PORTICO INC.

What's in a Job Title? Those who know me and my firm understand that I'm a stickler for accurate job titles. My reasoning is quite simple. Different job titles do the following: 🟩 Automatically trigger different salary ranges, which is important if the employer or recruiter wishes to attract the right talent for the right job 🟩 Imply differing sets of duties, responsibilities, and autonomy. Again, an employer wants to ensure a candidate can do the job and understands what t

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Recruiters often speak of Emotional Intelligence (EQ), but it’s not always clear there’s an understanding of what it is and why it is so important in the private service sphere.  This article attempts to define EQ, offer examples of strong EQ interview questions (they should vary according to position), and explain why EQ is so important and should be tested during the vetting process. It’s also why the interviewing p

Evaluating a Recruiter's Sales Pitch Most businesses compile data (often massaged data) to demonstrate that they are excellent at what they do. Recruiters use a number of tools intended to measure data points that might include things like: Fill Rates: Or retained searches that result in a successful placement Time to fill: Faster can be better so long as corners aren’t cut. However, there are so many variables in estimating the benchmark. I am highly skeptical of firms that

Funnel Conversion Flow Many years ago, a mentor taught me the importance of sales funnel forecasting in business. Funnel forecasting—also called a sales pipeline—is a way of predicting a business’ future revenue by tracking conversions throughout the sales cycle, from the initial lead to, for a recruiter, the final placement. Imagine a funnel as wide at the top and filled with unconverted leads, while narrowing as the sales process progresses and some leads are converted to c

Unicorns: It All Comes Down To How They Are Defined When a prospective client tells me they might be looking for a unicorn (and they occasionally do), my mind doesn’t go to mythical creatures and inevitably doomed engagements. Instead, I ask questions like: Is the position reasonable and marketable? Is the employer willing to make modifications to the position so that it is marketable? Based on my labour market knowledge, do I believe such talent exists? If they do exist, wha

Lone Wolf Recruitment as a Business Model I’m about to admit to what some might consider bad business practice. As the owner of Portico Inc., I rarely engage with fellow recruiters. No offence intended — I simply choose not to. I do know that lack of engagement can make me feel like the “lone wolf recruiter,” and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Perhaps that makes me an outlier. What I do know is that I’ve grown comfortable operating independently in a crowded market. I’ve n

Mitigating Domestic Staff Drama and Conflict I recently came across an excellent LinkedIn post addressing domestic staff workplace drama...

Private Service: An Admirable Profession This article was inspired by another which delved into how to manage a case of domestic theft. ...

Email Blasts and why Portico Inc. avoids them I think it's tempting for busy recruiters to send email blasts to their database about a...

Being and Thinking Differently, Makes a Difference "Gillian isn't sick. She's a dancer." Perhaps some of you are aware of Gillian Lynne's...

Recruiters: Are we Delivering a Product, a Service, or a bit of both? I have written before about recruiting private service staff and...

Working in Private Service can be both Rewarding and Stressful Working as a Private Service Professional can be uniquely rewarding, but...

An Annual Performance Review; Your Employees Want Them When I managed employees, I always made sure to build employee performance and...

Private Chef versus Personal Chef; What's in a Title? In recruitment, correct terminology isn’t just semantics—it’s effective strategy....

The Question that Differentiates the Good Recruiters from the Not-so Good Ones While recruiting and sales share superficial...

Starting a new job is never easy. It's great if the employer offers a robust onboarding program for new employees. In Private Service,...

Okay, so "high-octane nannies" might be a thing for some--at least according to this article in The Telegraph . Nurturing Nannies Some...

Let’s face it, Private Service is not on top of every kid’s list when they are asked by Uncle John what they want to do as a career.

It always amazes me when I encounter intelligent individuals who make the mistake of assuming they have a job “in the bag,” proceed to...

If there is truth to the saying “there is no such thing as a stupid question,” why do so many of us feel the opposite in our jobs and...