Paul DeBettignies
on Dec. 29, 2011
Editor’s note: Paul DeBettignies’ article was the 2nd most popular article on The Fordyce Letter in 2011. It originally ran in March.
I know, I know… smile and dial.
More phone calls equal more job orders, candidates and send outs. More send outs equal more placements.
I get it – I really do. But after thirteen years as a sole practitioner, I have learned that I need to get out from behind the desk every now and then, or I fear that the headset will become permanently fixed to my head.
James Seetoo
on Dec. 22, 2011
Have you ever been in a situation where the perfect candidate pulled out at the last minute? Or even worse, have you ever been used by a candidate to leverage a raise or a promotion with his/her current company? For me, the worst thing that could happen is a when a person accepts a job, goes through the background check, does everything you expect…and then doesn’t show up.
And that really happened – the guy just never showed up and never returned any attempt at contact by me or anyone else from the client company. Now, I would have understood if the person’s spouse didn’t answer the phone to take a message. I would have really understood if he ended up in the hospital or the worse case scenario dropped dead, but no — he just decided not to show up.
Let’s be absolutely up front about things here – IT SUCKS!
Yes, it’s for best in the grand scheme of things. After all, no one wants an unstable hire. But is definitely doesn’t make a recruiter’s life any easier.
For those of us who not internal recruiters, there’s the old, “The position went on hold,” or “We didn’t have an internal candidate before but one just surfaced,” after we’ve put heart and soul into a search.
We ask ourselves, “Why couldn’t that person just be honest?”
Greg Doersching
on Dec. 6, 2011
For 20 years now I’ve been a recruiter, trainer, coach, and mentor. In that time I have watched and listened to literally hundreds of recruiters try to explain to a potential customer why they should work with their firm over the dozens of others they get calls from every month. In all that time I’ve come to discover that we (recruiters) do an absolutely horrible job of differentiating ourselves from one another. Everyone wants to talk about the exact same things:
“I’ve been in business for X years.”
“We specialize exclusively in this area (almost always what the client says they need).”
“I’d be happy to offer (insert the name of your best customer here) as a reference.”
“We’re located here in (insert random city/ST) so we do a much better job of selling the community.”
And the piece-de-resistance, “I’m able to find candidates you won’t have access to without me.”
The words may come out differently from recruiter to recruiter, but the message is almost always the same. This has to change. If you want to start to capture the market share and clients you desire, start with a whole new approach to what you “sell” your potential customers.
Stephanie Lada
on Nov. 9, 2011
What’s the secret to a recruiter’s success? Is it the ability to produce high metrics? In an industry where metrics are often how we are viewed for our ability to produce, there’s still much more to it. The answer is found within a simple statement.
Success is found in the success of others.
What exactly does that mean? It means that the best recruiters know that achieving their goals comes from helping others achieve success. At the core of recruiting is the ability to develop relationships. The details within those relationships are what differentiate the average recruiter from the A+ players in our industry.
Kate Benson
on Nov. 7, 2011
Since 2008 we have seen businesses fail, jobs lost, inventories cut, marketing budgets slashed, and lots of markdowns. Over the past year however, life has seemingly resumed again. People are starting to buy extravagant items, businesses are getting back on track, and, if you don’t read the news on a daily basis, you’re feeling pretty good about life.
However, a new trend has recently popped up and it’s not a simple matter. Perhaps being in the executive search universe, we are more focused on it, but it cuts across all sectors, functions, and companies. I call it the “Art of the Negotiation.” And it’s not just playing out in the courtroom anymore.
Bob Marshall
on Oct. 14, 2011
My phone is ringing off the hook. More calls than I can remember receiving in a long time. Good news. The recruitment marketplace is heating up again. The callers are expressing a desire to re-attack their niches. This means they are getting ready to market again — an activity many of my students haven’t really concentrated on in months. And with marketing will inevitably come those pesky Hiring Manager (HM) objections, so now it’s time to remind everyone how to respond to them.
