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?

Still Time to Take Action

KO'ing Kooky Candidates

Knowing When to Say 'No'

Focus on Recruiting, Part Two

Defending Recruiting, Part One

Hiring: Seeing the Potential

Filling a Job: Experience Counts

 How many times do we have to be unsuccessful trying the same process before we learn a lesson?
  My reference here is to the hiring process, specifically trying to bring someone in from outside the industry to fill a travel job.
  It seems that no matter how qualified the employee, it takes him or her a surprisingly long time to pick up the idiosyncrasies of the travel industry even though we expect the person to be productive immediately.
  I would be wealthy if I had a dollar for every time I've heard company executives downplay the importance of a travel industry background for the senior management positions they are interested in filling.
  I'd be even richer if these same people would compensate me each time they commiserate with me afterwards about how long it is taking their new (nontravel industry-qualified) hire to get up to speed.
  Yes, a good manager can be a good manager anywhere. It will just take time. And at the senior or executive management level, this amounts to a very expensive learning period.
  We've all heard of the exceptions, someone who comes in from outside the travel industry, makes a quick transition and is an effective contributor in a new position almost immediately.
  It has been my experience during my 30 years in the business, however, that these individuals are few and far between.
  There are hundreds of thousands of trained and qualified travel industry people in today's marketplace, and many of them are looking for new positions.
  If you are looking for a new employee, at any level, serious consideration should be given to locating and hiring someone with background in travel in addition to possession of the qualifications and business skills you require.
  If it becomes necessary to use outside assistance to find the employees, there are many recruiting companies that work exclusively, or at least primarily, with the travel industry.
  Next to your own in-house human resources department, these organizations could be one of your best resources.
  They typically have large databases of travel industry-qualified candidates and a vast network of related contacts to explore.
  Yes, you might be successful finding someone outside the travel industry who can take off running in a new position.
  Or, you can learn the same expensive and time-consuming lesson all over again - that you could have saved a considerable amount of time, energy and money finding someone who understands the industry and who can contribute to the success of your operation from Day 1.

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.