| Welcome reader! By opening this web page you | | | | continued success." |
| are basically opening the doors of human resource | | | | This poor email may have the sending signing off |
| and hiring manager offices across the USA. As a | | | | in a sloppy fashion such as: |
| corporate recruiter consultant, for over twenty | | | | "Best regards, Mike" |
| years I work closely with hiring managers, human | | | | Poor email's similar to the one mentioned above |
| resource professionals and of course | | | | might be forwarded to me by the hiring manager |
| job-candidates. | | | | whom the candidate was addressing. |
| My job has me working anywhere from 3 | | | | In one such situation the hiring manager and I |
| months to 2 years at a single company then I'll | | | | discussed our final candidates for an operational |
| move on to the next company to help them | | | | management position. We had selected a |
| staff people to fill their open positions of | | | | candidate for the role. I verbally extended the |
| employment. My career has allowed me to work | | | | offer to the candidate, to which the candidate |
| in many different H.R. departments across the | | | | promptly turned down stating that he decided to |
| U.S.A. I've witnessed first-hand what a company | | | | remain with his current employer who offered |
| both wants and needs in their next new | | | | him a substantial increase in pay once they heard |
| employee. I've also learned what are some of the | | | | he was interviewing outside the company. We had |
| major turn-offs for H.R. and hiring managers. | | | | other strong candidates to refer to and since a |
| Today you will step inside my office and learn | | | | financial tug-of-war with a candidate rarely ends |
| what are some of the turn-offs, or as we like to | | | | on a happy note for the new employer we let |
| refer to them in the H.R. office, 'red flags'. | | | | our first choice candidate know that we |
| Red flags for recruiters can be hoisted on many | | | | respected his decision and wished him well in his |
| poles. Poles may come in the form of a resume, | | | | future endeavors. It should be noted that prior to |
| cover letter, phone interview, email | | | | extending the verbal offer to the candidate, there |
| correspondence, reference or face-to-face | | | | were in-depth discussions between myself and |
| interview. Some of the easier to spot red flags | | | | the candidate concerning the selling points of our |
| come in the way the candidate chooses to | | | | company (including benefits) and this newly |
| identify themselves in their email address. I've | | | | created position vs his current employer and job |
| seen addresses with the following enclosed within | | | | duties. |
| the email: getnailed, lazybones, sexykitten, | | | | There are at least three red flags contained within |
| dumbblonde and hotmomma. They might as well | | | | the sample poor email above. |
| have an email address that says | | | | The first red flag is he bypassed human |
| 'don't-take-me-seriously' at email dot com or | | | | resources seeking instead the attention of the |
| 'im-not-ready-to-behave-like-a-professional' at email | | | | hiring manager. Although I was the one that had |
| dot com. Spotting a red flag is like screeching to a | | | | worked with the candidate from phone screen to |
| halt at a red light, only the light will never turn | | | | the extension of a verbal offer he addressed the |
| green again for the job seeker. | | | | email to the hiring manager. I was not a cc on this |
| In the past I have received emails where the | | | | email. This red flag can indicate self-importance, |
| sender addresses the respondent in much too | | | | lack of respect for authority, lack of respect for |
| casual manner. Some emails may start off simply | | | | human resources in general, or lack of |
| as, 'Ed', no 'Dear' or 'Hi' in front of it. A sample | | | | team-player capabilities. |
| poor email correspondence might read like the | | | | The second red flag is the informal tone of the |
| following: | | | | email. An informal tone can indicate |
| "Has been a few weeks since we talked and | | | | self-importance, lack of respect for authority, an |
| wanted to see how the search for the | | | | inability to present a professional image and an |
| Operations Manager was going. I am interested to | | | | overall failure to use wisdom and discernment |
| hear from you on how the process is going. | | | | when communicating at the corporate level. |
| My last email to you and Kelli was more in | | | | The third red flag flapping vigorously in the wind |
| response to a conversation Kelli and I had | | | | comes from the poor sentence structure, |
| regarding salary, benefits, etc. The current pay | | | | grammatical and spelling errors. In his first |
| rate that I have with my current employer is | | | | paragraph he writes, "I am interested to hear |
| approximately 10% above what Kelli was going to | | | | from you on how the process is going." this is an |
| suggest as my starting salary. If I had more | | | | incomplete sentence. He misspelled my name as |
| knowledge of the benefits / bonus structure, it | | | | well as a few other words throughout his brief |
| would be easier to make a firm decision. | | | | message. As fate would have it, it is a good thing |
| Some things have changes with the new position | | | | that the candidate did not accept our offer; it |
| I have taken and looks like they will make it a | | | | appears as though he has a little more growing |
| contract, rather than, longer term position. If you | | | | and maturing to do before being ready for the |
| still are interested in talking with me regarding the | | | | operations manager role. |
| position, we can re-engage. If not, I wish you | | | | |