Here is the question:
Hiring Managers want you to be their consultative recruiter, and you want to do consultative recruiting. What comes first: they “let” you do your thing or you just start doing it?

I have been called into many companies to assist either with a difficult search or to assess/streamline their recruiting function. In nearly all those companies, the hiring managers express dissatisfaction with their recruiting function, and the talent acquisition management is starting to listen to the idea that maybe everyone should be fired so they can start over.

What is happening? Hiring Managers are unhappy, recruiters are frustrated and talent acquisition management is both unhappy and frustrated.

Fast Way to Build Your Trusted Advisor Reputation

Have more influence with your hiring managers with this online training.

Fast and easy to implement.

Bonuses: Questions and techniques to deal with our major frustrations as recruiters.

Check it out here!

In case you’re a TA manager considering replacing your existing team, let me share a quick story. I was called in to train a group of corporate recruiters and found that was exactly what had happened. Over the previous 18 months, the Director had replaced all but one very senior recruiter on the team.

Result: Nothing had changed!

What is really driving hiring manager dissatisfaction? In nearly every situation, while the details vary, the bottom line is that they want a consultative recruiter. They actually want a recruiter who acts as their “hiring consultant.”

At the same time, the recruiters want to be more consultative but feel their hiring managers don’t let them. So both want the same thing and both are waiting for something to change.

So do recruiters wait to be anointed, appointed or crowned a Consultative Recruiter? Do they wait for hiring managers to invite and even accept their opinions, input and assistance?

NO to both

It’s my experience that if you just step into this gap and behave as a consultative recruiter, everyone will get what they want! Hiring managers will start to see the added value you can contribute, your management will get fewer complaints and you will have more success. It will even be more fun!

Don’t wait to be invited. Do it.

I’m not sure if this makes you the chicken or the egg, but it does make you a consultative recruiter!