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A Glut Of Recruiters Jobs In The DC Area?

February 24, 2016 by recruitdc Leave a Comment

By Tracy Tran

This past January, I was laid off at my company and I immediately updated my resume and applied to numerous companies and staffing agencies (Spoiler Alert: I start my new job with the HR Source this week). I did get interviews, including several from staffing firms. Without asking, all the staffing firms told me there were tons of recruiting openings (mostly contract) that companies are looking. I asked them why there’s a demand of recruiters. None of the recruiters, from staffing firms, had an answer why there is high demand. So, the next best thing is I asked the recruitDC community about this and there were a few theories:

Theory #1: Not a lot of recruiters in the DC area

It is not the right answer, but it is not entirely far-fetched, either. In Northern Virginia, you have a wide array of government contractors; in Maryland, you have mostly biotech companies; and in D.C., you have everything you can imagine, but only a few slots to fill. However recently, the area has been diversifying (in different industries and sectors) to attract people from across the United States to come to D.C.

Theory #2: Executives don’t think recruiters are necessary, are the first to get laid off, and hire contract recruiters.

On one hand, I do think executives might have a point since some companies are automating their recruiting process and making most recruiters lazy instead of being proactive, which gives recruiting a bad name.

On the other hand, if you have a good recruiting department, why would you eliminate it? Good recruiters do the ground work of sourcing, contacting, and networking with potential candidates and forward the best candidates available to the hiring manager. Good recruiters do not rely too much on machines; they mostly rely on the art of recruiting.

Theory #3: Headcounts are growing for D.C. area companies.

This is the most likely theory as the D.C. area job growth outpaced the national job growth last year. You would think federal funding was a factor of the job growth in D.C.

Not true.

D.C. area companies have found new sources of revenue and with cheaper gas prices and other alternatives to take advantage; companies can expand and be aggressive in their hiring, which is great for recruiters here.

If you’re looking for recruiting opportunities in D.C. area, it is a great time to find one. Even if the company does not have any recruiting openings, they might create one, and luckily, that’s what happened to me.

Groups like We Recruit DC on Facebook have been filled with opportunities as of late, and it bodes well for recruiters.

What are you seeing in the DC area? 

Tracy is a Sourcer and Social Media Specialist for The HR SOURCE in Maryland.  He has been in recruiting for over twelve years sourcing, networking, interviewing, negotiating, and advising hiring managers on who to look for. His experience stretches sectors from nonprofits, consulting firm, government contracting, tech, media, and others from a variety of positions from executives, directors, interns, senior-level, mid-level, and entry-level positions. He has also dealt with job boards currently with NatsJobs, which is a unique and interactive job board during Washington Nationals games. Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: DC, Job Search, Job Seeker, recruiting, We Recruit DC

Jason Redman: A Veteran's Perspective

November 13, 2014 by recruitdc Leave a Comment

By Kathleen Smith
Jason Redman is a keynote speaker on the second day of the CyberMaryland 2014 conference. Jason is a U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant (retired), Founder of SOF Spoken Speaking company, author of “The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy Seal Leader” and CEO and Founder of Wounded Wear.

I feel really thankful. When you come close to the other side it makes you very reflective. At least it did for me. That really caused me to dig deep at who I was and what it was to lead, strengths, and weaknesses. For me to have such positive feedback from other people out there about the book is great. Because when I released it out there, I was wondering “how is this going to go over?” It has been resoundingly positive.

What advantages and disadvantages did you have in the job market as a veteran?

All veterans have been taught leadership, teamwork, communication and how to overcome adversity. We have been trained how to work in teams. Even teams where you might not like all the people you are working with, but you have to work toward that common goal and you have to make those benchmarks.

This is no different in business. Everything we learned in the military you can transfer those same terms into the business world. Frequently I talk about military mission process. I take the military mission process and show businesses it’s not a different process than what they are trying to accomplish. We may use different terms, but really the process to execute a mission to completion is the same.

This is where veterans have a tremendous advantage. They come into the workforce and they understand how to build a team, they understand how to step up and lead, they clearly understand how to follow. Many of the simple things that people need to learn in business when they come into the workforce, our veterans already have.

As to disadvantages, I think veterans coming into the workforce from the military community are frustrated because the civilian workforce doesn’t work as quickly as the military can in executing missions. I see this frustration a lot among our veterans.

Another disadvantage is we have a tendency to be very blunt. It’s just the nature of our community. We can’t always get away with being so blunt, but we can say to a colleague, you messed up, you need to fix it and this is why. In the civilian community, people are not used to this. Good or bad, over the last couple of years I have realized that while I am running both companies – Wounded Wear and my speaking company – that I need to temper my bluntness. I have learned I need to be more appreciative of the contributions of others and how they are contributing. I have learned that I need to build and foster my working relationships without the need to be so direct. It is useful and totally applicable in the military to be direct and totally accepted in the military, but doesn’t go over to well in the civilian community.

