A passionate recruiter

Passion is a source of unlimited energy from your soul that enables you to produce extraordinary results! – Charles Kovess, Australia’s Passion Provocateur.

Ben Gotkin, …from the trenches defines that passion is the drive, the internal motivation, and often most undervalued factor in someone's ability to be successful. He came up with a formula for success which is Passion + Talent = Success.

Passion could be different and unique for each one of us which means we all have passion inside of us. It takes an effort to identify our passion, a greater effort to nurture and pursue it. If you are successful in finding and flourishing your passion with the required skills and talent then you are truly on your way to a life full of excitement and success.

I am passionate about football. I love to play football, watch, and talk and promote the game. But I am not a good footballer; I do not possess the desired skill to be a successful footballer. I am also passionate about recruitment and I belief I have the necessary skills to excel in recruitment and therefore I am a successful recruiter or at least on the path to becoming a successful recruiter.

Some of the renowned personalities that I admire for their passion include –
- Steve Jobs : A living legend, the original innovator. Passionate about new technology and ‘cared deeply about making something wonderful’.
- Sir Alex Ferguson : At 65, he still exudes so much enthusiasm for the game and his team, a sheer joy to watch him celebrate a goal.
- Lee Kuan Yew : A world class statesmen, a master strategist, to hear him deliberate on any issue related to Singapore is an experience to treasure.

Passion is everything in the business of recruiting. Passionate recruiter evolves from being a good recruiter to a great recruiter.

For a recruiter who is just starting out on a recruiting career she might be loaded with ambition, drive and passion but might not have the necessary skills due to lack of experience. This can limit her level of success and performance, at least for the moment. The same can also be said of someone with good qualification and required skills but if she lacks the passion she would likely not have a successful carreer in recruitment.

I belief that passion like attitude cannot be taught or train but skills can be taught definitely. Therefore in due course with improved skills and knowledge gained out of experience and coupled with a continued burning passion one can become a successful passionate recruiter.

A passionate recruiter loves what she does and performs her duty with ease and produce excellent results. She would be well equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills and would be happy to share it with the others. A passionate recruiter will spread positive vibes and good cheers around and would be very committed to her job and the organization. She would be one of those top performers who consistently meet her target.

A passionate recruiter –
• is proactive, energetic and has stamina to last the long run
• learns to motivate and inspire themselves and they in turn inspire the people around them
• transcends any visible or imaginary limitations and consistently achieve
• always has a burning desire or hunger to achieve
• has abundant enthusiasm and a clear conviction about themselves
• operates on different plane/level

• learns from her past mistakes and always endeavors to improve and better herself

For any recruiter it does become very important to be passionate in order to succeed and be recognized.

Be passionate about your clients – keeping their interest in mind at all times while hiring potential candidates.
Be passionate about your candidates - be prepared to fight for them for the best possible deal while representing them.
Be passionate about the requirements you have in hand, be passionate about your recruitment process, the way you conduct your daily business and be passionate about your organization.

Without passion everything becomes mundane, monotonous and ordinary.

Passion is like a flame that needs to be constantly fueled; else it will die. But like a burning flame it also needs constant watch; else it will burn uncontrollably. It might end up doing more harm than good.

