One Night Stand Transaction

The recruiting industry is one of the hardest industries to survive in. We deal with people, and people are – as described by Donald Sutherland’s character in Italian Job – FINE: Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. Anyone who deals with people can tell you that’s true. We as recruiters never know what the candidate is going to do. When most recruiters start in this industry, we are told, this is a people business. It’s all about the relationships we build, but our KPI’s are set ridiculously high. So even if we wanted to build those relationships, we couldn’t. We needed to get to the next hire, so we could get that big commission check. And we all get into this grind of what I like to call a “One-night stand transaction.” We place candidates and forget about them unless they are getting fired, converted or quitting. This is especially true with large or high transactional staffing companies. They treat people as a commodity rather than as people. But the longer we stay in this field the longer we realize that we do need to build those relationships. We need to take that candidate to coffee or lunch, ask them about their relationships and experiences, be interested in the things that challenge them and give them satisfaction and self-accomplishment. Build those relationships and put effort into them, because these candidates all have their own networks, and we are just one small part of a greater picture. We need to remember why we got into this industry. If people go into this industry solely to make money, they should do themselves a favor and find a different job. However, if we are here to help people, remember that. It’s not about us, it’s about the candidate and the client. We are the match maker; make that match and keep that connection strong. Treat it as a long-term marriage rather than a one night stand.