As recruiters, how many of us actually understand the true function of our positions in the corporate battlefield known as recruitment? How many of us are properly prepared to take the challenge and make an impact in the process of success? As Shakespeare so eloquently wrote, "…to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them." Bottom line—it means results, results, results! Recruiters are often told that they are only as good as their last assignment. Hard judgement, high standards, yet recruitment is a professional career we choose. Recruitment is a unique industry that we serve and have great opportunity to excel within. In our work, we affect many professional lives on a daily basis, and at the same time provide many personal opportunities to shine, for ourselves and those we recruit, by challenging ourselves to higher levels of accomplishment. Bottom line—it means success, success, success. That is the way of the ultimate recruitment warrior.

The Art of Zen Recruitment© is for the ultimate recruitment warrior to be a willing leader, having no fear of taking others along into the battlefield. Knowing that others also can excel to levels they have only imagined, and therefore have the opportunity to achieve success through accomplishments they may have thought impossible. By providing a greater sense of purpose, the ultimate recruitment warrior takes recruitment to it's highest level. There is a "zone" that can be reached. Our ultimate goal is to become one with that zone, for that is the essence of Zen.

In business, motivation of the workforce has so often been the use of quotes from the business executive gone motivational speaker. These are fine for the short term, but with recruitment, what draws the power within the true warrior to succeed is wisdom from the sages, like Shakespeare, not superficial hype that only strokes the ego. Depth of wisdom inspires a true recruitment warrior to get out on the edge, expand horizons of knowledge and bring forth a new paradigm of rules that will create a cause to reach new levels of excellence only imagined. This cutting-edge knowledge is what I believe is the path of the ultimate warrior. It is what separates the top producing recruiter from the average recruiter.

But how does the ultimate recruitment warrior accomplish such challenges in the industry today? The Art of Zen Recruitment 101 is to be willing to see things from a greater perspective. Zen 201 is to explore a new realm of understanding, whereby every choice made in relating to candidates and clients creates a significant impact by possessing successful purpose. Zen 101 and 201 are challenges that some individuals never successfully achieve. Within the ultimate Art of Zen is the perpetual redefinition of the role(s) the recruiter plays in the business structure. Bringing greater enlightenment to understanding our true purpose and meaning, and the value that we provide our companies and candidates on a daily basis is the goal—we improve the bottom line of standards. We understand it is not enough to say that recruitment is merely seeking out qualified candidates. Indeed, if this becomes our limited definition of our function, we as recruiters will eventually see our careers as nothing more than a mundane job that pursues mediocre candidates, that needs periodic hype to keep it moving with constant supervision increasing the cost of doing business.

While the recruiter’s primary focus is to identify qualified candidates, we must also have a clear vision, one where our purpose becomes helping candidates aspire to their highest level—in that way we aspire to ours. If we are nebulous in our focus and lackadaisical in our recruitment efforts, we are simply not performing to the best of our ability to successfully handle the position we play, and for that matter, not communicating effectively in the functions we perform. Let me be more specific:

Performing our job well is to have peak awareness of all the important details when communicating with every candidate we contact. Through this higher level of communicating the candidate will know that he/she has an opportunity to expand their professional, and perhaps personal horizon. Which will ultimately result in a greater awareness of who [they] are and how [they] relate to the world—both from a professional, as well as personal, perspective. No other pursuit can give the recruiter a greater sense of purpose than this. We know from experience that many candidates have initial difficulty with an opportunity that begets a great change. It is our job to help those candidates see through the illusions that keep them from progressing through these opportunities. As true warriors, we know that, how candidates often relate to the world and the companies they work for is a direct reflection of their belief system. More specifically, the belief of whether they believe they add value to those companies in general. Bottom line, if they do not believe that they are utilizing their full capabilities, a job becomes merely a job. Being the true warrior, we know an individual can only be fulfilled when he/she is challenged to [their] highest level, and when one feels a connection of purpose.

The main issue is when an individual becomes challenged (i.e. is given an opportunity to explore a new job opportunity) – does the challenge cause retreat or progression. Being well versed on the battlefield, we know that there are no victims—we all make choices that create the outcomes we experience. Our role as recruiters is to bring this awareness forward to the candidate. Often, choices are driven by the fear of creating problems, losing a job or fear of retaliation. Many times it is the fear of the choice itself. Timing is an important factor for presenting change. Our goal is to help alleviate the fears those same candidates may be facing. This can only be accomplished by becoming true partners with the clients we service and by helping candidates see the opportunity as the perfect time to choose a different path for professional and personal success (our process becomes people-focused versus numbers driven, quality versus quantity).

As adults in the business world we live by the choices we make—or avoid making. What I am suggesting is that: every awareness, or choice made, has the potential to make a difference not only for the clients we serve, but also in the lives of the candidates we inspire to progress into a more successful future. Therefore, successful recruiters do not take their jobs for granted. The true warrior knows that one can only gain understanding by actively participating in the process as a leader. I am not suggesting that we carry the responsibility to change others. On the contrary, as I have alluded to, we know there are no victims. We can only enlighten candidates to a greater opportunity through the choice made to progress into the process. As a result, we must strive for perfection in all our recruitment endeavors by paying attention to all details of all phases of the recruitment process: sourcing, developing candidates' interests, follow through, and thorough communications with the client and hiring staff. To truly master our existence, we are willing to pay the price that our calling commands: intense commitments to work with the best, recruit the best, and be the best. It is an ever-evolving journey to become a master of the Art of Zen Recruitment.