Your ultimate aim as a professional recruitment consultant is to put forward the best candidates for the role in question. Your client then gets to make an offer to one of them and at a great salary. Job done and everyone is happy. Logical? Of course, yet in today’s candidate driven market it isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Just a few short years ago there were plenty of candidates and not many clients; in fact then it was a totally different market that took a different approach.

So what has happened? For many ‘new’ recruiters the current challenges in candidate sourcing is a new experience. As the economy continues to grow more roles become available and the market begins to flip with candidate sourcing being a major task.

Sourcing

Let’s explore sourcing. When it comes to candidates basically there are a few general groups:

– People you have placed in the past
– Actively looking and available
– Looking in the past and not active at the moment
– Passive candidates not currently looking

As a recruiter you must have a strategy that enables you to connect with all of these groups and in such a way that if they are ready to move; YOU will be the recruiter they contact.

What do you have in place? What activities are you using? How are you marketing current vacancies and where? LinkedIn is an awesome tool and it search functions can reveal many hidden gems. Remember there are a number of other things you can do. There are enumerable ways of searching for candidates; some using the latest software and technology. Have you or your recruitment company built a database that you aren’t using?

Do you keep in contact with past candidates and clients; regularly? Does it form part of your own KPI’s? If it doesn’t it should.

Pro recruiters focus on sourcing candidates all the time, ready to place them when that stellar position occurs. Are you?

Your personal recruiter brand

Here is something new for many recruiters and it is a hot topic in today’s business world. What are you doing to create your own personal brand?

Any large organisation will focus on its brand and communicating that out to the market. Look at all the major household names you see and experience online and TV. Yes they are selling various ‘things’, though the main function of these methods of communication is to remind us what a great company they are to do business with. If you want an example look at the latest John Lewis promotional campaign and it 150 year story.

How can you do that as a recruiter? It is easier than you think and a whole subject in itself. As a heads up start to think about; what you stand for, what values do you have that your clients and candidates need? How professional and consistent are you? How do you demonstrate this to your candidates?

Till next time,

Cheryl

We have written a few articles lately on how to attract popular high quality candidates it what is now a candidate driven market. Gone are the days when we could pick and choose candidates. The game now is different. If you needed a reminder here is what we are observing.

– There are more positions available; in most sectors, with less candidates actively looking

– Organisations are becoming more demanding with the skill level of people they require

– Many organisations have their own internal recruiting departments

– Social media gives candidates direct access into organisations

With competition increasing for recruiters in most sectors; how do we sell ourselves to candidates that every client wants? In case you are unsure about how to profile yourself as the recruiter to choose, here are four ways we guarantee will work.

1. Get More Direction in Your Job Hunt

Your candidate might think they know exactly the direction of their job hunt and even a potential logical career path to follow. This might be wrong! Times have changed. It is useful to point out your current experience of the market and how a different path might be a better option for them; hint talk to them about other candidates you have placed in the same field or roles.

2. Get In-Depth Insight Into The Position

When they respond to a job opening, the employer will often list a few standard qualities and skills that they are looking for. However as recruiters we know, this is rarely the whole picture. Here you need to make sure the candidate ‘gets’ your knowledge of the company in question and the managers working there. Make sure they understand that you, their recruiter, will be able to provide them with far more information about the position, and they will be able to use this information in their approach.

For example, you can provide information about; why there is an opening, why the previous employee left, exactly what they are looking for in a candidate and what really matters to them, along with details about the company culture and the managers. This information will be priceless for them when it comes to making an impression during the interview.

3. The Best Role Match

It is a human trait to undersell ourselves and think that a certain role may not be right for us. The big advantage of working with you; as their personal recruiter with, in depth knowledge of the sector, is that you will be aware of how their strengths will match the role.

Here it is worth stating the obvious! Your experience over the years gives you the confidence to know who will fit in to one role and not another. After all, your salary depends on it.

4. Receive Valuable Interview Preparation

Don’t undersell the value of your expertise and knowledge when it comes to interview prep; many passive candidates have been out of the ‘open’ market for a while and are likely to be rusty.

As a knowledgeable recruiter you will be able to provide them with details about the person who will be interviewing them; the background of the position and even the types of questions they might get asked.

If you feel comfortable in providing coaching for candidates do it. Many recruiters don’t, so this simple act alone might make candidates decide to use you.

If you have not been using this simple four step influencing process take action on it now. Hit print and keep this next to you for your next candidate sourcing conversation.

