Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Job as a Recruiter

Some of you know that I work part-time as a Recruiter for an elder care agency. What we do is place people in a senior's home as a caregiver or CNA/HHA. The basic premise being that the caregiver is there to assist the senior in maintaining there independence at home for as long as possible. Now anyone who works with the elderly knows that you won't make your fortune at this job, but the hours can be extremely flexible and when you get a client you really bond with, it's just a fun job all around. Now, if I am calling you, I am doing so because YOU called me. Or sent in an inquiry via the internet. I do NOT cold call looking for people to come work for us. Mainly because everyday I work I have a minimum of 30 resumes/applications to sift through, we get a lot of candidates from all walks of life. BUT there are times that I am just completely stunned by the way potential candidates talk to me over the phone. So here's a little cheat sheet for people to follow:
  • 1. Remember where you applied. That way when I call you you will have some small idea WHY I am calling and I don't need to explain what my agency does, what the advertisement stated, and what we are looking for.
  • 2. Don't laugh at me when I state the rate of pay. I always give out our rate of pay right off the bat. I don't want to waste anyone's time, or my own, so I am going to be very upfront about what we are willing to pay you. And I don't care if you have 10 years experience, the rate of pay is exactly that. The rate of pay.
  • 3. If I tell you that I need you to be certified for the position you are inquiring about, its not because I don't like you. Legally we cannot hire someone as a Certified Nursing Assistant if they are NOT certified. See how it was worked into the title? Certified? That's key people!
  • 4. If you child/family member/friend is screaming and crying in the background, you might want to call me back. Not just talk louder.
  • 5. Do NOT under any circumstances be mean and/or rude to me. Seriously, why would I bring you in for an interview if you just yelled at me about your qualifications?
  • 6. We do background checks on all potential candidates. This includes reference checks and CORI checks. If you are at all unsure about if you will get a good reference from a person you listed, don't put that person down as a reference. When I call to check, and oh yes I WILL call, and they tell me that you never showed up for your shifts or they don't KNOW YOU AT ALL. You will not be hired.

Really people, none of this is rocket science! Oh, and if its a full moon out, just turn around and go home. Its not worth your time trying to talk to people over the phone!

Can't you just tell its been one of those days for me? ;-)

1 comment:

Crankipantz said...

Having just gone through interviewing people for jobs...i have an interesting one to share. One of the questions I decided to ask is(don't judge me, it has proven to be a quality question): If your co-workers invite you to go see a movie on a Friday afternoon during the work day...and assuming all of your work for the week is done and there are no pressing issues...would you go?

You'd think that this is also not rocket science. There are only 2 possible answers to this in my book. 1) I would not go. {I'm not going to argue with you or make you prove this to me in the interview. It's an easy win} 2. "I will check with my supervisor and ask if this is something that is acceptible" {or words to that effect}. The answer is NOT..."sure, yeah, if I have nothing to do...I would definitely go". What part of "this is an interview" did this person not understand? This is definitely a true story.