“How long does it take to effect one immediate hire using you?” the caller asked. What he was asking was really a complicated question that required some answers from him before I could answer.
“What position is it you’re trying to fill?” I asked.
“It’s a Risk Leader position. This req’s been open since November and I’m really beginning to take some heat on it. The base is about $150 and there’s a bonus and this person will be working on new products for us.”
“Is it a product management role?” I interrupted.
“Kinda, yeah, I guess you would call it that,” the caller affirmed, thinking more on the question. “This person needs to understand analysis and will be working with sales and operations providing input to client contracts. I’ll send you the job spec.”
I could hear the relief in his voice as he offered to pass me the hot potato.
“Okay, that’s good. I need that,” I answered. “This has been open since November? What have you done to fill it?” I asked.
“You know, the usual. Job boards, advertising. We’ve spent a ton on advertising!” he complained.
“With no results?” I teased, adding insult to injury.
“NO results,” he answered, with the emphasis on the word “NO”. “Resumes are a joke. Most are nowhere near qualified to do this job and the few that are want way too much money.”
“Danger, Will Robinson,” the words rang in my head.
“They want too much money?” I asked.
“This guy’s gonna report to our Chief Risk Officer and most of them are already making $200 and up!”
“You have a challenge,” I offered. Having done past work for other divisions and other people in this same company, I understood they would be asking me to look for people in the consumer lending or mortgage industry; specifically in the red-hot sub-prime market that is currently under the spyglass of Congress.
“How many names do you want?” deciding on the spot to take this job.
“As many as you can find,” he answered. “There aren’t that many out there,” he warned.
“We’ll see about that,” I thought to myself, knowing that many times a customer’s reality is colored by the color of the lens he’s been viewing it through. “When do you need this?” I asked, knowing the coming answer.
“Yesterday!” he laughed and I laughed with him.
“I’ll try to start streaming something to you by the end of this week and I should finish this some time next week,” I allowed. “Can you send me the job description and targets you want penetrated right now? I’ll get it set up this morning and started this afternoon.”
And he did, and I did, and that’s the way it went. “But the question remains unanswered,” you’re thinking.
How long does it take to effect one immediate hire using you?
In most instances, and the above example being no different (except that the money thing could impact this, but I know from experience that their stated “start” is usually lower than where they go in negotiations) I will source around 50 names and out of those 50 names one person will probably get hired within a month or two.
Average Timetable
Week 1: Morning: You call me and send me the job order and the target companies. By the afternoon, the job gets set up and usually started either same day or within two.
Day 3 ? 5: Fifty names fitting the specs have been sourced and are now in your Inbox. Same day or within 24 hrs: You start calling those sourced names and pitching your opportunity. You do this every day for about a week and you should have 80% of the names contacted. Out of those 40 or so names contacted within about 10 days of this job’s start, you should have some resumes of people who have been specifically chosen to fit your needs coming at you.
Week 2-4: Interviews should be set for the following couple weeks and an offer (or two or three) placed.
Week 4+: Offer and acceptance should be completed and candidate set to start.
As you can see, if you start today you should be filling by May.
“April calling brings May starters.”