flee fly flow, a hunting I will go.

I lost myself in work today. Csikszentmihalyi would be proud. Truth is, it has been a while time since that happened. I felt the rush that, I guess, has been stifled by some of my trauma-drama, anxiety and doubt. With Spring at hand (and some jingle in my pocket) much of that negativity has subsided, and I am feeling a lightness of being (but by no means unbearable) I didn't realize was missing.

I have this sense the that things I planned on are actually on track, even though getting to this point was so much work. Getting to this place was really harder than I imagined it being, which, I suppose, makes this resting place all the sweeter. So I get to breathe, and take stock, and stretch out. I actually hit my heavy bag today, and I am not sure why that feels like a victory, but it is. I have experienced some significant validation, which feels great, and since leaping so high worked, I guess I am going to keep doing it.

I always knew that choosing my clients was more important than anything else, but I didn't realize how hard it could be to walk away from the ones that didn't respect me when I had nothing else going on. But since I have now done it more times than I'd like to admit, I am finding it easier, and even helpful to move on down the road when necessary. When I say I move on down the road, I mean something very specific. I am the kind of person that remembers people, places and things. Anything that is emotionally charged in the file cabinet of my mind I don't forget. For me, leaving money on the table, even in early stages, is always emotionally charged. So when I decide I am not going to find talent for a company, they move from the buyer role to a supplier role. It is a common saying in recruiting - "You are a buyer or a supplier." Doesn't it have a nice ring? I love it.

Every company I encounter is in one of those two categories, and the ones I walk away from as a buyer are immediately placed (sometimes forcefully) into that supplier role. It feels good, and is good business. I believe that the way a company treats the people that find them talent is a fantastic litmus test of how they treat that talent. So if we can't come to an agreement on doing business, well, I owe it to the talent in that company to at least offer them a chance to find a company that will treat them better. That is my favorite part of this game, actually.

All of this somewhat painful but redemptive market research has helped me gain new perspectives and formulate some pretty bold opinions related to hiring practices in corporate America. Something is broken (or at least badly bent), and I am not the only one noticing it. I think part of it is the sheer volume of candidates that exist for every position and, while some are qualified, many are not. That is a symptom of the current post and pray methodology that internal recruiters and agencies both labor under. Personally I like the Prey model, as in I go hunting to find the right talent.

There is so much volume in the talent pipeline that a great deal of time is wasted sorting the tiny grains of valuable wheat from the chaff. Lots of good people are lost in the deluge of candidates flowing in when they shouldn't be there. Plus, there are so many folks responding to posted positions that the niceties of communication are no longer happening. Miss Manners would be weep at the lack of couth displayed in hiring practices in 2008.

I hear from both candidates and human resource professionals that the effects of this situation are really a drag, and a lot of gunk is gumming up the pipes. As a recruiter, my traditional place is to help those who want a specific kind of hunting, and I am really a very tiny part of the solution for specific positions in select companies.

I have been thinking about other models that could have a greater impact for both candidates and companies, and it gets me sort of excited. Coming up with ideas that help things work better and perhaps allow a purging of the pipes is fun. It'll be interesting to see if they can be made to work in the real world.