For some recruiters, the thrill of making placements and pitching new clients lasts for their entire career; for others, it changes as they start to focus on moving upwards or accepting a new challenge. Whether you want to advance to senior recruiter or billing management here are some of our top tips for getting on the promotion track.

1. Make the decision.

Sounds obvious I know and people who accelerate through organisations have a ‘goal setting’ mindset. The truth is that anything is possible for any of us provided we focus our attention on what we want and what we need to do to make things happen. Look around you and you will know that is true. The world is full of amazing business people and it’s a common fact that they all had access to the same information-so what was the difference, that made some more successful than others? The way they worked with their mindset. And that first thing to do is decide about what you want.

2. Position yourself as a well-informed advisor.

It’s time to start edging away from your recruiter reputation of just ‘filling a job spec’, and instead move towards crafting a personal brand of being highly informed about talent and industry trends. Over time, your relationship with hiring managers should morph from being purely transactional ‘I have an EA role I need you to fill’ to a genuine conversation about providing tailored solutions ‘What’s the market looking like for EA’s, what do we need to offer to compete?’

3. Expand your relationship skills.

How well you get along with hiring managers is an excellent indicator of your current potential to be promoted, but that’s far from where it ends. You should be creating positive relationships with everyone you work with professionally, from the junior intern and temp receptionist through to competing recruiters and management. Your ability to build relationships with those around you, and talk to people of all levels and backgrounds, is a key indicator of your management potential.

4. Don’t stop at building your reputation in the office.

Build your LinkedIn connections, publish some blogs on recruitment trends, and follow the movers and shakers of your industry on social media. Master the tech tools that top recruiters need, and keep learning. If you’re hoping to move then start studying, as you’ll be competing with other ambitious recruiters in your team. With all this self-development, you’ll soon be on the radar of management as someone marked out for advancement.

5. Consider how you can improve things in your current role.

Do you notice systemic weaknesses or inconsistencies in the way the team is currently operating? For example, could the database be modified to be more efficient, or is there a better talent mapping system you could adopt? Diplomatically present your analysis and proposed solutions to your manager, as this kind of analysis marks you out as someone who is thinking far beyond how many calls you can make in a day.

6. If you want to be promoted, act as if you already are in the role.

That’s not to say start doing the job of a manager but rather that you start to behave like a more senior employee. Put your hand up for extra responsibility, offer positive and pragmatic solutions, and avoid getting embroiled in any office politics. You’ll soon be perceived as a steady hand that management can depend on for support, and you’ll then be the first person they think of when a vacancy arises and importantly the right person to develop.
Recruiters have some incredibly valuable and transferable skills which stand them in excellent stead for promotion. You’ll therefore be quickly noticed for promotion if you start thinking strategically, work to build your personal brand within the industry, and expand your focus far past filling roles.

Until next time,

Cheryl

It’s never been so important to create a great relationship with your candidates. The skills shortage is gripping the UK and set to get worse, which means that the best passive candidates will need some coaxing to move away from employers who already reward them well.

You’ll also need to be a master of persuasion to convince sought-after candidates that the opportunity you’re presenting them with is the one they should pursue.

As a recruiter, you must be able to influence your candidates’ decisions this year if you want to be a top biller. Being their recruiter of choice can make all the difference to how much they’ll listen to you and respect your guidance. So how do you become their recruiter of choice……………?

By following a game plan.

The good news is over the last 15 plus years we have seen first-hand how the top billers in their sector attract the candidates everyone wants and we have listed them below.

1. Ask about them before you talk about their CV or possible opportunities.

Creating a real human relationship just takes curiosity and the willingness to listen. You’re busy, but the difference you’ll make to this person’s experience by having a genuine chat is what makes the difference between them deciding you’re the recruiter for them, or if it’s Shelley, your arch-rival at the recruitment firm down the road.

You probably got into recruitment because you’re great with people, so let that shine through! When you do get around to talking about their CV, the ice will be broken, the conversation more natural—and you’ll have a far better sense of the person sitting in front of you.

2. Play for the long-term with passive candidates.

Your relationship can either be over in a flash, or it can endure for a career: it depends on how you set the tone. Your introductory call or email must pique their interest in some way—whether because of the opportunity you’re selling, because you’ve tapped into a sense that they want more, or are curious about what you might offer.

To appeal to the passive candidate, lead with a strong proposition, but never forget that the person at the other end is exactly that: a person. So don’t use formulaic clichés like ‘reaching out’ or ‘touching base’, avoid weakening your proposition with weak language like ‘I’m sorry, I know you must be busy’, and certainly don’t be pushy. (They don’t need you, remember?)

Be very clear that you want to build a relationship rather than push them into anything, and if you can meet with them in person for a friendly, no-pressure chat, all the better! If you’re emailing, then cast an eye over it before you send it and think: would I like to read that email?

