Jim, a value proposition is not ‘corporate speak’ in the sense you present it. The smallest,most independent of us need to have one. I wish I still lived in St. Louis so we could discuss it over a good international beer…

I agree with you in theory, but it’s an awfully client centric version of the way that staffing works, and the truth is that any agency that views themself as a vendor soliciting business is dead meat.

If you’re a good recruiter, you have your choice of clients to work with. The smaller and more independent you are, the less you need to engage in corporate speak like value propositions.

If I find candidates not on the job boards, I need to sell them on opportunities. A company with a bureaucracy heavy vendor list or a “We demand to be sucked up to” mentality isn’t a good place for a superstar candidate.

Your methodology is good. Recruiters should be thinking about what makes them unique, as should all salespeople. The real problem? We’re not that unique. Sure there are good and bad recruiters, but it seems you’re lumping in e-mails of offshore candidates with those of professional recruiters and firms.

It comes down to this – if companies have a need, they’ll hire. The more the need, the more desperate they are to hire. They can’t do it on their own, and so our job is to find managers who have a desperate need, and fill it.

The rest is just corporate politics.