iCIMS Hire Expectations™

This past weekend was Mother’s Day. In honor of all mothers out there, I wanted to highlight some of the many lessons my own mother taught me while I was growing up. The truth of the matter is what you do in everyday life, the lessons you learn, and experience you gather cannot only help your own personal growth, but can also help you hone in on key qualities that can make you a better recruiter.

Now, I can’t say my very old-fashioned Italian mother will be like everyone else’s mom, but her lessons can be accepted throughout many family households. So let’s go back to the basics.

Lesson One: Do your homework! Did you find yourself waiting until the last minute to do projects growing up? Talk about procrastination, huh? But really, I don’t think there are any spark notes on how to become a better recruiter because it’s different for everyone, in every industry, and in every company. So why not follow industry bloggers, sign up for upcoming webinars, and read recruiting whitepapers to stay educated on trends and where recruitment is headed. With four different generations in the workforce, staying alert on trends can help you revitalize and invigorate your HR processes. I once heard, “the more you learn, the more you’ll earn”. Reap the benefits of that free information and come ready to work to measure your results.

Lesson Two: Clean your room! This might be the one I still battle with from time to time, but mom always said, “Clean your room”. Be organized and able to manage applicants and applicant workflows. There is always going to be that one item buried at the bottom of the laundry that you just can’t find. Don’t just bury resumes on top of resumes. Find a way to automate your communications, eliminate paper processes, and track every candidate that comes into your organization.

Lesson Three: Make yourself stand out from the crowd! As the youngest child of four, I remember always being compared to my older brothers and sisters (which, of course, wasn’t the worst thing ever, but I wanted to be my own person). In recruiting, how do you help your company stand out? Have you created a warm and inviting employment brand? In the social revolution we are in, capitalize on social networking to listen and engage with your candidates. There is nothing better than signing into your applicant tracking system to see the number of applicants waiting for a call from you and your company. It only makes your job that much easier.

I assume whoever originated the phrase “mothers know best” was not referring to human resources recruitment; however, life lessons applied to recruiting aren’t too farfetched. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! We appreciate your hard work and life lessons.