But first things first: why do we make marketing calls? We make marketing calls to find companies that fall into three general categories:
It is generally accepted by top producing recruiters that these three types of companies, which we will ultimately place with, make up 4% of our marketplace. So, if our marketplace contains 1500 contacts (which I recommend), then 4% of that marketplace equals 60 companies with which we will place. Multiply those 60 placements times an average fee of $10,000 and we have a $600,000 per year desk. Multiply those 60 placements by an average fee of $20,000 and we have our basic $1,200,000 annual operation. That, my friends, is how recruiters, by themselves, bill over $1,000,000 per year. They understand the math.
So now we have been reminded of why we need to make marketing calls. However, when we make them, we are invariably going to hear HM objections and there will be a tendency to give up way too early.
Dan Ogden
on Oct. 10, 2011
A response to the article written last week by Matt Lowney titled “What Drives Me Nuts About Staffing Agencies (and How They Can Work as a Better Partner)”
In part 1, I addressed some canned pitches that were outlined in Matt’s article and as promised, today in Part 2 I will address the follow-up items suggested to fix the broken relationship. My plan is to show where we, as agency recruiters, need to own our own faults, but also point out Corporate’s role in the difficulties that are often experienced when working with one another.
Below are some of the items and some thoughts on them.
Dan Ogden
on Sep. 26, 2011
A response to the article written last week by Matt Lowney titled “What Drives Me Nuts About Staffing Agencies (and How They Can Work as a Better Partner)”
I am an agency recruiter — a Managing Director for a search firm in New York City. I have nearly twenty years of financial services executive search and consulting experience. However, I have previously worked in-house for a large investment bank managing a team of recruiters. I take exception to some of the content of Matt’s article, as I’m sure you do if you’ve read it. There are some truths but there are also some points that demonstrate a lack of compromise, responsibility, and professional courtesy on the corporate side of the table.
While I understand that there is a need for give-and-take in the agency-corporate relationship, I feel compelled to address Matt’s points on the canned pitches he receives from agency recruiters, in order to provide an opposing viewpoint for our corporate brethren to consider when complaining about the ‘relationships’ they have with us agency folk.
Part one today will address each pitch outlined in the original article, and Part two will address the follow-up items suggested to fix the broken relationship. My plan is to show where we, as agency recruiters, need to own our own faults, but also point out Corporate’s role in the difficulties that are often experienced when working with one another.
Kathleen Smith
on Sep. 15, 2011
Community as an aspect of our daily lives – not the television show – has become another buzzword. Many of us crave community, be it a gated community or online community. But what is a community? When you experience community you know you have it and many times it isn’t even labeled a community.
Why are we part of communities? There are many intrinsic values that are associated with being part of a community. While we sometimes think we are best alone, it is when we are part of a community that we truly shine. A community allows us to share common concerns and challenges, shouldering similar burdens. Communities rally around causes or threats; you just have to look at any of the recent disasters to see people pulling together. I live in the Washington, D.C. area – and recently we’ve been no strangers to natural disasters. After we lost power due to ______________ (fill in the blank: earthquake; flood, hurricane – we’ve had it all recently!) our community was enriched as everyone was talking face-to-face since they weren’t sitting in front of some form of an electronic box for a change.
A key component of the community experience is time. I know I am part of a community when I go to my farmers market and can say hello to many community members. My purpose in going to the farmers market is to buy my weekly groceries, but more importantly to feel part of something. My returned value is the great food and the camaraderie I experience being with like-minded individuals. The community for me was built over 10 years of my participation in it.
Community is an experience, and contrary to the stock valuation of companies who feel that “community” has monetary value, the community “experience” is the true value of the community.
What, you may ask, is the value of community in our line of work? After all, aren’t a lot of us competing against one another for similar (or sometimes the same) clients? Let’s take a look, shall we…
Nate Elgert
on Sep. 8, 2011
To commemorate the fifth anniversary of my career in recruiting which recently passed, I have shared with you over the past several weeks the five biggest learning lessons I’ve experienced thus far during my time at the Aureus Group. Last week, I shared the story of how I forgot about the relationships that really matter, and how that cost me countless placements. This week, I bring you….
#1 – Story of Losing Faith in an Old Customer
It never fails. Every single time I talk to a prospective member of our esteemed recruitment team here at Aureus Group, I am asked the same question.
“What does it take to be successful at recruiting?”
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