Dear Recruiting Professional,

2012 is off to a great start!  In my first “address” of the year, my first order of duty is to get the word out that the National Association is changing.  Some of you are aware of the changes that have already begun.  But, please allow me to explain.

We have new leadership.  With that new leadership comes fresh ideas.  What I am talking about is simply EDUCATION, REPRESENTATION AND ASSISTANCE.  We are here to educate you.  We are here to represent you and we are here to assist you.  It’s that simple.

You will begin to see programs that you can be a part of – that will definitely help your businesses and your individual recruiters and employees.  One great example is the improved delivery of our certification program.  Credentialing participants will now have the opportunity to view a “Learning Session” recorded from a Certification Immersion Class (CIC).  As most of you know, this is a certification prep class.  We have informally dubbed this program the “E-CIC,” as it is a self-paced course allowing you to view the class at your own speed.  Participants in this original CIC class in the past have experienced a pass/fail rate of 10 points higher than if they study on their own.  Members will have the ability to view this class at no cost.

This is only the beginning of what the NAPS is doing to help get you educated.  Our Annual Conference is our “flagship” of education.  Our conference is always packed with the best speakers in the country, making this event something you can count on, year after year.  This year is no exception with over 175 already registered.  Do not hesitate to visit www.recruitinglife.com for learn more about this fantastic event.

From all this education comes Professional Success.  These following facts contribute to our Professional Success:

• Recruiters with the Certified Professional Consultants “CPC” and/or Certified Temporary Services “CTS” designations outperform and earn more money than non-certificants.
• Recruiters that continue Professional Education by attending the NAPS Annual Conference outperform and earn more money than non-participants.
• Recruiters that participate in their Professional Associations (NAPS) outperform & earn more money than non-participants.
• Recruiters that educate their Candidates and Clients through giving back through Professional Service outperform and earn more money than those non-participants.

It’s all about making yourself better and better at what you do – through continuing education.  Not only do you feel better about it, but your customers (your clients and your candidates) can see that growth and experience in you as well.

Thank you in advance for taking time to make a difference!  I look forward to seeing you in San Antonio at the NAPS- September 2012 Conference.

Sincerely,

Robert Krzak, Chairman of the Board, NAPS

“Unemployment discrimination” and the jobless
By: Elaine Quijano (CBS News)

Of the 14 million Americans currently unemployed, 6 million have been jobless for more than 6 months.

CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reports that many job seekers say being unemployed is being held against them.

Delores Barnes always goes job hunting armed with her dossier of documents, including her birth certificate.

Two years ago, she was laid off from her supervisor job with New York’s Children’s Services. Ever since, Barnes has been looking for work to support her and her nine-year-old daughter, Savianna “I can’t give up. I’m on a mission. I have a daughter, and she’s like, I have to be strong for her. I have to show her that you just don’t give up,” Barnes says.

Yet no amount of persistence can overcome the simple fact that some employers don’t want to hire the unemployed. In job posting after job posting, companies require that applicants “must be currently employed.”

“They have that perception that they are the dead weight, therefore they want the strong people who are currently employed,” says Robert Krzak, president of Gecko Hospitality.

Krzak says some companies won’t even consider unemployed job candidates.
“If there is a candidate out there who has been out there in the job market for six months or even a year or more than a year, a lot of companies are very suspect of that, because why aren’t they working?” Krzak says.

“It’s discriminatory and the fact that just because you don’t have a job you can’t compete for a job,” says Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. DeLauro is sponsoring a bill aimed at stopping the practice.

“These are competent people. They have lost their job through no fault of their own,

Why shouldn’t they have an opportunity?” DeLauro says.
Barnes says the practice doesn’t make sense, hiring people who have jobs when so many don’t.

Barnes is now training to be a computer technician, and says she’ll keep pounding the pavement, even though with some companies she can’t even get her foot in the door.

“Who does she think she is?”

I’m sure that ran across your mind as you read my headline.

