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Earlier this week I was writing an article that will appear in an up-coming issue of a market research industry publication. The subject of this particular article was how employers can ensure a return on investment when it comes to recruitment - whether it be through direct hiring channels or through utilising the services of a recruitment agency.

This is certainly a topical piece, however it got me thinking about the flip-side to this "equation" ... how talent can ensure a return on their investment when working with recruiters.

From a candidate's perspective, the recruitment experience can be daunting, stressful, confusing and often unnecessarily complicated. But with the right relationship and respect for (and from) a specialist recruiter, the experience can be effective, efficient and even enjoyable.

How?

In order to get the most out of the recruitment partnership as a candidate, it's in your best interest to co-operate closely with your recruiter of choice. A recruiter can give qualitative information about a candidate to a potential employer so long as they have been given accurate information during interview. A well-prepared candidate should have a detailed and up-to-date résumé that truly reflects who you are and what you have achieved in your previous roles, as well as a personal career objective that would be tailored to the position in question. It also helps a recruiter if you have a succinct and credible personal skills summary (best written in the third person) outlining your strengths and personal extra-curricular accomplishments.

As a candidate, be open and honest with your recruiter in terms of how you really feel about a particular role and the true reasons behind why you want to leave your current position. But more importantly, be up front about where you are at with any other opportunities or offers that may have presented themselves.

So as you would with any other partnership - be it professional or personal - it is important to be honest and communicate your needs as clearly as possible for the recruitment relationship to work best to your advantage.

You will then find that your recruiter works far more actively on your behalf ... and after all, isn't that what you want to happen?

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You know, I've answered a lot of marketing career questions as part of my Ask the Expert column on the American Marketing Association's website.

The questions have ranged from the fairly general, "Why can't I get an interview?," to the surprisingly specific, "With an MBA in International Marketing from 20 years ago, what professional degree or certificate programs can you recommend in the field of green or sustainability that would refresh my skills?"

While it can be challenging to give advice to people when you don't know them or the specifics of their situation, I don't let that stop me, and not just because I'm a pretentious charlatan.

The reason I don't let it stop me is that I am extremely confident that, on a general level, I can provide people with the basic framework for getting the job they want and it goes like this: a) cultivate a realistic understanding of your own capabilities and limitations; b) focus your job search on specific positions at specific companies; and c) differentiate yourself from other applicants by creating a human connection with hiring managers.

The hard part isn't laying out this framework for people, or even applying it to specific situations. The hard part is actually doing the work it requires to get the work you're after. No one can do that for you; you have to do it yourself.

We have found again and again that if a placement doesn't work out, it's not because our talent lacked the necessary skills or experience. Instead, it's because their style and personality didn't click with the environment and/or the team at the client site.

In other, shorter words: It's all about fit.

Ironically, when we recently surveyed our clients, the vast majority said that "skills and experience" were the most important factors influencing their decision to hire somebody. This makes sense, in a way, since skills and experience are right there on the resume, while whether or not you're going have a productive working relationship with someone remains a matter of speculation: you just have to wait and see.

Of course, we believe that the miraculous pattern-recognition capabilities of an informed human brain can help make the speculative predictable. That is, if someone has a solid understanding of your business, your organization, and you, on the one hand, and the peculiarities and proclivities of talented professionals on the other, than that someone will be able to reliably assess when there is a "fit" between the latter and the former, and when not.

In any event, I wrote a song about "fit" being the new "it." Then I made a video, with liberal deployment of Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt.

In a comment on my last post, someone wrote: "I am completely baffled and mystified by Aquent. My background and skills are stellar. I see a few people here and there who do get work through Aquent. But there really aren't that many jobs around when I go searching for them. What's going on? Is there some secret mantra I should know?"

I started to respond with a comment of my own, but thought that other folks who have not found work through us may have similar questions. The short answer is, "Nope. There is no secret." The long answer goes like this:

There is no mantra or secret password as far as getting work through us goes. At the same time, I would say that there is an amount of "luck" in the sense of "timing." After we've interviewed you and reviewed your portfolio, if we think there's a match between your skills and our clients' current needs, we'll usually let you know right then and, ideally, it will lead to a placement. And one placement may well lead to another.

