In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a great time to be a recruiter! Businesses are hiring, jobs are being created, and candidates are looking to take their next career steps. However, what that also means is you as a recruiter need to put out your stall more than ever before. Competition for the best candidates and clients is high, and the best candidates may not even be taking the conventional route to work that they have in the past. All of this means that if you want to be placing the best talent, you need to make it SUPER easy for them to find you... you need to become a talent magnet!
How do I become magnetic?
To get started you only need to look around at the most successful recruiters you know. You’ll not struggle to spot them, they’re full of confidence, placing like mad, and doing it with (mostly) a smile on their face. Recruitment is a relationship based business. You need to be able to communicate well and be likeable if you want to succeed in it. From the candidate’s perspective, a recruiter should always be:
- Confident - But not cocky. Be confident about the candidate, not your own abilities. ‘I can place anyone’ is not encouraging; ‘You’re so right for this role’ is.
- An Expert - This links closely with your confidence, always demonstrate that you have a reason to be confident. ‘You’re so right for this role’ becomes ‘You’re so right for this role because…’
- Engaged - Jobseeking can be a very exposed and personal time for anyone, the last thing they want to feel is that their needs are not understood/being properly met. Clients too need to feel that the person doing the candidate search for them properly understands what their needs are, otherwise how can they trust you to do the job correctly?
- Enthusiastic - No matter whether you’re speaking to a candidate or client, enthusiasm is essential. If you don’t at least appear to value every opportunity (it’s obviously much better if you do!) then you’re going to struggle to get repeat business from clients, or loyalty from your candidates.
If a recruiter isn't these four things then their candidates and clients aren’t going to feel invested in the relationship. Meaning they’re more likely to work with other recruiters, more likely to consider alternative roles to the ones you’re offering, and more likely to stop answering your calls and emails. Personality is the pull part of your magnet, and it needs to be strong; so get active on social media, publish blog posts and speak directly to your marketplace whenever you can. The more you put yourself out there and demonstrate your passion, the more work you’ll attract.
Get nosey!
Once you’ve snagged some attention with your personality, the next step is to make sure they stick around. To do this, you need to gather as much information and data as you can. The best recruiters I’ve worked with not only knew my industry inside out, they also knew me inside out. They will collect as much information on all of their candidates as they can, from the obvious (salary bracket, qualifications, and expectations) to the less obvious (Hobbies, family connections, outside interests). It’s these extra pieces of information that often form the deciding factor in a successful placement. Not only is a candidate more likely to feel connected to you if you’ve shown you understand their needs and expectations, you are also able to pitch a great role to them in a way that another recruiter could not.
Your expertise and knowledge gives both your candidates and clients confidence. Not only that you’re the right person to find them a job, but also that the job you’ve found them is perfect for them. This has all kinds of knock-on effects. A confident candidate will often perform better in interviews, be more flexible in their needs, and more of a pleasure to work with. Never miss an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise (that doesn’t mean just saying you’re an expert remember. Always show it!) and never stop collecting information that you think will be useful to you or your candidate. That’s what makes them stick!
Become a talent magnet now!
As recruitment moves increasingly onto the web and social media, being able to project a strong image and personal brand across the internet that draws the best opportunities to you is only going to increase in importance. The longer you put off these vital steps, the more of an advantage you are giving your competitors over you. If, on the other hand, you become a talent magnet early, you will be starting near the top of the trend, and reap both the long and short-term benefits.
Have you taken any of these steps already? What do you think of the results? Let us know in the comments!
