In this short solo video, Richard Milligan of 4C Recruiting uses a dog‑versus‑cat metaphor to illustrate how recruiters should approach their work. He argues that recruiters should adopt "dog" traits—quickly forgetting setbacks, being willing to enter uncomfortable situations, and maintaining a fun, persistent attitude—rather than "cat" traits, which he describes as selective, easily discouraged, and less resilient. Milligan advises recruiters to keep reaching out to prospects even after rejection, to view negative interactions as opportunities to rebuild bridges, and to stay light‑hearted in the process. He closes by promoting his website (ForCRecruiting.com) and his new podcast, Recruiting Conversations, inviting viewers to watch more videos and listen to the show.
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Hey everybody, it's Richard Milligan here with 4C Recruiting, and I want to share a little laugh with you today because recruiting can be hard. And if you know me, you know that I actually coach people that are recruiting leaders. And so while I believe recruiting is simple in that it is some practical things you need to do to be successful, the actual behaviors can be difficult. So I found myself chuckling the other day when I told a coaching client, you need to be more like a dog than a cat. And so let me tell you what I mean when I say that. In full disclosure, I'm a dog guy. I'm not a cat guy. So if you're a cat guy, you might just click off this video and move on. I don't want to offend you. But the truth is this, is that dogs typically forget things pretty easily. So, you know, if a dog gets kicked by somebody, they typically come back in 5 minutes. They're willing to lick the hand of the master, even if the master lost his cool. But dogs are also different from cats in other ways. Dogs are more willing to put themselves in situations that may be uncomfortable, whereas cats are pretty specific about situations they'll put themselves in. And one thing that the dog is always about is having fun. So inside your recruiting efforts, where I encourage you is be more like a dog than like a cat. Be willing to put yourself in situations that you're uncomfortable a lot and be okay with that. Be okay with having a recruit that hangs the phone up on you or dishes you on LinkedIn or says something that hurts your feelings. Be willing to go back to that recruit again and be a bridge builder. A dog would be someone that would get over that pretty quickly, and so I encourage you in your recruiting efforts, take this lighthearted idea and tell yourself, I wanna be more like a dog than a cat inside my recruiting efforts. I hope this has brought some laughter and some joy to your day. Again, Richard Milligan with ForC Recruiting. You can see more videos like this on my website, ForCRecruiting.com. You can also catch up with me on my podcast. A few weeks ago we launched a new podcast called Recruiting Conversations. We're on iTunes. You can catch us there. You can also catch it directly on the website recruitingconversations.com. And until we see each other again via video, all the best to you and have fun recruiting. Thank you.
