Coffee with a Recruiter, feat. Melissa Coleman

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As part of Blue Signal’s Coffee with a Recruiter series, our own Senior Executive Recruiter, Melissa Coleman kicked us off with a discussion on some misconceptions about recruiting and the industry overall. Some key takeaways: 

  • Networking is about being helpful and becoming a knowledgeable resource within our industries - not about “stealing” LinkedIn connections. 
  • Recruiters have to be of service to both clients and candidates in order to reach their end goal. 
  • Recruiters are matchmakers, working to source and network to find candidates rather than dive into a magic drawer for resumes. 

 

Watch and read below for the full discussion! 

Question: What does networking look like for you as a recruiter? 

Answer: “As recruiters, our goal is to be a valuable resource within our industry and focus.

A lot of people, when we send a LinkedIn invite, they are worried about us stealing their connections. Let’s be real here - most recruiters have all the tools we need that we can find anyone on LinkedIn and beyond - that’s not the goal. The goal is to be helpful. We want to be helpful to people within our industry. We want to be able to network with them and help them. Whether it is directly finding a job, or sharing industry information in terms of more depth, understanding, and knowledge.

We work really hard to understand and be well-networked within our industries.” 

 

Q: As a recruiter, who do you “work” for? 

A: “Technically, from a legal perspective, we’re working for the company. The company is the client because they are always paying us. But from a realistic perspective, we work for both sides. You need the candidates. And some companies actually refer to candidates as clients as well. We need both in order, quite honestly, for us to get to the end goal. 

At the end of the day, we have to be of service to both sides. We want companies that think of us when they have a need - we want to do a good job and we want them to call us. And then we want the candidates, if they need a recruiter or if they have a friend that’s looking for a recruiter, to refer us. We’re not trying to shove a square peg into a round hole, or at least those of us that have been in the industry for any period of time. Our goal is to be of service to both sides.” 

 

Q: What is a common misconception about recruiting? 

A: “A very common misconception is that we have a magic drawer. It’s a little bit of a dated analogy, but that we simply pull out a drawer and pull out a resume. In truth, we put in a lot of effort and we have a process in order to find the right candidate for a role. 

We work with the company to understand their needs. Going back to networks, we have a good network that’s a starting point for us. But we also actively source and recruit for roles to make sure we get the right fit on both sides. We’re matchmakers. We’re looking to make sure it’s a match on both sides.” 

Melissa Coleman

“Melissa Coleman’s 15 years of recruiting experience gives her a second-nature understanding of clients’ hiring needs. When it comes to manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, and sales in IoT and AI; she has a unique capacity to review chemistry and motivation from both parties and make lasting placements.”

Curious to learn more about recruiting? Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest news in recruiting, telecom, wireless, healthcare, manufacturing, and other exciting industries. To learn more about what Blue Signal can do for you, contact us for a free consultation. 

Interview Tips – Downloadable Guide

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Companies often use interviews as the first step in the hiring process. An interviewer’s goal is to determine whether the candidate possesses the technical skills for the position, can speak to the desired qualifications and accomplishments, fits the company culture, and is truly interested in the opportunity. The candidate’s goal is to gather information about the role, company, and hiring manager while also trying to make it to the next step. From the first impression to the negotiation phase, it’s your job as a candidate to make sure you are properly prepared.  

The best way is to work with a recruiter - like the ones at Blue Signal - to help coach you through the process and give you even further insight into the company, the role, and what they are looking for. Even without this expertise, you can ensure a positive impression by following the interview tips outlined in the following download!

Download our 2020 Interview Guide
Interview Guide - 2020

If you are interested in learning more about what a recruiter can do for you as a candidate in the process, contact one of our experienced and discrete recruiters today to talk about the opportunities available for you. 

12 Steps to your Perfect Hire – Why Work with Blue Signal

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The hiring process can be a long, tedious, and frustrating one. Hiring additional team support is rarely the only thing on a hiring manager’s plate - and truthfully, is probably not their strong suit. When looking to build your team, the last thing you want to be doing is spinning your wheels on half-baked leads that result in under-qualified candidates, all while handling your normal responsibilities. Working with a professional recruiting or hiring support service could not only save you the hassle - it can literally save you money. 

Fact: Companies on average are losing more than $18,000 per month while a position remains open. 

