Often sales teams struggle to function as a team, as individuals seek to guard their own leads and successes. Recruitment is no different in this respect, as it’s a high-pressure job and becoming a top biller can be fiercely competitive.

It’s a natural reaction to protect your advantage, but the problem is that it’s not necessarily an effective one.

The power of teamwork can actually propel you to new heights through knowledge pools, motivation and shared goals. Even better, the whole team rises, meaning you become an obvious force to be reckoned within the company, leading to bigger clients and more opportunities.

5 Reasons Why Better Team Players Are Better Recruiters

1. By collaborating with your other team members more closely rather than guarding information, you expand your network of contacts exponentially. You’ll soon find that leads for new clients are not only more frequent as they filter in from this network, but that you’ll also recommend leads to others when they’re more suited to a client, thereby consolidating the trust network.

2. By becoming a role model within the team- showing enthusiasm and generosity, your billing successes will not be viewed with jealousy by colleagues, but more with a sense of optimism – ‘I can do this too!’ Encouragement and positive role models breed success- and the more successes you have, the more business comes to your team.

3. When a team starts succeeding together, it promotes healthy competition within its members rather than destructive competition.

4. When you help others, or ask for their input on an issue you’re facing with a client or candidate, you’re creating an alliance. If you are then away from work ill or are focussed on another project, these ‘allies’ are the ones that you can turn to rather than dropping the ball. This support is really important in a job where you frequently face rejection and have to deal with high-pressure.

5. You gain access to your colleagues’ banks of knowledge and experience. The importance of this can’t be overstated: knowing how someone else navigated a disastrous placement or an angry client in the past can give you powerful insight into how to cope with your particular challenge.

If you jealously guard your information, you will likely stagnate, and have nowhere to turn when you need help. By harnessing the power of teamwork, you gain contacts, knowledge and support, as well as bringing positive attention to your team and thereby securing bigger and better opportunities in the future.

Until next time,

Cheryl

Hitting Your End Of Year Billing Targets-Turning Dead-Time Into Dead-Line

As Christmas decorations appear in shops, it’s all too easy to consider 2015 pretty much finished when it comes to reaching our yearly career targets. Our ‘2015 goals’ quickly become ‘2016 goals’ as our foot moves off the accelerator and we slip into neutral for the party and holiday season.

That is a terrible mistake-and one which overlooks a great opportunity.  Instead of considering the lead-up to Xmas as a ‘dead-time’, let’s consider Xmas as a ‘dead-line’.

An enormous amount of progress can be made in short bursts of intense activity, as Eric Worre has so famously proven in his renowned 90 day plans. He likens a business or a project to an aircraft, and points out that planes cannot take off without 100% throttle. After you’ve reached ‘altitude’, you should ease off the throttle in order to avoid burnout, but by that stage you’re at a different level, having impressed others and yourself with your extraordinary achievements in a short time frame.

It doesn’t have to be 90 days- after all, in this case, Christmas is a bit shy of that anyway. Yet the concept is the same- and so is the reason it works so well.

How so?

The key to the power of making end of year targets in October is the refreshing shortness of the deadline. After all, when we set ourselves yearly, 5 yearly or even 10 yearly targets, it’s all too easy to procrastinate, and unforeseen events can come in and completely change matters. With a short-term plan that runs only over a few months with an immovable deadline, there’s no time to procrastinate, and there’s less vulnerability to outside forces.

Tips for short-term goal setting

Write down your goals and a non-negotiable deadline.

Remember, the idea is to throw everything you have at it. So aim high and then chase like crazy.

No excuses. Make this goal your top priority. If you have to work 14 hours a day to reach it, do so.

Choose a goal that will make you proud to reach it. This means that while it’s great to impress your bosses by reaching this target, it’s vital that you will impress yourself- otherwise you may falter.

Run work goals past your manager- they might have good input and may even be able to help you reach the goal by allocating you extra resources.  On the other hand, you might find that they don’t think it’s a priority and you can save yourself a lot of effort and heartache by finding a more suitable end of year target.

You can choose more than one goal- often having personal goals like fitness will actually complement your work goals brilliantly as one achievement spurs the other.

Of course, you could ignore this advice and just begin a 90 day plan on the first of January, 2016. But then you begin 2016 on a note of failure, knowing that you didn’t reach your goals and didn’t even really try to. Happy goal-chasing- and remember, you can always relax over Xmas as you look back on a truly great year.