It is a bit of shock. I will be completely honest. I actually burned a potentially good business relationship to the ground because I was way too direct. There was some friction and I expressed my mindset and thoughts. Lesson learned afterwards when I realized you can’t just do that. I had to learn how to nurture relationships in a better, less direct way. You can still think these thoughts as part of your process, but vocalizing them may need some temperance.

Why did you choose to become an entrepreneur over joining a company and specifically a charitable endeavor?

I didn’t necessarily choose the entrepreneurial venture, it chose me. This came about through needs of the community.

As I went through my transition process as a wounded veteran, I saw that we could do things better. I saw gaps in services that I thought that we could fill. As with anything it started out as an idea, and this is a great strength of mine to take an idea and turn it into reality. I am also very fortunate that my wife is an entrepreneur. While I was serving, she ran several businesses just like many military spouses have done to support their families. So when I brought up the idea to do Wounded Wear, she said okay let’s do it. She was very instrumental in shaping the venture and driving it forward. My wife reminded me that many other wounded veterans felt the same way I did, that there were gaps in the support provided.

Now here we are four years later after creating Wounded Wear, and I have started my second company, SOF Spoken, the speaking company. I think everyone who served in the military understands the process of how to step into any role in a company and complete the mission. If you are a career military person, you now have all the skills and abilities to assume a leadership role. I think it would be hard for some individuals to step out and take a couple of steps back. So many of these career veterans are well suited for running their own businesses and shaping the direction of where their company is going. This really appealed to me and I have really enjoyed it.

To be able to run your own venture and make a difference in people’s lives through Wounded Wear is just an added bonus.

What advice do you have for transitioning military?

It is a totally different culture. As I said earlier, learning how to foster relationships and not being so direct is one piece of advice. The two main points that I illustrate in the book are leadership and the overcome mindset.

Getting out into the civilian community is no different. This is where veterans have a tremendous advantage, especially veterans who have been in for 20 or 30 years who have held higher lever leadership positions. The civilian organization that they may go work for may not recognize their leadership ability immediately. I strongly believe in leadership by example. So even if you feel that the company doesn’t have that mission focused culture or that tight knit camaraderie yet, I firmly believe the veteran can foster a similar type of community feel in their civilian position.

The veterans will see quickly that people want to be around leaders and around those individuals who are making a difference. A veteran should come into a civilian organization not with the mindset of changing, but applying the lessons they learned in the military. Motivating and inspiring those around you by example, I think the veteran will quickly find that they will be welcomed and quickly have opportunities to move up.

Another point I make in the book is the concept of living greatly. Too many times people do not want to step outside of their comfort zone out of fear. Fear is the number one thing that drives us not to do things. In the situation of a veteran looking at transitioning to civilian life there is some of this. How is this next phase in my life going to be? How is it going to be working in an environment that is so different from what I was doing before? Some of these thoughts are preconceived notions in our mind. Usually these thoughts we create in our mind are the biggest things that stops us from accomplishing things. 90% of the time those things that we perceive don’t even come to reality.

If you do take that step, that leap of faith, to move past these preconceived notions most of the time we find out that it is not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. I tell people all the time you have to take that step.

One thing I do with wounded warriors and families of the fallen is take them skydiving. I tell them, it is not about jumping. It’s not about skydiving. It’s much more about overcoming fear. It’s about standing up on that ramp and stepping off into the great unknown. It is recognizing you are alive and you have the ability to overcome. This is what people need to get into their minds.

This is what veterans need to get in their minds, I am afraid of this new endeavor, this new stage in my life because it is unknown but there is so much opportunity there and this life is too short to let it pass by so you can’t sit around and wait. You need to step off that ramp and go.

How can veterans benefit from inner reflection as they embark on a new career?

For those who think that tapping into your inner reflection is weak, you have a very short sighted view of life. You can never truly achieve your greatest potential unless you truly know who you are. That is the reality and something that I figured out after I made some mistakes. I realized that there were parts of me, things that I was doing whether consciously or unconsciously, that were holding me back.

All of us have different personalities and talents. These are things that define who we are and drive us to be successful. These are also sometimes the things that drive us to fail. It is only when you are able to look at all of your strengths and weaknesses, looking at what are all the things that have helped you but also what are all the things that have hindered you and might hinder you in the future. It is only when you can truly understand all of these components of yourself can you move forward to success. You begin to recognize that you have certain tendencies.

