Has anyone seen my cargo shorts?
By: Kevin Shea, Vice President, Recruiting Operations
In our office there is much talk about the fashionable demise of the Cargo Shorts. In fact, the Wall Street Journal recently published an article (“Nice Cargo Shorts! You’re Sleeping on the Sofa”) calling the cargo shorts a fad which is no longer “fashionable” or “cool”. I have to be honest, I own several pairs of cargo shorts and they were my go-to shorts of choice while on vacation in Disney World this summer, as well as all previous trips over the past decade. As a Dad, cargo shorts are ultra-efficient. I can carry everything, from money to phone to food to diapers, in the 6 or so pockets of my cargo shorts. Just because something isn’t in fashion, doesn’t mean it can’t be really useful and necessary in certain situations.
Which brings me to recruiting, where we operate in a far greater digitized environment than ever before. Candidate communication is tweeted or texted or posted or emailed. And the phone, similar to the cargo shorts in my closet, has seemed to grow out of ‘recruiting fashion’. Recruiters, don’t forget the value and impact a phone conversation can have! A phone conversation allows you to judge tonality, better convey a sense of urgency, ask that critical follow-up question in real time and get a true sense for commitment. I am not saying not to tweet or text or post, in fact I encourage you to use all types of communication methods to reach your candidates, but be aware of matching your communication method to your situation.
Go find your cargo shorts – you know that in the deep, dark places of your closet that you do not like to talk about, you have them –and make some phones calls!
#loveyourjob
Photo credit: Peter Roos