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Time to Fill Your Pipeline

by Liz Carey

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.

When COVID-19 happened, a lot of jobs were suddenly put on hold or cancelled altogether. The pandemic and economic collapse resulted in record-high unemployment, so for those passive candidates who were keeping an eye out for other opportunities, many have made the choice to stay where they are — feeling lucky to even have a job. So with top talent reluctant to leave their current roles, what is a recruiter to do?

To continue building your pipeline, even in times of economic uncertainty, it’s important to continue to foster relationships with current employees, former employees, past applications, and runner-up/silver medalists — those candidates who were interviewed or considered for a role, but ultimately weren’t selected. Keep in touch with these candidates and ask questions to stay abreast of what’s going on in their lives — maybe they don’t like their current job, or were recently laid off, or want to relocate due to family.  Even if they are happy where they are or are hesitant to make a move now, they might have a referral — the next hire you’re looking for.  Additionally, be proactive and keep your eyes and ears open on rivals’ employees. Court the competition and reach out – ask them if they are content/satisfied with their work, and build a relationship from there.

Just because the market isn’t uber-competitive right now doesn’t mean it’s not the time to fill your pipeline. It’s always the time to network and keep your eyes open for potential top talent. When your client is ready to pull the trigger on hiring, you’ll be ready with talent at the ready.

 

Make a Network Work for You

by Liz Carey

Recruiting is a tough business. Sometimes you’re given a seemingly impossible req to fill from a client, or sometimes you have a great candidate that you just can’t seem to place. What do you do when you hit that brick wall? What if you had a whole network of like-minded recruiters who could bring you a wealth of talent, determination and diligence? This is what split recruiting is all about. Split placements involve two recruiters who work together to help a client find the best candidate, and help a candidate find the best role for them.

In the NPAworldwide recruiting network, we often see stories of two hard-working recruiters working together to make a placement. Here’s a story of a recent one: Read the rest of this entry »

Behind the Scenes of a Global Recruitment Network

by Sarah Freiburger

hands and wrenchesAs the Director of Membership at NPAworldwide, a recruitment network, I am often asked this question: So who runs this network? As a network that is member-owned and run, this is a multitiered question at best, and does not apply to every online network that you may find. However, here is the breakdown of what is happening behind the scenes at our specific split-placement network.

  1. Staff. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, NPAworldwide has a staff of six employees in office, and one located in Brisbane, Australia who mirrors the work for the Australian members. They all work diligently to be reachable by members and enroll and train them to be successful in the network. In charge of membership, I personally qualify firms to determine if they meet the characteristics of being an NPAworldwide firm prior to submitting them for membership approval. A Training Director and Member Services Manager then take over new firm’s onboarding by showing them how to utilize the web-based sharing tool for posting candidates and positions, and how to build recruiter lists to start to form solid trading partners. This is an ongoing process throughout any membership, as we are constantly expanding the number of trading partners. Our global conferences and global networking meetings are all also planned at headquarters, in addition to the monthly trading group calls and other networking opportunities.
  2. Regional Directors, Managing Directors and Trading Group Chairs. As mentioned, this network is member owned and run, and the reason it has worked since 1956 is the volunteer and elected positions the members take. As an independent recruitment firm owner in NPAworldwide, you not only have the power to vote on changes in the network, but are able to be in leadership roles as well. Each region globally has a Director that oversees the region, or multiple regions, and works on being involved in bringing on quality firms, and then introducing them to trading partners in that region and being a resource as they begin their membership. The Trading Group chairs are responsible for organizing monthly trading group calls and regular communication regarding their particular niche, and exchanging industry topics and hot jobs/candidates with other members in that group.
  3. The Board of Directors. The top elected position in NPAworldwide is a seat on the Board of Directors, which governs the network and upholds the Bylaws and Operations. There is an election each year and firm owners can rotate onto the board. Since the network began in 1956, this has been the network’s strength in knowing how to best provide membership benefits for the network with direct feedback from the members themselves. This Board also is broken up across various committees, that along with staff, specifically focus on membership growth, retention, technology, and partnerships/sponsorships. The President of NPAworldwide here at headquarters is responsible in large part for implementing the Board’s direction and addressing concerns.
  4. The members. The network would not exist without over 400 firms and 1200 recruiters making split placements each and every single day. As an expectation of membership in a split placement network, engagement is essential for success. By posting open job requests and hot candidates, the sharing tool is able to help members grow revenue that would otherwise not be possible. Attendance at networking events, logging on to trading group calls, and connecting with many trading partners are the things we see from our top grossing members.

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Recruiter Networking – Getting Beyond the Social Networks

by Veronica Blatt

Image of male recruiter talking on phoneToday’s guest blogger is James Seidel with James Seidel & Associates located in Kelowna, BC, Canada. JSA is an owner-operated firm with clients across western Canada. The firm primarily places candidates in I/T, engineering, and sales. James is a former I/T Trading Group Chair and is currently serving on NPA’s Board of Directors .

The low hanging fruit in the recruiting world is easier than ever to find. Substitutes for recruiter networking such as LinkedIn, Google, Monster and a myriad of technical resources are available at a reasonable cost to every employer and recruiter. With a minimum of effort and recruiting talent, one can pepper the web with advertisements and review lists of hundreds of employees with a few clever clicks of the mouse. The job seekers send in their resumes and respond to the first email they receive and voila – there’s a list of candidates to show to the hiring manager. Done, right?? For some, yes. But what about the companies looking for the very best? The ones looking for just the A players? Is that list reflecting the very best people on the market? No, it’s not – it is a very small snapshot of the folks who are looking at that moment.

Recruiting is still hard work – that’s why it pays so well when it’s done right and the best in the business are still charging a hefty fee for the service. What are we still able to do that the hordes of in-house recruiters are unwilling or unable to do? We pick up the phone and find out where the candidates are. Oftentimes, the databases of thousands of people we have amassed over the years in the industry give us an instant head start. We can identify our target companies. With a few clever keystrokes we have a list of people who look like they have the skills we need. Now select a few people we have dealt with in the past to give us some key information on who the real performers are. Remember, recently departed employees are often better sources of these opinions than the folks who are still there and don’t want to see the best folks leaving. (Pretty hard for the in-house recruiters to find those folks and best of luck getting them to give them any information.) Now time to start making those calls. No secrets, no cloaks and daggers, just the beginning of some career-based conversations. This is another big, BIG difference between US and THEM. We are here to offer insights into market opportunities in the best interests of that candidate for the rest of their careers. An in-house recruiter is here today, gone tomorrow, and only interested in filling one job, right now, for one company. No relationship, no long term lead generations or referrals, no trust, no reason to stay in touch if that company happens not to be of interest. Their networks don’t have the power ours do. They can’t. So use the tools everyone else uses, by all means. But combine them with the recruiter networking you already have and now you’ve really got something to sell.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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