Eric Fehr: The Most Passionate Recruiter In The World

Eric is an intelligent guy. At Search Solution Group, he solves problems like Albert Einstein, and makes recruiting look like a piece of cake. While most of these attributes are natural to Eric, exposure to failure and triumph has given Eric the experience needed to become so wise at such a young age. Eric started out working for a direct sales company after completing his degree in Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Learning the nuts and bolts of management and selling led way to Eric finding his true calling in recruiting. With almost two years at Search Solution Group, Eric’s understanding of the business is that the end result and amount of placements are directly correlated to the amount of effort and time spent. The great thing about Eric is that he is passionate and puts a great amount of effort and time into the job orders that he acquires.

As a psychology major, a large amount of Eric’s interaction with candidates and clients is based on asking the right questions. When asking questions, no matter if it’s on a first date, or in an interview, asking yes or no questions won’t get you the answer you’re looking for. Even the most seasoned professionals forget this concept. Specific, poignant, well worded, and door-opening questions are key to gaining a real conversation when making a sale.

Sometimes in the recruiting world, rollercoasters of emotion abound when making a placement, especially if a candidate goes haywire. In the spring of 2012, Eric was working on a VP role with the perfect candidate. As quickly as the job offer was made and accepted, the candidate backed out and accepted another position closer to home. Losing out on that placement with a great company was disappointing, but luckily Eric was given a second chance to fill the job when the position was re-opened several months later. From the despair that was the first attempt came the desire and passion to get it right the second time. Eric’s determination led to the placement of a great candidate and a happy client.

Eric’s words of advice: “Ask for help when needed, give good advice to those seeking help, and lean on your past experiences to help you solve problems in the future.”

Outside of work, Eric lives a low-key life that involves relaxing while watching sports and exercising. To Eric, watching sports is an escape from everything else that’s going on. To relieve stress even further, Eric plans to take up the hobby of shooting at the range like a boss.

“If you are going to be a Bear, be a GRIZZLY”

REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT? BIG BIRD OR ELMO?

 

Republican or Democrat, shit you could even be an alien and there is a good chance you know what Sesame Street is; Ernie, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster (my favorite), Elmo and the forever infamous Big Bird.

We all practically grew up with Sesame Street and these characters. But why would you want to pick on Big Bird and get rid of him? He is by far the biggest of all the puppets and I imagine could be a really mean drunk if he is drinking. Plus hanging out with Elmo all day would piss me off and make me want to drink! I might even recommend anger management classes just to deal with Elmo all week. Don’t pretend you never wondered why someone hasn’t beaten up Elmo.

Think about Elmo for a moment. He is the new guy on the street (Baltimore crew); he just walked in and is all of a sudden is the center of attention. What has Elmo really accomplished? A few holidays ago he was the hot toy stuffed with plastic and feathers. If you pushed a button he would dance, make some noise, be amusing for a moment then quickly become annoying and never leave your house. HELLLLLL if I wanted that in my life I would date another stripper, stuffed with plastic, annoying, amusing for a few moments and really never leaves your house, PLUS is any stripper really a good “dancer”. I don’t think so. There is not much of a difference between that loser Elmo and a bad pole-dancing stripper.

Now Big Bird is the guy who is going to be the center on the puppet basketball team, the fighter on the puppet hockey team and be the first to stand up for his other fellow puppets. There are no other big puppets on Sesame Street, but what about the Muppets? Kermit, the great Gonzo and Miss Piggy they could use a seven foot yellow bird in their crew. Big Bird would make the Muppets a power house, a potential dynasty and give them street cred (as we say in the hood).

Regardless of whether you liked Mitt’s debate the other night he could be the catalyst that finally brings Kermit a puppet championship. It’s tough being green, as Kermit would say. But finally that conniving weasel Elmo would be on the unemployment line or forced to be on stage dancing to “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard. From what I hear is the most popular stripper song of all time, again from what I hear.

I wouldn’t know…I’m practically a saint!

 

It’s Not Where it Started…It’s Where It’s Going That Matters!

