Over the course of my time in recruiting I have come to realize that there are certain professions that are allowed by society to ask questions and say things that the rest of us cannot.
For today’s discussion we are going to group three occupations that would not normally be put together – doctors, waitresses, and recruiters.
Let’s look at doctors as our first example. If you were in conversation with your proctologist or urologist and he were to ask you, “Say, how is that (fill in a very personal body part) of yours?”
With your doctor asking, you would answer and not even think twice about it. If the person asking was not a doctor you would either punch them in the mouth and/or make sure no one else in your family goes near them.
Next come waitresses. You can go to any buffet or county cooking restaurant (and some bars) and the waitress will commonly ask you, “So what can I get for you today sweety (you can also insert honey or any other related term)?” and it perfectly acceptable to all involved, even for the wives of married men.
Finally, as a recruiter we have a whole myriad of questions and statements that we can get away with but I want to focus on the granddaddies of them all and the two that I think puts us in the same ballpark as the doctors and waitresses.
“So …. what do you make” and “what do you want to make” are two questions that any recruiter could ask within five minutes of meeting someone and have it be appropriate almost without exception.
In many cases I don’t even have to ask – people find out I recruit for a living and they start talking, and talking, and talking and before long money comes up and I know where they are and where they want to be.
I know that as a whole, recruiters get a very bad rap but we are in very good company when it comes to the topic of what we can say outside the confines of the office. We are grouped with some of the smartest people and some of the hardest working out there – not bad company to be in.
Until next time – good hunting and good luck!
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