Given the recent financial crisis that will most certainly impact us all, I thought it would be appropriate to get different perspectives from some well-known industry leaders in the recruiting space. Some viewpoints are couched in optimism, while others sound more cynical and foreboding.
1. Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com
The economy today is likely not as bad as most of us fear, but there is certainly much to be feared. It is striking how far away Wall Street, the Democrat Congress, the Republican Administration, and ordinary voters are from being able to agree whether it is wise, necessary, or even beneficial for the U.S. taxpayer to bailout the many financial institutions that got greedy, gambled with our money, and lost. We’ve definitely seen a slowdown in sales but are still optimistic that 2008 can prove to be as successful as was 2007 for us when we were named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies. But there’s little doubt in my mind that most businesses are hurting and most ordinary people are hurting even more. Traffic from job seekers is up at virtually all job boards yet business from employers is down. Job boards that survived and even thrived in the 2001-03 recession were those that provided real value to their users, not just buzz to potential investors or buyers. Many good boards failed during that era as they were too slow or stubborn to adapt and many of those people are back in the industry running new boards. It will be interesting to see if they learned their lessons. I hope so but suspect that many will repeat their errors.
2. Jim Stroud, TheRecruitersLounge.com
These are the times that will separate the truly passionate career-centered genuine recruiters from those who only think that they are. The Recruiters who will thrive in this market are those who are able to take advantage of this time to:
-Enhance their network / Build Potential Clientele
No matter the industry you are recruiting for, reach out to industry leaders and ask them for an exploratory interview. No, you do not have a specific role to discuss, but there are (always) future opportunities. Let’s face it, there are a lot of Execs out there who would not give you the time of day prior to the recession, so why not take advantage of the climate now?
-Seek additional means of income to compensate for lesser number of hires
If you have been in the industry for 10 years, then you can teach somebody something. Why not create a series of webinars and assist newbies trying to break into the market? After all, you do know what Recruiters want to hear and see, yes?
-Explore other industries
If your client list is all dried up, take the time to learn a new industry and gradually expand in that direction. As I said before, people are more willing to chat with you today than they were yesterday, so take advantage of this.
3. Martin Snyder, PCRecruiter
Our 3rd quarter was an all-time record. We did not see even the slightest slowdown until late August. We do now see the usual distress signs; more deals pushing into the future, recruiting groups being let go en masse, one-and-two person shops folding up, etc. It does feel like the period after 9/11. In that event, business went on from sheer momentum into early 2002, but by Feb/March of 02 we knew we were in for a rough ride. In this case, we have the election to serve as a shoe-drop: things may improve dramatically or things may go south in a hurry. There is no way to tell. We see strength in the usual search areas for high-skill/high-impact roles - that’s a demographic fact that we think will survive any downturn.
America has failed morally, through torture, environmental and energy policy, by disconnecting rewards from production, and by the criminal and disgusting creation/neglect of a permanent underclass within our urban centers and rural expanses.
America is now the place to fail upward. If you are a CEO that runs a company into the ground, no worries since you are about to get a better job. Generally speaking, if you sit on your ass for a living, you are probably overpaid. We have created an ugly two-class system that will lead to our undoing for real if we don’t bring the extremes back toward the middle, and I say that from the fortunate side of the fence, for the time being. As to the bailout, most of the people I speak with say the same thing: nobody minds paying taxes if we get value. Most people would rather suffer some losses themselves rather than see fat cats rewarded again for failing.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I agree with Stephen. Job postings seem down, not sure if its scientific or not but check out this chart of Pfizer’s open positions. http://www.getthejob.com/company/p6450-Pfizer-Trends.aspx
Martin’s post was a laugh, I don’t quit understand it but I like it.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I did cut some of Martin’s great comments out to keep the post short, but here’s the entire unedited portion:
(Martin) I used to be a Republican. I think HW Bush was one of the better presidents of the 20th century. Somewhere in the eighties the Republicans realized that they could harness majorities by becoming the stupid party- i.e. the party of not just ignorance, but a party that embraced ignorance, magic thinking, and classicism at every level, and so they did. They thought America’s strength was god-given and inexhaustible; and they were wrong. America has failed morally- through torture, environmental and energy policy, by disconnecting rewards from production, and by the criminal (truly) and disgusting creation/neglect of a permanent underclass within our urban centers and rural expanses.
America is now the place to fail upward. If you are a CEO that runs a company into the ground, no worries since you are about to get a better job. Generally speaking, if you sit on your ass for a living, you are probably overpaid. We have created an ugly two-class system that will lead to our undoing for real if we dont bring the extremes back toward the middle- and I say that from the fortunate side of the fence (for the time being). As to the bailout, most of the people I speak with say the same thing- nobody minds paying taxes if we get value. Most people would rather suffer some losses themselves rather than see fat cats rewarded again for failing.
