Becoming an authority in your recruitment specialism is something that recruiters should always strive for. But since Covid-19 pushed us into a job-short market, being an expert in a niche is the only way to win new business. The days of jack-of-all-trades recruitment is over!
To keep making placements in this new market, you need to convince clients, prospects and candidates that you’re the only recruiter who can fill the job. Here’s how to do it…
1. Go super niche
To become a real authority in anything, you need to know it inside out – and the narrower your niche, the better.
Go an inch wide and a mile deep with your recruitment specialism so you have space to focus on keeping up to date with all that’s going on within that niche and building a network of all the best candidates worth knowing.
A couple of things to bear in mind when choosing a recruitment niche:
- Choose an area you’re passionate about - you need to love your niche, otherwise you will get bored of talking about it all the time.
- Choose a niche that’s lucrative in this market and is already within your reach. Don’t go for an area where there’s no money to be made, but similarly don’t jump into a totally different area just because you think there will be jobs going in that area right now.
2. Accept there’s always more to learn
To be a true authority in your niche, you need to have your finger on the pulse at all times and be equipped to have forward-thinking, critical discussions about your specialism.
And the only way you can do that is to educate yourself continuously about the market. The key to being an authority in anything is to accept that you’ll never know everything there is to know and always be hungry to learn more.
Build research and learning into your daily habits and this will do great things for your development within your niche.
3. Network with recruitment leaders
If you want to up your game in your niche, you need to surround yourself with people who elevate you and make you want to be the best recruiter you can be.
It’s so important to spend time with people who inspire and motivate you – especially within your online networks.
So connect with recruitment leaders and other expert recruiters online and beyond to see what you can learn from them: ask questions, share opinions, listen to what they have to say and observe how they become experts in their field.
4. Demonstrate your knowledge
It’s all good and well learning everything you can about your recruitment niche, but if you’re not demonstrating that knowledge to the people that matter, what’s the point?
Build a relevant community online and post regularly about different aspects of your market and niche. You want to be encouraging discussion and educating your network to demonstrate that you have a genuine interest in your field – don’t use this space to brag about all the placements you make.
You should also be sending regular email campaigns out to your clients to keep them informed on the market. You’re putting time and effort into learning about what’s going on in your market, so share that knowledge to stay valuable to your clients – even when they’re not hiring.
5. Pitch yourself to relevant sources
Once you have the knowledge, pitch yourself to relevant online sources so you can show the industry that you’re a true authority in you niche.
Become a recruitment thought leader by writing blogs, guesting on podcasts, and asking if you can contribute guest articles. Anything you can do to get your name out there will help build trust amongst your network and beyond.
Content lends you credibility and builds your brand in the process. It turns you into a resource for a relevant audience, ensuring that candidates and clients come back to you and your brand, time and time again.
So get focussed, learn your niche inside and out and start building your network authority online. Use the guide below to learn how to begin selling yourself as an expert across social media.
