front end after hiring picked up late Q3.
• Hiring in preparation for the holidays is in full swing.
• December hiring can be quite low, but some recruiters are determined to fill all vacancies by December 31—this could mean big opportunities are still out there.
• Fewer applicants roll in during the last few weeks of the year—fortune favoring those who push through and keep the hunt alive through the season.

These trends will often vary by industry and company and, of course, economy, but for larger companies and corporations they generally hold true.  The bottom line is that there is no bad time to apply for a job.

Employers, do you find these seasonal averages to be true for your company?  Job seekers, have you seen any change in the job search changed at different points in the year?

Hello!  Are you out there?  Yes, you—the web developer, the front end programmer, the mobile app creator and the HTML5 genius!  Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Based on the incredible demand on the technology industry’s talent pool, I’m guessing that you are already behind desks, cubicle walls, and computer screens somewhere.  That’s not just a guess though; according to the Dice representative we spoke with yesterday, an astonishing 96.8% of you are already employed.  Where does that leave us as recruiters?  It leaves us fighting for the top 10% of the remaining 3.2%–that’s where!

It is a tough position for recruiters and employers to be in, but a potentially lucrative position for said talent to enjoy.

Indeed.com reports that the fastest growing job trends by keyword are as follows (in descending order):

Every single keyword skill relates to jobs in the technology industry.   Indeed goes on to report that the top job titles in June 2012 were:

What it all means

For Technology professionals:

Clearly, your skills are valuable.  You are at a great professional advantage now and for the foreseeable future.  With that though, you will be expected to continually learn and grow with the industry that never sleeps.  For those of you in the 3.2%, make sure your most current resume is available for recruiters to find you online.  If you are actively looking for work, your profile/s should be flagged accordingly.

For employers:

Tech talent knows that they are a hot commodity.  They will be expecting competitive salary and benefits packages.  If your company is trying to get the “best for less” you won’t!  You’ve got to be realistic about the market and what other companies and offers you are contending with.