Prior to the pandemic, recruiters focused on building a pipeline of talent, so that when their clients handed over a job req, they had candidates at the ready. Despite a completely different labor landscape than we’ve ever seen in the past, this recruiting tactic is still practical. Even if all hiring is on hold, recruiters should continually grow their talent database (or pipeline)… that way, you won’t have to start anew when things do open up. When this pandemic is over and the economy rebounds, those roles that were put on hold will open back up and employers will be overwhelmed with applications. You want to be one step ahead of the game and have that top talent ready to present to them. Read the rest of this entry »
Time to Fill Your Pipeline
by Liz CareyNo Work Life Balance, The New Normal?
by Liz Carey
It truly is an unprecedented time – never before have so many companies been forced to drastically change their operations in the span of just a few weeks. Most companies, whether or not they already had work-from-home employees, had to transition to a fully remote operation.
When the world opens back up after the Covid-19 pandemic, what will the “new normal” look like? Will the work-from-home experiment continue? Many companies, including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Square, have already extended remote work through the end of the year and/or indefinitely. Read the rest of this entry »
Recruiters, Now’s the Time to Innovate
by Liz Carey
With Covid-19 shuttering the doors of retailers and restaurants alike, many businesses are thriving by thinking outside the box – sit-down restaurants have shifted to carryout service, grocery markets and butchers are now offering home delivery, salons are selling do-it-yourself dye kits, breweries are now manufacturing hand sanitizer, and apparel companies have shifted operations to make masks. Read the rest of this entry »
Recruitment Strategies to Partner, Pivot and Prosper
by Liz Carey
With all the uncertainty in the world right now, some may start to panic – from stockpiling, to layoffs, to closing down shops. But on a recent NPAworldwide regional call, one of our area leaders insisted that for recruiters, it’s not time to panic… rather, it’s time to Partner, Pivot and Prosper. Read the rest of this entry »
“Ghost”-busting in Recruiting and in Life
by Liz Carey
After 3 out of 7 candidates flaked out interviews (that were booked AND confirmed prior) in one day, a recruiter connection of mine took to LinkedIn to pose the question, “are we as a society becoming flakier?”
Recruiters and employers are well-aware of the phenomenon of candidate “ghosting” — in fact, according to Indeed, 83% of employers have reported experiencing it. But this recruiter lamented how it’s increasingly becoming more and more common… not just in recruitment, but even with work, friends and family, ghosting has become the norm. “Why do we as a society find it so hard to commit to the plans we make?” he asked. Read the rest of this entry »
Your ‘Competitor’ May Be Your Best Ally
by Liz Carey
The recruiting world to some is a “dog eat dog” or “every man for himself” arena. But another recruiter who works the same niche as you, or works in the same geographic area as you, should be seen as a valuable asset – someone who you can glean insight from, bounce ideas off of, and talk through obstacles with. This is one of the biggest perks of joining a split placement network, but is often overlooked as many see the main goal of joining would be to add income to your bottom line through split placements.
It’s not uncommon to have members of a split placement network who don’t actually do splits, but choose to stay in the network for the camaraderie / relationships and knowledge they get in return. Read the rest of this entry »
Recruiters, Pause Busywork to Think
by Liz Carey
The end of the year is a great time to look back at your processes and see what’s working, what isn’t, what can be improved, etc. It can be hard to reflect and make a change when you’re trapped in a cycle of constant demands – which is especially true for recruiters, who are so busy it’s often hard to “come up for air.”
An article about resolving to do less busywork has been floating around our office. In the article, from Associations Now, it suggests that to grow professionally, you have to stop spending so much time on “busywork” – i.e. logical tasks that don’t require much brainpower and are often done while distracted.
In the recruiting world, what comes to mind is the endless daily “to-dos” and quantitative goals to accomplish (i.e. send X # of InMails or emails, make X # of cold calls to prospective clients, checking social media, entering candidates into your ATS, pulling reports/data entry, etc). But while you’re glued to the phone trying to achieve a certain amount of phone calls, you might “look” busy but actually be achieving nothing.
“Busywork” often does have inherent value and needs to be completed, but tends to not create “new value.” The article stresses you need to carve out time to just think. It’s easy to get caught up in the endless cycle of calls and emails, but it’s important to step back and create time where you can reflect on the bigger picture. Block out an hour say on Thursday morning to work on something that will get no attention unless you break free of the email catch-up game.