“We pay good money to agency recruiters! THEY should be asking the question…How to provide a great service to US!”
Believe me, we think about that all the time. Most of us are consumed by that question! We have attended dozens of motivational seminars, logged multiple webinars, and read countless books on how to provide a great value to our clients.

In spite of our earnest endeavors, however, frustration can develop in the Recruiter/Client relationship. Maybe you consider us over-enthusiastic. Or not enough. Maybe you hear from us every day. Then we disappear. Maybe it seems we aren’t acting with urgency. Maybe we ask “Why?” a little more than you’d like. You don’t want to completely sever the relationship with us, because the next candidate we provide could be your next hire! But we are doing things you consider perplexing.

I believe I can help you with that. I recently surveyed Third Party Contingency Recruiters with multiple agencies, in several markets, and across various disciplines…and I captured their thoughts on relationships with clients. It’s a glimpse into the world of the Agency Recruiter. It is my hope that reading a sampling of their answers below could only strengthen the bond between you and those you choose to work with.

It’s no secret that we Recruiters are handling multiple positions with multiple companies in a given time period. And it’s also no secret that some of our clients get the red carpet treatment, while others don’t. So I asked my Survey Group…”What motivates you to give certain clients 110%?” Surprisingly enough, the answer was *not* “the client who pays the best fee.” Instead…

-A client who views, and treats me as a partner, not a vendor or commodity.
-A client who works with me exclusively or as part of a very limited number of recruiting firms.
-A client who takes the time to get to know my background and qualifications.
-A client who listens to me when I say to them: “Just trust me. Even though this resume is not your ideal profile, I believe you need to interview this person.”
-A client who gives me repeat business…of course when I’ve earned it.
-A client with a consistent message…rather than changing their position regularly.
-A client who continues to communicate as they move our candidates through the interview stages, and provides honest feedback.

So I followed up with this question: How does a client fall into disfavor with you?

-When the client sends out mass emails to a dozen different recruiting firms with their needs list. It signals that I’m just a vendor to these companies, and not a partner in talent acquisition.
-When they only want to communicate via email, and never by phone. This doesn’t permit me to ask relevant questions about their projects and get a ready answer.
-When they take a pass on my candidates and will not explain why. I need this information so that I may redirect my search or narrow my focus.
-When they give me “urgent” job orders. Then they take several weeks to schedule interviews with my candidates. I worked extra hours to respond to this “urgent” need. What changed?
-When they give us a job order, interview our candidates, and decide to fill the position internally. We are willing to accept that our candidates may not have been as good as their internal. However, we also suspect we are being used to “comparison shop.” That’s not fair.
-When the client changes the criteria of the job order so many times, it feels like a moving target.

So then I became even bolder, and asked my Survey Group: “What one thing do you want a client to know…but are a little scared to tell them?”

-Don’t ask us for a discount without a reason. If you want a certain amount, or percentage off my going rate, be willing to agree to an exclusive. Or volume orders.
-We are inclined to give priority to clients who use us frequently and take our work seriously.
-If you ask for a dramatically reduced fee arrangement, and if I agree to it, you will not get the best talent in the market from me. The best candidates will be directed to clients who honor the work I do with a fair rate.
-There’s no reason not to return my messages. I am working for free out here, until I find the right candidate for you. The least you can do is return my calls.

I turned the tables on my Survey Group, by asking them to take some responsibility for client relationships that have gone awry. So I posed this question: “What one thing did you do to a client that you regret?

-Didn’t return their calls/messages quickly enough. They found another recruiter who did.
-Didn’t cover the search adequately, and the client found their candidate on their own.
-Didn’t respond with urgency. I thought I had the exclusive and all the time in the world.
-Didn’t replace candidates who had been eliminated from the search with more candidates. I thought I had my superstars the first time.
-Didn’t check in on my client after submitting four candidates. Just thought he/she could take it from there.
-Tried to read the client’s mind. I should have just called or emailed and asked the question.
-Wasn’t sensitive to the hiring authority’s schedule and demands. I kept calling him in the middle of the day when he was busiest and couldn’t concentrate. I should have asked which time of the day worked best, or set up a standing appointment.

