The Third Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Talk About Salary

Salary negotiation is one of the many free perks you get when you make the decision to work with a Recruiter.

If You So Choose To Use It.

When we have our initial meeting we're going to talk about salary.

What were you previously making? What do you ideally want to be making? How flexible are you for the right opportunity?

When I call you about a specific job we're going to talk about salary again. This is what it's paying, this is what we discussed, are you okay with that?

No matter what, I will never submit you to a job until we have discussed how much the client is looking to pay and how okay you are with that amount. Before that phone call ends, you will have agreed to an exact number that will be submitted to the client. Make sure you're comfortable with that number. Once it's locked in, it's locked in for good.

Some people, rightly so, believe Recruiter's are only out to screw them over. You think they want to keep as much of your wage as profit as they can. That can be true if you're going on contract and that's a topic for a post still about a week away.

However, if we're discussing a permanent job, none of the agency's profit is coming off of the employee's wage. We have an agreed-upon mark-up (a percentage of your first year salary) that the client pays as a "finder's fee." Think of it like a mandatory tip for the delivery person.

Here's the reality: We want you to make as much as possible. It's in our best interest for you to make as much as possible. The higher your first year's salary, the better your Recruiter's weekend is going to be.

Which is why we want to do the negotiation with the client for you.

The client, in most cases, knows they shouldn't be asking you about salary during the interview. Regardless, sometimes they will. If they do, it could be because they're trying to play Jedi mind tricks.

And guess what young Skywalker? They work.

If I tell the hiring manager you'll do it for $75,000 and you go to the interview and tell them you'd consider doing it at $70,000, the phone call I'm going to get will go something like this:

Hiring Manager: Mike buddy, listen, loved meeting with Eric. Want him on the team. Let's make it happen.
Me: Great news. I had a feeling he's what you were looking for. I'll get the references going and get the paperwork ready to send over.
Hiring Manager. Great. Thanks Mike. Say, how much did you say his salary was?
Me: I believe, just let me check, ya, we had submitted him for $75,000.
Hiring Manager: Really? Interesting. Could you double check that for me buddy? He said something about doing it for $70,000 during the interview. I just want to confirm that.

You're mouth just cost you $5,000 and my President's Club Trip to Mexico next week. Thanks a lot.

The Moral of this Commandment: Recruiter's handle salary negotiation every day of the week. The more you make, the more we make, so why not leave that conversation to the professionals?

The Ten Commandments of Client Recruitment

The Fifth Commandment: Thou Shalt Carry Mints

What does Trident, TicTac and Mentos all have in common?

 

They've all been around for over 45 years, are sold in over 100 countries and have gone virtually unchanged over the course of their lifespan.

 

That's pretty impressive.

 

And it's because they all serve one valuable purpose: Keeping the stink in your mouth at bay.

 

We live in Toronto. The city of Shawarma

 

 

All You Can Eat Sushi

 

 

And Coffee

 

 

All waiting to pollute your breathe and ruin the afternoon of anyone sitting in your general vicinity. And that's not even taking smokers into account.

 

In short, around every corner is something waiting to turn our mouths into a living cesspool.

 

Bad breath can lead to an automatic bad first impression. It shows that you don't take care of yourself, or worse, are totally unconscious of yourself And we know what bad first impressions lead to.

 

 

If a hiring manager needs to be hugging the wall in hopes of catching a fresh breath in a room polluted with the odour wafting out of your mouth, guess what? You're probably not getting the job.

 

The Moral of this Commandment: It may sound like common sense, but please, save a hiring manager the trouble of needing to endure your bad breath. If you just ate a big meal, downed a Grande Americano or stopped for a smoke before an interview, always have something on you to freshen your mouth. Breath is a matter of hygiene. Bad hygiene is a sign of poor personal upkeep. If you can't manage your breath, how can you be trusted to manage that big national account? You may be the best fit for the job, but if your mouth smells like a sewer, I'm not sending you to the client. End of story.

 

The Client Interview Ten Commandments

Great To Finally Meet You

Half an hour late this morning. "Signal Problems." Again.

Urgent message from my client. She just walked in on the Executive Assistant I sent last week doing some photocopying.

 Great to finally meet you. Did you have any trouble finding the place?

You remember, this isn't a job interview, right? Think of it more as an assessment. It's a way for me to get to know what you bring to the table and a way for you to better understand who I am and what I do. 

My main interest throughout this entire time is to see how much preparation you'll need before I send you to meet with a client. If I think I can work with you, great. If you come off as someone I wouldn't be comfortable putting my reputation on the line for, thanks for coming in, but maybe next time.

Remember, a Recruiter's reputation is only as good as his talent. If I'm pushing second rate talent all over the city, soon no one is going to want to work with me. So if I'm lending you my reputation, I'm expecting you to be good with it.

During the meeting there are two kinds of things I look for. The first are formalities.

 
These are all important. The less prep I feel I need to put into you the better. But don't sweat it if they aren't perfect. These things can be easily coached on.

What I'm really looking for is this:

And these:

I want to know that you're smart, ambitious, have great ideas, strive for the best and know a thing or two about what you're talking about.

If you can engage me on a subject that I know nothing about, then I'm impressed. That means that you could probably engage a hiring manager as well. I like that.

If you start talking about yourself and this happens:

 

Chances are you won't fare much better with the client. Better luck next time.

When I ask you questions about your resume, I'm not just looking for you to just tell me what you did. I'm looking for you to tell me a story. I want tales of dragons slain and damsels saved. I want to hear of heroes rising and villains falling. Paint me pictures of working against insurmountable odds and succeeding in the end. I want to know what you've done that would make someone say YES to hiring you.      

I want to know that you've got the stuff.

 

At the end of the day I can get you the interview, I can prep you for the interview, I can tell you everything I know about the client, and I can even provide feedback from people who interviewed before you. But if you don't have the stuff, I can't find it for you. Better luck next time.

Once you're done telling me the Story Of You, we need to discuss your preferences. This part is important. This is the part where you tell me about what you're looking for. It's imperative that you be as honest and specific as possible. 

If you say you'll work anywhere in the GTA but on the day I call with a position in Markham you change your mind; that's probably going to be our last phone call. And if you tell me you don't have any industry preference, but say you'd rather hold out for something in retail when I call with a job at a bank, you're going on the DO NOT USE list. The Recruitment industry is small. We talk to one another. You don't want to end up on the Do Not Use List.

We ask these questions because we want to know how we can best serve you. The more specific and honest you are with us, the better suited we are to find you a job. If you have an idea of where your next position should be, great. I want to hear about it. Then I want to formulate a plan on how we're going to get you there.

When we're done with our meeting one of two things will happen. I will either put your resume here:

Or here:

If I put your resume in the filing cabinet it's because you probably told me that you'd work anywhere, at any company, for any price. Wouldn't we all? You're resume will be stored in a folder of people with similar backgrounds. If I ever get a job in for something like that, I'll look through that folder and maybe you'll get a call. 

If I put the resume on my desk it means you've impressed me and I want to work with you. It also means we've got some work to do.