Many visitors come here looking for help in finding a job. It's common for landscape architects to feel quite at home doing landscape design but out of our depth when it comes to lighting our own career paths. You are not alone. There is help. Recruiters are human resources specialists whose job it is to help employers find, screen, and hire candidates. I have worked with several recruiters in the past and have found that they range from being helpful, informed professionals who build a healthy relationship both with their clients and candidates, to pushy sales-types who run a churn-and-burn business 'putting bums in chairs'. So beware. It's not hard to tell when someone doesn't have your best interests in mind, but during those seemingly desperate times when you need work, it's easy to overlook a bad connection.
But this time it was I who interviewed the recruiter. Here to shine a light on the workings of the recruiting business and her unique approach is Elaine McEwen of TalentBird.com. I have broken our interview into several posts and will post them over the next little while.
Full disclosure: I am not in any affiliate or paid relationship here. Just trying to learn and spread the word.
Q: Tell me about recruiters and what they do. How does TalentBird work, exactly?
A:
Large generalist agencies are not well-equipped for recruitment in the design fields. Recruiters in the large agencies have quotas to maintain, so they are going to put most of their effort into the “easy-to-fill” positions. They do not have the time to invest in really getting to know clients in the design fields and their individual specialties, culture, etc. When these firms do (rarely) get an order from a design firm, the first line of search is to look for resumes on Workopolis and Monster and post an ad on those sites. That is about the extent of their effort. They do not work for the candidates. They work for the client-employer.
There are firms that specialize in the design fields. You would have to register with all of them because other than current ads, you would have no way of knowing which one of them will be recruiting for your “dream” employer. Many great jobs are not advertised on the big job boards.
At Talentbird, we try to work for the benefit of both the employers and the candidates. We allow employers to browse the roster of Architecture, Design and Engineering candidates on the website at any time, at no cost. Employers can see the “confidential” profile, resume and portfolio samples of candidates and select those that are of interest. Clients also engage the services of Talentbird for specific talent searches. Our fees are very reasonable for clients – probably less than half of that charged by the large generalist agencies. In addition, Talentbird actively markets candidates to firms that may have an interest – throughout North America, the middle east, etc. So when a candidate registers with Talentbird, it is not unusual to have calls or emails from Talentbird to clarify information, recommendations regarding “spelling”, portfolios, etc. We work on behalf of a number of premier clients in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, Portland, Chicago, Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, Hong Kong…. so we also want to make sure our candidates are presented well.
Many firms in search of specific talent are willing to look beyond their own country’s borders for that talent. It is a good idea when registering with Talentbird, or any other “design” recruitment firm to indicate clearly your position regarding potential relocation. International recruitment is generally only undertaken for senior candidates.
We do not post jobs on the Talentbird website – even though we do have them and we are working to find the “right” talent for those positions. We do not post ads on the site because candidates have a great tendency to apply for positions for which they do not meet the requirements. Then they get upset when no one calls them. When clients post an ad, they find it very irritating to receive hundreds of applications and yet not one of the candidates is qualified.
At Talentbird, the client selects the candidates of interest from the roster on the website and Talentbird also brings candidates directly to the attention of employers, where we believe there might be a good “fit”.
The lesson here is: Don’t apply for landscape architecture and design jobs for which you are not qualified. This just wastes your time, the recruiter’s time and the client’s time and you will not get the position. If you are curious about a position and you think you might be qualified, but you are not sure – then contact the recruiter and ask. I spend a lot of time talking to candidates, helping them to make changes to their resumes, their portfolios, giving career advice, finding out just what it is that they want…..and so on. It’s what I do – so don’t hesitate to contact me. I am always glad to help.
Thanks, Elaine. Up next, What to Expect at your First Job.