Until next time

Cheryl

As a recruiter, you share one vital if obvious characteristic with the candidate: you both really want them to get the job. Therefore, rather than just lining up the interview for a candidate and wishing them well, perhaps you need to spend some time properly prepping them for the interview so that both of you are assured of success.

This is particularly true for those candidates who you know are highly qualified, but don’t present terribly well in interviews due to nerves. Some might argue that it’s down to the candidate to prepare themselves properly and that those who fail at interviews due to stress aren’t right for the job, but there are two fairly powerful arguments to counter that:

1. Remember that a poor showing by a candidate in an interview reflects on you poorly as a recruiter, so it pays to take the time to help them- not only to secure the placement, but also to preserve your good reputation.

2. Consider this: Are someone’s nerves in an interview scenario a real indicator of their suitability for the role in question? In some high-stress jobs that may be the case, but for the most part, well-qualified candidates don’t deserve to get passed over just because they don’t present well in interviews.

Good preparation minimises these nerves and allows candidates the clarity of mind to properly explain their skills and past successes.

How you can do more for your candidates

a) Make sure your candidate understands how important preparation is. Some will think they can just breeze through, while others might not really want to think about it at all due to nerves. It’s your job to impress upon them that they need to invest this time in themselves. After all, they wouldn’t think twice about spending a few hours preparing for a business presentation, so why not spend a few hours preparing for an all-important job interview?

b) Find out as much as you can on their behalf about the interview process, including the type of interview it will be and the interviewer’s names. This knowledge will allow the candidate some really good preparation. Also tell them to check out the interviewers on LinkedIn or social networks to remove some of the mystery around them and put a face to a name.

c) Get your candidates to write down their strengths and weaknesses, and how the weaknesses can be re-cast as strengths.

d) Get them to answer some example questions- and tell them to aim for 2 minutes, focussing on examples of past achievements- this is what the interviewers are really looking for.

e) Find out the interview dress code and let the candidate know. A poorly-chosen outfit can de-rail an interview before the first word is spoken.

f) Finally, go through some all-important body language tips and test their handshake if meeting in person.

By assisting your candidates with what can be a nerve-wracking process, you allow yourself to stand out as an exceptional recruiter in a crowded field. You allow them to shine, and your reputation shines too. Which is a win–win, really.

Until next time

Cheryl

Are You Using Market Mapping to Identify Where the Good Candidates Are?

More than anyone, as recruiters you understand how important it is to know the talent landscape. Which is why market mapping (often called talent mapping) is a vital recruitment tool– allowing you to be ahead of the game with a long-term talent pipeline to offer clients.

What is market/talent mapping?

Talent mapping, quite simply, is researching and mapping where the talent lies in a certain company, industry or geographic location. It is about finding out where the high flyers are, where the rising talent lies…and where the talent gaps are.

Once the existing talent is mapped out and the individuals profiled, the next step in market mapping is reaching out to these individuals to find out if they would consider moving to a new role in the future- it can be in 6 months, 12 months or even years ahead.

This long-term approach ensures that you have a talent pipeline feeding in from all corners of the industry for years into the future.

Why do it?

Becoming an expert in talent mapping will mark you as an outstanding recruiter that can reduce client’s hire time. Most companies wait until employees quit before beginning the often long and expensive search for a candidate: with talent mapping you already have top candidates in mind who have already been primed for an offer of interview. This can streamline the client’s hiring process enormously, making you look very good indeed.

Talent mapping also gives you a powerful knowledge of the industry in its current stage while allowing you to prepare for talent gaps and potential challenges in the future. This will make your personal brand as a recruiter extremely attractive to forward-thinking clients.

How can you talent map?

It used to be the case that only big companies with big resources could talent map, but now you can talent map using social networks like LinkedIn in association with your existing recruitment database.

• Put all the info in a spreadsheet or mapping software as you go.
• Build your talent map constantly, adding in contacts you meet along the way (you never know when someone might become useful).
• Be realistic- don’t waste time trying to map uninterested/unattainable candidates.
• Scour your competitor’s websites for any information on talent movement.

• When you’re ready, start reaching out to find passive jobseekers.
• Keep it updated! This is not a job that takes care of itself; talent mapping requires good research and reaching-out skills.

Talent mapping gives you an in-depth understanding of the talent pool, both currently and long into the future. As a recruiter, it takes time to create and maintain, but it is a formidable tool in your recruitment arsenal, and one that is increasingly required.

Until next time

Cheryl

With social media networking on the rise, a lot of recruiters have let traditional face-to-face networking slip. But let’s face it: you can only do so much relationship-building from behind a computer screen with a company logo acting as your online avatar. Tweeting about recruitment opportunities simply can’t create the same human bond as a great conversation at an event over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

Networking is about building human relationships- and sometimes, only a face-to-face conversation will do.