This is an opportunity, the article states, to focus on “deep work” opportunities, which create new value, improve skills, and his hard to replicate. For a recruiting firm, a good activity to ponder might be your current marketing processes or business development strategies. If your team each had an hour or two each week where they were free from the phone/email, it would allow them to research, brainstorm new ideas, and possibly create new processes for your business that could save time and/or money, or increase productivity. It also places value on the employee – for their skills and thoughts, and encourages them to think outside the box, rather than thinking they’re just another cog in the wheel.
Do you have a process in place to allow yourself time to just think?
Thanksgiving Thoughts for Recruiters
by Liz Carey
Here in America, it’s the day before Thanksgiving, and a time to reflect and express gratitude for things that give your life meaning. In the recruiting world, this may be a time where candidates assess whether their work gives them satisfaction and if they find it meaningful. With the start of a new year coming up, candidates may be at the point where they want to make a change if they don’t feel they are making a positive impact in their current job.
I recently read a great article that suggests steps employers can take to help keep employees satisfied with meaningful work, which ultimately will help ensure the retention of top talent: https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2019/11/27/how-to-make-work-more-meaningful/
Similarly, recruiters can take this time to reflect and express gratitude for all the people and tools that help make you successful. A quick email blast with a Thanksgiving wish can help remind candidates that they aren’t just a number to you… and it will reinforce that personal connection that makes your work meaningful.
Recruiting can be stressful and time-consuming, but take the time to remind yourself of the success stories of finding a candidate their dream job, or fulfilling a difficult need for your client, or sending a lead to a trading partner that helped them land a new client, and it may help you appreciate the hard times and realize how rewarding this line of work is.
Be thankful for your candidates, clients, and trading partners; when you make your next placement, they’ll surely be thankful for you.
5 Business Development Tips for Recruitment Firms
by Liz Carey
In recruiting, the biggest piece of infrastructure that needs to stay solid and sound is your pipeline. You should always be developing new clients and candidates. Even if you have a handful of solid, longtime clients that keep you busy…. things can happen, such as job orders being cancelled or put on hold indefinitely, or your client company could decide to move recruiting efforts in-house. Never take your pulse off developing new clients and building strong relationships with candidates… but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours on end doing cold-call sales calls.
Here are 5 best practices when it comes to business development: Read the rest of this entry »
How to Prep Your Client for an Interview
by Liz Carey
Recruiters know to prep their candidates for an interview – a great resume only gets you so far. Sometimes, the best person for a job isn’t the best interviewee. Similarly, hiring managers aren’t always the best interviewers, and may not leave the best impression on the potential hire they interview.
At the end of the interview, the hiring manager often asks “so, do you have any questions for me today?”, and many recruiters take this opportunity to arm their candidates with penetrating questions in order to make a lasting impression. So if you have a hiring manager who isn’t prepared to answer these questions, the candidate might doubt the leadership at this company and lose interest in the role. It’s a candidate’s market, and in today’s fierce recruiting environment, you have to make sure your client sells not only the role, but themselves, to the candidate.
Here are some tips to give your client regarding the interview process:
- First, is making sure everyone is on the same page by using a calendar invite or similar software to get the interview on both your candidate’s and client’s calendars. Trying to coordinate calendars by calling or emailing back and forth with available times is a big hassle and time-waster. Get interview scheduling under control with something like Calendly or SimplyBook.me to find times that work for everyone and reduce cancelled or missed interviews. With scheduling software, your client can set their availability preference, share the link with you and the candidate(s) they want to interview, and let them pick a time, which is automatically added to you and the candidate’s calendar. It’s efficient and simple.
- Second, the interview itself. Sometimes recruiters are so good at prepping candidates that the interviewer isn’t prepared for the interviewee’s questions! A corporate headhunter told me a story of a time the hiring manager was at a loss for words when a interviewee asked about potential financial risks of the company’s that they garnered from the company’s public financial statements. Be prepared to answer questions about the company, its culture, career development, reductions in force, ethics, etc.
- You want every interview to be a dialogue, not just bombarding the candidate with questions. You want the candidate to feel comfortable opening up to you. Build in time during each interview for candidates to ask questions, and for the interviewers to thoughtfully respond to them.
- If you don’t know the answer to a question, tell the candidate that you will get back to them. …And make sure you actually do follow-up within 24 hours.
- Many candidates do not want to waste time waiting, as they may have other interviews/offers on the table, so be prepared for direct questions like “When may I expect an offer?” or “When will you decide on filling this position?”
And importantly, if a candidate doesn’t ask questions, that is a huge red flag. It shows they didn’t take the time to research the company and shows a lack of interest. You want candidates who ask questions because that shows they have a genuine interest in your client and its success.