I was going to write about recruiting for retention, but then I got sidetracked. The NCAA tournament starts today, and I have done my research for my basketball pool at the office. Last year, I entered two brackets; a first in Goodman history mind you. (I always like to be a trailblazer, you know). I went with Obama’s picks as one of my brackets as I figured he has a lot of professional help on his side so why not take advantage of all that statistical information our tax dollars pay for. Then I selected my own. I tied with myself in the end so I was equally skilled in picking my own bracket as I was with Obama’s!
I would hope President Obama spends as much time working on creating jobs as he does his basketball picks, but alas, creating jobs is my full time focus, which got me thinking about how much recruiting is like basketball.
Walter Bond, a former NBA player and fellow member of the NSA, makes a point that there are only a certain number of people that play for the NBA each year. Each team in the NBA starts the season with the 12-man active roster and a 3-man inactive list, giving a total of about 450 players. I wanted to take that idea to the next level and see how many people play division one NCAA basketball each year. Wikipedia tells us there are 346 schools in Division I, which gives us approximately 4,152 – 5,190 players.
I liken these statistics to our jobs in the recruiting industry. As direct hire recruiters, we are looking for the best of the best. The cream of the crop. The stars that, God willing, just might make it to the pros if they’re good enough and don’t get hurt along the way. It’s up to us to move this process along expediently.
One of my current co-workers, Mike Mardesich, used to play college basketball for the University of Maryland. Since to many people college basketball is a true religion I feel this makes him one step closer to godliness. (At least at my house this time of year.) I sat down with him to discuss his experience of being a sought-after college athlete. In talking with Mike, I learned that there are a lot of parallels between basketball and recruiting:
The athletes who are privileged to play in the Tournament in the coming weeks may only get the opportunity to take a few shots at the Big Dance if they are lucky. Don’t waste any chances at greatness — the clock is ticking on your career as a professional recruiter. Make every shot count.
March is the time for basketball players to shine, so as recruiters let’s share the spotlight and meet the opposition head on. The future stars of tomorrow are moving up the ranks today. Establish trust-based relationships now so that when you need to call on them they’ll choose you as the person they want to work with.