(This text was inspired by a real inauguration speech)
We, the recruiters of the world, are now joined in a great worldwide effort to rebuild our industry and to restore its promise for all of our people. Together, we will determine the course of recruitment for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.
Every now and then, we gather to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to our predecessors for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you.
Today, however, has a very special meaning. Because today, we are not transferring power from one group to another – but we are creating consciousness and power and giving it back to you, the recruiters of the world.
For too long, a small group has reaped the rewards of recruiting while the juniors have borne the cost. Companies flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. CEO’s prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.
The establishment protected itself, but not the recruiters.
Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our hard work, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.
It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone reading this all across the Globe. This is your day. This is your celebration.
What truly matters is that you are conscious that you have your destiny in your own hands.
Today will be remembered as the day the recruiters took their place back again.
The forgotten men and women of our industry will be forgotten no longer.
Everyone is listening to you now.
As you read by the tens of millions (maybe I got carried away) you become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.
At the centre of this movement is a crucial conviction: Corporate social responsibility exists.
Recruiters want great jobs for their candidates, a safe workplace for their colleagues, and good training for themselves.
These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.
But for too many, a different reality exists: junior recruiters are exploited in poverty.
Sourcing is degraded and looked down on; rusted-out jobs scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation.
A training system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful recruiters deprived of knowledge. This has robbed our industry of so much unrealized potential.
This carnage stops right here and stops right now.
We are one industry – and their pain is our pain.
Their dreams are our dreams, and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Recruiters.
For many decades, we’ve enriched industries at the expense of our sweat; Subsidized other departments while allowing for the very sad depletion of our own;
We’ve defended other’s salary while refusing to defend our own; And wept blood and tears while our industry has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other companies rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our industry has disappeared over the horizon.
One by one, they shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of workers left behind.
The wealth of our work has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.
But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.
We are here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our industry. From this moment on, it’s going to be only Recruiters First! Recruiters First!
Every decision on salary, intake, and retainer fee will be made to benefit recruiters and recruiter’s’ families.
We must protect our industry from the ravages of other companies making our products, stealing our value, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down. Recruiters will start winning again, winning like never before.
We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our image. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
We will build new roads, and ATS, and scraping tools, and L&D, and Diversity & Inclusion policies, and crossroads all across our wonderful industry.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our industry with recruiter solidarity and labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Support Recruiters and Respect yourself.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the industries of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all industries to put their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilised world against radical no cure no pay approach, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to our values, and through our loyalty to our brothers, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to diversity, there is no room for prejudice.
We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.
When recruiters are united, we are totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.
We will be protected by the great men and women of our industry and, most importantly, we will be protected by our love for our job.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. Recruiters, understand that industry is only living as long as it is striving.
We will no longer accept hiring managers who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it.
The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.
Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done.
No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of Recruiters. We will not fail. Our industry will thrive and prosper again.
We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free companies from the miseries of bad hires, and to harness the energies, industries, and technologies of tomorrow.
A new pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions.
It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all wish well for others.
And whether a junior recruiter is hired in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of inspiration by the life the lead.
So to all Recruiters, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again.
Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our industry’s destiny.
And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together, we will make Recruitment strong again. We will make Recruitment wealthy again.
We will make Recruitment proud again. We will make Recruitment safe again.
And, yes, together, we will make Recruitment great again.
Authors
Nicolas Darcis
CEO, Sourcer, Geek, 360° Recruiter. Dreamer having 1000 ideas per second. Metal head and OG Rap fan, you’ll score points with SlowFood, Craft beer, and a good chat. I’ve published and been speaker at SourceCon. I’ve started a sourcing community in Belgium named “Sourceurs? Non, peut-être!” You can find us on: sourceurs.be, on Facebook, do ping me on Linkedin.
Recruit Smarter
Weekly news and industry insights delivered straight to your inbox.