DAY 65 - PRE SCREEN

Today I had a phone screen for a Talent Development Director of a building company. I spoke with an executive recruiter who had received my resume from the hiring company. I was flattered as I was referred and they heard nice things about me. Anyways, she said that she wanted to get to know what I had done in my career. She asked me to take her through my resume and how I chose my different roles.

She asked me to start at the end and I began discussing my first role and some of my responsibilities. I think I was driving her crazy after about 1 minute. She said very nicely but abruptly -- just tell me about why you left each role. Hmmm... OK, I told her quickly about leaving each position. She thanked me and said she would pass me on to the company.

Now... she was from Korn Ferry, a fairly prominent retained search firm in which her group will receive about 30% of the starting salary of the candidate chosen. I kind of feel like she did not do her job. I mean for that amount money, don't you think she should have interviewed me a bit... This has been a common occurrence I am noticing. Now there are two types of recruiters contingent or retained search. Contingent recruiters do not have a guarantee of payment from the company so they sort of send a group of resumes and see if anything sticks with the employer. But with retained, the agency is guaranteed the search and a nice fee for the candidate hired.

I guess what I am saying is why I am I boring the recruiter within the first 30 seconds of our interview when in fact that is her job. Why is this part of the process being done poorly? How is she able to present me when she only knows why I left various companies. Whatever...

BABYFACE
Today is my pug's 17th birthday and I am really proud that he has lived this long. Babyface is actually doing great... He loves his cookies, being petted and of course sleeping a lot. He is like an old man that must nap pretty much the entire day and night. He is very sweet and has given us a lot of joy. He also poops in our house a lot too which is a source of much aggravation. But I am not going to focus on that today. I remember the first time I met him from the pug rescue. He came running out with his tongue hanging out and started kissing me. It was love at first sight.

We had a small celebration in honor of his birthday including a hearty portion of snausages and a fun fuzzy squeaky toy. He is my boy!!

REALIZATION
There are good recruiters that are dedicated to their profession and probably are very thorough as their reputation depends on it. Others are doing it as a job and one day the lack of detail will burn them. Realization 2 - I love my puppy - even though he is an old dog - he is part of our family and we love him. May you live to 101 Babyface.