Post-9/11 Recruiting

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

 I'm getting really tired of the doomsayers in the travel industry right now.
  We all know the industry is having trouble, but do we help anything by saying things like, "It hasn't bottomed out yet," and "It's going to get worse".
  I think those attitudes run the risk of being self-fulfilling prophecies.
  Now's the time to look for ways to help people, and, for my firm, that has meant refocusing our efforts towards trying to find positions for very qualified travel industry people outside of the industry.
  My firm has always concentrated on the travel industry, and we still believe that when you bring someone into a position, you are much further ahead if you hire someone that already has knowledge and qualifications specific to this industry.
  Travel is a different "bird," and bringing someone in from banking or trucking requires a pretty long (and expensive) learning curve.
  We still feel that way, and will be glad to help any of the travel companies whenever they are ready to scale up again.
  But - and this is a big but - the very large, qualified, travel industry candidate database we maintain (and now, of course, it is larger than normal) contains people that could work very productively in other industries - and we're working on that now, too.
  Of course, I'd like to keep all these wonderful, qualified people in the travel industry, but the reality of today is that many people from this industry are out of work, and we're redirecting our efforts to try and help them find positions wherever we can.
  Yes, it's a tough time. We're all having trouble keeping the doors open - some more than others - but just sitting on our behinds complaining, talking abou how things used to be and waiting for things to improve isn't going to be much help.
  I've been in the travel industry since 1962. I left a couple of times when I had to, but I always came back. These good people will, too - when the industry is ready for them again.

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, 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