People get fired every day. It’s not often when a Recruiter fires their Client, but it does happen! So I asked my Survey Group, “Have you ever fired a client, and why?”

-I caught my client in a mistruth more than once. I couldn’t trust them after that.
-The client was passing on my candidates. I found out a year later that they were called directly and hired outright.
-The client was looking for ways to avoid paying my invoice. Gave me a lot of excuses.
-The client waited a whole year to pay the invoice. We had to call collections.
-The client didn’t disclose to me that they had already known about my candidate. But they watched me go through the process, scheduling interviews, checking references, negotiating the package, without this disclosure. And in the end, I was told I would not be paid for the placement.
-Never making the hire. The client gave us multiple positions to fill. Lots of talking and talking. But no traction. No results.

I acknowledge that I have shone a light on very real and very raw observations and experiences of a sample group of Third Party Contingency Recruiters. And after reading this, you might be tempted to wave the white flag, retreat to the corporate office, and just do this recruiting thing yourself.

That was not the intention. You just got a rare glimpse into the world of the Agency Recruiter. Now you know how we tick, and how your behavior can affect our results. Therefore, I encourage you to continue to use our services, and remind yourself why you originally engaged us in your recruiting efforts. Your reasons will likely match the answers to my Survey Group’s final question: “What value do we provide our clients?”

-We give our clients their jobs back! When they are not screening, scheduling, checking references, networking, and asking for referrals, they are attending to the rest of their responsibilities. Let us do the footwork!
-During the recession, Human Resource Departments were decimated. But Recruiting real talent cannot stop. View us an extension of your HR Division!
-We provide industry (or market) specialization, and a network to go with it! What may take the client months to place…we might be able to accomplish within weeks.
-Empty positions cost a company money and customer loyalty! Rather than settling for someone that you could find in a short time…use a Recruiter to produce a larger selection of qualified and interested candidates.
-If the client is uncomfortable calling desirable employees from their competitors, reach out to me! I’ll do the calling!
-If the client is at the end of his/her rope…and if they’ve looked everywhere for the perfect candidate…
I might be the solution! I might be aware of the person for which you have been combing the earth!

by Alexis Grant

The digital revolution may have changed the hiring game, but for most applicants, the resume is not dead.
Candidates can now expect to be Googled and scoped out on social media, but in most cases employers still want a resume to learn about your skills, experience, and career path. A resume also makes it easy for them to make the case for hiring you to colleagues or bosses.
Here are five common misconceptions about resumes and how you should approach them during your job search:
1. It has to fit on one page. We’ve all been told at one time or another to keep our resume to one page, but this old standard no longer holds true. If you have enough experience to highlight on two pages, go for it.
Of course, if you’re new to the workforce, one page should suffice. But now that resumes are often entered into an applicant-tracking system, it’s more important than ever to include keywords that help the system match you to appropriate positions — and you might need more space to do that. This is even more essential to workers in certain technical fields who need to list, for example, fluency in multiple technical languages.
So experienced applicants, if you need the room to show how you’re the best candidate for the position, don’t be afraid of that second page.
2. You need an objective statement. Objective are out, professional summaries are in. As our blogger Alison Green often points out, objectives often don’t help your case, and they have the potential to hurt it. Hiring managers want to know you’re passionate about working for their company, not any company that fits your vague description.
A professional summary, on the contrary, allows whoever’s recruiting you to understand what you have to offer in a quick skim. It’s also an opportunity to present your experience in a way that applies to your goals and the company’s goals. Don’t just summarize what you’ve done; take it a step further and show what you have to offer the company you want to work for.
“Companies who are interviewing you don’t care about your objective, they care about their objective,” says Tony Beshara, a recruiter and author of Unbeatable Resumes. He advises against both an objective and a summary on a resume and says job seekers should dive right into experience.
3. You have to include all of your past experience. A friend who’s looking for a new job after only a few months with her current company asked me recently whether she needs to include the last few months on her resume. Here’s what I told her: You don’t have to include anything on your resume. What you include is up to you.
Everything you write on your resume has to be true, of course, but omitting certain positions that won’t help you get your next job and replacing them with experience that will put you in a better light is not only acceptable, it’s smart. Your resume is your chance to tell your career story, so weave that story in a way that’s beneficial to you.
In this case, the friend would likely have to explain a gap in employment if she left off her most recent job, which might be a good reason to include it. But nothing has to be on your resume.
4. Once you send it in, you’re off the hook until you hear back. With a crowded job market, following up is more important than ever. Even if the company asks you not to follow up with a phone call or email, you have plenty of other options. Research the company on their website, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and look for ways to connect with employees. Figure out where those employees hang out online or in person. Contact them in a non-annoying way, establish what you have in common, and you might earn an “in” with the company.
You can also research the hiring manager specifically. And if the company has a Facebook page or Twitter feed, interact with them there. Your goal is to come across as interested and enthusiastic, but not desperate. Failing to follow up after submitting your resume is a sure-fire way to let it disappear into a black hole.
5. It has to look interesting to catch a hiring manager’s eye. Yes, you want your resume to be interesting, but more in content than appearance. Aside from the content you choose to include, the next most important aspect of your resume is that it’s easy to read. De-cluttering, or getting rid of experience that’s not relevant or necessary, is one way to do this. Another is to use bold type, bullets, and plenty of white space.
For the average position, your resume is in competition with 110 others, Beshara says. “If it doesn’t hit them in the mouth real fast by having what you’ve done and who you’ve done it for [front and center], it gets passed over,” he says. “They move onto the next one.”

