The most successful recruiters in our network are the ones who use all of NPAworldwide’s tools, and use them consistently. Every now and then, we have recruiters who reach out to trading partners or join practice group conference calls only when they need something – help filling a job req, help placing a candidate they can’t find a suitable role for, etc. And yes, this works too. But the most successful recruiters make it part of their day, every day. This is what helps keep you visible and helps develop great relationships with your trading partners.
We know recruiters don’t have a lot of extra time in their day, but here are some tips on how to effectively work a split placement network:
1. Carve out a set amount of time each day – whether it’s 15 minutes or a half hour, make it consistent. It’s easiest at either the very beginning of your day (before you log into your email and start responding to everything), or at the very end of your day. That way you don’t let distractions get in the way.
2. Check out what’s new. NPAworldwide offers candidate alerts and job alerts, which are sent to your email every morning with any new jobs or candidates in the system that match your criteria. Every morning, first thing, check what new network jobs are out there, to potentially add to your day. Make sure you contact the recruiter with the job to get an update on the status of the job, and any other pertinent info.
3. Enter your jobs and/or candidates. It’s important to not only check to see what other recruiters have out there, but to post what you need help with. Your job/candidate will go out in the next alert for all your trading partners to see, and it will also come up in searches in the database0. You may not fill that specific role you posted, or you may not place that exact candidate you posted, but it helps with visibility. If John Doe is looking for a Plant Manager and sees that you posted 10 Plant Managers in the last month, guess who he’s going to call?
4. Follow-up. Just like a candidate looking for a job, you can’t just “post and pray.” You should really forward the job/candidate you posted to trading partners you’ve worked with in the past. You can also do a search in the database for members who work that area, and send it to them.
5. Pay attention. NPAworldwide sends out something called the “Money Letter,” which tells who exactly in the network is making placements. This is a great tool to use to find potential trading partners. In addition, our weekly newsletter details new members – where they are located and what niches they work. After reading this each week, it’s a good practice to reach out to these new members… you never know who your next trading partner may be.
6. Attend meetings. I know, it can seem hard to stomach paying money to fly to and attend a meeting when you’re already paying membership dues. But everyone who has attended a meeting can attest to the value of meeting your trading partners face-to-face. The conversations that happen go much deeper than what you can do via email or the phone. Many of our members have done a split directly due to attending a meeting. If you can’t attend a meeting, hop onto a video conference call. You can share any hot reqs you need help with or candidates you need to place, and in addition, if people start seeing your face on the monthly conference call, they’ll start to remember you and what area you work in. And next time they need help, they’ll likely remember you.
Work the network every day – make it part of your day. As one of our board members says: “Spending a half hour each day should help to establish your own routine and find you potential trading partners that work a similar style and specialty …and often those relationships last for years.”