A few Star Wars quotes to use in your recruiter daily life…

More than any movie, Star Wars is overflowing with tons of quotes and catchphrases easily translatable to real life. Especially when you are working  in recruitment. Many of those big ideas are captured in a few lines of eminently quotable dialogue. Here are a small selection of quotes from Star Wars that I’ve found are perfectly suited for use in this galaxy.

*This article is certified 100% Jar-Jar Binks free.

1. Your reaction when Padawan Resoucer is presenting you his shortlist of candidates

2. And then, comes back with a great CV

3 . Padawan recruiter just made his first deal and basically thinks he owns recruitment

4. Having a rough month ? Struggling to close the next deal ?
Drop a classic Han Solo to your manager

5. When your client send an interview request to your candidate and he suddenly becomes unreachable.

6.When you show your agency’s offices to your friend, partner or family for the first time

7. Need an inspirational quote for your team’s whiteboard ?

8. Colleagues are giving you evils and call it luck when you finish top booker of the month

9.You’ve just opened a difficult account / position and everyone is doubting you (including the client)

10. 5 phone calls, picked up 1 job, 3 CVs and already got an interview request ?

11. Your boss, basically every monday morning.

Stay on target ! – Gold five

12. Serious meeting with your boss and it is clear that he is threatening to fire you

13. It is now clear that this candidate have been interviewing only to get a counter offer

Can you think about other quotes that could work ? Feel free to send your suggestions in the comment section below.
And of course, in case you have been hibernating in a cave without WiFi for the past months:

The MVP treatment

One of the fun aspects, when you work in recruitment, is the parallels you can make with sports. Especially when summer time comes with the transfers period for football and free agency for American sports.

Every day, in real life, you see people making questionable career decisions.
And every year in sports, without fail, you see players making decisions that just don’t seem to make sense. 

If you follow Basketball and what is going on in the NBA, you might know that DeAndre Jordan have recently signed with the Dallas Mavericks, leaving behind him a Los Angeles Clippers team on the verge of collapse. 

DeAndre had basically two options: re-signing for his team for more money or signing somewhere else for less. He eventually chose to sign for less, in a team that is (well, was) not an obvious contender for the NBA championship. 

When every fan across the globe was asking themselves WHY, current Dallas Maverick – Chandler Parsons, gave a very interesting explanation about his role and how the organisation persuaded him that going for the Mavs was the right move.

According to ESPN: “Parsons has been in daily contact with Jordan since the Clippers’ season ended with a Game 7 loss to the Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, constantly contacting him via FaceTime and text messages to stress how much Jordan meant to the Mavs while emphasizing the possibilities for the big man as an offensive focal point in Dallas.”

“I was basically just telling him that we want you,” said Parsons, who organized a dinner with Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki, owner Mark Cuban, Jordan and himself at a swanky sushi restaurant in Malibu for the second free agency started Tuesday night. “You’re our priority. We believe that you can be a 20 [points] and 15 [rebounds] a night kind of guy. We think that you are the best center in the NBA, and we think that there’s no other place better than Dallas [to prove it]. 

With coach [Rick] Carlisle’s system, adding guys like me and Wes and Dirk, savvy older veteran point guards like J.J. [Barea] and Devin [Harris] and Raymond [Felton] all around you, we can make you the best player possible that you can be. I think that was the biggest thing that he wanted, and I think he saw that the opportunity was here.”

But this isn’t an article about recruiting basketball players, although there could be an interesting comparison with recruiting tech talents. My point is that it’s going to take more than a few perks and a company culture that looks good on paper to attract the Deandre Jordans of our industry. 

As a new in-house recruiter, I understand now, that I am going to be the one that will care for them and show them that we want them !

When I read ESPN’s paper, my first thought was that Chandler Parsons would be an awesome recruiter. 

What did he do? 

He touched based, he listened, he empathised and he understood what Deandre really wanted. And, helped by his owner and their best player, he show him how he would get it by signing with the Mavs. 

I think that even in today’s world, where we understand the challenges of hiring skilled people, we tend to forget the most simplistic ways to attract people.
Having great perks is awesome and yes, money matters.  

But the heart and effort you will put into offering a smooth hiring process; going the extra mile to show your candidates that they will be a great addition to the team and that the company will be a great place for them to reach their goals, will go a long long way.

In short, you will have to be creative and resourceful to make them say, when they will be asked “why” did they choose your organisation – “I felt they really wanted me and valued my skills”. Set up lunch or dinners, get your teams involved, show them your company’s vision and how they would fit in it ! 

As for the Dallas Mavericks, I don’t really mind them signing Jordan. My beloved Spurs acquired Lamarcus Aldridge and David West – who would have earned 12 millions dollars this season if he had stayed with the Pacers –  he will play for the Veteran minimum salary in San Antonio.

Wait, is there an another recruitment story here ?

Your new Mentra – “Give more to get some”

2015 will certainly be an interesting year to be working in recruitment. We are in my current company talking a lot about best practices and finding more effective ways to connect with our clients and candidates.

“Networking”. It was a just word before I start working here. Before I understand that working in recruitment was not simply signing in to a job board and call people randomly. But those two years here have certainly taught me a lot of things.

I have spent of good part of those two years asking a lot to my network. And by network I mean people I have spoken with two or three times.

“Do you know anyone in your network with the same skill-set?”

“Have you heard about this project? Do you know the project manager?” “Could you recommend me someone?”

It kind of hit me during last year. I went the extra mile with a candidate who, before I even asked, gave me loads of very valuable information.

Why? Because I took the time to give him a proper description of the job (no, I don’t mean sending a job spec), a proper understanding of what he could expect in terms of salary, to give him advice on her CV, helped her to work on his English skills (candidate being French…), followed up on every stages of the interview process until offer acceptance.

And one morning it was there, in my inbox. People she thought I should speak to, leads, market info and even a Linkedin recommendation. Yep. Jackpot on a Tuesday morning.

Let’s be honest, you knew this before but you are too busy, shy or even lazy to do it.
It’s over now. Don’t be afraid. And repeat after me:

“The currency for networking is generosity, you have to give twice what you will get !” One more time. Good.

Most times, doing your job professionally will be enough. Sometimes, you will have to go the extra mile (Relocating people is a great moment to show good will!) Sometimes, yes, sometimes it will mean to tell your candidate to send their CV in a company you don’t work with.
What? Placement for free? Am I kidding?

I think it all depends what currency we are talking about. And it’s time that us recruiters acknowledge the fact that building a real relationship with a candidate can bring much more than a quick placement.

In 2015 it will take more than Linkedin to connect with your pool of talent. More recruiters will be hired and the competition will get tougher. And you will, more than ever, have to give more and to get some.