Good luck!

Till next time,

Cheryl

It has happened to all of us at one time or another. We think everything is going swimmingly and then bam! In comes a counter offer from our candidate’s current employer.

Experienced recruiters know that it is a defensive strategy and longer term our candidates will come back to us. Unfortunately our candidates don’t have our wider experience of recruitment and rarely look further than the new offer from their current employer.

Struggling with how to approach this with candidates? Here you go we got our heads together at GSR2R and came up with a few suggestions for you.

Tell them to be wary

If their current employer tries to persuade them from moving by making an offer they can’t refuse (such as a pay rise or a promotion), tell them to be careful: it may not always be as fantastic as it sounds. Give them the facts that counter offers can go awry and often don’t work out quite how the candidate thought they would. So here is some sound advice to pass on to candidates who are dithering about a counter offer.

Counter Offers Are a Defensive Strategy

The first thing that you need to make your candidates think about when it comes to accepting a counter offer is the timing. A counter offer might make them feel important again; but if they were so highly valued then why did their employer wait till now to make them an offer?

The truth you need to convey is that a counter is a defensive strategy to prevent them from leaving at the wrong moment.

Remind them that the counter offer is made with the company’s best interests in mind rather than your candidates. Help them think through this logically. If their employer was so keen for them to stay they would have taken steps to make sure you they were happy in their job before they made the decision to leave.

Their Employer’s Opinion of Them Will Change

Once your candidate has declared their intention to leave; relationships will change. It is a fact of business life. Even if they stay as a result of the offer their employer is unlikely to change things so much that their job satisfaction goes up significantly. What often happens is that their employer now doubts their commitment to the organisation in general; not great for career development at all.

Their Reputation Is Their Best asset

Business is business and it is useful to remind candidates that though current employers might be disappointed to see a good employee go they also know that sometimes people have to move to get the position and career path they want.

Think It Through

Here is something that at GSR2R we often share with candidates who are unsure about moving. When it comes to counter offers follow your gut instinct. It is usually correct.

Tell your candidates that this is the time it’s a good idea to write a few notes down. Grab a piece of paper and write out three columns.  At the top of each write the following, positive, negative, why did I want to move? Then take themselves to a quiet place where they won’t be disturbed by anyone and think. Take some time and let the answers flow.

This will help them think through what is going on. With the flattery of a couple of offers on the table it can be a challenge to remember why they wanted to move in the first place.

As a rule human beings are slow to change unless they have a good reason. To have taken action and got all the way to an offer stage there must have been a compelling reason why they.

Till next time,

Cheryl

Award winning GSR2R; a London based recruitment agency lead the way when it comes to providing added value to both their candidates and clients. In the last month this well respected recruitment to recruitment agency has provided LinkedIn and candidate engagement training to consultants they have recently placed.

With the upturn in today’s economy more jobs are appearing throughout the UK. With the job market now buoyant again organisations look to recruitment companies to help fill their talent pipelines. This, logically, is also the case for recruitment companies who need additional recruitment consultants to meet their own growth objectives.

In any business sector organisations need to stand out to capture the attention of the best candidates in the market; this seems to be especially noticeable in the rec to rec recruitment market.

Recruiters are discerning and want to work with a recruitment company that understands the recruitment sector in detail. This was just one of the reasons why GSR2R decided to focus on providing a number of added value initiatives, designed, specifically to help both their clients and candidates. Cheryl Wing their MD explains their rationale.

“In the recruitment arena things are changing and at a rapid rate. As a major player we feel it is down to us to help our candidates to excel in their role and we do this by delivering the latest training in a number of key areas.

LinkedIn is constantly changing and recruiters need to be aware of how to use this amazing platform to its full extent. As the economy grows the market switches to a candidate driven arena and finding the best candidates becomes a major priority for recruiters. Because of this, we are providing training in both these areas. For recruiters we are connected with.

Last week we ran a capacity webinar on LinkedIn delivered by a marketing expert in the field. In early May a well-respected recruitment trainer, Ali Whitehead, will be delivering a training session for candidates we have recently placed. These added value events are always oversubscribed and we know, appreciated by all the attendees.”

To find out more about London based GSR2R and their expertise in the rec to rec field contact them through their interactive website @ www.gsr2r.com

Claire Reynolds

hello@gsr2r.com

GSR2R
4^th Floor
15, little Portland St
London W1W 8BW

0203 696 1215

“How To Make Your LinkedIn Profile a Candidate Attraction Magnet….Guaranteed!”