3. Be careful with people’s dreams.

Never forget that the person before you is taking a risk to change their life. Sometimes, you’ll know at a glance that their experience isn’t going to get them the role that they’re dreaming of, but the way you phrase this can either make them understand you’re here to help them work towards that goal…or bristle defensively and decide never to speak to you again.

When facing a CV by an otherwise talented candidate that is simply not qualified for the role they seek, we thoroughly advise that you use the word ‘yet’ when telling them why you can’t put them forward. For example, ‘You don’t have the necessary experience for the job’, and ‘You don’t have the necessary experience yet, but we’ll get you there’ are worlds apart.

Show that you’re genuinely invested in helping them reach their career goals, and try to generate enthusiasm in them about the steps they’ll need to take (whether courses or interim roles) to add to their CV.

4. Find out what makes them tick.

This goes for all candidates, but particularly passive ones, as this is where you can discover what pressure points will lead them to move roles. It might be flexibility so they can manage their family life better, it might be a higher salary so they can afford that dream flat, it might be the status or purpose of working for a large multinational. The better you know them, the more opportunities and arguments you can present to sway their decision.

5. Keep them informed—at all costs.

Recruiters are time-poor, but the brutal truth is that top candidates in this skill-short market can’t be expected to know, or to care how busy you are. They’re waiting for the answer to a life changing proposition. If you want to be loved by your candidates, you must keep them informed about the progress of their application. It really is that simple. This is especially true if you’ve approached a passive candidate- you simply cannot leave them in the cold after asking them to apply in the first place.

6. Go the extra mile to get some feedback.

Wherever you can, get detailed feedback from the hiring manager about how your candidate performed during the interview process. This gives you valuable material to coach your candidate towards greater success next time.

This may seem like an awful lot of effort to go to for each candidate, but it might cheer you up to remember that this loyal candidate may return to you for new roles throughout your career, with increasingly impressive placement fees each time! Not only that, but they might refer you to their friends, to the hiring manager in their new role— or they might become one themselves! This relationship with a top candidate may well pave your way to success, as well as theirs.

Until next time

Cheryl

January has flown by, and we’re well into 2017 already. For most recruiters, one big goal this year is almost certainly to win more high value clients, but as February gets underway, how much closer are you to this goal.

So how can you build a strong client pipeline in 2017 in new and creative ways? Your old techniques have got you this far, but you’re going to need to dig deep to hit your new billing goals. The great thing about this list below is that you’ll almost certainly even discover some hidden strengths you never knew you had!

1. Scan the business pages.

Keep abreast of business movement in your sector or location. Are there any new businesses opening, or are others seeking to expand? Did a fast-growing company post great earnings last year? Chances are that they’re looking to expand their team on the back of this success.

Follow industry news, and think hard about the opportunities that a simple press release might signify. When you identify any potential for a business to be expanding its workforce, get in touch and find out what their recruitment needs are for the year ahead. Position yourself as someone that has been watching their business with interest and is well-placed to help.

2. Speak up.

Put your hand up to sit on panels and give seminars at relevant industry conferences. You and your company will get excellent publicity, and if you can make a name for yourself as being an expert on certain recruitment-related topics. This will position you as an expert in your recruitment sector faster than many people realise.

3. Know as much as you can about the lead before picking up the phone.

While you can’t spend, all day researching, you must know more about their company’s speciality and goals, as well as details such as number of employees and different departments. The good news is this is easy to do. Google is your friend here as is the advanced search bar on LinkedIn. Hint: Many recruiters only do this at a surface level-which means with a little more thought and determination you will be well ahead of the pack.

4. Ask them what the biggest problem they’re facing is.

You’ll often find that recruiting and retaining great talent is one of the prime issues facing any company—and this issue is set to get worse in many industries as the skills shortage bites further. However, depending on your specific sector there might be additional challenges that some well-placed questions will uncover. So few recruiters ask these deeper questions, which means that you will easily stand out as the recruiter that really cares.

5. Make sure your pitch isn’t about you.

Many recruiters make the mistake of leading their pitch with how great they are as recruiters. No! Successful sales happen when you put yourself in the company’s shoes, listen well, ask good questions, and then tailor your pitch to their precise situation. It’s certainly a good idea to add in some social proof (such as ‘I have several City clients, including X), but get to this after you’ve discussed the client’s needs.

6. Study up on the industry.

You should become the resident know-it-all (in a positive way!) when it comes to trends, key players, and challenges in your sector. The effort will pay off in myriad ways- whether providing the perfect conversation-starter at a networking event, or you absolutely nail a cold call with a prospective client because you correctly assumed they were facing a particular challenge. The more you inform yourself, the more sought-after you’ll be by clients; guaranteed.

7. Be published.

We’re extremely lucky currently to be able to publish our thoughts on all manner of social media channels – up until very recently, you had to be a respected author or journalist to get your words in print anywhere.