If, on the other hand, it turns out that due to bad timing your stellar skills don't match any of the immediate needs of our clients, that could mean, unfortunately, that you never find a position through us. Why is that?

Making a successful career transition will be far easier for you if you can meet with key people already in the field you are hoping to move into, or perhaps by simply talking to people doing a similar job to the one you are hoping to do. In either case, your major objective is to gain sufficient information and advice as to what skills are required to ensure you can make the move as smoothly and effectively as possible.

Networking and "information interviewing" can really allow you to explore your career options as long as you are confident and comfortable asking for the right information. By speaking to "experts" you can decide whether a particular career move is right for you or not.

Preparing your own SWOT Analysis (analysing your own personal strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats) can also be a very useful activity when considering a career transition as often this acts as a reality check by revealing potential areas for improvement, personal development or perhaps even further study that you may be required to undertake.

If you do not have all the necessary skills required to change careers, but you have some of the key qualities or competencies, you should understand that you may need to make a "Knight's move" as the initial step in your transition. Like the Knight in the game of Chess, you may need to move across before moving up ... but this is often a very successful, strategic and carefully executed move.

I am sure if you think about it, you will know someone who has taken the plunge, followed their ambition and pursued a career in their dream field. My friend moved from physiotherapy in to public relations. I moved out of the world of advertising in to recruitment, and another colleague of mine left a top-tier law firm and is now a very successful corporate staff motivator and trainer.

Whilst each of these newly chosen fields may appear totally unrelated to the careers which came before them, a positive mindset, the belief in oneself and one's transferable skills, together with a carefully thought out strategy will ensure that your decision to make such a major career change was always meant to be.

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A very useful mental tool you may want to consider during an interview is to apply the "so what?" test to whatever you are intending to say when preparing your response to a particular question.

This is a tool that primarily applies to written presentations that people are preparing to give, as well as to articles people write in order to ensure they provide their audience or readers with the most relevant information.

However it can certainly be applied to a more one to one interview situation.

Here's what you do: In that split second before you answer a question, assess whether the answer you are going to give adds to the interviewer's relevant pool of information about you. If it doesn't, more than likely it's the 'wrong' answer - or at least not what the interviewer needs to hear at that point in time.

Most of us (myself included) are prone to waffling away at length during an interview on various topics and much of that information is not precise or relevant to the listener ... so why am I even sharing it with the interviewer?

Be ruthless with yourself. Both when you prepare the information you want to share at the interview and again during the interview make sure you don't waffle away just because it feels comfortable. Stick to the relevant information and impress the interviewer with your ability to focus on key issues.

Be conscious that even when applying for a job similar to the one you currently have, certain pieces of important information can vary a little bit each time. A graphic design job within an advertising agency is not identical a job with the same title in a design studio or in an in-house corporate operation.

Remember you are not interviewing to prove your ability to get a job ... you are interviewing to prove your ability to perform in and ultimately succeed in the job.

We'd love to hear about your successes once you've actually put the so what test to the test!

Above all ... be relevant to be successful.

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Ask any employer with experience of interviewing for their number one complaint about interviewees and it will almost always revolve around a lack of preparation.

'Preparation' is not simply asking (and then being told) the name, address and contact number of who will interview you ... although that information is certainly important!

Nowadays with the internet allowing free and easy access to information, there is even less excuse for poor preparation. The double edge to this sword is of course that doing your research is no longer impressive on its own.

Talk to your recruitment consultant about what matters to the prospective employer. Find out what sort of organisation they are as well as the particulars of the role. It's also important to ascertain the management style of the person who may hire you. Use all available information sources - print, digital and of course human to get up to speed on the role/company you will be interviewing with.

BUT don't leave it at that: the best candidates are those who think about key areas of focus that will come up during the interview - your experience level and skill set, particular situations that are prevalent, "what was your contribution to your last company's goals in your last role", "how did you handle a particular scenario" etc.

Good preparation and strong answers to these questions is what separates great from average candidates.

If you are not given advice on "behavioural interview questioning" ... you may want to consider asking for more information from your recruitment consultant!

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