I had this funny feeling this morning as I was driving into work about all the random decisions that we make as individuals and how they impact those closest to us. I was turning off my street onto Central Ave (means nothing to some of you) and I noticed that it is getting cooler outside. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out….but my thought was “I can’t believe I am driving to my office”. For years I would wake up, feed Tanner eat some breakfast and work out of my home office in my PJ’s. I was void of ever having a morning car accident, fighting the morning commute or wondering what kind of mood my co-workers were going to be in. It was all I knew for years, it was great!

Then one amazing evening I sat down and met Stella for what I thought was an interview, she swears to this day she had no idea what we were doing or going to talk about. Yes, this is a concern still for me..ha ha. Even worse was the autobiography she told me was reading, feel free to ask her what book it was. It should make you wonder why I hired her.  But as it turns out it was one of my top 5 best decisions I ever made. In the grander scheme of it all Stella said yes to the job offer (thank GOD). These decisions that we made that day and continue to make have allowed us to hire a bunch of great people such as Eric, Ashley, Elena, Aaron, Michelle, LC and Vinny. They have helped us add value to others people lives because we now make our clients hiring process 10X better and have given a bunch of good people some solid jobs. Our team and their decisions everyday have made my life better. They don’t cause any problems, they get here on time and stay late. They are all usually smiling after they have some coffee. We have dogs running around, food in the fridge and we are being successful and having fun.

 My point is that I am no longer throwing out Aluminum Cans (see previous blogs) I realize how important these decisions that we make everyday are and how they impact everyone’s lives around us. I am still making a significant effort to make sure that everything I do is done with a smile realizing how much we affect everyone around us.

 The coolest part is not so much where it started but where Search Solution Group is going! Thank you to everyone who makes this possible every day

Success, Frustration, and Failure

Today started off just as most days do here at Search Solution Group.    We jumped into our morning meeting and started talking about the day ahead and the preparation that went into today for our sales calls. When one of my new folks got a little flustered about the direction they were heading down and maybe even a little frustrated that they weren’t in THEIR own opinion progressing as quickly as they wanted to be.  Not to give away the ending of this story but this person has had more success than any recruiter I ever met in their first three months and is smarter than me on my best day. Soooo most of this for them is all about trying to be more successful and learn more as quickly as they can. The best thing that came out of this is that my new employee is more concerned about what their teammates think because they don’t want to be the weakest link. PRETTY DARN COOL if you ask me!

 As we closed the door and started having a heart to heart I pulled up LinkedIn and started to tell a story about my first three months in the business and the people who were around me when I started. I had no idea what was going to happen because I was just winging the whole conversation. One of the guys who worked at the same firm I did when I first started in this business had at least six more years of experience than I did. I will never forget asking him a question and him laughing at me before he told me  the answer ( I almost punched him in the nose). I started with his LinkedIn profile and went thru his last ten years of work history. What a mess it has been eight jobs in the last ten years! HA HA HA what a joke he turned into. We looked at one more persons background and his LinkedIn profile was not much more impressive. I don’t want to turn this into me hating on people, but more of a lesson on where we are going together and what it takes to get there.

My point to my employee was that we all have to start some place (for me it was getting laughed at) and your level of commitment along with a few other things will help dictate where you end up ten years from now. It is in a weird way very satisfying to look back at those two peoples careers and see that with perseverance, commitment and hard work that SSG has kicked their BUTT! We ended the conversation shaking hands and agreeing to look back at their LinkedIn profiles in nine months and count how many new jobs they have and laugh a little bit together.

Escape from the office – enjoy TV

Over the years everyone is looking for some balance (thank you Mr. Miyagi). For some people  it’s the gym, sports, cooking classes or just plain walking around the neighborhood. I think I have done all the above except cooking classes just to try to have an escape from the office and the day-to-day of the work week. One of my favorite things has always been watching a good movie or a TV Show. I think this comes from my dad, For the longest time I was addicted to “Lost” and since that TV Show has gone away, my new favorite TV show is “How I Met Your Mother”. In my opinion it’s just a really well done TV show that is well told with a great cast of characters and awesome acting. The best part it’s really really funny.