So use your knowledge to put together some blogs on current hot topics in recruitment, and then post them on LinkedIn, recruiting blogs, Twitter, and any other channel your company uses. Comment on other relevant blogs and forums to make your name familiar, follow and retweet posts by your prospective clients, and build your social media following so that your content (and reputation) gets some momentum.

8. Make LinkedIn your friend.

When you see, companies hiring or people you know moving on its highly likely that a vacancy is just around the corner. Many recruiters miss this obvious clue. The good news is it’s a perfect opportunity to reach out and offer your services.

9. Push your existing network further.

When you’re struggling to sign up new clients, it can be a very useful exercise to look at your existing clients and see if you’ve really maximised their The first and most crucial step is to request a referral from them- this is the most surefire way to get new business.

Next, dig around on their website—do they list their partners or suppliers? Also visit their LinkedIn page, and notice who their connections are- particularly the ones that they regularly interact with. Then look at your candidate database. Where did your most recent candidates come from? Have you reached out to that company to check that the position has been filled, or if they have other vacancies? (Always make a point to find out as much as you can about your candidate’s previous employers, as you never know when this information might come in handy.)

10. Count conversations, not just calls.

Above all, don’t get bogged down in how many calls you’re making a day; I appreciate we all have our KPIs, though here is the thing that calling leads to…..real conversations you’re having each day. How many relationships have you begun, or built upon?  How many times have you informed someone of something relevant to them they didn’t know? How many times did you make someone laugh? What did you learn? It’s through this kind of relationship-building that you will create one of the best client lists in your sector.

Good luck!

Until next time,

Cheryl

2017 is almost and as you prepare for the teams return to work it’s a great time to get everyone’s motivation firing to hit 2017’s billing targets.

However, it can be tough to know how to motivate a team of recruiters to make more sales. Different people respond well to different motivating factors- and as a manager it’s your job to figure out a strategy that will motivate everyone, from your lowest performing billers right up to your stars- and never forgetting the core group in between!

So how do you do this? What kind of system will push everyone to new heights, without leaving the others behind? There may be no ‘one size fits all’ approach, but we’re going to discuss some strategies that can fit nicely together to incentivize your team, or which you can pick and choose as fits the circumstances.

1. Figure out who’s who.

Look at last year’s sales performance and figure out the curve. What’s the breakdown of star, core, and sub-performing players in your team? Knowing this will help you design a motivational strategy that appeals to your particular team dynamic and doesn’t leave anyone out.

 
2. Work on building trust.

For some recruiters, the idea of being valued and supported is just as powerful a motivator as bonuses. Sit down with each member of the team to find out how they would like to receive feedback and if there’s anything you can do to help them succeed.

 
3. Talk about motivation with your team.

Ask them what motivates them, how motivated they’re feeling right now, and how they get themselves motivated again when their drive starts to lag. You’ll probably learn a lot, not only about your team, but also pick up some neat motivational tricks to help the others out as well.

 
4. Don’t ignore the core players.

Frequently, managers focus their motivating attention on the star players and the poorest performers, leaving the core group—the vast majority, in most cases—out in the cold. This is a poor use of your time as a manager, as motivating the majority to perform better will have the biggest effect on your figures overall.

 
5. Create tiered reward systems to motivate the core of the team to do better.

As reported in the Harvard Business Review, core players often aren’t properly motivated towards rewards because they believe, before even starting, that the star sellers will win them all.

Instead, create a tiered reward system where recruiters win something for hitting a certain level. Each prize must be significant to work, and this system works best if each reward tier is a different kind of thing—one might be a weekend away, another a fine dining restaurant experience, another a hot air ballooning experience.

This way, the core players believe they can hit a certain tier and will chase that goal. Additionally, you should have more than two tiers as the increments help to motivate people towards the next ‘little jump’ upwards.

 
6. Don’t impose ceilings on compensation.

When bonuses are capped, star recruiters are often de-motivated, causing a larger negative effect to the business than if the ceiling was removed. You may even consider upping your compensation scheme for those that exceed targets to really fire them up.

 
7. Have regular rewards to maintain momentum.

We humans aren’t very good at motivating ourselves in the long term, so be sure to create a scheme with regular rewards to work towards. Some teams even do fun daily challenges with a free sandwich for lunch, as well as more serious weekly and monthly challenges.

 
8. Reward for effort, not just results.

While the majority of your bonus systems will reflect traditional placement successes, it’s a good idea to also implement an incentive where it is effort based, such as the recruiter who makes the most calls, receives the best feedback from clients and candidates, or has the best social media presence. These should be mini-prizes that are substantially less than your normal billing bonuses so that you don’t dis-incentivise people from chasing the main targets.

9. Keep a pipeline of good salespeople, and don’t be afraid to let habitually poor performers go.

This provides a three way benefit: you replace a poor seller with a good one, it’s an example to motivate the other poor performers to lift their game, and the rest of the team will be spurred to greater heights by competition with the new star talent.