*** happy hunting folks***

Tips for Job Seekers - A recruiter's perspective

Searching for a job can often be very stressful and for some even emotionally and physically draining. The process could take time and hard work before one can find success. As a job seeker your search can become more effective if you learn how to streamline your effort and you do this by doing proper research and preparation.
As an IT recruiter I have had the experience of interacting with thousands of IT job seekers through the years and some of them truly impressed me with their approach and conduct and left in me an inedible mark and a positive influence. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for majority of the job seekers. These tips are meant especially for those job seekers who wish to improve and hone their job search skills - a recruiter's perspective.
1. Resume writing: In today's competitive market, it is imperative that you always have your resume ready and updated - you never could tell when and where from the next great opportunity will come to you. Design a resume which clearly states your experiences, achievements and basic information such as educational qualification, contact details et al. Always be prepared to customized your resume based on the prospective employer's requirements and expectations. Having said that it is equally important that you do not put anything extra in your resume for which you can not substantiate. Keep in mind too the layout and the format of your resume design. You will receive Recruiters' appreciation, attention and respect if you are prepared to take the time and effort to do up your resume which is neat and detailed. And for those mature/specialized skills job seekers focus not on your needs but the needs of your prospective hirers - this definitely will catch your recruiter's attention.
2. Job Market Research: Once you have your resume prepared and/or you are prepared to initiate your job search actively the next thing for you to do is explore your immediate available options - networking through your friends, contacts, colleagues, ex-colleagues, and maybe talk to your favorite recruiter. You have much to gain and little to loose by befriending a recruiter. Remember this that a recruiter talks and meets many job seekers everyday and receive many mails every single day. How do you make the recruiter remember you and/or remember your profile? The most obvious is that you have a very impressive resume which stands out amongst the crowd - for many of us this might not be an option and lets be prepared to face and accept it. The other option is that you cultivate and nurture a friendship or contact with your recruiter - this is known as networking and let the favors be mutual. Favor I mean will be when you contact him for available openings or market information and when he contacts you for leads and references.
If unfortunately you've exhausted your immediate options, you then need to widen your horizon and start scanning through the different job sites and even newspapers - recruit/opportunity sections. Most of today's job sites, that's if you are a registered member will mail you new jobs that are specific to your search. This means you have the luxury of new jobs being presented to you without you having to scan through the job sites one after the other. The other option is go directly to your prospective company website and search for their current job listings. Lately, I've found that mailing groups like yahoogroups are a good place to find out the current jobs in the market as posted by various recruiters. Some of these jobs might not even be advertised/available anywhere else.
3. Send out your resume: Now that you have your resume ready and you've done your market research and you have a good idea of where to send out your resume/application go ahead and start applying. Do keep in mind the following e-mail tips:
a) Hide your distribution list: To avoid looking awkward never put multiple email id's in the "To:" field in your e-mail message. A good and self respective recruiter may not be very enthusiastic to contact you if it looks like you are working with every other firm in the market. As far as possible avoid sending your resume to more than one company in the same mail. A recruiter loves nothing more than if you take the pain of mailing to him alone and addressing him by his name in the mail. However for whatever reason, against your better judgment presumably, if you have to write to multiple company please do so by using the "undisclosed-recipients" feature in your e-mail program, or the "bcc:" field.
b) E-mail content/Cover letter: How you approach to land yourself the job that you desire or successfully gain your recruiter's attention will be determine by how well you address and express yourself in your email or cover letter. A good introduction will include a brief highlights of your experience, skills and your reasoning on your fitment for the role, do make it short and to the point. Again, remember that a recruiter loves nothing more than to hear his own name when approached by a job seeker. Go ahead make his day, write to him, call him by his name, you have nothing to lose!
c) E-mail subject: If you are applying for job through advertised jobs with a reference code given, do make it a point to use the reference code in both your subject line and in your cover letter. This goes to show that you understand the requirement and that you do understand and one does assume that you have what it takes. This way chances are higher that your application will be validated and not get lost in the muddle or worst in the junk/spam mail folder.
3. Follow up: Often, a recruiter can get overwhelmed with too many mails to check and too many calls to attend to and return et al. It does not hurt one bit if you can follow up your application with a gentle reminder mail or even a short call. To a good recruiter, he will be convince that you are indeed serious about your job search and therefore he will take the extra effort to look into your profile and take the necessary action. In other words be pro-active in your job search and be ready to reap your harvest.
3. If nothing else works, try blogging: For those job seekers who for whatever reasons have only one desire or specific goal to find a job with a particular company, and after exhausting all options but still unsuccessful in landing himself a job with the company, it might be worthwhile to blog your way into their hearts and finally inside the organization. But if you are not the blogging type that's ok because you might still be able to find yourself a job by reading others blog, such as this blog by yours truly advertising jobs with Charterhouse.

Finally, it does not hurt to thank others. Prepare short thank you mails for your recruiter, like the ones that you sent to your prospective employers, after attending the interview. Not many job seekers takes the trouble to thank his recruiter. You might say that its their job why should I thank him. You are right but as I mentioned earlier it does not hurt you much to thank him but it could go a long way in building a good relationship with him. Do not forget, you might still need him the next time you start to look for new job.
In conclusion, let me quote the 3 Ps. According to Katie, job seekers should "keep in mind the rule of the 3 Ps." They need to have:
Purpose: Have a purpose for what you're doing; don't just use a scattershot approach - have a plan and follow it.
Persistence: Don't give up! The process can be hard on the ego, but stick with it.
Patience: All things do come in time.

I would add Passions to the above. Be passionate about what you do and what you intend to do and what you would like to achieve. Be positive, and show good amount of enthusiasm especially while interacting with your recruiter or your prospective employers. A good motto to keep in mind- "Passions is virtue" and "Good things come to those who work".

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*Happy hunting folks!*

My first day at Charterhouse

"We take what we do very seriously, but not ourselves" - Charterhouse Pte Ltd.

