You might think the summer months are just for taking holidays and scraping by until the pace picks up again, but this attitude will never get you to your targets! Underutilising the summer months will only put you on the backfoot as you approach Q4.
Top billers know how to use every situation to make more money – and holidays are no exception. Here are a few ways you can push placements forward and get numbers on the board when everyone least expects it.
Use holidays to pick up the pace, not slow it down
Often during the summer months, things slow down because everyone you need to sign off on decisions seem to be on holiday at the wrong time. But rather than let that slow you down, have you thought about using holidays to fast-track the hiring process?
When you’re speaking with your candidates, clients and prospects, make sure you ask when they’ll be out of the office over summer and when they’ll be back. If you gather this information far enough in advance, you can then play these dates off everyone you’re speaking to speed things up.
For example, if you know that interviews attendees are going to be on holiday, you can push interview dates forward or suggest holding a one-stage interview process – the trick is simply to promote urgency and you’ll have fees flying in.
Remind clients that summer is when top passive candidates start looking
For a lot of recruiters, it’s actually the summer months when they make most of their yearly target and this is because they know how to capitalise on candidate holiday blues.
Targeting passive candidates who’ve just returned from holiday always gets great results as they’ll be feeling the post-holiday blues getting back to their 9-5 routine.
It’s at this crucial time that a lot of passive candidates become active job seekers, and you should be reminding your clients of this when they tell you they’re postponing a hire “until things pick up again after summer”.
Make a beeline for the decision maker
When we’re canvassing for new business, we’ll normally be asking gatekeepers to put us through to our contact within the HR team. But in reality, we all know it’s hiring managers we really want to speak to.
So, why not take advantage of your HR contact’s out of office and ask to speak to the key decision maker – you have a great excuse! The information you gather from a line manager or senior team member will be much more insightful to the second-hand information you get from your contact in HR.
The means you’ll have more information and better influence over the interview process than your competitors will, which should increase your chances of filling the job.
Makes some quick temp placements
Many companies will be running on skeleton staff over the summer period and chances are, things might not be running as smoothly as they had originally hoped. Take advantage of this situation by asking clients if there are any areas of the business that are struggling due to summer staff shortages.
The beauty of recruiting temps is that jobs can be filled on the day you take the role on, meaning you can win and fill a job all in the same day. Not bad for a ‘slow summer’!
Target companies that have unique recruitment cycles
Just because the companies you’re currently recruiting for have slowed down their hiring over summer doesn’t mean all companies have.
Think strategically and target companies that need staff during or immediately after summer. For example, the educational sector will be trying to secure a full head count for September and the retail sector will already be gearing up for the Christmas rush.
If you create target lists that are specifically tailored to recruiting during summer, you’ll be reaching out to companies when they’re in most need of staff, setting yourself up for a busy summer of recruitment!
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