How to Maximise Your Spec CV Functionality to Make More Placements

In today’s recruitment landscape, the competition for talent is fierce with candidates staying on the market for as little as 10 days. This makes having a candidate that’s ready to move more valuable than ever! But with only a matter of weeks to place them, you need to quickly and efficiently find them a role.

While some recruiters might start their search from scratch, the savvy ones out there will turn to their network. With the help of CRM’s database and speculative CV functionality, you can reach a large volume of potential matches quickly. Still not convinced? Here are five ways you'll benefit from embracing technology and recruiting from your CRM.

The benefits of sending Spec CVs

• Creates high volume exposure for your candidate – Finding a role for your candidate is the aim of the game, and what better way to do it than by speccing them to a large list of clients in a few simple clicks? There’s no need to jump between your CRM, spreadsheets and emails, the magic all happens in one place!
• Warms up your prospect list – Sending out formatted Spec CVs is a great way to warm up the cold leads in your database. By sending over well-suited talent, you’ll show your network you can supply them with relevant candidates. It also gives you the perfect reason to pick up the phone and start meaningful conversations with prospects.
• Keeps your candidates engaged– When the market is in the candidate’s favour they have their pick of roles and companies so you've got to constantly engage them and show them you’re working to find a role that fits their needs. Showing them the volume of clients you’ve contacted is a great way to keep them happy (and avoid being ghosted for another recruiter!).
• Cuts out the competition – Sending out Spec CVs is a great way to cut out the competition. Instead of taking on a live role and competing with other agencies, you’ll take the candidate directly to your database. Not only does this eliminate other recruiters from the mix, but it also speeds up the recruitment process - another major benefit in today’s market!  
• Lands you more placements – Each month we collate our Job Flow Index report using real-time recruitment statistics from Firefish users. Without fail, the report shows that when the number of Spec CVs sent out in one month increases, it's followed by a rise in placements the next. The more candidates specced out = the more placements!

Now that we’ve looked at the benefits of sending out Spec CVs, let’s look at some ways you can maximise every spec you send. It’s all about automation, segmentation and matchmaking.

Send spec CVs and save on admin time

A great CRM helps you cut down on admin time so you can spend more time and energy on the activities that will bring you a good return for your efforts. This is where Spec CVs come in handy!

Firefish makes sending out Spec CVs fast and efficient. Users simply need to select the ‘Spec CV’ option in any Candidate Record to automatically generate an anonymised Spec CV. 

In my opinion, the best thing about this functionality is how quickly you can send out a CV – it really is a matter of seconds! This means as you work your way through your BD calls, you’ll have something of value to send over right away.

For example, once you’ve found out the needs of the prospect, you can fire over a candidate in an instant to demonstrate the value (and talent!) you can bring to their brand. If you can do this during the call, without even needing to put them on hold, even better!

Best of all, you can easily edit and brand up your email templates, so they look professional, stand out, and showcase your candidate in the best light. 

Send bulk targeted specs in a few simple clicks

Imagine the scenario: you’re just off the phone with a great candidate who's actively looking for work and you need to find them a role as soon as possible. Sending out Spec CVs in bulk is a great way to get your candidate in front of a large list of clients quickly. But this isn’t to say you should spam your network left, right and centre with irrelevant candidates!

Pull together a targeted list of the suitable clients you know would love to hear about this candidate. This is quick and easy to do (so there’s really no excuse!). You can target your list by filtering your client list based on sector, location, company size, skills required. The more you filter, the better targeted your email blast will be. Here’s how this looks in the Firefish system:

Let your tech do the matchmaking for you

Your CRM is there to eliminate any laborious tasks, so let it do some of the hard work for you! Using data gathered on all your clients and candidate it will automatically match candidates to suitable employers, open jobs, adverts and companies that are looked for similar skills in the past. Are you embracing this feature?

It's the surest way to cut down on admin time, pull together a Spec CV list and find a suitable role for your candidate. In a matter of minutes, you can spec your candidate out to a list of potential matches. 

Here’s how this ready-made list of potential matches looks in the Firefish system:  

The good news is that your CRM is live and dynamic so every time you update your client list or tweak a candidate’s preferences it’ll automatically generate a new list of potential matches. This is great for keeping your Spec CV campaigns relevant. It also gives you plenty of opportunities to re-engage candidates as new companies drop in.