It has always been a desire for me to work in an environment which is different and unconventional. This desire was fulfilled when I met the folks at Charterhouse - I was introduced to them by the great people at Contact Recruitment (Guys, please get in touch with Contact Recruitment if you are a recruiter and looking for a better job here in Singapore!).
Now, back to Charterhouse, this is an organization which promotes creativity and freedom all the while keeping optimum productivity in mind. Everyone is treated with respect and treated as adult. We have the directors who do not believe in cabins and enclosed room. We all have our work spaces seperated just by shoulder height cubicles, yes you heard me right, even the directors sits in cubicles!. No policing and no intimidation and the leadership style here is basically very friendly and not oppressive.
On my first day at Charterhouse I was made to feel right at home. The induction took over an hour and I thought the induction process was pretty detailed and handled very neatly. It's always comforting when your director takes the time to explain to you about the organization Vision and Mission and business plans. I believed that every member of an organization should be educated well on the company's Vision and Mission statement, afterall, how can one begin to value add if you have a different wave length and aspiration from your employer? The Japanese employees are a different breed - every employee is expected to know the management/founder's Vision & Mission statement and have it on the tip of their tongues. Organization are managed like one big family, employers treat their employees with respect and take care of them like their own family members. In turn, the employees are loyal and dedicated. I guess this is one reason why the term attrition in Japanese work culture is not commonly found.
Expectations are very high on me, but then thats a feeling which is not new to me. I only hope that I can give my best at all times and contribute to the growth of the organization. My first responsibility as a Research Associate would be to build and organize the database and of course to support my front end guys with great resumes to present it to the clients. Even before I joined Charterhouse I kept track of their job postings both from Charterhouse's job search, JobsDB and Monster and the idea behind this was purely to understand the kind of requirements and domains that they are into. Well, I do have a pretty good idea now and all I need to do is build and nourish my network, farm and harvest the internet/job sites and constantly scratch my brain and think out of the box to generate resumes and contacts in order to build a mega size databank. I will need all the help that I can get mate, you listening? :-)
*Happy hunting folks!*

A day in the life of a recruiter

A recruiter day is never mundane. Life for some, begins even in the wee hour of the morning when we receive calls from either our candidates, our clients or our boss. A candidate will typically call us for feedbacks on their profile, to discuss about their profile, or use us as a sounding board, or whatever reason that they can come up with. Client can only call us at this hour for some pressing requirements or to fixed an interview for one of our candidates but never to enquire about our well-being :-). A boss who calls his troop at this hour can only be a boss who demands every moment of your time, to drive you, to stress you, or to motivate you(am not sure if I will buy that though). Life can be stressful if you consider your job as just a job. One must learn to have bigger and better opinion about the role that we play. I always consider myself as a consultant, a solution provider, damage controller, fire fighter and even a counsellor and an advisor. To be able to play such roles wearing such diverse hats, one has to have the qualities that are intrinsic, fundamental, central, essential and basic in any recruiter. Such as an enquisitive mind, good planner, a great thirst for information, basic common sense, well informed, knowledgable, subject matter expert and the list goes on. Consider this, how can you possibly talk to a client or a candidate convincingly about ERP when you are not in a position to differentiate between SAP and ASAP? A good recruiter is someone who can talk on any subject or atleast has an opinion or something to say on the subject. A good recruiter must have a gift of the gab, suave and good communicator. But the best recruiter are those whom I call as agressive listener. Listening ability is a very critical quality a recruiter must posses. Until you develop or acquire the habit of listening you cannot expect to hone or improve upon your knowledge or understand what is required or what is being said. Listening alone is not the end but the mean to achieving higher success. Listening must be accompanied by the ability to analyse what is being communicated - verbal or non verbal, intended or unintended, and the steps following that are - analysing and understading, and storing and recollecting the information as and when required or desired, and using the right or optimal amount to the right audience at the right time and right place.
The recruiter now is on his way to the office and even while commuting he constantly receive calls on his handphone and those that he could not talk to, he will try his best to return their calls when he reaches the office.
Once in the office, in my case, I will normally start of by checking my inbox, scan for any mails that requires my immediate attention and take necessary action, else keep the mails in the inbox and tackle them in awhile. Firstly, I need to gather my thoughts, plan for the day and prioritise my acitivities. I plan either by jotting down the activities using my writting pad or in cases which are time specifics, I would normally use my 'Tasks' option in MS Outlook. Because of the adhoc activities and the busy schedule the whole day, using 'Tasks' becomes life saving. This is the best way by which I generally do not missed any pre scheduled appointments. A good recruiter must be a good disciplinarian and what I meant by this is that, one must divide the day into activities, acitivities must be time bound and one must stick as close to the alloted time for each activity as much as possible and one must discipline oneself to try and adhere to the plan, afterall we only have 8-10 hours in a day in the office. Activities can broadly be classified into:
- Reading mails
- Replying mails
- Check sent mails (for any critical mail sent and for which reply is expected or required)
- Go through the pending requirements
- POA
- Sourcing - Check databank, Job sites, etc
- Allot time for new requirements
Besides the above activities one must keep in mind the calls - receive calls and make calls and which can sometime make up for more than half of your day.

We will talk in length about the activities some other day and also discuss and share the tools that every recruiter must possess or have acces to. For today, I guess this should do.

BTW, before logging out from my work station, I normally jot down the activities that I need to accomplish or attend to tommorrow and leave it on my desk and the next morning the cycle continues.