From the title of a resume posted online:

receptionist,homemaker,health aide,sales ass,youth counselor,or daycare aide

I know I have worked with many a sales ass.  In the resume, this person lists a job from years ago in which they worked the retail cash register at a drug store.  I particularly enjoyed their description of that work:

SALES ASSOCIATE:RECEIVE CASH FROM CUSTOMRES IN PAYMENT FOR GOODS.PROCESS SALES TRANSCATIONS AND ISSUE RECEIPTS.

“Issue receipts” just kills me.

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We preach to our clients that simply placing an onlie ad is not a sound sourcing strategy.  Managesmarter.com has an article that gives 3 good, quick tips for leveraging the Internet to fill open positions.

The only way to effectively recruit is to use multiple channels. You’re trying to find that one person who is exactly right, and that means exploring multiple avenues. This includes your offline efforts, by the way—don’t stop networking just because you’ve posted a job online. Work multiple sources (both online and real world) to get the word out about your opening.
Make sure you’ve got an accurate, well-written, exciting job description. You need a posting that sells the job and your company. A good job description should be the first message a potential candidate sees about your company. It should provide a good story, but also a realistic picture of the level of responsibility and some sense of career potential. In the online world there’s no character limit, so you can go into detail and include links to strong Web pages. Never view writing a job ad as a chore; don’t just delegate it to HR or someone who reports to you.
Pick several places to post your ad online. Here’s where it gets tricky: There are several online sourcing options, all of which come with trade-offs. Let’s start with blogs, e-mail listservs and interest groups such as Yahoo! Groups. These options are probably stronger in building long-term recognition than in immediately producing large numbers of applicants.

One thing I would add is if you’re not using LinkedIn, Facebook or MySpace in your sourcing, you’re missing the boat.  Start by getting your profile on these sites and connecting, then push your open positions out to your new network.  It’s not about knowing the right people and being directly connected to them, it’s about being connected and allowing your network to push your opportunity out to people they know that may be a good fit.

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The frequency of layoffs has started to rise as the economy continues it’s slow progression (no, it hasn’t recessed).  Up here in Minnesota we have experienced some large layoffs recently.  But there is an interesting point in all of these layoffs when it comes to salespeople.

Many times the underperformers are released first as a method for upgrading the sales force.

One of the large corporations up here announced a sizeable layoff that reduced their employee count by 5%.  Yet, the following week they had multiple employment ads on multiple sites looking for different levels of salespeople.  This approach is not surprising as you will see it often during slow economic times.  The major companies use the cover of a slow economy to jettison salespeople who have had targets on them for some time.

This fact means that all sales hiring today needs to be careful.  There are strong salespeople who get cut loose, but you have to have a process to find them.  The pretenders, the salespeople who can do enough to mostly hide on your payroll, are also out there.  These salespeople are more difficult to identify and screen out of the candidate pool.

It is imperative that you have a process that goes far beyond resume, interview, gut-level decision.  If you need assistance, we can help.

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A headline from the Wall Street Journal - Employer Alliance Aims To Streamline Recruiting.  “Streamline” is one of those overused business terms that I find annoying.  Yet, the article is rather interesting:

Seven of the nation’s largest employers have teamed up to help one another with recruiting. They’ve formed a consortium called AllianceQ, which allows them and future members to share information about job applicants they don’t hire.

Which leads to this:

Since QuietAgent.com doesn’t feature job ads, professionals will only learn about career opportunities if employers contact them.

By giving out referrals to QuietAgent.com, AllianceQ members are helping job hunters they don’t hire find employment elsewhere, says Jason Kerr, chief executive officer of Chicago-based QuietAgent Inc., which publishes both QuietAgent.com and AllianceQ.com.

Which inevitably leads to this:

In the second quarter of 2009, QuietAgent.com plans to launch a new marketing campaign aimed at getting more small and midsize employers to use it. The campaign will focus on the site’s new relationship with AllianceQ. “We’re going to use the brand power of big businesses to offer small businesses a way to recruit,” says Mr. Kerr.

The idea seems like a strong leverage point if small businesses can benefit from the large corporations’ vast recruiting efforts.  Keep an eye on this one.

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I’ve been reading through many sales employment ads recently and am seeing a trend - the ads are written tighter.  A couple of examples:

-Minimum of 5 years of related public accounting and/or corporate sales

-A minimum of two years’ business development experience in a pharmaceutical and/or CRO biotechnology, or drug development company.

Nothing wrong with this approach since the candidate pool is still relatively large due to the slow economy.  One thing to be sure of - the labor pool will tighten up again soon.  At that point, it is wiser to move these requirements into preferences and look outside of your industry for transferable skills.

One interesting point - the aforementioned examples are from companies that recently laid off numerous employees.  This is a common approach for large companies.  They tend to purge a certain number of employees during slow times.  Wall Street is more accepting of this news and it is a good time to upgrade certain positions.

