Post-9/11 Recruiting

Letter to the Editor, We Must Keep Doors Open For Those Out of Work

Letter to the Editor, Trying to Help By Doing What We Know Best

Letter to the Editor, following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001

Can you keep a secret?

 First of all, let me say that companies don't typically go to a recruiter for the easy search assignments.
An executive search firm is generally called in when a company has tried to fill a position on their own but, for one or more reasons, has been unsuccessful.
  Possible reasons might be that the company doesn't have the time to do a search properly; the firm has been looking for ages and can't find anyone, or more often and most crucial, the search is so confidential that the company is hesitant to conduct it in house.
  These confidential searches are the ones that are usually initiated while the client company is still employing the very person it is looking to replace.
  This is a delicate process: It is one that takes skill, sensitivity and caution - and the highest level of confidentiality.
  Is this a difficult situation? You bet it is.
  A search of this type poses quite a few problems for a travel industry recruiter.
  To begin with, the client doesn't want the current employee to know it is looking for someone else (or that person might quit before there is someone new to handle his or her responsibilities).
  Second, the current employee is often aware that things are not right and has already contacted a recruiter to look for a new position (and recruiters, of course, can't divulge information about the job seeker's current employer).
  Third, if this position needs to be advertised (to refresh an in-house candidate database), the recruiter has to be generic enough not to let the cat out of the bag.
  Lastly (and probably the most critical), it is difficult to interest qualified candidates when the recruiter is unable to tell them the name of the company that has the open position being discussed.
  The last scenario might sound devious and deceitful, but any experienced recruiter in this industry should be able to handle this as candidly as possible within the scope of the assignment. It is simply a part of doing this business.
  The recruiter is, after all, under a contract and retainer (which equals "obligated") to its client - which in the long run will be offering employment to one of the recruiter's candidates.
  It is also a reality, though, that in many of these circumstances, the current employee is also less than happy in his or her environment.
  Fortunately, many times these ousted people are placed in subsequent positions in which they are much happier and more productive.
  Recruiters' ability to execute these difficult and confidential searches is one of the main reasons a company can benefit by using a good travel industry search firm.
  If handled wisely, what was once an unpleasant situation for either the employer or the employee (or both), frequently turns out to be a win/win situation.

Karen Rothe Osband is the founder and owner of SYSTEMETHODS, a travel industry consulting and executive search firm located in Littleton, CO. She can be reached at (303) 948-8084 or (877) 802-5584,
and email KROsband@SYSTEMETHODS.com.

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