Why is networking so important for a recruiter?

By attending networking events and conducting yourself well, you will brand yourself as the recruiter of choice. Rationally, companies will always choose a recruiter that is familiar with their industry and has shown interest in it- one who knows the industry heavyweights and the rising stars, the trends and the challenges. By attending industry events, you are marking yourself out as the recruiter with inside knowledge. Networking well will bring you both quality clients and quality candidates, often opening up new markets and opportunities that you may not encounter sitting behind your desk.

We do business with people we know and like, not necessarily with those who offer us the cheapest deal. That’s why the human element of networking events is so dramatically important.

How to master networking

1. Sign yourself up to attend networking events, conferences and seminars around your specialist industries. If you have the time, offer your services at the event in some way- signing yourself up to speak at an event would be a great coup if you can manage it.

2. You don’t necessarily need to pinpoint a certain industry specifically- some of the more general networking events like ‘Young Professionals’, ‘Women in Business’, or wider industry bodies can actually offer spectacular opportunities , as it gives you a chance to break into new and unexpected markets and consolidate your reputation with anyone from your favoured industries who attends those events. Networking is about widening your circle, and some of the real magic happens when you attend more general events.

3. While networking, don’t go in for the hard sell. No-one on earth appreciates that. It’s blindingly obvious when you’re only listening to someone to find an opportunity to further your own cause. Make natural conversation and genuinely listen to the other person. Talking about sport or something interesting that you read can be just as important to creating a relationship as exchanging business cards.(We do business with those we like, remember?)

4. Don’t expect to do business and land a new client or candidate on the night. Networking doesn’t generally work like that- (although it can also deliver instant results). Networking is more long-term in nature; it’s about creating a rapport with someone who may later either use your services or recommend your services to someone else.

5. Don’t shower everyone in business cards like confetti, as in doing so they lose their value. A business card is for someone who you have had a real conversation with and want to continue it later. You really know you’re making progress when someone asks for your business card.

6. Follow up! If you cast your mind back to the last event you went to, you’ll probably instantly think of someone who you really meant to follow up with, but never got around to it. What a missed opportunity. As soon as you return from a networking event, email or call with follow-ups saying it was enjoyable meeting them and briefly outline any ideas you have for future collaboration. Again, don’t hard sell- it’s not the time or the place (if there ever is a time for it.)

Attending networking events is important. Attending them well is vital. So get out from behind your computer and expand your circle at networking events. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes to your personal brand as a recruiter, and how it can deliver new clients and feed into your talent pipeline.

Until next time

Cheryl

In the high-pressure world of recruitment, we need to be emotionally resilient- able to bounce back from placements that fall through, client relationships gone suddenly sour, or candidates that haven’t lived up to expectations. As recruiters, we get knocked back a lot, and it is easy to allow that stress of hearing rejection to build- damaging our careers and, even worse, our self-perception.

We hear ‘no’ all the time, and failure is an occasional part of working life. Yet how we cope with these seemingly ‘negative’ events is what separates the truly successful recruiters from the mediocre.

What defines our long term success is our emotional resilience.

Emotional resilience is the new buzzword- not only in the workplace, but in life. The term’s been around since the 1970’s, when social scientists noticed that some people bounce back from adversity much easier than others. At first it was thought to be genetic, just another roll of the DNA dice, but it’s since been shown that emotional resilience can be taught.

It’s now being taught around the world to tremendous effect- initially to survivors of natural disasters and victims of catastrophe, but now also in schools, in high pressure government departments and in big business. Even President Clinton is a recent convert- and he’s had a fair bit of stress to deal with over the years (and not always well.)

So, are we just talking about that other buzzword, emotional intelligence?

No, this is different, although the two certainly go hand in hand.

What’s the difference?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise emotions in yourself and others, and use this awareness to get along well with others, manage our stress, and make good decisions.

Emotional resilience is a vital extension of this: it’s the ability to bounce back when these great strategies fail for some reason- when we have a personality clash with someone, our stress levels skyrocket over a particular client or candidate, or a decision we thought was sound is proven not to be . This is where our emotional resilience kicks in and finds triumph in adversity- or at least can see the pathway out of the slump.

So, how can we learn emotional resilience?

There are many courses being taught, and perhaps your company will offer training if requested. Yet a course isn’t strictly necessary, as there are many ways to bolster your emotional resilience on your own.

