How did we get here?
How did we get here? What qualifies us to recruit your company’s manager to executive positions? It is more than our experience as recruiters. It incorporates our experiences as employees, candidates, hiring managers, and business owners.
The Story of Work/Life Recruiting
Before starting Work/Life Recruiting, Kyle Largent was selling capital equipment. First, computers and application software – before the PC, then medical instruments to hospital laboratories.
It started with capital equipment sales.
Capital equipment sales are highly competitive and typically stretch over months – like recruiting. Success in capital equipment sales requires seeking ways to level the playing field to get objective consideration. Each customer was unique, but the process of understanding their criteria and how they evaluated proposals did not change.
My experiences As a Candidate have determined Work/Life Recruiting practices regarding candidate experiences.
Kyle was recruited several times. These were frustrating experiences. He experienced no communication, follow-up, or closure, even if he went to multiple interviews.
In Kyle’s last corporate sales position, the recruiter overstated the commission program by 100%. Kyle didn’t discover this until the evening of his first day on the job. It was a difficult conversation with his boss on the 2nd day on the job. The potential earning expectation created by the recruiter was not accurate.
Kyle never forgot his treatment as a candidate. Work/Life Recruiting is committed to giving candidates courteous service, accurate information, and closure.
The transition
Kyle contemplated moving from an outside sales rep to a recruiter for months. Who gives up a remote corporate sales position with a salary, commissions, benefits, and company car?
Kyle committed to treating candidates the way he wished he had been treated. Returning phone calls, returning emails & texts, and providing closure. Common courtesy! Kyle committed to delivering quality candidate experiences before the phrase candidate experience became common.
The 1st placement
Shortly after deciding to go into recruiting, but before quitting his corporate sales position, a recruiter contacted Kyle about a Director of Sales position with a small manufacturer serving OEMs of medical instruments.
The interviews went on for longer than necessary. Kyle called the hiring manager to withdraw from consideration and asked for the search “because he knew exactly what they wanted.” Six weeks later, Kyle’s first placement was hired, staying with the company for 18 years. The start of a career in recruiting.
The relationship with that client continues today. During that time, Kyle placed over 100 people with the organization. Over 50 executives (VPs and Presidents) and over 50 director-level and down positions. It has been a terrific relationship. This relationship has referred Kyle to 2 Private Equity firms that he works with today.
Work/Life Recruiting continually searches for ways to make their recruiting services more valuable to hiring teams.
Finding new ways to bring value to our clients
When Kyle observed the number of candidates being eliminated due to the client’s assessment tests, he arranged with the client to administer the assessments before submitting candidates to the hiring manager. This saved the client:
- Executive time spent on interviewing unqualified candidates
- Money on interviewing unqualified candidates
- Reduced the time to hire by 2-3 weeks
The hiring managers love knowing they are considering qualified candidates, according to the company’s assessments, before the first interview.
Bringing consistency to the recruiting process
Another challenge for hiring managers is that the process frequently stretches over weeks. This prompted the addition of screening questions on critical requirements developed with the hiring manager. This was an innovative approach in the early 2000s. This approach creates a level playing field for all candidates, making vetting and selection more accessible and practical for hiring teams.
The business environment
Taking care of candidates is good business!
Well-placed candidates are happier, typically leading to better performance, which makes hiring managers happy. Happy hiring managers are more likely to engage us again.
The search continues for innovative ways to bring more value to clients.
