Martin Kartin Blog

At the risk of getting some folks a little perturbed, I'm writing this so I get a response from someone whose been through the hiring process lately and read some of my blogs!  I would love to hear from anyone responsible for recently recruiting an executive for their company.  So far, I've received agreement, if not applause from fellow search firms, candidates looking for jobs and other types of disgruntled  [ Read More ]

Its nuts most things in life have become more difficult and if not more difficult certainly more expensive.  Despite this basic truism, there are so many people who are really smart who think that finding a qualified executive has now become magically easier and cheaper by just plugging in a few KEYWORDS and watching all those candidates just fall into your lap!  There's only one explanation for this exception its  [ Read More ]

Everything seems to be upside down these days, in almost every facet of our lives.  Seems to me that a little bit of serious attention to things could go a long way to put some things right side up again.  The most simplistic example is probably what we pay for a good cup of coffee if a little time and conscious thought were applied, I would think that anyone could  [ Read More ]

When I think of using Job Boards vs. retaining a Search Firm, I am reminded of the old Grouch Marx joke!  "Signing up with a Job Board requires signing THE SANITY CLAUSE (based on all one thinks they are going to get) When signing up with a SEARCH FIRM they immediately tell you.  THERE IS NO SANITY CLAUSE". Tweet

If Robinson Crusoe came back from a long respite on a desert island and he were to return as the Human Resource Person responsible for recruiting executives, I think his first day would go something like this!  "Well folks since we have 3 important positions to fill, let's do some networking, look internally and call our best executive search firms and let's get going.  And by the way NO NEWSPAPER  [ Read More ]

Job Boards have an intrinsic conflict of interest. Many if not most, charge the candidate to post the resume and then they charge the recruiter (in house or otherwise) to view the resume or post the job! As a recruiter, if I charged the candidate to show their resume to my client I would show up every time someone searched on the Keyword. “Shady”! Tweet

I've often wondered what the world would be like if we could eliminate the things in our lives that were really useless:  If White Bread were eliminated people would be forced to use a more nutritious alternative for their sandwich.  If cars that gave 10 miles to the gallon were eliminated people would be forced to use autos that were more fuel efficient.  If "Cliff Notes" were eliminated my kid  [ Read More ]

A client of mine was recently tempted to try to fill a job on a very reputable and recognizable Job Board….the Board advertises itself based on price, quality of candidates, speed and variety of disciplines and management levels of the candidates.  My client found out that the Board's claims were all true!  A posting was put up on Monday morning for a Vice President of Finance requiring the following MUSTS:   [ Read More ]

If you've never been to NYC to buy tickets for a hit Broadway Show you may not get this.  But if you have had the experience you'll know what I mean. So here goes:  It doesn't get much better than splurging for good tickets to see a great show especially if you're surprising someone special!  The experience is so great that you want to duplicate it, so the next time  [ Read More ]

Can you imagine opening up the Yellow Pages and scrolling down until you got to all the “right” keywords: Park Ave Schwartz or Riley or Bongiorno Mr. Mrs. Miss. or Ms. And now you are ready to call and ask the person to make a date with you and maybe even dinner! Ridiculous…Right? Why is that any different from going to a Job Board and looking for the right Keywords:  [ Read More ]