Post-9/11 Recruiting

 With more than 30 years of recruiting experience in the travel industry (21 of those with my own company), I thought I had seen just about everything, but since 9/11 I've noted significant changes in the recruiting process and the candidate pool.
  Although many good people have retired or abandoned the travel business, there are many experienced travel people looking for work in a shrinking industry. So why would any travel company need a recruiter now, with lots of qualified people seeking work, fewer jobs to fill and less money to spend on recruiting?
  The large pool of potential employees actually has increased the need for recruiter assistance in many instances, especially when firms try to fill senior and executive-level positions. After all, one of the main reasons to use a recruiter always has been to speed up finding the right person while not taking people in an organization away from their primary responsibilities.
  One example comes to mind. A large corporate travel company advertised for a vice president of marketing in several travel publications, the Wall Street Journal and local newspapers. The firm received more than 2,000 responses. The travel company tried to work through this stack on it's own, but eventually the human resources department came to us for help.
  Of the 2,000-plus responses, more than 1,800 came from people with no travel industry background (a definite requirement, stated in the ads); about 125 had some travel background but had never worked at anything higher than a junior manager level; eight had appropriate skills and background but weren't willing to relocate (although the location also was clearly stated in the ads); and one took a job in the medical industry before the search was completed.
  We worked on this assignment for a week-and-a-half, came up with seven good candidates from our database, and the company hired two of our recommendations.
  I always stress the importance of hiring people for travel industry positions who have a travel industry background. We're constantly redoing search assignments for companies that don't go this route.
  Another example helps make the point: A CEO of a large travel company contacted me regarding what he considered to be one of his biggest mistakes, hiring a chief information officer out of the banking industry. This person, although highly qualified in information systems and highly recommended by previous employers, couldn't make the transition from banking to travel.
  Travel is unique, and appropriate technology solutions often are exclusive to this industry. Additionally, many people don't have the qualifications, mind-set or constitution to cross industry lines.
  In addition to finding the right person, recruiters are experts at ferreting out the wrong ones. A tour operator I know found and hired a charming, charismatic person who answered a local ad - without checking anything on his resume. The operator soon realized the person did not have the experience detailed on the resume, didn't earn the degree shown on the resume, knew nothing about the travel industry, wasn't in the U.S. legally and hadn't even provided his real name.
  A good recruiter can save an employer a significant amount of time, energy and money by filtering through resumes, identifying appropriate people and vetting out the credentials and qualifications of the final candidates. I believe this is even more the case after 9/11.

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.

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