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Hi all - I have posted on here before and have typically gotten good advice.
I am a recruiter for a government contracting company (we aren't a recruiting firm, I am an internal recruiter). I typically recruit for cleared and uncleared positions. Doing cleared positions is typically more difficult as people with high clearances are usually super picky with who they respond to (as they should be).
Recently I have been focusing on more internal, uncleared positions. I have not been on the phone much recently as there have not been any candidates to talk to on the phone (but I have some calls coming up). But I have been pretty busy reaching out to candidates, job postings, going through our ATS, etc.
My boss just told me that, since our company is all about 'perception', since I have not been on the phone much, it looks like I haven't been very busy to some people. He (my boss) knows that I am busy, but just because I am not on the phone, there is the perception that I am 'doing nothing' all day.
I don't even know what I am supposed to do anymore. Am I supposed to just call up random people and talk/Mod cut: language. with them, so it just appears that I am busy??
Can someone who has been in this position help me out please cause I'm just lost here
Last edited by PJSaturn; 05-08-2019 at 02:11 PM..
Reason: Merged 2 threads; duplicate topics.
Perception is a weird thing, and while not a good benchmark, many uninformed people use their perception as a valid measure.
The standard response is to look busy, and let it rolls know how busy you are. If you are an exempt employee, send the occasional email at a weird time, like Saturday morning. Drop minor data points that make you look favorable. Things like- open positions are up 12% over last month; I moved x number of people forward in the queue; clears applicants have dropped by 20%, which increases my workload because of the extra work I need to do for the uncleared applicants.
I am not a recruiter, so I don’t know what people really look at for benchmarks, but make sure that your boss knows, and other people know too. Educate them on what you do, don’t assume they know.
Hi all - I have posted on here before and have typically gotten good advice.
I am a recruiter for a government contracting company (we aren't a recruiting firm, I am an internal recruiter). I typically recruit for cleared and uncleared positions. Doing cleared positions is typically more difficult as people with high clearances are usually super picky with who they respond to (as they should be).
Recently I have been focusing on more internal, uncleared positions. I have not been on the phone much recently as there have not been any candidates to talk to on the phone (but I have some calls coming up). But I have been pretty busy reaching out to candidates, job postings, going through our ATS, etc.
My boss just told me that, since our company is all about 'perception', since I have not been on the phone much, it looks like I haven't been very busy to some people. He (my boss) knows that I am busy, but just because I am not on the phone, there is the perception that I am 'doing nothing' all day.
I don't even know what I am supposed to do anymore. Am I supposed to just call up random people and talk/bull**** with them, so it just appears that I am busy??
Can someone who has been in this position help me out please cause I'm just lost here
Sounds like you need to broaden your focus to include recruiting for cleared positions instead of ignoring that part of your job because it's more difficult.
FWIW, I don't envy you. My husband gets a lot of calls from recruiters, and half the time, he ignores them. It is not a job I would do well performing.
If the value of perception > tangible quality output, then you have a problem.
Since it appears that you are currently searching for a new job, I'd continue with that path. There is simply no fixing this wonky situation, other than you can try to learn to ignore the feedback or not let it bother you as much.
Sounds like you need to broaden your focus to include recruiting for cleared positions instead of ignoring that part of your job because it's more difficult.
FWIW, I don't envy you. My husband gets a lot of calls from recruiters, and half the time, he ignores them. It is not a job I would do well performing.
I'm doing what my boss asked me to do - do uncleared work
I know, and my boss likes to always say 'we aren't a staffing agency', because yes we technically aren't. But this stuff realllllly makes it seem like we are
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lm0905
Hi all - I have posted on here before and have typically gotten good advice.
I am a recruiter for a government contracting company (we aren't a recruiting firm, I am an internal recruiter). I typically recruit for cleared and uncleared positions. Doing cleared positions is typically more difficult as people with high clearances are usually super picky with who they respond to (as they should be).
Recently I have been focusing on more internal, uncleared positions. I have not been on the phone much recently as there have not been any candidates to talk to on the phone (but I have some calls coming up). But I have been pretty busy reaching out to candidates, job postings, going through our ATS, etc.
My boss just told me that, since our company is all about 'perception', since I have not been on the phone much, it looks like I haven't been very busy to some people. He (my boss) knows that I am busy, but just because I am not on the phone, there is the perception that I am 'doing nothing' all day.
I don't even know what I am supposed to do anymore. Am I supposed to just call up random people and talk/bull**** with them, so it just appears that I am busy??
Can someone who has been in this position help me out please cause I'm just lost here
When I was in phone sales many moons ago, I was consistently a top performer, and I was making one-third/one-half of calls an "average" performer did. And, every time I'd have a sit-down with my boss, he'd say some version of the following "You're doing great, and can you imagine how great you'd be if you made double, or triple the phone calls?"
It hurt me, even though I brought in more work than anyone else, perception that I was not a "team-player", or didn't "listen to the advice." I never got promoted, and I just kept getting frustrated, and so did they. They thought I was a great talent, but due to my attitude never went anywhere, and I thought why does it matter how many calls I made, as long as I delivered?
I've learned, you either play the game, or you put your money/talents/mouth/integrity/career on the line by doing it your way. I chose my way. It wasn't the easiest or straightest line to success, but it's paying dividends now.
had a similar situation in a sales position. here is the condensed version:
supervisor wanted a fully filled out sales-call daily report sheet (hard copy),
which was 15 entries with each sales call consisting of one entry.
did not matter how many customers bought or how much they bought
as long as that one page report was full. after 2 years, he was fired.
he only lasted that long because he had some "dirt" on the V-P.
during those 2 years, i "faked" it. i still sold a lot, but in order to fill out
the report, i "called on" other people (not buyers) in the customer's building.
i would bring some food (Krispy Kreme) and we just talked for 10 minutes.
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