Robert Woo
8 days ago
Many of our clients are staffing and recruiting firms, and because of this we have a unique perspective on the industry. So when it comes to our own hiring processes, we try to glean best practices from industry leaders, but we also try things our own way. As we iterate and refine our methods, we thought it might be interesting to share what we’ve learned.
Keith Newport
2 weeks ago
As a physician recruiting agency, we have the usual challenge of any recruiting firm—serving our two different constituencies — candidates and clients — and the challenge of working in a specialized industry, healthcare, which has detailed credentialing requirements that vary based on the state, private versus government, and client to client. Additionally, our agency recruits for six high-demand specialties, each with its own set of expertise and requirements.
To help serve our two customer segments, we divided our account executives into two roles: marketers, who deal directly with clients at healthcare facilities, and recruiters, who work with physicians. Also, each of our recruiters and marketers staffs for a single medical specialty.
About seven years ago, we developed our Research Consulting group, a training program for account executives, to accommodate our unique organizational structure. I took over the RC group about five years ago. I started at the company as an account executive, and I had a passion for sales training. When the opportunity to manage and develop my own sales team presented itself, I was very enthusiastic about it. I am an example of the various career-path options that are available to all associates within our organization. This process guides associates through different stages of their career in a very organic manner by giving them the support and training they need along the way.
Jeff Schwartzman
on Dec. 28, 2011
Editor’s note: Jeff Schwartzman’s article was the 3rd most popular article on The Fordyce Letter in 2011. It originally ran in April.
I often run across criticism of the recruiting practice dubbed “Post and Pray,” the method of posting online job ads with the hopes the right candidates apply. This practice comes under fire since it is viewed as the lazy approach to recruiting with little to no control over who applies.
Many of you may be thinking at this point, “I have no need to post jobs! I do everything through cold calling and referrals.” Relax — while that may work for you, it may not be the best approach for everyone else. Recruiting offers no perfect source or method to fill positions. In my opinion, to run a successful recruiting desk, it is important to utilize a combination of multiple recruiting methods, both proactive and reactive.
Posting online job ads have many advantages. Job seekers who apply have the opportunity to read through a job description (hopefully well written!) so they typically are already interested in your job when you receive their resume.
The following job posting strategies, approaches, and techniques will help optimize your job ad exposure resulting in both a higher quantity and quality of online applicants.
Greg Doersching
on Dec. 12, 2011
Last week, we discussed Understanding What Your Customers Want. If you are going to sell anything to another human being, you have to understand something about people as buyers because we respond to certain things in certain ways. With this in mind, there are two very specific sales “styles” that all human beings respond best to: Fact-based Selling and Story-selling. Below you will find a description of these two sales styles.
Bob Marshall
on Nov. 18, 2011
Editor’s note: Last week, we gave you part 3 of “The Phone Rang…” Robocruiter series. This week we continue this short series from Bob Marshall with part 4.
To recap, in Parts 1-3 we covered the definition of The Total Account Executive, the analogy between the A/E and the doctor, the ten manifestations of failure due to the lack of commitment, the six reasons why we market and how to market with a Feature-Accomplishment-Benefit format, and the “I have arranged…” technique. So, here we go with Part 4…
When we market we will uncover three distinct types of JOs: Search Assignment (SA), Matching and Can’t Help JOs. This is a ‘given;’ it is indisputable; and we must recognize that fact. If a superstar writes 15 JOs, 0-1 will be of SA quality and recruitable; 4-5 will be matching and semi-recruitable; and 10, or 2/3rds will be of the Can’t Help variety. So, the $64,000 question is: How do you determine which JOs are which? And which are recruitable?
Bob Marshall
on Oct. 7, 2011
I caught myself staring out the window at the front pasture so icy and desolate in the late winter afternoon. It had been cold lately…unseasonably cold for Atlanta. And, with the vanishing warmth, I started having negative daydreams. Was this economy ever going to recover? Did our political leaders really know what they were doing? Was recruitment, as I had known it, a thing of the past, like typewriters and Polaroids? Sad thoughts. And then, as always, the phone rang.
I returned to the present and answered the phone. Another like soul was full of some of the same doubts I had just been having. But it was his question that shook me out of the doldrums. He asked, “What is the difference between success and failure in recruitment?”
This took me back to a meeting I had in Atlanta with one of the greatest sales trainers who ever lived. His name was Steve Brown and he was the Chairman of the Board of The Fortune Group. I told the caller to sit back and relax and listen to what I remembered from that memorable meeting — the meeting where Steve explained to me how salespeople acquire the Right Attitude.
Amybeth Hale
on Aug. 24, 2011
Over on SourceCon.com, I’ve written a little dissertation on my journey through the nooks and crannies of Google+. I’m not going to bore all of you with a recount of what I found and my personal opinions on Google’s latest foray into the social networking world — I know none of you have time to read it.
What I do want to do, however, is show you a very easy way to search for prospects on Google+. My hope is that by the end of this article, even the most skeptical recruiter will see the value in using this new resource to unearth potential placements.
Amybeth Hale
on Aug. 17, 2011
The book Groundswell by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li was written in 2008 for the purpose of unpacking business relevance and use of social media in modern times. There is a concept outlined in the book that is designed to assist in developing a marketing plan for businesses. This concept, called the P.O.S.T. method, can be translated quite easily into a business goal development and planning tool for you.
P.O.S.T. was designed for traditional and digital marketers to help them create a roadmap for relevant communication with their target audience using social media tools. While the original intent of this marketing planning tool may not sound like something that would be relevant to you, it can really help you, as an external recruiting professional, put some thought into your personal business plan and your company’s business, marketing, and outreach goals. This is especially helpful for those of you who are either brand new to recruiting or who are transitioning into a new industry.
Amybeth Hale
on Jul. 11, 2011
One of the most common questions I get asked by recruiting firm owners is, “What should I look for when I want to hire a researcher?” Since so many of you appear to be looking for good sourcing talent these days, I would like to go through some details of what I believe to be good qualities an excellent researcher might have so that you can select the right one for you. This will not be a complete list, however I think that as you conduct your search, you will find that your most qualified candidates will possess several of these particular skills.
Jeremy Sisemore
on Jun. 7, 2011
If you’re like me, you always just assumed that press releases were expensive and had to be handled by a third party public relations firm. I knew that in order to reach my goal of becoming the #1 firm in the U.S. that focuses exclusively in SAP talent acquisition, I needed to do more than just be the best recruiter in terms of delivery.
Perception can oftentimes be reality, and I wanted to build an image that conveyed to my potential clients and candidates that we’re the “go-to” firm in their niche. What kind of firm would we be if our website was outdated and unprofessional? How good could our firm really be if they couldn’t easily find out about us on the Internet? Here’s a great question for you to ponder about your own market presence: If a target client was using Google to locate a great recruiter that specializes in your niche, would that client easily find you on page 1 of the search results?
I’m from the “old school” and understand that outbound direct marketing phone calls are the #1 key to our success. However, if you’re not looking at how to better utilize technology to land business that you otherwise wouldn’t have had, I think you’re giving a huge advantage to your competitors.
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