 
10. It’s not all about the money.

Prizes don’t have to be of any ‘real’ value: in fact there are many tales about sales teams who compete fiercely over the rights to retain a stuffed doll, or a plastic trophy! All that matters is that the team accords the thing psychological value, and that whoever wins that trophy wins the respect of the manager or peers.

You know your team, but it’s time to get to know them better in order to motivate them to greater heights in 2017.

Until next time,

Cheryl

2016 was certainly a year for the record books, with some surprising outcomes that left a lot of people worried and fretting about the future. Yet as we go into 2017 wondering what the year might bring, the one thing that’s certain is that worrying about the possible impact of Brexit or Trump’s ascension to the White House…isn’t actually going to change a single thing.

What will change your life in 2017 is you taking action and doing things, not worrying about what you can’t change. You are the only person that can affect your performance this year- in both your professional and personal life.

We can’t pretend to know a lot about your personal life, but we do know a thing or two about recruitment, and what it takes to be a top biller.

So here are out top tips to make this year your highest billing year ever.

1. Work out what it is you do best…and DO MORE OF IT.

Sometimes, we wear ourselves out trying to be ‘jack of all trades’ when it comes to our jobs. We want to be great at every aspect, but with the recruitment industry changing so fast it can be hard to keep abreast of all the new trends, mapping systems, software, seminars and social media strategies that seem to pull us in a million different directions—and this probably stops us from doing any of them to our highest potential.

In 2017 take stock of what it is that you do best and what gets you the optimum results, and start to specialise more. Pour your efforts into it and you’ll soon be known as someone who excels at something, rather than someone who’s competent at lots of things.

Do you excel at pitching face to face? Are you a great cold-caller? Is talent mapping and reaching out to passive candidates your particular talent? Is your social media strategy paying amazing dividends? Do you have a great success recruiting students at job fairs? Focus on the thing that works for you …and do more of it. We’re not saying drop your other obligations, just prioritise what works.

2. Eat your frogs for breakfast (and other productivity techniques)

Mark Twain once wrote: ‘Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” This gnarly saying has evolved into the workplace productivity hack of ‘eating your frogs for breakfast’, which means that you should attack the thing you want to do least first thing in the morning, thereby creating a flush of pride and momentum to carry you through your day. It takes a little getting used to, but it works!

For those who love productivity tips, there’s also the Pareto Principle, which determines that 20% of your efforts deliver 80% of your results. This idea suggests that you should heavily prioritise the high payoff tasks such as pitching good leads/finding referrals/meeting with good candidates, as they will move your career forwards in significant ways that other tasks such as admin rarely do.

Of course you need to find a balance of doing both, but consider what has the highest pay-off when scheduling your day, and move low pay-off activities to your less productive times of day.

3. Tailor your pitches carefully to each client

Modern life is a barrage of marketing messages, and decision makers face an endless chorus of phone calls and emails from people asking for their time and money. So how do you break through the resistance and get yourself an audience with the hiring manager or CEO? And how do you seal the deal? You should personalise your pitch to each client.

To do this, you’ll need to research their business, their niche, and imagine some problems they might be facing. When you get an audience, you need to ask good questions about their recruitment needs, and be ready to answer objections to your offering.

Forget the idea that your service is great and everyone should recognise that immediately—even if your service is great, the client won’t see that unless you tailor your product directly to their business needs. You need to do a lot of homework, but it will pay off if you do it right.

4. Look at things differently than you have before.

A fresh perspective on your network is probably long overdue. Have you really wrung all the good leads out of your existing network? Have you asked your satisfied clients for referrals? Have you gone further and examined your clients’ network for their supplier companies and clients that might benefit from your services?

Have you checked out your candidates’ LinkedIn profiles for qualified people in their network, or have you asked candidates to recommend colleagues to you? A network never stops growing if you put effort into it.

5. Don’t waste quality time pestering reluctant leads (but don’t forget about them either!)

It’s extremely difficult as a recruiter to walk that fine tightrope between being persistent and scaring people off, particularly as we know that it takes on average 8 cold calls to reach a prospect! However, according to Marketing Sherpa, 79% of leads contacted are not ready to accept sales calls for that product. When you encounter an obviously reluctant prospect who gives you absolutely nothing after a couple of calls, you’d be much better off using your time to send them a LinkedIn invite to connect, or emailing them through an interesting blog you’ve written/found on the benefits of using a recruitment service.

Don’t forget about the lead, but instead build the relationship slowly over time while you’re using your time to follow leads that are already primed and ready to close.

6. Act quickly

When you do have a lead, be quick about it. 50% of leads go to the first salesperson to contact the prospect, and you’re 9 times more likely to convert a web lead if you contact the person within five minutes. Also, check out the best (and worst) times to cold call on the above link. Your time is finite, so use it well.