With Blue Signal’s recent achievement of over 800 completed search projects, the proof is in the process. At Blue Signal, we care about making a connection and maintaining our relationships with the best in the industry. Our success is our client’s and candidate’s success. As a partner in the process, we seek to make the best placement possible for all parties involved. To get to that perfect hire, we work with clients through our 12-step approach that ensures complete understanding of needs, goals, job requirements, company culture, and more! 

In exchange for your agreement and cooperation, we are guaranteed to deliver you the best market insights, interview support, and employee retention in the industry. Our tenured recruiting team has the connections, experience, and support needed to truly explore all the options on the market today.

Infographic - Blue Signal Search Process

If you think that you or your company could benefit from a consultation with our expert recruiters, give us a call! Our top of the line recruiting professionals look forward to hearing from you, and helping you find that perfect hire.

Blue Signal Recognized as Best of Tempe 2019

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Blue Signal was recently recognized as the Best of Tempe Award Top Recruiter for 2019. 

The Tempe Award Program identifies local companies that have achieved excellence in their field and work to benefit their communities. Top contenders are chosen based on their service to their local community, the use of best practices, resourceful market differentiation, long-term value, and the image they portray of small businesses within the locally-owned economy. Based on information gathered by the Tempe Award Program and other 3rd parties, Blue Signal Search was selected as the 2019 winner in the Recruiter category! 

Blue Signal is honored to receive this recognition. We are privileged to be part of a great community with such a thriving local-business marketplace. While Blue Signal’s work extends across the globe, we are lucky to call Arizona our HQ home! 

Best of Tempe Blue Signal Award

Blue Signal’s success would not have been possible without the support of other local businesses, our loyal clients, our exceptionally talented candidates, and our skilled internal employees. This award as Best of Tempe showcases the excellence of our industry overall, and the exponential growth it has seen over the past several years, as the search for talent continues to be a challenge  throughout all professions. 

With such a great need, comes even greater competition. At Blue Signal Search, we work to benefit every single person in the process. We ensure candidate satisfaction by helping them take the next big step toward their career goals. This includes our 12-point interview process that prequalifies candidates for the role before sending them into a client-facing interview. As for clients, we work to assist them in finding the next key addition to their team. We act as partners to clients by supplementing future ventures with the talent needed to support those big ideas. After all, the best resource any company has is its employees.

More about the Tempe Award Program 

The Tempe Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Tempe area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. 

The Tempe Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in the community. Their organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Their mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

More about Blue Signal Search 

Blue Signal was founded in Chicago in 2012, and since then, has grown into a multimillion-dollar executive placement firm with offices in the Phoenix and Chicago areas. Blue Signal has established itself as the premier executive search firm within wireless/telecom, technology, and related industry niches.

At Blue Signal, we believe that hiring the right people is the best way to transform business. Our targeted, specialized searches deliver highly qualified professionals to meet every hiring need. Our team has decades of combined experience in finding the right people for each unique company culture and industry niche.

Our team works with both candidates and hiring managers to find the right fit. Contact us today to let us know how we can help.

Recruiting: The Perfect Blend

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Many professionals have worked with recruiters in some capacity or another throughout the course of their careers. It’s common knowledge that recruiters help businesses fill open roles with qualified professionals. But have you ever really thought of the logistics behind this?

To be successful in sales, it takes a very particular combination of skills, attitude, and character. Salespeople must be confident, persistent, upbeat, and influential by nature if they hope to convince someone to buy what they are selling - whether it’s a product, service, or in certain cases, top talent.

Someone selling B2B must be an expert in their product. These companies who sell products and services to businesses are known to have long-term sales cycles. In most cases, this means developing established relationships with clientele to best understand their needs and ultimately deliver custom solutions. B2B sales are high value transactions, with elaborate influencing groups, stakeholders, business cases, and negotiations. Their high-stakes, high-reward model is complex but consistent.

B2C sales on the other hand, need to be able to roll with the punches. They will have shorter, more transactional sales cycles and will need to quickly create rapport with several different buyers in a day. Although their sales tend to be smaller in size, they are much greater in volume and require a diverse set of approach tactics and strategies.

Recruiters, in their unique circumstances, must create a balance and perfect mixture between the two selling philosophies. They must be able to sell a candidate to a company, but also a company to a candidate. 