Company’s Q2 Partnerships Join an Impressive Base of 18,000 Restaurants Nationwide

Arlington Heights, IL (PRWEB) July 20, 2011
Restaurant.com announces the addition of six new restaurant chain locations to its rapidly growing program. The latest multi-unit partners include:
• Surg Restaurant Group – Restaurant.com is excited to welcome Surg Restaurant Group’s creation, Distil, with a fourth location in the Milwaukee metro area.
• Nicky’s Mexican Restaurants – Adding a creative Mexican taste from Louisiana, Restaurant.com welcomes seven Nicky’s Mexican Restaurants to the mix.
• Giordano’s – Serving Chicago’s Famous Stuffed Pizza for more than 35 years, Giordano’s has added its Rosemont, Ill. location to the Restaurant.com program.
• Tara Thai – The word “Tara” means water, commonly found in Thai folk literature. Tara Thai restaurants offer a unique and relaxing atmosphere, featuring a variety of underwater art. Seven east coast Tara Thai restaurants are now on the Restaurant.com program.
• Shula’s – Providence, R.I. is now home to the 13th Shula’s chain location on the Restaurant.com program. Named in honor of legendary NFL coach Don Shula, Shula’s 347 Grill offers everything from gourmet salads to fresh specialty fish, and exclusively serves Premium Black Angus Beef® burgers and steaks.
• Levy – Loft 610 in Omaha, Neb. is now the second Levy Restaurant location on the Restaurant.com program. Chef Ben invites customers to gaze out at Turner Park or cozy up to the warm glow of the stunning wine wall.
• Leona’s & The Hop Haus – Under the same multi-unit operation, Leona’s and Hop Haus have 14 Chicagoland locations on the Restaurant.com program. Both restaurants take pride in their cozy, family-owned atmospheres.

“Creating partnerships with chain restaurants is an exciting venture,” says Restaurant.com CEO, Cary Chessick. “Restaurant.com brings family and friends together, helping deepen relationships and create lasting memories one dining experience at a time.”

“Restaurant.com has certainly increased the exposure of Leona’s Restaurants and the Hop Haus to the city of Chicago and beyond,” says Marc Fishman, Leona’s and Hop Haus Marketing Manager. “With over 2.5 million appearances in search results, and thousands of tables filled, Restaurant.com has been instrumental in bringing first time customers to our business. Survey results have provided us with ‘spotters’ at all our locations, helping keep our operation team vigilant while increasing customer satisfaction across the board.”

