As a recruiter for the nonprofit sector, I often find that candidates see my role as one of a sentinel hired to prevent them from gaining even just a glimpse at a dream job opportunity. But, it doesn’t have to be that way! By understanding the roles and relationships of all participants in the job search process, everyone can benefit. In my next post, I’ll address how clients can best work with a recruiter. Today’s focus is on the relationship between the recruiter and the candidate.
Before starting a relationship with a recruiter, it’s important to understand the recruiter’s role. Simply put, a client hires a search consultant to navigate the process and then relies on the consultant’s assessments and decisions about candidates. The client invests a lot of trust in the recruiter. A good consultant knows what the client is seeking, and while you may believe you have the best qualifications and deserve an immediate interview for a position, the recruiter might think otherwise given his or her deeper understanding of the client’s needs. A good executive search consultant is honest with you about the client’s requirements and, further, will be honest about why an opportunity might not be the right fit for you.
In addition to my aforementioned perceived sentinel status, another misconception I encounter is that job seekers think I can be hired to find them a job. Do not think that you can ever “hire” someone to find you a job. You can hire a career or life coach, but if someone promises that they will find you a great new professional role, run the other way. That’s not the role of the recruiter. The recruiter works for the organization, not you, which is an important distinction to accept.
Below are some guidelines to consider before working with an executive recruiter in the nonprofit sector:
Be strategic about your career. Sometimes, the outcome of a search will not be what you desired. When that happens, don’t just drop the recruiter from your contact list. Stay in contact, and being a good source – someone the recruiter can count on for honest dialogue about who might be a good candidate or who may know good candidates. Cultivate this relationship because even though an opportunity may not be available today, there may be something better down the road. I’ve built my success as a recruiter through connections that go back to my first job out of college.
Have consistent experience. For me to even follow up with a potential candidate, they can’t be a job hopper. Three or four two-year stints are not good; let me know if you are a trailing spouse, etc. Explain your history up front.
Assume all contact is with the recruiter. The recruiter often conducts all initial interviewing and referencing before there is any face-to-face interaction between you and the client. The best search consultants seek to develop a trusting relationship with candidates, and they want to keep them informed.
Never be pressured to accept a position. Our success as recruiters is measured by how long a candidate stays at a client organization, so we don’t want a position filled just to close the search. A recruiter who cares about the sector wants both the client and the candidate feeling good at the end of the search.
Don’t hedge your bets or try to game the process. If you are involved in a search, don’t lead on the client and/or the recruiter. I’ve had clients go as far in the process as to receive an offer only to then throw out an important deal breaker such as they only want to work four days a week or that their current employer just offered them a raise that they now want matched by the client. Figure this out before the offer stage. Don’t use one job offer to get a better deal with your current employer because, often, no one ends up happy.
Project a quiet confidence. Have a good sense of self without being brash. While clients in other industries may want an overbearing personality, I’ve never had a nonprofit client ask for that. If you fib, you will be found out; I do my detective work as do most recruiters. We are judged by our word.
Prepare for self-disclosure. In today’s competitive climate, candidates can be terrified to indicate any weakness or complicated life situation. If you have been a stay at home Mom or took a year off to care for a sick relative or even took time off to travel the world, you need to tell your story to your recruiter. By not self disclosing, it may be thought that you have been in the in the Federal Witness Protection program or, worse, that you are hiding something.
And, just like Mom told you – well, it’s what my Mom told me – Just worry about yourself. It is not a good strategy for candidates to constantly ask about the competition. Who the other candidates are is none of your business. Be in the search because you want the job and not just to beat out other candidates.
I’d love to hear what job seekers and organizational clients think. It would be great to hear ideas from clients and job seekers — and even other recruiters — about how to best serve the nonprofit community. Send me some questions about situations you have had with executive recruiters, and perhaps we can shed some light on what some feel is a mysterious process.
Carmel Napolitano is a New York City based independent executive search consultant for the philanthropic, nonprofit, and public sectors. With over 20 years of experience, Carmel started her career in higher education fundraising, She has an exceptional track record of placing senior staff at local, regional, national, and global organizations. She can be reached at cgnexecsearch@gmail.com.
Last updated on June 24th, 2017 at 05:28 pm
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To Rob –
As someone who made the switch from profit to non-profit and back to profit, I think Carmel has given you very sage advice. Trying to change no more than one thing in your next move should yield the best results. I would encourage you to look for roles that are very closely aligned to what you have done in profit and then just change the sector. That is what I have done with very good results – more than once. If you aspire to change both your sector and your specialty, take one on first and then the other. Once you are a proven commodity to an organization, they will likely be more open to seeing you stretch your skills into a new area. It is hard to change both your industry and your specialty in one move – especially in this job market. The bottom line is that there are more great job seekers out there than there have been in years past, so managers don’t need to be too creative in trying to stretch talent into a role. By staying true to your experience and strengths in the first move, you will better position yourself to make the next leap. Best of luck!
Carmel,
A question that nags at me is the fact that I would like to move from the for-profit world of sales & marketing to a philanthropic or (at least) not-purely-for-profit organization. Skills are, of course, transferable; however, I hear of more and more people tightening their search and hiring and interviewing purely to need and matching past experience, rather than basic talent and “the person”. I’ve always hired the best person, and I’ve always found that great people can fit in anywhere, and they always stay. Your thoughts, please. –Rob
Rob,
While not easy it is possible to make the switch. Hiring managers bring all of their personal and professional ideas to a search. If you asked a 100 different hiring managers about what they are looking for you may get 100 different answers. It is all about how your approach the search. Moving from your function in the for profit world to the same function in the nonprofit is the easiest way to make the switch. I will be doing a series of posts on this very topic, so stay tuned!
I found this to be very helpful and will be sure to use some of these stragies in my search. Thanks for the good advice!
Overall good but I take exception about the way she wrote about job hopping.
For those of us who have been seeking a permanent job, there will be short-term assignments. I think employers are more understanding in this bad economy. I have been told by recruiters and direct to hire employers that they are impressed with all the different jobs I have managed to pick up in the last two years. One employer told me that she was impressed with the consistency in the assignments I was able to pick up with not that much gap time in between. She was less impressed with people who had not worked at all in the last two years, realizing how bad the economy is and felt I must be a persistent and creative person to have survived in such a horrible market. I’m waiting to hear back from her to see if I got the non-profit job.
Mary I can see where you take exception to “job hopping” from your comments it seems to me that you are in fact doing consulting or interim staffing. That is a good thing. It is all in how you present your experience. Best of luck in your search.
This is very helpful info. I do have one question though that I didn’t see covered in your piece.
Do recruiters want people to contact them with their resume w/o a specific job in mind? Would that mean you are deluged with resumes when you don’t have the resources to manage/track them all?
Thank you for sharing your insight.
T.
To Trudy,
Good recruiters always will take a resume, and any good recruiter will also have set up a way to manage resumes and information. That is what recruiting is all about – knowledge management! I know I want to have a handle on all the talent out there whether or not they are looking for a new opportunity.
Thanks for your comment,
Carmel
Wonderful job!
Great advice.
This is very useful.
THANK YOU!