The Importance Of Taking Control As A Recruiter

What is the most precious thing that a recruitment consultant has?

– Their devastating good looks?

– Rapier like wit or ….

– …herculean work ethic?

Yes these are well though the main thing is; time and more importantly, control over it.

Time is the one thing we all wish we had more of. ‘If only I had more time to…’ is a phrase you will hear without fail each and every day.

Time is therefore a hugely precious commodity. It rules how much time you have to spend with clients, candidates and even your own family. Failure to manage time can see you become a slave to it, becoming the ‘busy fool’ and running around like a headless chicken. Master time management however and you will not only manage your time better, you’ll find you work more effectively and profitably, have more time for the important things and perhaps most importantly, have more time to unwind and relax, crucial if you want recruitment to be a long-term career.

We’ve looked previously at things you should stop doing that waste your time, now here are our three things that you should be doing to save yourself time and give yourself control over your day and ultimately become a better, more effective and more profitable recruitment consultant.

Follow the Money

Planning your day is crucial, but so is being flexible. Because of the fast paced nature of recruitment, it is easy for a well-planned day to be turned upside down, so for this reason, do the things at the beginning of the day that have the best chance of making you money. That means getting in the office early if you have to and getting all this done as soon as possible. You should be following up on interviews and getting feedback, following up current job offers and anything else that can bring your billings in.

Allocate time

This works differently for all of us, but the principle is the same. Be proactive rather than reactive. You can tell the reactive consultants a mile off. They sit down to do some business development phone calls, then after five minutes they get an email, which means they have to deal with that. Then a phone call comes in and they deal with that, and then another email comes in which means they now have to deal with that.

Before you know it, it’s the end of the day and they haven’t achieved anything. Not having a structure to your day can ruin it. It’s best to do five things correctly than do fifty things badly.

Did you know some of the best consultants check their emails just three times a day? First thing in the morning, then at lunch and then mid-afternoon. They’re not then reacting all the time to the inevitable torrent of emails you get as a recruiter, and actually have the quality time to do the important tasks like business development calls. And you know what? It’s reflected in their bonuses!

Always think pipeline

As any good salesman knows (and that is what we ultimately are as recruiters if we’re honest), success in sales is all about the pipeline. No matter how busy you are how many vacancies you have or how many vacancies you have in the pipeline, keep on making those business development calls! You should be canvassing every day as a consultant, without fail. Allocating a small amount of time each and every day is better than the seven hour days on the phone that you will inevitably have to do if you take your eye off your pipeline. Look after your pipeline and it will look after you, and you’ll find yourself having a lot more time on your hands too.

Like anything worthwhile, time management is tough to master and takes hard work. But dedicate yourself to it and it will be one of the most useful things you will ever learn, and will help you in so much of your work and personal life. Take control and reap the benefits it brings.

Till next time

Cheryl