There are so many proactive steps you can take to make 2017 your highest billing year ever, so why not get started today?  Stop worrying, and start doing.

Until next time

Cheryl

The end of 2016 is just around the corner, and this time of year provides a valuable period of introspection about where we are in our careers—compared to where we want to be. Most recruiters have dreams of where they want to be in 2017, but many fail to create the right conditions for their success by creating a step-by step plan for career development. Right from deciding your dream through to knowing how to get there, here’s an action plan for your success in 2017.

1. Set some time aside to work on your career plan.

Schedule the time in (preferably several sessions) and make an unbreakable agreement with yourself to meet the appointments—just as you would with a meeting with a key client.

2. Think hard about your goals.

Is there a particular billing target you want to reach? Is it promotion you’re after? A new sector? A part of your performance that you want to improve? Want to start your own recruitment company? It is exceedingly rare to stumble on career success if you don’t have a clear vision of what it is you want.

3. Dream big, and don’t let your current situation blind you to the possibilities.

In most recruitment companies, advancement and success comes quickly to those that show merit, and things can change  fast if you  work hard enough. Ask yourself: what would your career look like if nothing stood in your way? What do you think your ultimate success looks like? Where would you like your recruitment career to look like in 1, 5, 10, and 15 years?

4. Write your goals down.

Seeing your goals there written starkly in front of you makes it more likely that you’ll achieve them, so write them down. Even better, get out a big sheet of paper and a marker and brainstorm the first draft of your career vision, writing down everything that comes into your head. This should feel like an exciting, life-changing project, so scribble away to your heart’s content.

5. Check that your values are in alignment with your current career path

If you’re a bit stuck and unhappy with the way your career is going, there may be a conflict of values at play. Humans are not machines, and it’s important to do work that corresponds with your values and gives you a sense of purpose. If you’re struggling with your values at work, would a change of sector improve things? A change of company? A new role? What would you need to do to accomplish that?

6. Review your achievements.

What are you most proud of? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn this year that you can take into 2017? Start to see patterns in your job—what tasks you’re drawn to, what comes easily, what tasks you’re ‘in flow’ for and time passes in a flash—as these realisations can be powerful signals of the direction you should be moving towards in your recruitment career. Use these insights to add to your career vision map.

7. Figure out what you need to do to fulfil your career vision.

Find a job description of the job you want, and research the skills you will need. How many do you have now? Which need to be developed? How will you go about developing them? If there’s a training course you’d like to enrol in, find out if the company will fund it, or how much you’ll need to save to self-fund your development.

Schedule meetings with your manager or HR advisor to discuss your career trajectory. Start studying up at home as well, attending relevant sales seminars and webinars, and subscribing to publications in your sector. Start to amass the knowledge you’ll need to build your personal brand as someone who is at the top of their game.

8. Break the big projects into small tasks and map the milestones.

Humans generally find the most motivation when the goal is short term, so work with that innate hardwiring and break your goal into small pieces so you’re regularly celebrating success and get the momentum to attack the next step of the dream. And don’t forget to factor in clear deadlines, as well as rewards to keep you even more motivated, whether that’s a weekend away or a massage.

9. Plan for obstacles.

It’s fairly unlikely that everything will go exactly to plan. Someone might be sourced externally for ‘your’ promotion, your biggest client might change recruiters, or your sector might suffer a market downturn. Such is life! This is why you need a Plan B, C, and preferably even D up your sleeve. You’ll feel powerfully prepared when you’ve got alternative paths to meeting your dream.

10. Streamline your career vision.

The first draft of your career vision map probably looks like a mass of scribbles, underlining, and exclamation points by now- which is great, as it shows you’ve been brainstorming. Now it’s time to condense the career dream into a neat, decisive paragraph, and stick it on your bedroom wall- or somewhere you can see it regularly and have it keep you accountable. Then take your milestone map and create a neat project plan with deadlines, whether using Excel, pen and paper, or one of the clever goal-setting apps now available.

11. Get on with it! Don’t wait until 2017 to start, it will just waste time and you’ll likely lose the momentum and sense of excitement you had when brainstorming. The longer your brain has to mull over this, the more excuses it will come up with about why your big dreams are too risky or unattainable. The human brain has evolved to keep us safe from tigers and avoid risk at all costs, so don’t let it get in your way! Imagine how good you’ll feel about 2017 if you wake up on New Year’s Day knowing you’re already well on track.

So start now. Decide what you want. Review what you’ve achieved. Brainstorm how to get there. And use this knowledge to forge a new path for 2017. Good luck!

Until next time,

Cheryl

Your client demands the best talent in the market, but it can be hard to keep on delivering if your candidate pool isn’t overflowing with high performers, or if the high performers you do represent aren’t particularly attracted by the roles your client is offering.

