Recruiter News Line

At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, it sure does seem the kids now-a-days enjoy that “Amercian Idol.” I’ve tried watching it, but it just doesn’t click with me. It makes me feel left out around the proverbial water cooler that I can’t join in on the discussion. After years of contemplating the reason, I think I’ve landed on the explanation.

It reminds me of work.

I don’t work in the music industry or anything like that — I work in recruiting. How does that relate to the world’s most popular music audition show slash singing competition?

The first few weeks of the show are the open auditions where any screeching cat or rusty guitar can try out. The judges must endure hundreds of people gleefully unaware that they have no business at such an audition. After that, the show picks a handful of talented individuals that it systematically narrows down to the chosen few.

Not every job order that lands on my desk feels like that, but I’ve had my fair share that do. You get a second sense for them – the fun jobs that everyone wants to do and think they’re qualified for but really aren’t. So you get buried under a pile of submissions that you wish some brutally honest foreigner would deal with.

But, you can’t do that. You have to endure and dig through the entire pile to look for that diamond in the rough.

Triage should be your first order of business. After doing a little Internet research on “American Idol” I found out they do the exact same thing. The first day of auditions weeds out the mass of people, numbered in the thousands, by auditioning them in front of production people. The second day doesn’t even get the hopefuls in front of the TV personality judges. Instead, they are seen by the show’s producers who purposefully send the best and the worst on to day three or four (depending on the number of people), which is the part you see on the show.

I have a few interns around the office that might be able to perform most of the initial cuts, but they’re usually occupied with other, even more sundry office tasks. I have to do it myself. I write down a few key points I’m looking for in résumés that would stand out for the job order and start scanning. This typically eliminates the majority of the stack.

Only at this point can I start to look at cover letters. Some colleagues push this off until the last step of the process; however I don’t want to lose any hidden gems that might have borderline credentials but the right life experience to do the job in question. This takes the list down to the chosen few whom I will interview on the phone.

You see, in my process, my client is whom I consider the “on-air” talent. I’m the producer on day two deciding who gets to go in front of the cameras. I have to physically speak with the person at least on the phone, if not in person, before he or she gets any face time with the big boys.

The only difference is that I don’t knowingly send dogs to the client. That makes good television, but not so good recruiting. I have to be sure that my picks can shine like a true star.