Tips to boosting your emotional resilience

1.  Notice how you react to rejection/failure/criticism. If you notice your heart racing, you feel defensive or feel low, make a promise to yourself to improve your reaction.

2.  Retrain yourself to view stress as ‘challenge’ or ‘opportunity’. See mistakes as something to learn from rather than beat yourself up about.

3.  Don’t engage in negative self-talk. Once you notice how much you do it, you will almost certainly be amazed- would you speak about your friends the way you speak about yourself? Be kind to yourself.

4.  Make a note of things you do when you feel stressed or unhappy to make yourself feel better. Write a list of things that cheer you up, and return to that list when you feel rattled.

5.  Write a list of your past achievements, and look at it regularly to bolster your confidence.

6.  Surround yourself with a network of kind and positive people.

7.  Talk problems through with someone- but the RIGHT person, someone who can give you perspective on your situation.

8.  Celebrate each time you deal with a ‘challenging’ episode well. You are growing your emotional resilience- well done!

9.  When you do feel beaten down, don’t just put up a veneer that everything is fine. Part of emotional resilience is accepting the emotions that you are feeling, and working through them calmly.

10.  Exercise, mindfulness and meditation are effective ways of building your emotional resilience.

You can see from the above list that the core of emotional resilience is self-belief, so anything that boosts your sense of confidence and achievement is powerful. Set goals and get going!

Until next time,

Cheryl

As recruiters, we understand the thrill of placing the right person, and letting them know that they’ve got the job. What we like a lot less, however, is letting all the other candidates know that they missed out, and why.

That’s understandable – keeping candidates informed of their application status is not only a constant task, but it’s also often an emotional one – and one where we often don’t have the answers that the disappointed candidate seeks.

Perhaps our reluctance to give proper feedback is why candidates sometimes voice their discontent with recruiters during the job-seeking process, saying that they feel either:

Forgotten: The interviews are over, yet the candidate hears nothing. They end up realising that they’ve missed out on the job simply by default- when the phone never rings.

Ignored: The candidate contacts the recruiter to find out how they went, but hears nothing. The recruiter doesn’t contact them again for future roles.

Bewildered: What went wrong? The recruiter informs the candidate they didn’t get the job, but gives no feedback.

Built up unnecessarily: This happens when candidates are contacted to join the recruiter’s database on the basis of a ‘fantastic opportunity’, but never hear anything more about it, leading the candidate to suspect that the job never existed and that it was a ploy to build the database.

As such, in our approach to ‘letting a candidate down’ with the news that they didn’t get the job, perhaps we’re sometimes ‘letting them down’ in the other sense: that is, that we are failing them in some way.

So, what can we do better?

1.  Without fail, inform the candidate of their success or failure. If you are too time-pressed for a phone call, at least take the time to send an email.

2.  Without fail, respond to each request for a decision, or let them know if the decision has not yet been made.

3.  Without fail, make an attempt at feedback with the candidates that reached interview round. If you have no feedback at all from the client, explain this to the candidate. If you have negative feedback about the candidate from the client, tactfully suggest they brush up on their interviewing skills.

4.  Without fail, make the attempt to match your new candidates with opportunities, or they will suspect they are being used to build up the database.

Every candidate on your database deserves to hear the outcome of their job application. And by informing them promptly and with all the attention you can reasonably afford to give, you will soon have a reputation as a respectful recruiter, thereby attracting strong candidates…and clients.

Until next time,

Cheryl

As a recruiter, you know the importance of interviewing well, so it should come as no real surprise to you that in order to win the best clients, you need to sell yourself well.

It’s time to apply your own advice and apply the techniques of good interviewing to your new business pitches to win (and retain) valuable clients.

1.  Know your client’s business. Just as an employer is impressed with a candidate who shows they have done their research, make sure your pitch is tailored carefully to their company- their goals, their culture and public image. Before you even think about picking up the phone to them, find out who their major players are, as well as their major competitors. Find out how their sector is doing at the moment, and where they sit in the field. To get an idea of the culture, read their blogs and take a look at their company social media.  Read their ‘who are we’ page carefully, as well as any employee profiles available online.

2.  Make sure you know your own company’s history with them. It would be very awkward if you call to make a pitch only to find out that they used to use your recruitment services in the past, but don’t any longer due to an issue. Ask around the office – your manager and your colleagues, to find out if they have any past dealings with them or specific knowledge. You need to be forewarned so you can put together the most powerful pitch.