Some recruiters give up at this point, hoping that a combination of luck and law of averages will apply: that is, if they throw enough mediocre candidates at the client, one will eventually stick.

But that’s not you; is it? You’re not that type of recruiter, and you don’t want to be driven to lowering your standards no matter how tough it can be to find the talent your client seeks.

Ultimately, you know that placing average candidates with your important clients only diminishes your value in the client’s mind—and that’s no way to build your personal brand in this business (or your billing numbers).

Luckily, there are solid strategies you can put in place to recruit top performers for your clients—in any market.

The four stages of recruiting top performers

1. The Homework Stage: Researching the client, the role, and the company culture.

Often, in the rapid search for candidates to fill the role, recruiters overlook the vital step that sets the stage for success: doing your homework. This step requires that you really dig into what the client is looking for so that you can find the right candidate to match their expectations.

a) Set expectations: This is also the perfect time to gently inform the client if they’re failing to meet salary and benefit benchmarks that will attract the top talent they’re asking for.

b) Ask questions: What kind of person do they see succeeding in the role? Who hasn’t worked out in the past? What kind of culture do the company and the team have? (Don’t just take the client’s word for this, do a bit of digging to find out what employees, past employees and other recruiters in your network have to say.)

c) Nail that job description: Most importantly of all, research the nitty-gritty of the job description, for without a specific one, you, the client, and the candidate are all just dancing in the dark, hoping to bump into the perfect partner by chance!

2. The Attraction Stage: Attracting top talent to your list.

This, quite obviously, is an ongoing process, and you definitely shouldn’t be waiting until your client has a vacancy before trying to attract high performers to your database. Having said that, it’s never too late to do a massive networking drive to quickly boost the vitality of your talent pool.

a) Network the traditional way. Get out to conferences, to young professionals meetings. Map everyone of interest you meet.

b) Create a social media voice worth listening to. You’re already posting your jobs on social media, but do you have an engaging presence? Do you post interesting industry stories, and have a friendly and approachable online personality? This strategy drives followers, and the more followers, the bigger your talent map becomes.

c) Call your clients and ask for referrals. Research your client’s network to see where talent might be hiding in related industries, and add them to your map.

d) Reach out to your passive candidates with this new opportunity.

3. The ‘Getting to Know Each Other’ Stage: Researching the candidate.

You’ve found some high performers that you’re considering putting forward, but you don’t actually know yet if they’ll be high performers for your client. It’s time to do some more homework, keeping in mind everything you learnt from the client in stage one.

a) Consider their social media accounts, particularly facebook and LinkedIn, so that you can get a fuller picture of their aspirations and work background, their skill-set and even their personality. All this information will come in handy in the next stage of marketing the job to them. (It’s also worth checking out their connections while you’re there so you can build up your talent map.)

b) Ask the candidate seeking questions about what motivates them, what kind of role excites them, and what kind of culture they seek. Interview them thoroughly about their experience, keeping to the maxim of ‘the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour’.

(Make it clear that you’re not interrogating them, but want to find them a job that fits their career goals!) Find out their minimum salary expectations, and what kind of benefits and incentives get their interest.

c) Check their references, and check them with genuine curiosity. There’s no point just doing cursory ‘rubber stamp’ type checks, as the candidate will have prepped the referee for a call. Ask delving questions about their attitude, personality, and performance—or pay the consequences.

4. The Matchmaking Stage: Marketing the Role to the Candidate, and the Candidate to Client

This is where your earlier research about the candidate comes in. How will you know how to market the job to them, if you don’t know what motivates them or what kind of culture they’re seeking?

The great recruiters know that it’s not as simple as advertising a vacancy and watching the top talent roll up. They understand that there’s a magic in attracting top candidates to your network, and then persuading them that the opportunity you have is the one they really want. When you have them fully interested in the role, it’s then time to create the same buzz about the candidate to the client- making them feel like the candidate you’re offering is the one they want. This, at its heart, is marketing- and it’s a really undervalued skill in the recruitment business.

These five steps boil down to 3 key skills every top recruiter needs: Research, networking and marketing. Develop these three skills to your maximum ability and you’ll soon find that sourcing high performers is just a problem that other recruiters face.

Until next time,

Cheryl

As a recruiter, one thing is certain: at some point in your career, you will have to make a presentation. Chances are that you’ll make a great many— whether pitching for new business in a boardroom, giving a seminar about recruitment at a careers fair, or presenting a great opportunity to a reluctant passive candidate that you’re desperate to recruit.

When you think about it, to be a top biller, you need to present well every single time you pick up the phone or meet with a candidate. With so much presenting in everyday tasks, you’d be forgiven for thinking that all recruiters would have amazing presenting skills.

Yet many of us— even experienced recruiters—aren’t as strong at presenting as we should be. Whether you’re giving a formal presentation to a client or a chat over a coffee with a candidate, there are some key skills of presentation excellence that every biller must practice in order to succeed.

