When you go fishing, there are certain things that are very important.
- What kind of fish are you trying to catch?
- Where are you going to be able to catch your type of fish?
- What are the proper weather conditions and time of day?
- What is the appropriate bait to catch your fish?
Let’s use the above and relate it to recruiting of employees. What I have found over the years, organizations do not know in detail what they are looking for. What skills, values and personality are the best fit for your particular job? Back to our analogy, many organizations decide any fish they can catch will do.
But, let’s say they have decided to try and catch a sail fish, which is a salt water fish. Many organizations will go fishing in an inland fresh water lake for a salt water fish. When I work with an organization, many times they simply don’t know where to find the type of person they are looking for. They will go to the same source for many different types of people.
I know some of you well enough, you are wondering how I am going to use 3 and 4. Well, this is when the fish (person) gets hungry. When and under what conditions are fish hungry and looking to eat? One of the tricks I use is to determine groups of people who see my job as a step up. To exaggerate the point, a multi-certified machinist is not going to be hungry for a part time janitor job. But there are many times when someone is going to see your job as the perfect next step in their career. This makes them hungry for your job.
I recruited for a job in multiple locations in which Navy Machinist Mates were the perfect fit. In the Navy they went through at least one if not several schools which prepped them for our job. By the time they left the Navy, they knew if they enjoyed doing this type of work. There was only one difference between what they did in the Navy and what they did for us. In the Navy they worked on ships. For us, they worked in industrial plants. The vast majority of their training was directly relatable. The Machinist Mates were far ahead of our other candidates with their Navy training.
This was a huge source of lots and lots of hungry fish
How can we help you?