Recruiter Joke

Why Recruiting is like B2B

At Blue Signal, we partner with our clients to act as an extension of their business. We strive to make our client relationships long-term, mutually beneficial, and as transparent as possible. Blue Signal invests in our clients’ successes and we make it our job to learn all there is to know about their business products, services, pain points, and goals. Our recruiters do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis for each role - making sure we have pinpointed the problem and are able to remedy the hiring issue… whether that be a need for people with different skillsets, an open role that needs filled, a culture fit or transition, or a number of other challenges.

This is much like the B2B model in that we establish a strong foundational relationship with our client stakeholders and must continue to develop the relationship with regular follow-up. CEO’s, management, reporting teams, cross-functional teams, and other individuals can be the driving force behind a hiring decision - so the stakeholders are often diverse and complex. These B2B “sales” are very high value. Blue Signal will charge the client a percentage of the placed candidate’s base salary, which often times requires some negotiations. To combat this fear of commitment, our recruiters must make meaningful, strong business relationships with the appropriate parties to truly create value and trust. The stakes are high, but with our superior caliber of talent, so is the ROI.

Recruiting is also similar due to the comparably small number of clients, and more complex and continual sales cycles. Blue Signal’s client base is hand-picked, relevant to our industry specialties, and truly decides our fate when it comes to sales success. We strive to understand the ins and outs of the business, their talent needs, their standing in their respective industry, where they are headed, and more. Each client is unique, so each tactic to complete their searches must also be unique. This requires a specific set of communication skills and developed business case analysis, presentations, negotiations, and more. We hope to make each of our clients long-term customers.

When you think of recruiting as a business - this B2B model makes sense! And is normally what people attribute to the industry. However, that’s really only one side of the conversation.

B2B Sales

Why Recruiting is like B2C 

Blue Signal has an extensive network of candidates and superior industry professionals that we constantly keep in contact with to help supplement their best career options. This network - unlike our client network - is much larger and much more transactional.

That word - transactional - has such a negative connotation. When really, all that’s meant by it is that our relationship is based on a transaction. In our first contact - recruiters have to sell themselves and their worth to a candidate rather quickly. Their goal is to establish a base level of rapport early. Recruiters may speak to hundreds of candidates in a week - and have to create meaningful touchpoints with each one in order to be successful. Each candidate has a unique set of skills, desires, needs, and other factors so each touchpoint has to be carefully crafted yet quick - much like the B2C tactics used by salesmen calling upon customers. Recruiters are trained to uncover candidate’s career drivers, potential job dis-satisfaction, and other things that get down to the candidate on a personal level. They really dial into the things that drive candidates in order to play into those wants and needs and create a longer lasting placement - unlike companies who often miss the mark by merely focusing on their bottom line. Therefore, the relationship between a recruiter and a candidate is transactional - yet precise and personal.

To truly craft this in-depth and thorough understanding of the individual behind the resume, Blue Signal processes each prospective candidate with a 12-point assessment. We inspect their career drivers, their ambitions, insecurities, behaviors - what makes them tick. A recurring example is people who lie in interviews. If they are in front of a hiring manager, looking for a job, they will say what they think that manager will want to hear to better their chances of getting the job. And - that can be more harmful than helpful in the long run. The candidate and hiring manager may ignore red flags or make compromises, both for the sake of fulfilling their short-term needs. By omitting their real desires, they may not be able to reach agreeable goals. We want to really get to know the candidate and understand what they want, so that we can do our best to place them somewhere they will be happy. This research is reminiscent of the time and effort all B2C companies put into understanding their target market, but on a scale of more than 100 interviews a week (i.e. more than 100 different “consumer” profiles - a Blue Signal recruiter’s target metric).

Not to mention, candidates today are exhibiting consumer behaviors more than ever. According to a survey by MRINetwork, “nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of candidates spend more than an hour researching a job and employer before even applying, and 16 percent of job seekers spend more than five hours!” This trend, coupled with the literal million open jobs without people to fill them, is putting candidates in the driver’s seat. They are doing more research into role responsibilities, company culture, compensation averages, and other key factors in a new job. This is turning recruiters into marketers - having to sell the company, the opportunity, and their structure better than any Glassdoor review ever could. Recruiters have the potential to be that mediator and representation to the hiring process and “customer” that both parties are unable to accomplish themselves.

