In case you’re not familiar with @OMCchat, it’s a rambunctious weekly Q&A focused on providing blunt truths, atypical perspectives, and practical answers to knowledge-hungry job-seekers (you can catch it each Thursday at 7-8PM ET).
Here are the players: Cyndy Trivella @CyndyTrivella; Tom Bolt @TomBolt; & Steve Levy @LevyRecruits.
Let’s take a look at some of the best tweets:
Q2. How do we combat recruiter incompetence without coming across as an arrogant a-hole that thinks they're better than others? #OMCchat
— OpenMicCareerChat (@OMCChat) January 17, 2014
Q2: That's a great one. Although it didn’t spark much of a dialogue, we figure we can weigh in on this quagmire with a possible solution. Get both managers and job-seekers used to this simple process: methodically ask detailed questions and demand good answers. This sort of open pressure may drive even a little more competence for a recruiter that can’t respond, or doesn’t seem readily willing to find the answers.
Q3. This generation's decision makers grew up with every kid "being a winner." Is direct confrontation the way to teach competence? #OMCchat
— OpenMicCareerChat (@OMCChat) January 17, 2014
We live in a society where every kid must get a trophy. #OMCchat
— OpenMicCareerChat (@OMCChat) January 17, 2014
Trophies for participation means that success is undefined. #OMCchat
— OpenMicCareerChat (@OMCChat) January 17, 2014
Q3: Is this seriously a calling out of bad social practices? It sure is. Looking at the answers it’s clear that leveling the playing field—in ideology and real world practice—has some grave consequences for competence. Acquiring expertise requires competition. If you’re a parent, take Tim Baker’s answer to heart: failure leads to self-improvement. “Trophies for participation means that success is undefined.” What do you think?
Q5: What technology can turn a bad recruiter [or a non-recruiter] into a workable, productive, likable employment Ninja? #OMCchat — OpenMicCareerChat (@OMCChat) January 17, 2014
Q5: It may not be answerable for bad recruiters. If you’re a bad recruiter a SaaS tool might do a lot of the research for you—but it’s not going to help you engage with candidates throughout the recruitment cycle. Being affable is a conscious choice that takes a fair amount of social practice to improve. For new recruiters, or non-recruiters, teaching them to use merged sourcing and assessment technology won’t take much if they’re tech-intuitive. But the other side of the sourcing and recruiting coin involves understanding human psychology: motives and emotional intelligence. Use the tech tools to make people productive, but use reason and experience to become a well-rounded ninja.
LR4: "Passion" « What does that mean? Your goal to find it? Or your goal to create it? #OMCchat — OpenMicCareerChat (@OMCChat) January 17, 2014
Passion is overrated for two main reasons: first, it’s easily identifiable in a superficial way (for example, during an interview); and second, it’s (for some reason) valued more than a person’s creativity and problem-solving skills—something that takes longer to see and evaluate. Ideas should rank just as high as passion. Tom Bolt shared a great article on the topic “Parsing Passion in the Interview.” Here’s a great point made by the author:
“When the stakes are high and the chips are down, relentless disciplined execution is what delivers results. To understand that in an interview, you must look beyond a candidate’s superficial charm, and instead focus on the harder-to-identify resilience, persistence, and determination.”
You can’t help but enjoy the unscripted, edgeless, nature of this forum. Whether they’re debating topics that inspire wincing, reformulations of perspective, or zany moments—OMCchat strives to peel back the unnecessary fluff for everyone to see the problems and pitfalls of the recruiting space. This helps the wheels to keep turning, and candidates can navigate the job landscapes with a little more sunlight.