I stumbled across an interesting article today in Jim Stroud’s The Recruiter’s Lounge. Curiously, to me at least, is that I found this article through Twitter and then tracked down the author through Linked In. Yes I twit and tweet … do you?
Anyway, Karen Mattonen is a recruiter who was ranting (her word not mine) about the myth of the passive candidate. While obviously written for the recruiter audience, I believe her points can be enlightening to job search candidates and my favorite prospects … those senior finance executives who are employed but positioning themselves to learn about new opportunities.
My readers may remember that upon returning from the Kennedy Conference last October, I commented on the overriding theme … these internal recruiters were all in search of the Passive Candidate.
So Karen’s article provided some additional fodder for a topic I find near and dear. My favorite excerpt from her article follows:
“As a TPR [third party recruiter], the clients I represent want me to locate the passive candidate, maybe they have searched the boards and did not find the talent for the position, the position is at a senior level, and those candidates generally may not be found on the boards, maybe the position being filled could be compared to finding a needle in a haystack…."
Wouldn’t you like to have a recruiter relationship with someone like Karen? Like all other networking relationships, it pays to build them before you need them.
Cindy,
Such kind words, I am flattered.
Your article does indeed represent the minds of the “professional” third party recruiter who has a strong relationship, one that is almost an extension of the H.R department.
There are many recruiters who are less “professional” in their manners and relationship with the hiring managers, and one can generally sense these individuals from a mile away.
Here is some suggestions I would love to leave with your readers especially when working with recruiters http://www.acssearch.com/candidaterights/
Thanks again for the kind wordsand I appreciate you reaching out to me
Karen Mattonen
Cindy, Karen,
I sense the beginnnings of a nice business relationship.
You can also hear Karen in action on some of the pods Recruiters Lounge has published in the past few years. As Jim Stroud is moving into other directions, I’m not sure if the pods will continue. I’m just glad I was able to grasp the Karen’s passion for the business through Jim’s venues.
Regarding “passive” candidates, as an IT recruiter I’ve come to reckon the term as reference to a purple squirrel or to someone so out of touch with reality they’re prepared very little for thier next job.
My advice is passive candidates is ALWAYS PREPARE FOR YOUR NEXT JOB.