Deputize Your Candidate

Recently received the following email and wanted to share so that everyone else can benefit from this reader’s great idea:

Hi, Jeff:

I’m reading your Fee Collection Guide. Great book!

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I wanted to share a technique I’ve been using for the last couple of years for deputizing candidates. Before sending their resume to a client, I first have them send me a cover letter that I can include with their resume. They usually address it to me expressing their interest in my client. If they address it to the client, I just convert it to a PDF file, add my digital post-it note, add security to the document, and send it off.

Almost all of my candidates will write a cover letter without question. If they don’t send it to me, it’s often a sign of their lack of motivation.

More than thirty-five years ago, Jeffrey G. Allen, J.D., C.P.C. turned a decade of recruiting and human resources management into the legal specialty of placement law. Since 1975, Jeff has collected more placement fees, litigated more trade secrets cases, and assisted more placement practitioners than anyone else. From individuals to multinational corporations in every phase of staffing, his name is synonymous with competent legal representation. Jeff holds four certifications in placement and is the author of 24 popular books in the career field, including bestsellers How to Turn an Interview into a Job, The Complete Q&A Job Interview Book and the revolutionary Instant Interviews. As the world?s leading placement lawyer, Jeff?s experience includes: Thirty-five years of law practice specializing in representation of staffing businesses and practitioners; Author of ?The Allen Law?--the only placement information trade secrets law in the United States; Expert witness on employment and placement matters; Recruiter and staffing service office manager; Human resources manager for major employers; Certified Personnel Consultant, Certified Placement Counselor, Certified Employment Specialist and Certified Search Specialist designations; Cofounder of the national Certified Search Specialist program; Special Advisor to the American Employment Association; General Counsel to the California Association of Personnel Consultants (honorary lifetime membership conferred); Founder and Director of the National Placement Law Center; Recipient of the Staffing Industry Lifetime Achievement Award; Advisor to national, regional and state trade associations on legal, ethics and legislative matters; Author of The Placement Strategy Handbook, Placement Management, The National Placement Law Center Fee Collection Guide and The Best of Jeff Allen, published by Search Research Institute exclusively for the staffing industry; and Producer of the EMPLAW Audio Series on employment law matters. Email him at jeff@placementlaw.com.

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1 Comment on “Deputize Your Candidate”

  1. My experience in recruiting has come from both sides of the house, as a full desk agency recruiter and also in house, as a Corporate Recruiter for one of my clients, a major oil and gas company in Houston where I supported our CFO organization. With that being said, I think cover letters are outdated. Only while I was in house and bored did I sit back and take the time to read a cover letter when determining whether I was going to move forward on that candidate. If I received a candidate from a recruiter, I expected a short write up on the candidate in the body of the email and then the resume. I want to read whats important and that is in the resume. If anything, I think that cover letters, if not kept short and sweet can hurt a candidate or the recruiter if they don’t know the specifics of grammar. While I was an Accounting and Finance recruiter, I have a degree in Literature, so errors in writing stood out to me.

    I say save the time and make sure the resume looks crisp and forget the cover letter!

    Robin Milstead
    Performance Specialist- Recruiting
    Administaff, Inc.
    832-601-4406
    robin_milstead@administaff.com

    Reply

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