Karolina Severova, SHRM-CP

This post is for anyone who is currently happily employed.

If you did not have to search for a new job in the past 2 years, you probably have no idea how tough the job market is right now.

So, if you have a friend or an old colleague who is unemployed and actively looking for a new job, I encourage you to reach out to them.

Ask them if they need anything.

A simple referral, another set of eyes to review their resume, or words of encouragement will go a long way. And it takes just a few minutes.

Job seekers are lonely, and many are ashamed of the green banner being up longer than usual, even though it is not in their control.

Let’s show them love and support ❣

This is a comment someone wrote on my post last week that made me so angry.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨“

So people are mad if you take unemployment and label you “lazy“ but also they ignore you if you take a job to make sure you can pay bills?

I do not understand.

As a recruiter and, more importantly, a human, either scenario above does not bother me. And it should not bother you.
↳ If you need to take unemployment and are eligible, take it.
↳ If you need to take a bridge job to pay bills, take it.

In this market, many people will run out of unemployment before they are able to secure a position within their field.

But the bills do not stop.

So if you need to work in hospitality or drive Uber, there is nothing wrong with it. It will teach you another set of skills and resilience.

Yesterday was a tough day.

I had to call a candidate who did not get the job with my client, even though I knew he could totally crush the job.

He is a single parent who was laid off a few months ago from an extremely well-paid manufacturing job after 13 years with the company and now struggles to find a role even close to what he was making.

This is the hardest part of being a recruiter. I care about my candidates, and it breaks my heart that someone with so much experience is struggling to find a role to sustain his lifestyle and take care of their family.

It's funny when people say, “Your job must be so rewarding, you help so many people.“

It is true, I feel that way, but also, the days when we have to make tough calls/send tough emails suck!

So, if you are looking to go into recruiting, make sure to know that you will have to share more “no's“ than “yes's“ because, at the end of the day, only one person can get the job.

I strive to be the recruiter I needed when I was looking for a job

That means:
*being as clear as possible about the opportunity
*sharing salary & benefits details in the job posting and first conversation *communicating and giving updates often
*even if I do not have an update, I will give you an update that I am still waiting on any updates

In a tough market like this, that is the bare minimum we can do to make the candidate's experience the best possible.

I can't promise you will get the job, but I can promise you will be prepared for your interview, get updates, and will know if you were chosen or not.

Happy Monday ✨