1. Show genuine enthusiasm.

There’s nothing more engaging than a speaker who has passion for what they do and the service they offer. Your enthusiasm will be infectious, and at the very least encourage people to listen to you with open minds.

2. Grab their interest from the get-go.

Don’t start slowly and warm up to your topic, as you’ll lose the audience’s interest before you’ve hit the second slide, or if you’re pitching on the phone you’ll hear the uncomfortable sound of a dial tone before you even got to the good bit. Always lead with something interesting, and drip-feed valuable information through the presentation until you arrive at the close.

3. Tell a story.

Humans love a good story, and great presenters know that. If you can incorporate a storytelling mechanism into your presentation- perhaps a case study from another client that you’ve produced wonders for, or the story of one of your passive candidates who tripled their salary through the placement, then you’ll have a much better chance of really getting through to that audience.
Top Tip: Be sure to make your story relatable to the client or candidate—and if you’re really clever, you’ll ‘book-end’ the presentation by returning to the story to finish up, giving the audience a satisfying sense of resolution.

4. Be organised and remain on-topic.

This one matters just as much if you’re meeting a candidate for lunch to discuss an opportunity as it does if you’re pitching a client. Practice your slides, have the necessary paperwork, and if you find yourself (or the audience) straying off topic then don’t be scared to pull them back.

You can always offer to talk to them about it after the presentation is done—that’s just an invitation for a follow-up call after all.

5. Remember to listen!

Many recruiters get so busy talking that they forget to listen. At the end of your presentation (or throughout, depending on how confident you are with interruptions) be sure to open up the floor for question-time.

If you’re nervous about this bit, why not practice beforehand with a list of likely questions you might face? Don’t keep to a script as it will sound forced, but you will feel more confident for having prepared.

6. Video your presentation and watch it back.

Once you’ve gotten over the initial squirm of ‘surely I don’t look/sound like that’, you can gain some amazing insights on the quality of your presentation skills by having the courage to watch it back on tape.

We’d advise doing this beforehand so you can nip any problems in the bud before the presentation, but it’s also a good idea to record a presentation live so that you can see if nerves make you talk faster or mutter, or if you move about too much or too little.

And watch out for telltale sounds and signs of boredom or restlessness in your audience- if you can hear papers rustling, pens clicking, or people starting to whisper, you know that that’s the point in the pitch that you lost them. Just like top performing footballers have to watch their matches back to see where they could improve, so do presenters!

Remember, being able to present well doesn’t only clinch the big clients and dramatically reflect in your billing numbers, but it also marks you out to upper management as someone who will go far.

You might even be selected for perks like travelling to conferences to present on behalf of the recruitment company, or be pegged for the management track. Being able to present with passion and charisma opens a whole world of opportunity to the clever recruiter.

Until next time,

Cheryl

There’s been a slow revolution underway in how we work over the past decade, with some companies and industries wholeheartedly embracing the many benefits of allowing their employees to work from home.

While it may seem daunting to simply trust that your recruiters will work at the same rate sitting in their lounge room as they would do in a traditional workplace, in recruitment the truth always lies in the billing numbers and the reporting culture that you already have in place. After all, you’ll soon know if someone isn’t working hard from home if you see a sudden dip in their sales performance or their candidate database plateaus.

Because of the target and metric driven culture that underpins recruitment, the recruitment industry is ideally poised to make the move to remote work—although as a billing manager there are certainly some things you should look out for in order to make it work.

What are some of the benefits of allowing your billers to work from home?

1. It drives engagement and retention.

In studies run by Global Workplace Analytics, two thirds of the workforce has expressed a preference to work from home, and more than a third of employees would choose the option to work from home over a salary increase. As a recruitment manager, this is a powerful incentive in your arsenal to drive recruiter engagement and reduce turnover that requires no financial outlay.

2. Remote workers have been proven to be significantly more productive.

Research of major companies such as BT have shown that their remote workers are 30-40% more productive when they work at home, while external American Express workers are 43% more productive. According to research, 600 billion dollars is lost a year due to workplace distractions. Being away from ringing phones, constant chatter and office gossip can free your billers up to concentrate on the job at hand in a quiet space.

3. Gen Y employees are attracted to jobs offering flexible working arrangements.

Recruiting and retaining Gen Y employees is becoming an increasingly competitive business, and organisations that offer the option to work from home attract high-quality candidates. As the overwhelming majority of recruiters are now Gen Y’s/Millennials, it’s important to keep them engaged and happy with flexible work options.

4. Less risk of stress-induced burnout and sick day claims.

In a competitive industry like recruitment, the ability to work from home rather than a high-pressure office (even if just one or two days a week) can have a positive effect on stress levels. Also, given that many employees call in sick due to stress or needing to be at home for family obligations, working from home reduces the amount of productive time lost due to sick days being claimed. An added benefit is that remote workers often continue to work from home even when they’re sick, and they don’t pass any nasty infections onto the rest of the team!