Free Webinar Friday April 25^th @ 3pm UK

When it comes to being a top performing recruiter you have to attract the BEST candidates….and your LinkedIn profile can do the work for you!

In this FREE webinar we are going to show you EXACTLY how to change your profile so YOU start attracting the type of candidates your clients will love.

What we will cover in less than 30 mins:

• The secret way to get your profile to appear on Google and LinkedIn
• How to attract the exact candidates your client is looking for
• A step by step plan to create a stunning LinkedIn profile in less than 90 minutes

Act Now Register At This Link

All you have to do is register at this link below; either click the link or copy and paste into your browser bar.

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2804069468645486849

Till next time,

Cheryl

P.S.  Here is that link again, do it now as we only have a small number of places. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2804069468645486849

If I read another article about the war on talent. I think I might scream! It’s everywhere isn’t it? Yet I do understand why. With the economy growing so does employment; well hopefully as the two are generally linked.

Data from the Office for National Statistics has reported that the UK is showing consistently healthy growth figures.

For recruitment companies that will mean more vacancies to fill. It also translates to more pressure on each recruitment consultant to find and deliver high caliber candidates; a challenge at any time. We know it’s the same when you are a rec to rec consultant; we too have clients that want the best recruiters around.

So what can you do to raise your game and get better what you do?

Invest in the best ‘fancy pants’ database software? Finally get your head around Boolean search! Pay for more adverts? Well maybe and maybe not.

All of the things I have mentioned have their place and I would suggest there are a few other things that you need to think about first.

Here is a technique I learned a while ago that has served me well over the years. Sit down and get a pad and pen; for once shut down your ipad and let’s go the old fashioned route.

Draw a line down the middle and at the top of column one write; what I am good at and on the top of column two write; what I could be better at. Now do this in private and don’t share it with anyone. This is for your eyes and reflection only.

The only way this will work is if you are honest and this isn’t about beating yourself up either. Keep writing and fill at least three sides. Don’t think and judge just get it down first; you can go back to it later.

Now highlight the ‘development’ column sentences that relate to bringing in more business and candidates. For example it might be that you need to get better at following up with people, perhaps your influencing and ‘selling skills’ are rusty? Then prioritise them by going with your gut reaction about what will give you the biggest shift in performance. Hint it will probably be around your influencing capabilities and your activity in the right areas (generally you can find candidates and clients; it’s what you say when you are in front of them that makes the difference).

Drum roll…… now make a decision to change it. That is it. No it isn’t rocket science. It’s about being honest about where you have ‘gone’ off the ball or where you have had a lack of focus on the right things.

There is a saying in the training and development world that if you are not moving forward you are in effect moving backwards. I know that sounds weird and its true. Think about it. The world we live in is developing at a rate of knots and that includes the human race and its abilities.

What next? Go and find that pad and pen, in the words of Sandra Bullock in the film blind side, you can thank me later.

Till next time,

Cheryl Wing and the GSR2R Team

Despite the fact that Twitter is now such a big part of many people’s lives; both for work and  pleasure, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that many recruiters are baffled by this the whole twitter thing! Not knowing how to get the most out of it.

As a rec 2rec company we talk to recruiters all the time and over half have no idea what they should be doing on Twitter. Social media for recruiters is a powerful means of reaching out to both clients and candidates and a great help in boosting brand awareness and driving traffic to your recruitment companies’ website and ultimately your desk.

Getting started on Twitter is simplicity itself. You create an account and can begin following other people and posting tweets immediately. However, you also want to make it as easy as possible for clients and candidates to find you and when they find you, to be impressed by your professionalism.

Twitter offers a lot of opportunities for branding and customisation, including a profile picture, a header image and space for a short biography and a link to your company’s website.

Make your bio as engaging as possible; these are looked at more often than you may realise and people may decide whether or not to follow you based on them. Putting a little effort into making your account look as attractive and professional as possible will increase the chances of quality candidates and clients taking an interest in what you have to say.

One of the key things that recruiters forget about Twitter is that it is about two way communication. They may follow hundreds of people and those people may follow back, but if everyone is simply tweeting self-serving ads for their jobs and no one is reading or responding to anyone else, everyone is simply wasting their time.