Each new Restaurant.com partner has a custom web page on Restaurant.com, featuring a personalized description of the restaurant. The profile includes type of cuisine, menu items, décor, pricing, and hours of operation for each participating location. Restaurant.com partners benefit from the program’s extensive marketing efforts, which create greater exposure and increase customer traffic. The company never sends its restaurant partners a bill, only hungry diners.

The Restaurant.com program supplies restaurant operators with recurring custom reports that combine data from each chain location. Operators can evaluate total and individual location-specific program results with information such as profit estimates, number of tables filled, web page traffic and more. Restaurant.com also sends surveys to guests to collect feedback about their dining experiences. The survey data can be used to help modify menu items, improve and reward service, plus support in-house incentive and loyalty marketing programs. The company also includes consultative marketing services that reveal best practices, lessons learned and tips for more effective interactive marketing.

Restaurant.com has nearly 500 chain locations among its rapidly growing network of more than 18,000 restaurants nationwide. In 2010, the company filled more than five million tables across the country and generated more than $340 million in revenue for the restaurant industry.

Restaurant.com helps deepen relationships and create lasting memories one dining experience at a time. The company offers savings at more than 18,000 restaurants nationwide with more than 45,000 daily gift certificate options. Restaurant.com brings family and friends together to relax, converse and enjoy dining out. Restaurant.com customers have saved more than $500 million since the Arlington Heights, Ill.-based company was founded in 1999.

Gerry Oher
Restaurant.com

Dear Candidates,

Do you stress over taking online assessments? I used to give the Thurstone Test, (110 questions in 20 minutes timed ) for all my candidates.  The test does not care how many questions you get wrong, but rather how many you get right. ………. Many candidates don’t do well on timed assessments because they get stuck on a question or spend too much time on each question, because they want to make sure it is correct…. and then time runs out ….so maybe they only get to answer only a portion of the questions. Lets say you answer up to question number 71 out of 110 questions, so what does that mean? Well that means time runs out and you didn’t answer 39 questions….

If you left 39 questions unanswered, then, you, the candidate has a 0% chance on getting any of those questions right which could be the difference of getting an offer and not getting an offer. So, I suggest that for a timed portion on the test, approach it this way and your chances of getting an offer might increase significantly. Here is the answer to the test!!

•  The goal is to finish the test no matter what… So, if you have a 20 minute timed assessment test, set a timer or your watch to let you know at the 19 minute point,…you only have 1 minute left, and you should stop and just guess at all the remaining questions. Yes, just guess, and make sure there is an answer in each of the questions so you finish the test. The choices are usually A,B, C, D, options and you actually have a 25% chance of getting the answer right on the remaining 39 questions which is better than 0% if they are left unanswered… ( This is based on my experience from the corporate level and the candidate level)

 For candidates that ask me what type of questions they ask on the personality profile test, I am give this scenario as a question to open their mind: ( just an opinion)

Question: 1

 Is it better for a restaurant to have :

1.  Great Food
2.  Great Service
3. Great Location
4. Great Manager

 What would you think? ( no right or wrong answer here ) but here is my answer:

 I get a variety of answers, none of which were my answer. Usually of the candidates that I started asking this to, they say 1) Great Food or 2) great service…. I say great, because they are great answers!! Some candidates have asked me my answer and I tell them there is no right or wrong answer because every company has different skills and expectations that they are looking for……. but my answer would be… 4) a Great Manager

 Candidates say really, why? I say, because in my opinion, if you’re a great manager, you can control what hourly staff gets hired, you can train the cooks to make sure the food  is great, and you can train the servers to give great service. Being a great manager allows you to manage the process.

There is No right or wrong answer here, just different viewpoints to consider prior to taking an assessment…

 Anyway, just sharing some thoughts!!

Best Regards

Chef Dennis

Restaurant chains are starting to remove salary freezes in an effort to recruit and retain employees.