5. Online meetings are shorter and more focused.

Generally, meetings hosted online are much better planned than those conducted in person, and run shorter. No more wasted morning meetings where nothing gets achieved!

What are the drawbacks of remote work?

1. Not everybody is well-suited to remote work.

Some will miss the social aspect of the workplace and become less engaged, while other less self-motivated types may slack off and then find themselves scrambling when the end of month reporting is due. As such, it’s your role as a manager to assess who among your team is naturally suited to remote work, and create very strict reporting procedures for those who you fear may lag behind.

One option is to come up with a mixed schedule of remote and office work, or only offer working from home privileges to those who meet targets (which will add a new layer of incentive to your management strategy!)

2. The team may become less connected.

As a billing manger, you must ensure that your team remains a cohesive whole despite not working in the same physical space every day. Host regular online meetings to bring everyone together, and it is recommended to also meet in person occasionally if your team is entirely remote. Utilise a messaging platform to keep everyone informed on key issues, and insist on a rapid-response ethos to any queries or issues that arise within your team.

Offering flexible work arrangements to your team can have a powerful effect on engagement and productivity.  Your top billers are obvious candidates to work from home as they’ve already proven themselves to be self-motivated, but the rest of your team should also be driven to new billing heights if you manage their remote work effectively or offer them remote work as an incentive to hitting targets.

Until next time,

Cheryl

Interview questions have undergone gone some radical changes in recent years, from the totally predictable ‘Why should we hire you?’ through to last decade’s craze for riddle-like questions such as ‘Who would win in a fight: Superman or Batman?’

Today, good interviewers know that the best indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour, so they ask their candidates open-ended questions that require the candidate to supply real examples from their work and personal history to prove not only their skills, but also their attitude.

As a recruiter sourcing recruiters, your interviewing job is doubly difficult, as you have to get to know your candidates on behalf of a third party so that you can make successful long-term placements. Here are some great questions that you can ask your recruitment candidates to get a real sense of their talents and aspirations.

1. In your last role, what were your targets, what were some of the challenges in reaching them, and how did you ensure that you met them?

You are always looking for proof that the candidate can reach realistic targets, and that star performers weren’t just lucky enough to work in a high-demand sector that attracted top-quality candidates. This question should elicit some of the strategies they employed to ensure they had a good talent pool or could attract new clients over time.

2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

This is an oldie but a goodie, as it requires a candidate to show that they have a plan, and more importantly that that plan coincides with the recruitment industry and specifically, with the roles that are on the table. If the five year plan sees rapid promotion and high-flying recruitment success, then you’ll know to avoid placing them in a company with a ‘rusted-on’ senior hierarchy and minimal training and development.

3. What’s a role that you did well at, but didn’t enjoy (and why)?

When faced with a top-quality candidate, you’re probably looking at their CV with great interest, rapidly thinking of all the clients you could place them with. But there’s little point placing them in a certain sector or a culture if they didn’t enjoy the experience last time. Having excelled in a past role isn’t a great indicator of whether a person wants to repeat that experience. You need to know what it is they didn’t like about it, so that you can find them a better fit.

4. Give me an example of a time when you set a significant goal that you had to strive for. How did you get there? Where did you have to adjust your plan along the way?

This question lends you an insight into what matters to the candidate, how they plan, and how they persevere when faced with setbacks.

5. What kind of workplace culture do you enjoy most?

Finding out what kind of culture the candidate seeks is a very important starting block to making a successful, long-term placement which reflects well on you as a recruiter.

6. What’s one task in particular at work that you look forward to doing, every single day- and can you imagine enjoying it for your whole career?

For a recruiter, this might be meeting with candidates; for others, it might be working on their talent mapping or looking at the latest recruitment trends. Their answer should give you a good indication of what it is about being a recruiter they genuinely love most, and therefore whether you should place them with a client with high-volume recruitment needs, or one in a dynamic market that requires strategising or high-level headhunting.

7. If we met with your past bosses and colleagues, what do you think they’d describe as your most positive and your most negative trait?

Obviously you’re looking for a positive that outweighs the negative here, but the candidate’s choice of ‘negative’ can also be instructive in giving a sense of how self-aware the candidate is of their flaws, and how they’re working to improve them. Be a little wary if a candidate wraps what they think is a positive as a negative, as in ‘I work too hard or I’m a perfectionist’.

8. What motivates you most? Is it money, is it autonomy, or is it getting better at what you do?

You’ll gain some good insight into your candidate with this question. In certain recruiting roles a strong money ethic might be a great advantage, while those that crave high levels of autonomy might be better placed with a hands-off manager. Those that seek the challenge of improving their skills exhibit a growth mindset- which is an extremely attractive quality in a hire.

Have we missed any great questions that you should be asking candidates?  Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,

Cheryl