This is what I experienced and wrote about in the book such as my tendency to be a bit impatient with my decision making. I am very aware of this now and try to slow down my decision process to make sure that I am thinking through all the things that might happen. This is totally applicable to anyone out there. If you see this as a weakness I think some day you will figure out that you are missing out.

In closing I would like to share what I say to all veterans: Our country is at a time right now where it is starving for leadership in business, politics and community. We are starving for leaders who have conviction, who have accountability, who are willing to step up and lead and set the example. And these are all the things that we have learned in the military and we need veterans to get out there and do it.

I tell veterans, step up and lead because we need it. Maybe you don’t want to run a large company, or get into politics. At least get out and be active in your community. The military has taught us veterans so much about how to lead, overcome, make a difference and accomplish the mission. We need to share these lessons with the American people as it is critical to the future of our nation.

Kathleen Smith is the Chief Marketing officer for ClearedJobs.net. You can connect with her on Twitter at @YesItsKathleen. Follow ClearedJobs.net at @ClearedJobsNet

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: entrepreneur, Job Search, Kathleen Smith, networking, Veterans

Turning The Tables – Job Searching As A Recruiter

October 6, 2014 by recruitdc Leave a Comment

As recruiters, we’re uniquely positioned to see job searches on a daily basis. We see how they start, the progression of the interview cycle, and the end of the cycle where a candidate lands in their new job. As is often true, it’s hard to see something clearly when you are right on top of it. Recruiters are notorious for being good at facilitating this type of life change for others, but for also having a very hard time to do it for themselves.
Many questions start to surface as you prepare to dive into the job search as a recruiter marketing yourself. Is my resume up to date? Who have I kept in touch with? Who do you reach out to? It’s also interesting to think about how recruiters perceive candidate experience when they are in the middle of a search….for themselves. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Candidate Experience, Career Path, Job Search, networking, Recruiters, Social Media

How To Network Your Way Into Your Next Startup Job

October 2, 2014 by recruitdc Leave a Comment

By David Adelman
Landing a job isn’t easy. With unemployment stubbornly high and constant competition from overqualified candidates, overseas labor and overzealous robots, getting hired is getting harder.

I recently watched several friends go through the job hunt, and one thing became clear: The traditional method of applying for posted jobs won’t cut it anymore. Times are changing, and that means that job seekers must adapt as well. Now more than ever, it’s your network — not just your resume — that matters. Up to 80 percent of all jobs are “hidden.” They aren’t advertised, and those that are often get filled by candidates with an inside track.

Notice the word “work” in “network.” Your contacts won’t just hand you jobs. There’s effort involved. If you don’t ask, you’ll never receive. Put yourself out there and you’ll be shocked at how open your contacts are to lending a hand. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: David Adelman, Job Search, LinkedIn, networking, Social Media

Expectations, Meet Reality

September 17, 2014 by recruitdc 2 Comments

By Doug Munro
I came across a job posting recently that highlighted the chasm between expectations and reality in many small and mid-sized companies when it comes to recruiting. I’ve edited a bit for space, omitted some of the usual requirements – excellent communications skills, etc. – and added a few observations. I will not share the company name to protect the innocent (?), but it is a common issue. The role is billed as Recruiting Manager/Recruiter hybrid for a federal contractor and the opening lines paint a nice enough picture, but the duties, hours, and potential heartbreaks keep building up. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Doug Munro, Job Descriptions, Job Search, Recruiters, recruiting, Recruiting Management

Job Postings Are Not Dead, Despite Zappos Claim

June 9, 2014 by recruitdc Leave a Comment

By Ben Gotkin

Every now and then, a high profile company does something so ground breaking, unique or radical in their talent management strategy that everyone takes notice, often resulting in the question, is this a new trend? Is ___ dead? For example, when Yahoo! announced the end of telecommuting for their employees, pundits questioned whether the practice as a whole was coming to an end. That was ridiculous of course, as it was a decision made by one company for valid reasons that applied to their own situation.

The latest company to do something dramatic at this level was Zappos, when they announced recently that they would no longer use job postings as a part of their recruiting process. This story captured national attention with articles in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. A big, bold move indeed, and one that was probably bound to happen at some point somewhere. But does this spell the beginning of the end for job postings? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ben Gotkin, job board, job posting, Job Search, recruiting, sourcing

8 Honest Tips For Transitioning Veterans

May 29, 2014 by recruitdc 2 Comments

By Tim McHugh

As a veteran many of us have been put in circumstances and positions that our civilian counterparts will never fathom much less truly understand.  Unfortunately, far too many veterans believe these experiences somehow entitle them to a career in the civilian world.  As veterans transition to the for profit world many don’t have a good idea how to transfer their military skills and experience to civilian life.  Many veterans have unrealistic expectations of what civilian companies are looking for and why they might not be a perfect fit – today for what they want.  As a veteran and now a small business owner with 20 employees, here are some very honest and blunt tips for veterans making the transition to civilian life: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Career Path, Government Contracting, Job Search, Military, Military Transition, networking, Veterans

Social Media for the Job Seeker

November 26, 2013 by recruitdc Leave a Comment

By Celinda Appleby
All this buzz about using social media for job seeking can be extremely daunting and even scary. Especially when you consider the original reason you joined most social sites… to connect with others outside of work.  Here are some simple tips to tackle social media for job hunting.

