I just got off the phone with a job seeker who was referred to Talent Tap. After explaining that my
industry niches were not a match for his experience, I referred him to two other
staffing companies who I thought would be better positioned to assist him. The candidate mentioned that one of those
companies didn’t engage him in any conversation when he called them a year ago
and just pointed him to their website.
Needless to say, he was really turned off. I love
these calls because it gives me the opportunity to mindfully practice a key value
at Talent Tap – treating people like you would want to be treated. After
eighteen years in the staffing business, I have noticed that it can be easy to
let this practice slip when you’re juggling incoming calls, candidate
interviews, follow up to clients and the other million tasks that pop up every
day.
I was fortunate to be hired right out of college by a
progressive, local staffing firm, The Byrnes Group. They were a great group to
work with for most of my time there – the training I received was invaluable
and I learned a lot about running a successful business because it was an
open-book management company. Our
President, Randy Byrnes, believed in educating all staff to think and run their
desks like owners. The one piece of advice
he offered really stuck with me throughout my career: Remember
that not only do we serve our clients (they write the checks that keep the
lights on), we also need to serve our candidates well, too. Most
job seekers are in a stressful time in their lives – professional change and
transition is never easy – so always practice the Golden Rule: treat them like you would want to be treated
if the tables were turned. And
you know what – very few of us get through our professional lives without becoming
a job applicant at one time or another.
Candidates remember how they were treated when knocking on
doors and they tend to tell their friends and family. Paying it forward is always the right choice
as staffing professionals and as human beings, as we walk our respective life
paths.