After two years of salary freezes, restaurant chains are starting to increase employee pay in an effort to secure their loyalty, according to a new survey by consulting firm Hay Group and the Chain Restaurant Compensation Association (CRCA).
The survey cites a projected median budget increase of 3 percent for all restaurant employee groups in 2011, slightly above the projected 2.8 percent increase in general industry.
The salary increase for chain restaurants was 2 percent in 2010, when 30 percent of the surveyed chains reported a salary freeze. None of the 39 CRCA organizations in the most recent survey reported a complete freeze for this year.

Tom McMullen, CRCA vice president, says the projected 3 percent increase in salaries reflects a general increase in confidence in the restaurant industry.
“The increase is driven by a relatively healthier economy in general and in the restaurant sector in particular,” says McMullen, citing increases in restaurant traffic and revenue in 2010 over 2008 and 2009, when the economy was in a historic tailspin.
While the 3 percent increase is still behind prerecession numbers—salary increases were 3.5 percent in 2006 and 2007 and 3.1 percent in 2008—it represents a significant improvement over last year and a sign that restaurants are feeling more optimistic after the recession, McMullen says.
“If you look 12 months ago, the chain restaurant business wasn’t in as good shape,” McMullen says. “2009 and 2010 were the low points of the last 10 years. So we aren’t fully back to where we were, but at least [the level of salary increase] is heading north from where it was.”
“The industry is obviously in competition with other industries for employees, so compensation and benefit levels have to remain competitive.”

Still, not every chain restaurant is on board with lifting its salary freeze; none of the fast food chains interviewed for this article had lifted an implemented freeze this year.
El Pollo spokeswoman Julie Weeks wrote in an e-mail that the 400-unit chain’s salary freeze will remain in place “as of now … [but] that may change.”
Other quick-serve chains might also need to change their position on salary freezes soon; one reason for lifting a freeze, McMullen says, is concern among restaurant chains that they will lose employees if they don’t increase their salaries.
“A lot of organizations that enacted a salary freeze in 2009 were loath to do that in 2010 and 2011,” he says. “It’s much more palatable to have a salary freeze for one year. Companies that are forced to do that two years in a row jeopardize employee engagement levels and really jeopardize employee retention levels.”

The prospect of mass quitting may be small, with national employment down 7 million jobs from before the recession. But the labor market is improving—national employment grew by 2 million jobs in the last 14 months—and restaurants once again need to worry about retaining their workforce, says National Restaurant Association senior vice president of research Hudson Riehle.
“It is not surprising that industry hiring growth has accelerated and salary levels are increasing as the general economic condition firms up,” Riehle says. “The industry is obviously in competition with other industries for employees, so compensation and benefit levels have to remain competitive.”
Before the recession put millions of people out of work, recruitment and retention were the restaurant industry’s perennial top challenges, Riehle says. And as the labor market slowly improves, he says there needs to be “a recognition within the restaurant industry of the importance of developing career paths for employees.”
This, in turn, will help the restaurant industry recover from the recession years, Riehle says, citing the “strong correlation between length of tenure and increased sales per square foot.”
In the here and now, the increased pay for chain-restaurant employees is a sign that the restaurant industry expects sustained, if slow, business growth, at least in 2011.
Until then, it serves as a reminder that the general economy, including the restaurant industry, continues to absorb the effects of the Great Recession.

“There is still a long way to go,” Riehle says.

On a recent trip to visit several of my clients, one guiding and timeless Hospitality Industry principle rang true once again.

Your operation, is only as good as your GM, KM, Manager, and all the way down to the service staff.

One of my clients is a vibrant and bustling Oregon based restaurant and brewery. The owner’s care  for his team, and his operation is so evident from the moment you drive into the parking lot. I had the good fortune to recently place an excellent GM candidate for his store. I asked the owner, why did you chose this candidate, and extend the offer. He went on to say that this candidate “got it”. I asked, what do you mean? He went on to say the this candidate he hired was so much more than a great background, and where he worked, it was all about this passion for the Hospitality industry. He knew that this candidate loved this business, he bled it, and was committed to a career in it. The owner talked about how the candidate quickly understood what the operation was all about, what the owner needed, and what the vision and values of this company were all about. The owner knew that the candidate would embrace those values, and in addition would add value to the team by bringing this understanding, and passion for this job.

