12 Days of Holiday Recruiting

The holidays are just around the corner which means it’s time to look at Christmas lights, bundle up by the fire, and enjoy a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate. Whether you’re kicking back watching your favorite Christmas movie, or spending time singing Christmas carols, this time of year is all about spreading joy and being around the ones you love. This holiday season we’re putting our own special twist on the “12 Days of Christmas.” Check out stories from our recruiters and sourcers as we get set for the 12 Days of Holiday Recruiting:

On the first day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, a one-million-dollar equity package:

“I knew exactly who the client wanted for this role. I identified 20 candidates and engaged 2. After presenting the two candidates to my client, it took 1 phone call to get 1 offer accepted that included a 1-million-dollar equity package. This was the biggest (and fastest) package I’d negotiated to date!”

On the second day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, 2 roles with one quick search:

“I found 10 Diamond Candidates for a client’s role and reached out to the 9 people that met our client’s candidate calibration. Half of them responded. In the end, we had 2 great candidates with slightly different skill sets, so we bifurcated the original role, created 2 roles, and filled them both with the 1 search!”

On the third day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, 3 thank you cards for one role:

“My candidate was so thrilled with his experience that he sent me an email thank you, he wrote me a card and sent it through the mail and followed up with a third email thank you after he started in the role!”

On the fourth day of Holiday Recruiting, my client gave to me, a 4-language, 3-country assignment across the European Union:

“My client was hiring across Europe and needed roles filled quickly across 3 different countries. I filled 45 positions within two months with candidates who spoke several different languages!”

On the fifth day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate brought to me, 5 of his friends to fill my executive roles!

“When I first started in recruiting, we were encouraged to network to build our rolodex. I was trying to recruit a whale of a candidate who would be perfect for a Board position and had deep influence over his company’s executives' discretionary spending accounts. He invited me to a round of golf, and I am not a golfer, but I knew I needed to at least look like I knew how to play golf and try to impress him with 18 holes. I bought the clothes, starter clubs and all.

The assistant pro at the country club greeted us for our round of golf. He asked me what my “golf handicap” was. My mouth dropped in shock from his impolite question. I replied, “I don’t think that is very sensitive of you to ask me what I think is a handicap… I mean, I don’t even think I have played enough to know what I am good at and what I’m not.”

Everyone died laughing, and I died from embarrassment! After they explained the concept of a golf handicap, I was honest and told him how much effort I put into wanting to impress him. He immediately accepted an interview for the Board position and then introduced me to 5 of his colleagues! My golf handicap didn’t improve that day, but my networking sure did!”

On the sixth day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, 6 bottles of champagne:

“While working with the Executive Leadership Team, my candidate rewrote the job spec to better define the role for which he was being recruited! He wrote a business plan and ran the analysis, betting they would put the role on hold, which they did. Then, a month later, six bottles of champagne were at my door as the best thank you gift I'd ever received!”

On the seventh day of Holiday Recruiting, my client gave to me, seven roles to fill in seven different regions:

“My client asked me to fill 7 roles in 7 regions in 7 weeks, and I did it.”

On the eighth day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, the ideal skill set to fill an 8-month open role:

“My client gave me a role that had been open for 8 months. I filled it in 2 weeks.”

On the ninth day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, a follow-up call 90 days later:

“I sent an outreach message for a role to a potential candidate, and he replied to it that he wasn’t looking for a job, but he expressed that my outreach message was thoughtful and informative. He thanked me for the message and wished me luck in my search. 90 days later, he randomly reached back out to me and said he kept thinking about how well thought out the initial message was, and if the role was still open, he’d like to discuss the position and company in more detail. He said, “If your message reflects the thoughtfulness and organization of the company, then it’s a role I’d like to talk more about.”

The initial message I sent became a template for my colleagues to edit and use for other roles.

On the tenth day of Holiday Recruiting, my least favorite candidate gave to me, one giant offer rejection:

“I had a candidate with an offer for 2 weeks, and he decided to reject the offer on Christmas eve at 4 pm (I had already been off for 2 days for the holiday). It was definitely NOT merry.”

On the eleventh day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, a relocation acceptance with an international team:

“My client was a global water technology firm, and they asked me to fill a niche engineering role on a brand-new team they were building out. This role required a very specific skill set and experience that narrowed the talent pool considerably. What’s more, the hiring manager was in Germany and the team would be on-site in a small Canadian town. I successfully found a candidate several hours outside of their target location who was willing to relocate. This candidate not only had the skillset the hiring manager hoped to find but also had unexpected leadership experience that was going to make him a huge asset to the new team. It turns out, this candidate had been trying to land a job with this company but had been overlooked for nearly two years due to his current job title. In the end, both the candidate and the hiring manager were thrilled. I still occasionally hear from the candidate on how well things are going with the team in Canada and in his role!

On the twelfth day of Holiday Recruiting, my favorite candidate gave to me, twelve methods of transparency:

I reached out to a passive candidate in December, during the holiday season, and she gave me an open and honest list of her likes and dislikes about the position, the other companies she was interviewing with, and what she liked and disliked about them. She gave me stellar communication and an alternate contact email. She provided me a concise, one-page, no-fluff resume and remained engaged throughout the process. We negotiated a great compensation package for her, including a hefty pay increase  – a wonderful gift right before the holidays!

Our team at IQTalent Partners wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season. As you start the new year, keep us in mind for any of your recruiting or sourcing needs! We’ll help you start the year off right and land that perfect candidate on your wish list.