Napoleon as Recruiter

A few of the folks at recruiting.com are aware that the Masked-Blogger has been riding the interview-circuit for the past few months. And, oh, what a wild ride it has been.

I've had the pleasure of interviewing with 10 or so companies (no Levy, Google was not one them), and I've definitely seen the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Since we're headed in to a long weekend, I thought one of the "ugly" stories would be appropriate.

I interviewed this week with a very large subsidiary whose parent company is a $30-40B enterprise. I was told that the CEO didn't value the recruiting function. Why? He'd personally delivered several resumes to the recruiting manager...not one person ever received a phone call. My question is, how'd this person keep his job for so long?

One thing I've observed in my recent interviewing-adventures is that, unfortunately, too many big companies are still struggling to get their arms around basic recruiting practices. If I'm describing your current situation, know this, you are not alone.

Do you have to be content? No. It is never too late to start the task of process improvement. If you don't have the support of your manager, than start the incremental process yourself.

In Good to Great, Collins said: "...each of us can create a pocket of greatness. Each of us can take our own area of work and influence and can concentrate on moving it from good to great. It doesn't really matter whether all the CEOs get it. It only matters that you and I do."

If you choose to do nothing and allow your company to continue wading in the world of recruiting mediocrity, then please don't let me disturb you.

Knowing that we are in competition to recruit the best talent available in the market-place, I will choose the strategy embraced by Napoleon Bonaparte, who said, "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

Ride on, Napoleon.

Dennis Smith, TalentBlogger

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