This gang conducted class-warfare for 40 years with little letup, and I’m afraid that they are going to reap what they have sewn. I only hope that the forces now unleashed are moderate and long-acting rather than sudden and short-lived.
As I tell folks, this can get ugly beyond imagination or it can be a new Pax Americana…….the chances look about even……..
October 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am
My local job boards have seen a significant decrease in new job postings. All this uncertainty is strangling our economy. I hope that once the rescue bill passes things will stabilize a bit. I also think the election is art of the uncertainty and am hopeful that once we know who the next prez is, that will help us slightly.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:49 am
Hey Ed thanks for the good word. I guess I am pretty radicalized these days. I forgot to mention the most abused group in American society today: the common shareholders.
Everytime something bad happens, they are wiped out, and nobody says boo. Shareholders have come to expect it. Everytime something good happens, somehow the benefits never travel to the shareholders.
Capital gains tax on stock trading should be eliminated. Cash to Dividend ratios should be mandatory w/o vote of shareholders, and no exec bonus should either be paid for single-year performance(s) or made without clawback if the profits were illusory.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Having launched AccountingJobsToday.com in later 2007 we don’t have any historical sales data so for us every month we are gaining ground and hitting new highs. As Steven mentioned there are clearly more jobs seekers out there and few jobs to put them in. This is certainly a great time to build solid relationships with job seekers for both job boards and one on one recruiting. This feels very much like late 2001 early 2002. I am afraid more layoffs will continue through this year and early next year and we are in the “thick” part of the decade where we have seen this trend before, late 80’s early 90’s, same thing. For us we are growing our traffic and building long lasting relationships. Time to hunker down!
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
The structural element that most have yet to touch upon is the battle between regulation and deregulation. It’s not classism at play, it’s a abject failure at strategic planning. This bailout plan - that won’t bail anyone out - fails to touch upon historical acts that serve as the fine print to this plans large print (what the large print giveth the small print giveth away). Three federal acts, Sarbannes-Oxley, Community Reinvestment Act, Bank Holding Company Act (see what I wrote here - http://tinyurl.com/4op6p5) were more regulations plus less regulations that continue to battle one another today and will enable smart companies to circumvent rules in the plan just passed. So both parties enact business laws that were developed with lobbyist dollars - some laws will regulate, others will deregulate - but I can assure you very few people ever investigate how new laws will be driven impotent by existing regs.
What is needed is for voters to demand of their reps a comprehensive review of the regulatory environments and begin to once again teach government in schools. This is the true moral failure Marty - even middle class investors who saw their portfolio increase during the boom times had nothing to say.
Not all in the middle class are eating rice and beans and collecting cans on the street to make ends meet; but it’s a time worn technique of politicians and news outlets to interview a few middle class families who comment on how tough it is now and then show pictures of gas at 23 cents per gallon and Art Linkletter on his TV show. Pretty soon everyone’s crying out for these halcyon days, decrying gay marriages, calling for the legal definition of a family, wanting to erect a wall around our country, and demanding that our government ban foreign imports!
But recruiting will survive because frankly so many companies are just soooooo bad at it. A CollegeRecruiter thrives because Rothberg knows this and offers products and services that are logical and simple to use. Marty does well with PCR because it really is simple, doesn’t cost and arm and a leg and his service is second to none.
Recruiting will thrive if for no other reason that a few more companies will begin to realize that being smart or working at a company iwht q recognized name (kind of like Pepsi or GE for HR people) isn’t enough to be successful. I mean how many HR leaders on Wall Street came from companies with names “we” revere and believed they were Strategic Business Partners? Nice job, Strategic Business Partners!
Recruiting will thrive because more companies will now demand that their recruiters do a better job at analyzing the DNA of candidates and assessing the more fuzzy factors like risk, decision-making, and judgment. Guess what? Lots of existing recruiters won’t be able to cut the mustard and will need to move into other areas (hey, perhaps some schools will finally develop degree programs in recruiting).
Recruiting will thrive if companies demand more from recruiting while at the same time measure the performance of the C-team with recruiting and development metrics.
Sorry Marty but America hasn’t failed us, we have failed America but refusing to see what has been happening in front of our eyes. Shades of JFK…
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Correction for second to last paragraph:
Sorry Marty but America hasn’t failed us, we have failed America by refusing to see what has been happening in front of our eyes. Shades of JFK…
October 5th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Steve:
History does not repeat; it rhymes……
“As complex as these problems were (military overreach, crushing taxation, private armies, unchecked self-dealing), a ruling class more responsible than the one prevailing at Rome might have successfully mediated them. The process of enrichment and heightened political importance rendered the Roman order chauvinistically arrogant and unaccountable for their actions. Many high-minded aristocrats perceived the need for institution of better means of redress and political reform, but their efforts were blocked”……
October 7th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
“In the words of one noted Roman historian, the Roman aristocracy gradually outlived its usefulness to society.”
The aristocracy.