Recently I read an article by Ken Forrester entitled Placement Fees are Cheap When You Look at Them This Way. The article appeared in the online version of The Fordyce Letter in January 2013. Independent recruiters involved in recruitment in North America as well as those involved in international headhunting will find this article informative.
Ken shared how he made the following statement during a presentation to business owners and HR professionals:
“If you are not using headhunters as your primary recruitment weapon, then you are not hiring the best talent in-the-market.”
One audience member became irate and said – “You don’t know what you’re talking about because we hired some pretty good people, and they are working out just fine. And we didn’t use headhunters.”
Well, without hesitation, Ken replied:
“Sir, you are absolutely correct. You really don’t need headhunters to hire the best talent on-the-market. However, what would you say was the difference between the best talent in -the-market and the best talent on-the-market?”
As Ken shared with the audience – “the best talent in-the-market are most likely those individuals who ARE NOT actively searching for a job.” In other words, Ken was talking about what the recruitment industry calls passive candidates.
Experienced recruiters take the time to search for passive candidates and build relationships with them. They will contact passive candidates working for a company’s competitor searching for the top achiever willing to switch jobs for an improved standard of living and/or career advancement.
In addition, Ken shares his thoughts that headhunting means “recruiting ahead of the need” as well as a sharing a convincing explanation of how a recruiter can sell the economic value of an organization hiring a headhunter.
As an independent recruiter, how do you sell your services to organizations.