 This week’s blog is dedicated to one of my favorite people to watch on this TV show – Barney Stinson. Barney you have come a long way since Doogie Howser. Here are some of Barney’s best quotes:

 10. Barney: “Plus, here’s the mini-cherry on top of the regular cherry on top of the sundae of awesomeness that is my life”

 9. First explaining to Marshall about his unique qualities: “Think of me like Yoda, but instead of being little and green I wear suits and I’m awesome. I’m your bro—I’m Broda!”

 8. Describing the simplicity of running a marathon: “Step one, you start running. There is no step two.”

 7. Barney, reacting to Ted’s new car: “Shotgun for eternity!” 
Robin: “You can’t call shotgun for eternity.” 
Barney: “I call that I can call things.”

 6. Giving his new friend advice on meeting women: “Now remember my three beginner’s tips for picking up chicks: address her by name, isolate her from her friends, subtly put her down.

 5. Justifying his smoking habit: “I am not a smoker. I only smoke in certain situations: post-coital, when I’m with Germans (sometimes those two overlap), coital, birthdays, to annoy my mom, pre-coital, on a sailboat, the day the Mets are mathematically eliminated every year, and, of course—wait for it—’cause Lord knows I have—pregnancy scares.”

 4. When I’m sad, I stop being sad and start being awesome instead.

 3. In my body where the shame gland should be, there is a second AWESOME GLAND!

 2. It’s gonna be legen………wait for it [falls asleep]….[awakes]…..DARY!!

and #1. Barney: My life rocks! Money, suits, and sex? These are tears of joy! I could be cooped up in an apartment, changing some brat’s poopy diaper but instead I’m out in the world being awesome 24/7/365! You let me dodge a bullet, big guy. (kisses fingers & raises them in the air)

The Greatest Baseball Franchise that was‏

Gary Carter (Photo credit: AxsDeny)

I have written a few blog posts about the lessons I learned on the baseball field in the past. I am not sure if this is a lesson or more of a memory. Gary Carter passed away the other day from a long fight with brain cancer. Gary Carter was one of the great Montreal Expos from the 1980’s. He was a catcher and the foundation of a team from 1974-1984  that had great players on it like Charlie Lea, Pete Rose, Dave Palmer, Jeff Reardon, Andre Dawson and TIM “Rock” RAINES!! I don’t think it gets any better for me at that time. I was in my little league glory, sporting my red, white and blue Expos hat and pretending to be an Expo. My parents were driving me back and forth to baseball practices for multiple leagues during our short Buffalo, NY summers. I was listening to my folks tell me stories all the while listening to the oldies on the AM stations day dreaming about being an Expo.

 Playing little league meant playing catch with mom and dad until the street lights came on, or going to the park with my friends and playing home run derby. It meant making friends with people I did not know that would eventually lead to lifelong friends and family. It taught me how to be competitive, how to work hard to get better at something. It taught  me the value of practice and what it meant to be consistently good at what I was trying to do. Little league taught me the how to lose with dignity and win with grace, thank God we won a lot more than we ever lost. It taught me to dream and have goals and allowed my parents and I to have another bond that lasts today.

 Gary Carter is my first baseball great to pass away and I will always have those childhood memories. Thank You.

Good BUSINESS SENSE for the Job Seeker‏

Just like it is customary for a civilized human being to wash their hands after using the restroom (yes that includes in the privacy of your home) I believe it should just be business sense that when you go for an interview to BRING YOUR RESUME. When you call someone about a job or a business opportunity and you get their voice mail, leave a contact number so they can call you back.

 I shouldn’t have to tell you this, you are a grown ADULT. Have some business sense!!!

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Job History & the secrets that they tell

I have been in the recruiting business for over twelve years and have owned this firm for almost a full ten years, the anniversary date is fast approaching. We have worked with clients from California to Maine and across the ocean in Europe. We have filled all sorts of interesting positions for our clients, some have been easy others much more challenging. But there seems to be one common job qualification that our clients have almost unanimously asked for or asked about……JOB HISTORY. They want to hire candidates with a good JOB HISTORY. I get it and I want to explain it to you.