You have to behave in the same way that that you want your followers to, reading and responding to tweets as well as posting your own. It is useful to look at the accounts of people who use Twitter for purely social purposes. They post updates about themselves, but also, post items that they think will be of interest to the people they are connected to on Twitter. They also keep up with the posts of other people and engage with them by responding or marking posts as favourites.

While it may take time and persistence to build up interest in your new Twitter account, the results in terms of building contacts and boosting the profile of your company will be significant. Even if you seem to be attracting very little attention at first, continue to post interesting tweets, ideally on a daily basis. When you do attract potential clients and candidates, they will look at your account to see whether it is active or whether it appears to be gathering dust.

A great feature of Twitter than will make your life easier is the option to create lists. This can help you organise the people who follow you and whom you follow in ways that make it easier to keep up to date with important tweets and discussions. For example, you could create a list containing the accounts of potential candidates and one for clients. You can also create a list of industry news sources which you can read to keep abreast of the latest developments and perhaps even provide inspiration for some of your tweets.

Ready to take some action?

Till next time,

Cheryl Wing and the GSR2R Team

This is the companion article to our other post on what linked abusers do. If you haven’t read that just mouse over the highlighted phrase.

So we know what not to do on LinkedIn. So what ‘should’ we be doing, if we want to use this amazing platform to its full affect? Social selling and social media for recruiters are important parts of our ‘tool’ kit when it comes to engaging with potential candidates and clients. It works too, provided we think about what we are doing.

As a well know recruitment to recruitment company we have the pleasure of talking to and placing some amazing recruiters into fantastic organisations. So we get to experience first-hand what some of these guys are doing. Want to know more? Here you go….

LinkedIn success users do this……..

They think. I am not being sarcastic J that is what they do. They think through what they want to achieve and then have a strategy that they work on; every day.

They set themselves up for success at home base; does that make sense? Home base? Their profile. Did you know that LinkedIn is its own search engine and that potential clients and candidates find you that way? Imagine if they land on a profile that speaks into exactly what they are looking for. Is professional and explains exactly how that recruiter can either help them fill placements or for a candidate match them with a great company.

Your profile is like your own ‘mini website’ that you don’t have to pay for. You can even add videos, PowerPoints and PDF’s that people can view.

They have a system and process in place. A fundamental law of business success is to have activities within a system so that they can be repeated and actioned consistently. That is what recruiters who are ‘power users’ of LinkedIn do.

They add value to their connections. How? Well they post good content that is useful and engaging. They interact and endorse and recommend their connections. Back to those laws of influence again. It’s called reciprocity. We hopefully experience it in our personal life; you know the significant other buys you flowers and then we are nice to them all week!

In linkedIn it generally plays out that you will receive endorsements back; very powerful in profiling you as an expert. Think about it. If one of your potential clients sees that you have 99+ endorsements for exec search do you think they might want to have a conversation with you? The answer is yes by the way.

They use all of LinkedIn’s tools to their advantage. LinkedIn is full of features and tools that can help you; the challenge is knowing where to find them and how to use them. For instance you can find out who has viewed your profile. Savvy recruiters know exactly how to turn that view into a connection.

I could go on and I have run out of time today. So what are you going to do now? How about making the decision to become the LinkedIn power user in your recruitment company. You can start today.

Till next time,

Cheryl and the GSR2R team

P.S. If you missed part one. Just click the link here.

I started recruiting way back in fact B.L.; before LinkedIn! Hard to believe that this huge business social network only appeared just over 12 years ago. It feels like it has been around forever.

Admittedly it has changed drastically from the early days back in 2002. We now have over 2 million groups we can join and specific recruiter platforms that give recruiters access to more connections; provided we pay, of course.

For smart recruiters it has changed the way they work and the results they, consequently achieve. Though that isn’t the case with every recruiter out there. We know because as a rec to rec company we talk to recruiters every hour of the day and see them in action in our feeds.

As a breed, recruiters tend to be ‘go for it’ types of people. The whole; build relationships first and ‘social selling’ is a new concept. Now therein lays a problem because LinkedIn is a SOCIAL network; even though it was set up as a way for business people to connect with other people. To ‘play’ the LinkedIn game effectively you have to think social first.

Want to know if you are an abuser? Hopefully you never do any of these.

LinkedIn abusers do this……..

Post five status updates back to back. I know! Why? Do they think that people will miss them or maybe they just haven’t got the hang of posting? Not good; makes you look either a Pratt or desperate.

