In the recruitment industry, success is not just about making placements. It’s about building lasting partnerships. For boutique agencies, the ability to foster long-term relationships with both clients and candidates is a powerful differentiator. Trust and loyalty are the cornerstones of this approach, transforming one-time transactions into sustained success. How can you cultivate these essential connections? Both trust and loyalty are increasing in importance as AI takes on a larger role. Read the rest of this entry »
Building Long-Term Relationships with Clients and Candidates
by Veronica BlattStrengthening Relationships: A Guide for Recruiters
by Liz Carey
This week brings Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie to those celebrating Thanksgiving here in the United States. The holiday provides the perfect backdrop for strengthening relationships with both candidates and clients. For recruiters, it’s not just about celebrating the season—it’s an opportunity to foster connections, show gratitude, and stand out by creating meaningful touchpoints. Here are some practical ways you can use this season to enhance your recruitment relationships.
1. Send Thoughtful, Personalized Messages
One simple yet effective way to show appreciation is through personalized Thanksgiving messages. Often, a heartfelt email or a handwritten note can go a long way in building trust and loyalty. When crafting your message, take the time to reflect on the specific ways your candidates and clients have contributed to your success.
For example, you could write to a candidate to thank them for trusting your services during their job search or to a client for allowing you to be part of their hiring process. Make sure your message is more than just a generic greeting—include personal touches that make it clear you value them.
2. Host Thanksgiving-Themed Events
Thanksgiving provides an excellent reason to connect in a more personal way through events. Depending on your audience and comfort levels, consider organizing a virtual or in-person gathering.
- Virtual Events: Host a Thanksgiving-themed webinar or networking session. Include icebreakers like “What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?” or open with a gratitude exercise to build rapport among attendees.
- In-Person Gatherings: If circumstances allow, a small get-together over coffee or lunch can be a meaningful way to catch up with your clients or candidates.
These gatherings don’t have to be large—keeping them intimate allows for quality conversations that deepen your relationships.
3. Share Gratitude Publicly
Thanksgiving is the season of gratitude. Use your company’s digital platforms to recognize those who play a critical role in your business. A social media post thanking your candidates for their resilience or your clients for their partnership is a thoughtful yet public way to show appreciation. Even featuring positive testimonials or success stories can help humanize your brand while demonstrating gratitude.
Additionally, you might consider sending out a seasonal newsletter. Alongside sharing resources or updates, include a thank-you section to spotlight standout candidates or express appreciation for long-term clients.
4. Create a Positive Company Culture
A recruitment firm’s success relies heavily on the strength of its internal team. Thanksgiving isn’t just an opportunity to connect externally—it’s a chance to give back to your employees too. Consider gifting small tokens of appreciation, such as gift cards or an extra day off to celebrate the season.
Virtual or in-office Thanksgiving lunches, where everyone gets to share what they’re thankful for, can also nurture a sense of gratitude and unity within the team. A happy internal culture translates into better service for candidates and clients.
Why Gratitude Matters for Recruiters
Gratitude forms the foundation of lasting relationships. Candidates appreciate knowing that you see them as more than just resumes. Similarly, clients value recruiters who genuinely recognize their business and partnership. By using Thanksgiving as a moment to express thanks and build connections, you reinforce your reputation as a trusted partner in their success.
End on a Warm Note
This Thanksgiving, take the time to nurture your most important connections. With a thoughtful card, an engaging event, or a simple “thank you,” you can show candidates and clients alike that they’re not just part of your network—they’re part of your story.
Start planning now to make the most of the season, and watch as your gratitude strengthens the relationships that drive your recruitment success. Happy Thanksgiving!
Every Day is March Madness in Recruiting
by Liz Carey
Recruiters are constantly faced with challenges, obstacles, and the unpredictable nature of the job. Sound familiar? That’s because recruiting is a lot like March Madness – the annual college basketball tournament that captivates audiences around the world. In this blog post, we will explore how the recruiting industry mirrors the excitement, intensity, and unpredictability of March Madness. Read the rest of this entry »
Protect Client Relationships
by Dave Nerz
As a leader in a split fee network, I hear a common concern from members sharing job details. They are concerned that trading partners could go after their client relationships. Of course, in our network we have specific rules against that. Rogue partners who would take advantage of the information they gain from a partner would be putting their livelihood at risk for short-term gain. They would be expelled and gain a reputation that would be hard to shake. The upside is not worth the penalty.
