Q: I have just over one year of experience working as a benefits specialist in a large company. For a number of reasons, I need to find a new job and wanted your advice on how to locate a reputable recruiter. I would like to stay in human resources, but would prefer a generalist position, rather than specializing in benefits.
A: In a depressed economy, when most employers are doing little (if any) hiring in staff functions such as human resources, and when job openings are simple to locate on the Internet or in help wanted ads, why would an employer pay a fee of 20-35 percent of your annual salary to find youâ¢
The fact is, most employers would expect you to find them, not the other way around.
It's true that some employers use recruiters, but these days, it's to find candidates who have unique backgrounds and who may not be looking actively for a job.
These candidates often have highly specialized experience (such as a chemist, nurse practitioner, Linux developer), specific academic credentials (Ph.D. in industrial psychology, J.D.), or certain industry experience (defense, nuclear). In such cases, employers often turn to recruiters for their expertise in tracking down and courting the right candidates.
An employer may be willing to pay recruiter fees if they do not have internal capability to manage the hiring process. Maybe they just downsized their own human-resources department. Or to find contractors, which is most often true for computer-related technical positions.
I know you'd like someone else to do your legwork, and I am sorry to disappoint you, but it's not going to happen. Not in your field, not at your level of experience, and certainly not in this economy.
Start networking, read the ads in your newspaper and on the Internet, attend professional association meetings and proactively send your resume to employers that appeal to you. These are skills you will need throughout your career, so why not learn them now?
Q: I am a woman in my 40s, never married, and my career is very important to me. I am not a manager but have a very responsible professional position. Last year, our department restructured and I got a new boss, also a woman. Our personalities are totally different, and I just cannot stand working for her. She is a dominating micromanager, has a very noisy style of communicating and is always changing procedures. I am not the only one who is dissatisfied, but I do not want to discuss this situation with my peers. My prior bosses were so easy to work with, and I am at a loss as to what I should do. Should I talk to her about how her style is affecting our team⢠Should I discuss the situation with my old boss, who is now her boss⢠I had hoped to see her style change over time, but it's been nearly six months, and she is clearly set in her ways.
A: Could it be that you, too, are set in your ways⢠And that just because your ways are different from your boss's ways, does that make either one of you wrong?
Complaining to her about her management style will only harm your relationship. Going above her head to her boss would be a disaster.
As they say, the only behavior we can change is our own, so the only realistic solution is to change your own behavior, and if you are too set in your ways to change your behavior, your only other option is to change jobs.
