What makes a good recruiter
- A good recruiter accepts your phone call!
- The recruiter asks and listens to what you want in a career change.
- Knows their client, ie culture, benefits, reporting manager, career path
- Knows what the competition is for the position
- Has experience in bringing offers to the table
For the Job Seeker
PeopleCom Inc. is a small agency, committed to giving you personal attention. There is no better quality control than having the President of a company watch over all activity, and thats what happens at PeopleCom!
Our recruiters are hand picked, they have no quotas, and are required to follow up with you. They understand the job requirement, the culture and will understand your preferences.
Doing it yourself is painful. So much time, so little response. We comb through the jobs
to find out who is really hiring, and we try our best to open those doors for you.
Job Search Tips
- When posting a resume on the web, avoid including your full address. It can so easily be MapQuested right to your front door!
- Have an email that is professional. Save SlinkySam and 2HotMom for something other that your job search.
- Be available and reachable. Many times the recruiter will just move on and find someone else when faced with voicemail. We maintain that more often than not, it is the first qualified person contacted that gets the job.
- Professional dress is still a good idea, even if you are interviewing with a more casual company. We recommend a jacket and tie for gentlemen; a jacket with skirt or slacks for women. Your clothing is your packaging!
- Call your recruiter immediately following an interview. It is essential that you let him/her know how you felt about the interview. If you stumbled, the recruiter can offer an explanation to the client. If it went well, it is important that the recruiter be able to relay your enthusiasm to the client. It is after the interview that the experience of a good recruiter becomes valuable. Many times, a good recruiter can ‘close the deal’ on the very day of the interview.
Hang in There
When Chris Steagall of PeopleCom called me one afternoon, I never realized what a roller coaster ride I would be taking in the next few months. Chris was very professional and acted with a great sense of urgency as he felt he had the perfect position for what my qualifications and experience warranted. I sent him my resume and he sent me an application to complete. We also were told the position was open now and was to be filled fairly quickly.
I was scheduled to meet with the VP of DOD Sector who would be my direct manager. He liked me and scheduled a visit to the corporate headquarters for a couple of weeks later.
I flew to their headquarters and met with the COO and left with the promise that they would have a decision within 2 weeks. Well 2 weeks came and went and no word other than they were looking at some other candidates. More weeks dragged by and here I was interviewing for other jobs, but not with the necessary enthusiasm required to really sell myself. I was getting weekly update calls from Chris S. and he was very encouraging and empathic. Chris kept saying “Hang in There” I think they really want you.
Some weeks later, I received a call on my cell phone from Ivy and Chris with the same old news that no decision was made. I had just finished a particularly harrowing interview with someone who was just going through the motions so I was already pretty frustrated. I then told them that I was withdrawing my candidacy and to not bother to call me ever again. After I got home and discussed what happened with my wife, she provided perspective and encouraged me to place my name back in the running because that was the job I wanted. She was right so I called Chris back and apologized and told him I wanted to be back in the running. Thankfully, he said OK even though I had been a jerk and told me to “Hang in There” and that he was going to ask Ivy to intercede to see if she could get the rest of the story. As a result, the company asked me to come back to talk to the CEO and the President which I did happily. That interview went very well and they promised me an offer.
A few days later, we got the offer and Chris and Ivy actually negotiated me a 5% higher salary and also got them to offer me 2 perks that I was not expecting. So PeopleCom was able to leverage a bad situation into an outstanding offer and all is well that ends well. I guess it goes to prove that sometimes you have to “Hang in There” and trust that you are in the right hands and hope you do not run into one of those “Bring me another Rock” managers. If you do, you better call Chris and Ivy in to help…
JDF