1)     Dynamic Profiles: Clean up the social profiles you will be using for job hunting. This means creating privacy settings and even deleting posts that you do not want your potential employer to see. Change all profile pictures to images of you in a professional light. Ensure all your profiles are aligned with the same name and images. If you are open to networking with recruiters, list your email address.

2)     Self-Promotion: Join or update your LinkedIn profile, which is considered the largest professional networking social site. Use this site to highlight your accomplishments vs. posting your standard resume. Add in your awards, videos and presentations. Create a dynamic and searchable headline; use this space to share your most marketable traits.

3)     Research: Use social media to research your target companies before you apply and/or interview. Check out their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages to learn more about the company culture. Head over to Glassdoor.com to read what employees are saying about the companies you want to work for.  Create Twitter lists that follow your target companies to see what they are talking about and sharing.

4)     Engage:  Use social media as a way to break into companies HR departments. Engage recruiters on these platforms by sharing information and posting comments that inspire people to take note.  Ask questions about company culture or just share how excited you are about things you have learned while researching.

There is no real science to using social media for job hunting, but it is important to always put your best foot forward and remember that everything on the internet is permanent. If you do not want your grandma or your future boss to see it, do not post it.  What is proven is that social media provides the job seeker with lots of information at their fingertips. No longer are the days that you go into interviews blind, since the information is available for you to learn all about culture, benefits and work/life balance. Embrace social media into your job search and use this as another tool to win over the hiring manager during your interview. Everyone loves an informed and educated job seeker. Plus you will feel at ease knowing that you did your homework!

Celinda Appleby  is the Global Staffing Digital Media Program Manager at HP. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: celinda appleby, Facebook, Job Search, LinkedIn, networking, Social Media, Twitter

Finding Hope

November 25, 2013 by recruitdc 4 Comments

By Jim Hollister
As we move into the end of 2013, I continue to see articles and announcements of layoffs in the papers and online. Lockheed Martin just announced that they will have a lay-off of over 4000 of their employees. Unfortunately, as we move into the Holiday Season, that means move layoff announcements will be coming out and more people will be looking for work.

I have been giving outplacement seminars to employees at my company over the last month. I never thought that I would be giving outplacement seminars to employees who hold high level clearances but, due to sequestration and federal budget cuts, most government contractors are faced with having to lay employees off. As part of our seminars, we give the employee a copy of “What Color is my Parachute”. In the first chapter, the author talks about “Finding Hope” when in a career transition and states:

“Hope depends upon taking care that we have at least two alternatives, in every situation we find ourselves, and with every task confronting us”

The author gives us the following list of thoughts to reflect on when searching for a position:

  1. Not just one way to describe ourselves, but two ways, at least.
  2. Not deciding upon just one career, but two careers, at least.
  3. Not getting trained or retained for just one kind of job, but two different kinds of jobs, at least.
  4. Not just one way to hunt for a job, but two ways, at least.
  5. Not hunting just for one job, but two jobs, at least.
  6. Not going after just one size company, but two sizes, at least, small or large.
  7. Not just choosing one place where we really would like to find work, but two places, at least.
  8. Not finding just one way to approach a place that interests us, but two different ways, at least.
  9. Not securing just one job offer, but two job offers, at least.

So, as we move into end of the year, I think everyone, even if they have a stable position, should have alternatives and be searching for the next step in their life’s journey.

Jim Hollister is a Talent Acquisition professional with over 25 years of experience. He is currently the Treasurer of RecruitDC and works for Northrop Grumman as a Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for the Cyber Solutions Division. Previous positions include: Director of Recruiting at Netstar-1, Unisys -Federal System and CSC – Federal Systems. He also worked at Fannie Mae, Hughes Network Systems and ACS. In addition to RecruitDC, Jim ran the Staffing Alliance of Maryland Employers (Project SAME) organization and is active with the Talent Acquisition Leadership Council. Connect with Jim at hollisterj@rcn.com

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Career Path, Jim Hollister, Job Search, networking, outplacement

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