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Tips for Recruiters
Table of Contents
Strategy & Tactics
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Make Placements --
FAST!
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Voice Mail &
E-mail: Eight Simple Rules
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Job Orders --
Better, Faster, Smarter
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How to Switch Desk Specialties
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Who Makes the Most
Money?
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Retainers: Look
Before You Leap
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How to Add Value, Not Redundancy
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Intelligent Online
Recruiting
Skill Building
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Counteroffers: Can You Spot the
Signs?
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Resume Makeovers: Quick Tips
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Is There a MAGIC to Closing?
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Finding the Right Recruiting Script
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Storyboarding for Maximum Impact
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How to Stimulate Candidate Referrals
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Expand the Supply of Candidates
Candidate Management
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Playing Softball
with Your Candidates?
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The Power of Interview Preparation
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Control: The Key to Recruiter Success
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How to Fight the Counteroffer Bug
Employer Relationships
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You’re Worth the Money You Charge!
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Negotiate for Higher Recruiting Fees
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Anti-Discount Tactics for Recruiters
For Candidates &
Employers
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Graceful Exits for Job-Changers
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Advice for Engineering Candidates
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What’s Your Capture Strategy?
Q & A
for Recruiters
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Answers
to Your E-mail Questions
Bill Radin answers letters from recruiters around the world.
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How to Add
Value, Not Redundancy
By
Bill Radin
Consider
the following scenario. On Monday morning, a candidate
posts his resume on the Internet. Within minutes, the
resume is consumed by five different recruiters, who
immediately “submit” the resume to the same
company via e-mail attachment. The question is: Which
recruiter now has “ownership” of the candidate?
None of them. Why? Because the
sixth person to find the candidate’s resume happens to be
the company’s own staff recruiter, who deliberately
leaves his email unopened. Since none of the
“submitted” resumes were under consideration,
it’s the staff recruiter who “owns” the
candidate from the perspective of the company, which
neatly sidesteps the obligation to pay a fee. The five heartbroken recruiters may
cry foul, especially since “ownership” of the
candidate’s resume is their only claim to fame. But in
truth, what did any of them do to deserve a fee?
Nothing. In this particular case,
the five recruiters failed to do that which the company
was unable or unwilling to do for itself; namely, to
quickly surface a qualified candidate. It seems the
company was fully capable, thank you very much, of
performing the research task.
Barbarians at the
Gate
By definition, the purpose of delegating the recruiting
function to a third party is to gain assistance, not
enter into a fractious competition. For every recruiter
who fights for a fee that’s based on a mere technicality
(as in, “We found the candidate’s resume on the Web
five minutes before you did!”), take a hard look at
what you’re doing. Quite possibly, you’re creating a
nuisance and cheapening the perception of your value.
With recruiters and employers
competing for the same pool of public-domain candidates,
it’s no wonder so many companies have assumed a siege
mentality. Backed into a posture of self-defense, they’ve
erected a fortress called the “agency
agreement,” a formidable contract designed to
maintain their control over candidate ownership rights
through rigorous recruiter submission procedures and
restrictive access to managers.
To all the despairing recruiters
who complain that “The resume was already on
file”; or “Twenty recruiters got to the
candidate’s resume before me,” you have my sympathy.
But the reality of the situation is, if you’re not adding
value, there’s a good chance your services are
unnecessary and unwanted.
Create Distinction to
Avoid Extinction
Suppose you can find high-quality candidates by methods
unknown or inaccessible to your clients or your
competition. If that’s the case, congratulations. Your
contribution to the recruiting process has obvious merit.
But if you’re simply recycling the same people as
everyone else—or trying to make a career from being
first in line—you’d better be prepared to lose out on a
lot of placements.
There’s more to recruiting than
finding a resume on the Internet, or anywhere else, for
that matter. To command respect and truly earn your fee,
focus on the true benefits you bring to the hiring
process, such as:
• Expertise. As a niche
market specialist, you have the means to grasp the
essence of each search, and quickly identify the best
sources of talent. In so doing, you’ll refer the most
qualified candidates for the job, and reduce the time it
takes to hire.
• Sole-Source Simplicity.
To avoid confusion and duplication of effort, many
managers prefer to limit the number of recruiters they
use. If you can provide fast, seamless service, then you
can add value by establishing a preferred vendor
relationship.
• Heavy lifting. Cold-call recruiting is nerve-wracking and scary. But
isn’t telephone bravery one of the main reasons
recruiters earn the big bucks? If your clients had the
stomach for cold-calling—or if every qualified
candidate could be found online—no one would need your
service.
• Insight. A perceptive
recruiter has the ability to look beneath the surface of
a resume and identify a candidate’s true assets and
liabilities. By exercising good judgment with respect to
candidate screening, you’ll save the hiring manager’s
time and help shape the decision to hire.
As raw data becomes more available
to everyone, try to put into perspective the actual
reason for your existence. If you, your clients and your
competition are all delegating to the same source—the
Internet—the more you risk redundancy and become
expendable. Only by increasing your value will you earn
the respect you deserve and the income that’s rightfully
yours.
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