B2C

Recruiters, The Perfect Blend

In many ways, recruiting is one of the most unique jobs in the world. As our CEO Matt Walsh uniquely indicates, “we are selling people to people!” Recruiters sell on all sides: they sell value to a client, they sell their relationship to candidates, they sell a client’s opportunity to a candidate, and they have to sell a candidate to a company - all before they even make a “sale.” They must maintain a balance between the two sales philosophies: taking the B2C human and consumer element and merging it with the B2B business scenario to create favorable outcomes for both parties.

Recruiters bring so much value to the hiring process. They strive to have that deeper understanding of candidates, their career drivers, and why they do what they do. They work to be partners to clients and invest in their success. A recruiter’s success depends on properly managing solutions to each party’s requirements and doing what is right for everyone. Blue Signal is proud to have some of the highest ethics and proven results in this dynamic industry, and strives to maintain that transparency in all aspects of our “sales”.

Blue Signal Gives Back – Puppy Edition

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Blue Signal is proud to announce its second installation of the Blue Signal Gives Back Initiative, the Puppy Edition.

 

Earlier this year, Blue Signal launched its philanthropy initiative to give back to the community and to causes we were passionate about. Blue Signal takes pride in helping others, and the community we live and work in to make it a better place for all. The Blue Signal Team has a soft spot for their pups, so we decided to give back to animals still looking for their forever homes.

Blue Signal reached out to the Arizona Humane Society and volunteered to participate in their “Fur-Real Canine Play Day Experience.” On Tuesday, our team met with AHS members to deliver enriching activities to the pups at their Campus for Compassion location in Phoenix, AZ.

The Blue Signal team took the dogs out in the yard where we played with toys, spoiled the pups with treats, brushed their coats, and ran them around the agility course! We worked hard to get as many pups out and exercised as possible. All of these activities are designed to help keep the canines healthy, happy, and socialized until they find their furever homes! We had a blast meeting so many unique personalities and bonding with each other as well as with the pets!

Group Shot 3

After some time in the sun, we went inside and put together several kitten care packages to help prepare AZ Humane for “kitten season” with litter and food. Our teamwork resulted in hundreds of ready to go bags for the bottle baby kittens.

Team Volunteer Packing

To learn more about the Arizona Humane Society and its Campus for Compassion facility, Volunteer Coordinator Caitlyn Quintanar gave the Blue Signal group a tour and explained their mission and some key initiatives. AZ Humane looks to end animal suffering and homelessness through the values of innovation, compassion, and excellence.  However, what sets AHS apart is their Ethical No-Kill Policy, meaning they never euthanize a pet for space or length of time. By implementing this visionary Ethical No-Kill Philosophy, Arizona Humane Society has saved an additional 80,000 lives in the last four years.

AHS Logo

In addition to this policy, AHS offers several services that many other shelters do not. From their Emergency Animal Medical Technician Program, to Mutternity Suites, AZ Humane is working to ensure that every pet gets the good life that they deserve. They work every day with the vision of ending animal suffering through rescuing, healing, adopting, and advocating for sick, injured, and abused animals.

Blue Signal was honored to assist such an amazing company and cause. At the end of the day, we spent some quiet time in the kennels with the dogs we met earlier and the difference in their mood was astonishing. These moments mean the world to a shelter pup in a kennel, so if you are interested in volunteering yourself or your group, we encourage you to reach out to Caitlyn and her team to explore ways to help!

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Blue Signal Welcomes Aboard Art Reed!

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Blue Signal welcomes aboard Art Reed, our newest senior executive recruiter.

Art Reed has over 20 years of experience in the business world.  He has held senior-level management positions with companies ranging from Fortune 100 firms to start-up businesses across many industries. He holds an MBA in finance from Benedictine University and pursued finance for his undergraduate degree.

In 2012, Art transitioned into the recruiting business. Art has always had a passion for building relationships. He is dedicated to watching, encouraging, and helping people who are eager to succeed in their careers.

Art enjoys spending time with his wife and two teenage daughters.  He also loves sports and good conversation with friends. Find Art on LinkedIn here or contact him directly at [email protected].