Try and connect with people they have no degree of connection with. Fine if you are using Inmail or one of the paid platforms for recruiters. Not so good if you are sending a pitching email and worse still it can result in getting your account shut down; sometimes permanently.

Post nothing but jobs. LinkedIn is not a job board and it will switch people off if that is all you do.

Abusers are also inconsistent users; not technically abuse and yet it is for your followers. Remember one of the laws of influence states that people appreciate and respond to commitment and consistency. Sending an update when you are desperate to fill a job won’t cut it.

Stalk about in groups and just post rubbish. LinkedIn groups are a great place to connect with your target market which will be the topic for another post. Have a look in some of the groups you are members of and read some of the contributions? They astound me; it’s no wonder recruiters get a bad name.

Pitch a candidate the minute you connect. I know it might be tempting and trust me it will turn people off. If someone accepts your connection it doesn’t mean that they have agreed to be ‘sold’ to within a matter of minutes.

Don’t have an image on their profile. Now this might be contentious for you search girls and guys out there and what is that about. I have had many conversations about this over the past few years.

Do you honestly think that people are going to be keen to connect to a logo or a blank face? Remember this is a social network; think relationship and rapport building first.

So have I missed any? What are the things that cheese you off about other recruiters on LinkedIn?

Till next time,

Cheryl Wing and the GSR2R team

P.S. Look out for Part 2 and what you could be doing

You’ve read every article on recruiter tips you could find. You’ve registered with a great rec to rec company like GSR2R. But the problem is that you don’t want to be just a ‘great recruiter’. In fact, you’re pretty sure you already are one. What you want to know is how you can stand out in a highly competitive industry and become the recruiter every recruitment agency wants to get their hands on.

There are four bases you need to cover if you want agencies to notice you for more than your astounding good looks.

1. Become a fount of knowledge

To leap ahead of your competition, don’t stop digging. When you interview a client about a position they want filling, ask questions until you get to the very essence of the company and its culture. Good recruiters squeeze every fact out. This helps you clearly communicate the position to suitable candidates, making sure you find a candidate who’s not only good enough, but will slot into the company perfectly and be happy there.
Conversely, find out exactly what makes a certain candidate tick. What can you learn about their personality? Would he enjoy working at the company you’re recruiting for?

Remember, you’re doing more than filling a position – you’re matchmaking.

2. Treat people as more than just a network

Be compassionate. For each candidate who gets the job of their dreams, there’ll likely be several others who won’t. Always call back. Never leave a candidate hanging, waiting for a reply.

Why? Understanding how to treat people with respect keeps you – and your agency – in high esteem. Word of mouth marketing is extremely powerful, and you really don’t want former candidates moaning about you with their mates at the pub. Additionally, they’ll remain a key in your network should you ever need them again. A candidate you never called back won’t have the time for you again.

3. Be more driven than a Ford Focus

Hard work counts, but it needs fuel. If you don’t have the drive to keep pushing yourself to succeed, your hard work will count for nothing. Are you likely to fall apart when things don’t work out? Your ability to make the best of a bad situation will make or break you.

Never rely on the first candidate you find. Constantly forge back-up plans. In the recruiting industry, a candidate is interested today, but tomorrow you can’t get hold of her. A client thinks the candidate isn’t a good fit. A candidate successfully gets the job, but hates the company and quits days later. You get the picture.

You also need to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in recruiting. Recruiting is an incredibly fast-paced industry, and if you specialise in a niche such as IT recruitment, you need to remain on top of the latest industry news. This takes serious determination when you have long work days and remain constantly connected to your network, but your insider knowledge will make you the go-to recruiter.

4. Learn how to sell things better than Ogilvy (If you don’t know who he is, you’d better find out. Seriously.)

In your job, you sell the client to the candidate, and the candidate to the client. That’s a lot more than your average marketer does. Get acquainted with the psychology of persuasion. How can you make a position so tempting that a candidate will accept before you’ve even moved onto the pay?

The best way to do this is by reading books by some of the greatest copywriters of the last 50 years. Selling things isn’t about stretching the facts, or screaming ‘Buy one get one free!’ in people’s faces. Instead, you take the facts, translate them into benefits and present them, neatly packaged, before the client or candidate.

Recruiting is a tough game, and it will take all your endurance if you want to succeed. Even when you leave the office, your brain will still be working. If you have the dedication, you’ll easily stand out and become in demand.

Till next time,

Cheryl