 I am sure not everyone is going to agree with me and those who don’t will probably be those who have poor job history for either being fired(most likely numerous times), being stupid and quitting a job without another job or starting a business and not being smart enough to have it last more than a few months.  When I am trying to coach candidates and my employees on how to handle certain situations in this business I often use dating analogies because interviewing is so similar to dating. You need to make a really good first impression and leave the interviewer wanting more and excited to want to see you again. Heck after a good first date we all go and tell our buddies or girlfriends, that is what we want the interviewer to go and do. We want that person to tell their co-workers, make a special trip to see the VP or CEO and tell them how good this candidate is that we just interviewed.  However seldom if ever is someone running down the hall telling everyone how great the interview was and saying it is ok ” they have been laid off from the last 6 jobs in the last 3 years, but none if it was their fault”. That is such crap!!  We were just doing our morning meeting when one of our favorite clients called, she and most of her team have all been with the same company for over 20 years!! That is incredible and the majority of them live and work in a borderline economically depressed area of the country, so I don’t want to hear the excuses. They don’t quite get people who leave job after job and for that matter job history is an important part of the resume and interview process for this client and many more we work with.

Now this leads me to one of those moments when I finally saw the light. As a lot of you know I consider myself more of a behaviorist than a recruiter or business owner. Just like a really good poker player can read and find tells in their opponents I can read and hear what people are going to do most of the time when it comes to interviewing, selling and how they will react to certain situations. How do I do this?  If I told everyone than those of you smart enough to read might actually be half as successful as I am, so for now it’s my secret(s). But back to the light, I was attempting to get back together with my girlfriend for the 3rd time when she asked me to help her with her resume. That is when it finally made sense to me, she had a span of 3 years when she had 6 jobs. Just leaving for any old reason (my boss was mean to me that day, this other company offered me 1.00 dollar more) running from one problem to the next without trying to make her current situation better or for that matter herself better.

Again, dating is so much like interviewing if you ever get the chance to see your significant others resume and they have  bad job history, put on your NIKES and run like Forest Gump did !!!

100% of my FOOT in your A_ _

I have never been very good at math; I am not proud of this and if I can deflect blame I would like to say that I had horrible math teachers at my high school in Buffalo, and on a side note one really horrible English teacher whose son was also in my class. I would actually like to go back in time and bitch slap them both and then for my Christmas present this year I would like to bitch slap them again.  Sorry about the rant..now back to the math problem.

I am going to explain why my foot ( I will let them choose sneakers or black dress shoes) should be jammed up all of the 99% who are outside protesting.

I am so proud to be 1 of the 99%. I am not a banker, never want to be one and do not like them. I am not making 100’s of millions of dollars and I do not have a golden parachute. 100% of the time I work to 100% of my ability. I get up every single day on time with a passion and hunger to go to work.  I want to do more and be more successful than the day, the week and the month before. We are trying to help YOU and your friends and loved ones find a better career!! I want to be in the 1%, I strive to be in the 1%, so when I see these dirty, smelly people camping out in front of government buildings and wasting tax payers money it drives me crazy. Roll up your tent, take a shower, shave and cut your hair and go and get a job. Go out and get two jobs and try to make a difference. These ignorant protesters are taking police officers off the streets of our cities, and having to essentially babysit a bunch of non-motivated lazy people.

I have spoken to more candidates these past 2 or 3 years who have said NO to jobs we had, because they are making more money on unemployment. It drives me crazy!!! Get a job, stop wasting my tax money, and do something productive with your life. You deserve to be on the bottom of the 1% of the 99% . You are going to look back and realize that you never made a difference, all you did is motivate people like me and remind me that I NEVER WANT TO BE YOU.

I hope you enjoyed my math lesson this week. To Summarize: I owe 2 people 2 bitch slaps + the 99% really isn’t 99% when you subtract(-) the 1% of the dirty smelly protesters who are making a mess and wasting tax payers money which equals(=) 100% of my FOOT IN YOUR LAZY ASS!!!