Another client of mine is an Oregon based Italian Bistro, with exciting growth in the past, and ahead as well. I asked the Director of Operations what the most successful GM in their company was doing different to get this distinction. He talked about that this fairly new GM took a busy store, doing OK, to an Excellent store doing great sales, and delivering legendary guest and crew experiences. He talked about how this GM “had it”. That passion, and drive to get more than a paycheck, and to have this be more than a job.

Some of my takeaways  from meeting with these two very successful, and growing companies are:

• Know as much as you can about the company you are interviewing with. Study about them, and learn what makes them tick . [We at Gecko have much of this information for you, and the internet is a wealth of information as well.]
• Count the cost, not just a salary, but are you committed to this new job, and new company? Are you going to do whatever it takes to “make it work out”? This means taking the good with the bad, being open to constructive criticism, coaching, and leading by your new bosses. Even if you are an industry veteran, you can learn [we all can].
• How is your heart? Are you willing to serve not only every guest, but your managers, and your crew to make them be successful? Who are you mentoring? How are you impacting your teams lives for the better? Who did you show empathy for today? Who did you take the time to offer advice and wisdom to today? Are you putting their needs before your own? Trust me, if you care for your teams this way, they will do back-flips for you, and serve your guests with passion and vigor.
• Be patient with the interview process. The interview process can very well take several months to come to an offer. Be positive at all times, be open to the highs and lows. You must remain open to moved appointments, late interviews from your new employer, and a host of other things that just “happen”. It is not all about you, these owners and directors have very busy schedules, and are trying their best [like we all should do] to have balanced approach to running and growing their business.

2010 is ending strong for the Hospitality Industry, and 2011 looks very bright and promising. Get ready folks for some new and exciting job orders each and every month for the coming year. Are you ready to be part of that wave, and to make an impact? Let the Gecko team find you these great openings by sending us your resume, and references today. You will not regret it!

Are we Hospitality Recruiters or psychologists?  I stop myself sometimes and wonder about this…..What makes us be successful in our industry?   What sets up apart from the others?   We are taking care of 100’s of companies with their management needs.   We educate the candidates about these jobs, give them choices, see if they are qualified and inform these candidates about the companies; the pros and cons of these positions.  For the client we see what their needs are, what criteria they are looking for in these candidates, and how they would like to set up interviews, etc…  But the more I do this job, the best way I do it is by listening.

I’m listening to the clients about their job needs are and who would be a perfect fit for them.  Also included as a Hospitality Recruiter is listening to the client’s day, about their families, what meetings they have, how they are going to get it all done today for their boss……I believe that  80% of my business is listening to their problems, their days, and how I can help them.   Also on the candidate end, listening is a big key……listening to their background, their problems, their goals, their experience…..I can find out if this candidate is a good match for our companies this way. The clients and candidates also like when I call back and ask them about one of their problems…if they resolved this issue….(you always get a thank you for asking on this one! )

Did you know that over 50% of people are not listeners?  They don’t like to listen!  This opens up many opportunities for the listeners out there! This business is a relationship business and if you are not a listener, you are going to have a tough time.   Your referrals are coming from great relationships with your clients and your candidates.   You are known for being the caring recruiter. One that will find you the right candidate; or for the candidate, he or she calls you because you are the caring recruiter that has many contacts & options for his or her job search…

I can’t tell you how many calls being a Hospitality Recruiter I get that are from referrals.    Some are from referrals from other referrals…….The candidate had a friend that had a friend that you helped and they said to call you for great contacts/ services!    Or I like the client referral….if they can’t help a candidate (that wasn’t mine) , they referral them to me…….that speaks volumes!  Or when your client talks to another company contact he knows and refers you…..that speaks volumes also!    So if you are a great listener, this may be a great job for you!   If you are not the best listener, try it for you week at work and at home……I bet you’ll find it is growing your relationships with the clients, your candidates, and home too!   This will mean success for your business and your home life!    The sky is the limit for great listeners in this great industry we call Restaurant Management Recruiting!