3.  Make yourself known. If you’re facing a cold call, try to make gentle approaches first that make your name visible. Retweeting their blogs or achievements is a good policy, as well as reaching out on LinkedIn. Use your network to see if you can find common links for introductions, or attend networking events in the field. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but good clients are extremely valuable, both to your company and your professional career!

4.  When pitching, keep yourself from over-promising or sounding hesitant. Be concise and confident, explaining in a clear manner how your recruitment service can deliver the best candidates. Use examples of your past successes when relevant to their field.

5.  Copy their communication style. If they are businesslike and formal, be that way too. If they like a chat, adapt your style to match. Notice if they tend to answer your phone calls with emails, or vice versa – this is a clear indication on their preference for communicating, so heed it well in order to keep them comfortable and not avoiding your calls.

6.  Once you have ‘won’ the client, make sure you keep them updated, with regular reports on what you are doing for them to justify your fees. Also, don’t be afraid to begin building on a stronger relationship by going outside the box and talking about things other than business. The odd lunch never hurts either- this kind of bonding exercise is what creates loyalty between recruiter and client.

Until next time,

Cheryl

It’s September already, and the promotion you’d been hoping for this year just hasn’t happened. It might be tempting to stop hoping for it, and factor it into next year’s goals instead.

That would be a mistake.

There are still four months left of 2015, meaning there’s still plenty of time to make this the year you get that big promotion. At the very least, the groundwork you do now will put you in prime position for promotion early in the New Year. Either way, it’s time to be building momentum, not giving up.

Firstly, you need to give some serious yet dispassionate thought to why you haven’t received the promotion already. There are a few common reasons why people often miss out on promotions- as well as some top tips for re-establishing yourself as a prime contender for promotion.

1.  You think that ‘time served’ or simple hard work will get you a promotion. This is not the case in the modern workplace, where Millennials expect rapid promotion and overtake the longer-serving employees on the promotion track.

Tip: Stop feeling entitled to a promotion because of hard work or loyalty to the company. Look around at others who got promoted, noting their energy, tactics or fresh ideas.

2.  You’re working hard, not smart. You’re doing the legwork, but you’re not bringing your achievements to the attention of the managers.

Tip: When you have a success, make sure it is noted. Send regular updates to your manager showing the work you’re getting through. Present your successes in a way that make you a powerful candidate for promotion.

3.  You haven’t told your managers that you’re looking for career progression.

Tip: They might not even know that you are keen for a promotion! Sit down with your manager and indicate that you want to progress with the company in the future and discuss how you might do that. 

4.  You haven’t requested honest feedback. There might be something you’re doing that is blocking your chances of promotion.

Tip: Be brave enough to find out where you need to improve. Get out of your own way!

5.  You were somehow led to believe that you were next in line for promotion, but then it didn’t happen. You didn’t follow up.

Tip: Always follow up! Even if this conversation was many months, even years ago, follow up with that person. They might have taken your lack of follow-up as lack of interest. Yes, there’s a possibility they changed their mind about your suitability so dropped the idea, but isn’t it better to know that- so that you can change their mind right back again?

6.  You’re not using your initiative and anticipating problems, or offering fresh ideas.

Tip: Using your initiative to solve problems and come up with fresh ideas is the sign of someone primed and ready for promotion. Imagine you’re starting the role for the first time- remember when you were new and spotted inefficiencies or problems…but then just got used to them? Inject new energy into your role to anticipate and troubleshoot issues.

7.  You’re caught up in your own role or department and are not looking at the wider company’s goals.

Tip: Have a look at the company’s objectives from a wider perspective. Talk to your manager about how you can work together towards some of the strategic goals.

8.  You’re not keeping abreast of the wider industry.

Tip: Companies promote those who can keep them competitive in the field, can spot opportunities, and know where their competitors are heading. Subscribe to industry publications, attend seminars and seize learning opportunities. 

9.  You’re not making yourself indispensable to your manager.

Tip: Grease the wheels a bit. We are naturally drawn to helping those who have shown themselves to be helpful to us. Spot where you can be of extra assistance to your manager. 

10.  You’re not making yourself known.

Tip: Get busy on LinkedIn, comment on company social media, and write a piece for the company newsletter.

11.  You’re not dressing to impress.

Tip: It may seem superficial, but the way we dress has an impact on how people view us. If you dress for the position you WANT, rather than the position you occupy, you are one step closer towards making people see you in that kind of role.

For some of you, only a few of these will apply. Your delay in promotion may even just be a matter of timing, or internal company politics. Yet by following these tips, you will become a better, more productive employee, one that can’t help but be noticed during the next round of promotions.

Until next time,

Cheryl