For those not in a split network, it might become necessary to share client information with partners on rare occasions. So, what can you do to protect yourself? Here are a few options for any good recruiter to consider before sharing client details. Read the rest of this entry »
Relationships Win in the Recruiting World
by Liz Carey
Recruiting is a relationship business. Having conversations and building relationships with clients, candidates, and trading partners will lead to long-lasting relationships, loyalty, and repeat business, as opposed to one-off hires.
But due to the current nature of the recruiting business and a candidate shortage, recruiters must act quickly to fill roles, and because of this, there are many recruiters who treat sourcing and recruiting as a transaction. They don’t see the big picture, the long-term view that today’s candidate may be tomorrow’s hiring manager.
But relationships still need to be cultivated through frequent communication — preferably in-person or by phone. Candidates receive so many messages through LinkedIn and emails, that it can be hard to stand out amongst the masses. Similarly, potential trading partners may receive resumes thrown at them by so many other recruiters. Read the rest of this entry »
Building Recruiting Relationships
by Liz Carey
When you join a recruitment network or decide to work split placements, one of the things that recruiters find hard to wrap their head around is giving away their “insider” information, such as the name of their client. Some recruiters hold this info close to their vest, in fear of their trading partner trying to go around them and contact the client directly.
But when you join a recruiting network built on trust, comprised of vetted recruiters, and backed by member-owners who all adhere to the same rules, you will find that its most successful members are ones who are completely open and transparent, because they realize the value of open and honest communication. Read the rest of this entry »
Recruiting “Tools” Are Not A Golden Ticket
by Liz Carey
From time to time, we hear ‘Recruiting must be so easy.’ The logic is, because candidates are so accessible now through social media like LinkedIn, people think it’s an easy job to “match” candidates to open job requirements. So then we hear of “recruiters” who think that because they purchased the latest and greatest in recruitment tools, they will become a super successful recruiter. It’s true, there are a plethora of tools that can HELP a recruiter – from job boards to applicant tracking systems to CRMs to AI sourcing platforms to assessment tools. But these are only tools on a recruiter’s toolbelt… they are not a “golden ticket” to success. Simply having the tools doesn’t make you a recruiter, just like having a wrench doesn’t make you a plumber. Read the rest of this entry »
Develop Relationships Before You Need Help
by Liz Carey
As a member engagement specialist at NPAworldwide, part of my job is to help members find success in the network. We always advise members that in order to build relationships in the network, it’s important to be visible by posting records, attending calls/meetings, and reaching out.
But sometimes, we have members who only reach out when they say: “I have a critical search and need help!”
We are always here to help, but I cannot help but wonder –“Who have you reached out to? Who do you network with?” If you don’t have relationships with your network partners, you may not get the help you need.
The best advice we can give members is to develop network partners long before you need them. As businessman/author Harvey Mackay says about networking, “Dig your well before you’re thirsty.” Read the rest of this entry »
Resources for Recruiting & Business Development
by Liz CareyMembers of our recruitment network have been sharing tips with each other about recruiting strategies during COVID, but the content applies anytime, not just during a pandemic. On a recent NPAworldwide regional call, members discussed an article about building client relationships as well as their own methods of business development they have found success with.
Here are some tools and resources recruiters can use to build business: Read the rest of this entry »
Relationships and Recruiting
by Veronica Blatt
Our guest blogger is Pam Robison of J. Gifford Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. J. Gifford Inc. is a small, quality conscious firm providing highly individualized recruiting services to clients on a local, regional, national and international basis. The firm’s recruiting activities are focused on professional, technical and managerial placement, as well as contractor and international staffing for clients. Pam is a member of the NPAworldwide Board of Directors.
I’ve been in the recruiting industry for nearly 20 years now. I actually “stumbled” into this career after deciding to leave a large US-based manufacturer during a downtime in the industry. For 2 of my 17 years there, I was the human resource manager where one of my responsibilities was recruiting. Back in those days we would network as much as possible to gain referrals. We also placed ads in local papers and sat back waiting to receive resumes by mail. It wasn’t really much different when I began full-time recruiting in 2001, except technology had advanced to the point of website job postings and email. The advances in technology certainly helped reduce the lag time between the posting of a job and receiving responses from potential candidates. Read the rest of this entry »