How not to be strategic about your career.

AKA The Mistakes I made in my career…

I had a plan to find my dream career, so I thought. But I made some key mistakes along the way.

I was in my early 20’s and had returned from extensive backpacking travel abroad. I had successfully delayed the obvious “get a job” conversation with my sponsors, my parents for the last 12 months.

I made appointments with the most prominent recruitment companies at the time (circa 1996), armed with copies of my Honours Degree (1994), great references from part-time work I had completed post my degree (Teaching English in South America & Waitressing in Johannesburg 1995) and had a CV which I had spent all of 15 minutes on. 

I was ready to find my CAREER! Mistake No 1

The appointments at the recruitment companies went really well, in fact too well, they all offered me a job………….. as a Recruitment Consultant.

How not to be strategic about your career.

This was definitely not what I was looking for and not my idea of a career;

• I was looking for a stimulating career, and had aspirations of being in business. 
• I wanted to work in an environment where every day was different, and work with diverse people. 
• I was looking for the kind of work that I could use to make a change for good and have a positive impact in people’s lives. 
• I wanted to be able to be strategic and get creative all in a days job.

But most importantly 

• I wanted to have fun, meet new people, make friends and belong to a tribe.

What I didn’t know back then in 1996 was that I was prepared to completely outsource my career search to a few random recruiters. As good as they may have been at theirs jobs, none of them had a vested interest in what I needed or desired from a Career. 

How not to be strategic about your career.
Needless to say I returned home from a hard week of career hunting with 4 job offers on the table. My parents were delighted as this truly marked the official cutting of the apron strings. ( 1x 4 year degree + 1x year typical antipodean backpacking around Europe  = they were ready to cut me loose) 

I then did what any intelligent career seeker would- chose the job with the company that had the nicest offices. The salary was pretty much the same over all 4 offers so that wasn’t a criteria. I considered if I needed to be going to work every day I better go to work in an office building that looked good. Plus I wanted me own desk, sharing wasn’t an option for a serious business person in their new career.

As it turned out those random recruiters back in 1996 were not only good at their jobs but as luck would have it so was I. In addition to this I was fortunate enough to be teamed up with an amazing mentor. She coached me through the Industry paces and took a keen interest in my development. 

Don’t make the same Mistake that I did; and how not to be strategic about your career.

Take charge and stay in charge of your career.

If you have enjoyed reading this blog take a look at – 3 Strategies to shift a negative situation at work. for more mindset and action steps to move your career forward.

Book a free Career Strategy call to talk through what you might need right now. As well as which career strategy service is right for you.  

Access Link here: Career Strategy connect

Mindset & Action steps to power your career #TheCareerStrategyFormula©

The post How not to be strategic about your career! appeared first on Licia Dewing Career Strategist.

Take charge of your Career Search; get Strategic with how Recruiters work.

Knowing how to make recruiters work for you is an essential part of your Career Strategy if you are going to use recruitment companies and this information is good for you to know and have in order to assess;

1. The likelihood of the recruiters’ ability to place you in a rewarding position.
2. Your ongoing commitment to work with them to achieve this result.

In my experience, a successful and confident recruiter will openly share this information, as opposed to take offence to the questions, as they strive to establish a transparent relationship, built on mutual trust, with you- a high value candidate whom they will potentially place.

These questions are best asked in a face to face meeting, with a recruitment consultant who has initiated contact with you, or at the very least after initial electronic niceties have been exchanged.

I suggest asking a combination of some or all of the below questions aimed to give you insight into the respective areas;

Assess the recruiters’ footprint within your specific field:

1. When last did you place someone in my specific industry?
2. When last did you place someone with my type of experience & qualifications?
3. When last did you place someone with this particular client?
4. When last did you place someone?

Establish the recruiters level of control over the assignment:

1. Are you retained exclusively by this client to recruit for them?
2. Do you have full exclusivity on the role or are others recruiters working with your client too?
3. What is the history of your / or company’s connection with this client?
4. Who at the client company is the final decision maker in this process?

Learn how recruiters work:

1. What should I know about working with you?
2. Will you actively market my CV to other clients, irrespective of whether there is a role or not and will you put me forward to multiple roles with multiple clients?
3. Are you happy that I may decide to work with other recruiters?
4. What frequency of communication do you need from me?

Research how recruitment company work:

1. How many clients do you actively work with?
2. Is your business based on a contingency fee model ie: paid when placed or a retainer fee model?
3. What fee percentage do you charge your clients? (20% is the ‘norm’ in SA)
4. What guarantee / terms of business do you offer your clients on placed candidates?

Establish the level of engagement of the recruiter:

1. Are you an owner/ partner of this recruitment company?
2. How long have you been recruiting for & why? Do you like recruiting?
3. How many positions do you work at one time on average?
4. What is your personal average placement ratio? ie: success of placing?

Establish the reputation of the recruiter:

1. How is business for you / your company currently?
2. What percentage of your business is brand new vs repeat?
3. What do your clients and previously placed candidates say about working with you / your company?
4. Are you a member of any official associations or professional bodies within your industry? ie: APSO, Chamber of Commerce etc.

Consider this; You wouldn’t enter into any partnership, JV or business venture with anyone unless you had full disclosure and enough background information to ensure a positive outcome and mitigate any issues arising.

Treat your engagement with the recruitment company, who represent you in your next career move, with the same strategic weight.

If any of these questions go down like a led balloon- please invite the recruiter to read this post, I would welcome any feedback and debate.

Take charge and stay in charge of your #CareerStrategy

If you have enjoyed reading this blog take a look at – Licia Dewing Career Strategist 2021 Blog. for more mindset and action steps to move your career forward.

Book a complimentary Career Strategy call to talk through what you might need right now and which career strategy service is right for you.  

Access Link here: Career Strategy connect

Mindset & Action steps to power your career #TheCareerStrategyFormula©

The post How to make Recruiters work for you appeared first on Licia Dewing Career Strategist.