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I had a sales candidate ask an excellent, subtle question yesterday - “What other positions is this company currently hiring?”  Again, the subtlety of this question provides a view into a company’s needs, growth and possible turnover.  It is an excellent question to ask in any interview.

The second part of this equation is for the hiring manager to appreciate the question.  What I mean is this - listen carefully to the questions being asked by the candidate.  We often watch hiring managers trip over themselves to answer a good question without appreciating the question itself.  Some times the hiring manager cannot even recall the questions asked in the interview.  This is problematic for successful sales hiring.

Someday I am going to capture every question asked by a candidate in the interview and put them in a document, in order, and then present them to the hiring manager.  The questions themselves and the sequence of questions is important for successful selling (read: qualifying).  This ability is observable in the interview process…if you are looking for it.  Don’t miss it.

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The Herman Trend Alert (sorry, no link) today highlights areas of the economy that are growing, even thriving, during the slowdown.  Some you may not have considered:

Logistics alternatives to diesel-consuming trucks that are more efficient at moving goods, like railroads, are also doing well. Plus, fed up with increasing delays and cancellations of flights, passengers are choosing rail travel over air. Expect this trend to increase; the US rail lines will borrow experts from Canadian Pacific and Virgin to learn how to deliver extraordinary passenger experiences.

Domestic food producers, especially domestic cheese producers are reaping the benefits of the falling dollar. Rapidly rising prices for imported products are prompting customers to look for domestic substitutes. Farmers now find their products in increasingly higher demand.

But then there is a dandy little comment that I have seen from many of our friends and neighbors:

Local amusement parks will also do well in these challenging economic times. The parks are enjoying the benefits of people taking what are called “staycations”—vacation time off taken close-to or at home. Until the economy improves, expect to see increasing numbers of people choosing staycations.

“Staycations” - that is excellent.  I am writing this post from the airport as I wait to interview a candidate.  I can tell you there are many people complaining about their travel prices as they walk by me.  The delays are another sore point as I sit here waiting for the candidate’s delayed flight.

If you sell into any of these industries, it is time to pick up the phone or fire off an email.  Their industry is surging which makes qualifying money an easier task.

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I’ve been dealing with many different sales candidates of late and one thing that is starting to stand out - a candidate’s resourcefulness.  This trait comes shining through on some candidates and is little more than a dull luster on others.  The less resourceful a salesperson, the more wary you should be in considering their candidacy.

This trait has always been important in sales.  Resourcefulness feeds networking, prospecting, qualifying and competitive knowledge.  Recently I have encountered a couple of candidates who just plain lack this ability.

The lack of resourcefulness shows up in not finding email addresses or cell phone numbers.  One salesperson wasn’t able to recall the position for which he was applying (this makes for an arduous phone screen).  Another salesperson wasn’t able to research new leads due to ineptitude using online tools.

These shortcomings are severe weaknesses in the information age.  I’m not sure how to measure this ability though we can get close to it with our assessments (practical thinking and using common sense).  More than likely, this ability has to be experienced in the hiring process so pay close attention during the initial stages of sourcing sales candidates.

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Roustabout, according to Forbes.com.  I didn’t know what a roustabout was/did either.

Roustabouts are the workers who assemble and repair oil and gas field equipment. They do other unskilled work around rigs like cleaning up spilled oil, moving pipes to and from trucks and guiding cranes that move loads around decks.

It’s hard and dirty work, and in the labor hierarchy of oil rigs, roustabouts are a notch below roughnecks.

Don’t you just love the American economy?  Never ceases to amaze me.  Of course, there is always the other side of the coin.  The disappearing jobs:

The disappearing jobs list also reflects the continuing long-term decline of no- and low-skilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S.–sewing machine operators, engine assemblers, machine tool setters, home appliance repairers and textile knitting machine operators.

There are some surprises: Actors and tax examiners show up on the disappearing list, which is topped by entertainers who performed in places like amusement parks and arcades–or at least who used to.

I could name quite a few actors who I would like to see disappear, but that is a post for another day.

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The Career News (sorry, no link) references an article regarding job market growth in 3 specific sectors (my bold):

While hiring in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors has clearly been impacted by the continued fall-out from the mortgage market collapse, the technology, healthcare and defense sectors are all adding to their executive-level ranks nationwide.

There were 12,000 more $100,000+ jobs posted on TheLadders in the first quarter of 2008 than there were in the first quarter of 2007. The recession is grabbing the headlines, but there are always countercyclical segments of the market that thrive in a down economy. The reports are showing a lot of reliance in this marketplace.

This fact is always true - while some markets flounder, others flourish.  In recruiting, selling, job hunting, etc., the key is to focus on the segments that are in strong growth mode.

One other tip is to understand that the media is prone to sensationalism in their reporting.  After all, their business is to keep your viewership, listernership or readership…and to do that they must hold your attention.  Recessions, market collapses, stock market drops, etc. are all sensational vehicles to hold attention.

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