Julia Weeks
In order to be a successful recruiter, you need to make placements. When you are failing to make placements, it’s time to take a look at what you are doing wrong and how to do a better job.
There are 5 key reasons why many recruiters fail to make the placements they need in order to be successful.
1. You aren’t talking to the right people.
When you are gathering the job requirements and trying to understand the types of candidates you need to search for, it is important to make sure that you are talking to the right person.
Who do you speak with about the job requirements and the candidate search? If you are not talking with the decision maker then you are talking to the wrong person.
In order to have the most success at your job, you need to be speaking with the hiring manager. This is the person who is making the final decision on the hire, not the corporate recruiter or HR lead.
When you talk to the decision maker, you will have a better understanding of what she is really looking for in a candidate – the must haves and the nice to haves. Also, you will gain better understanding of the hiring manager’s personality, which is very helpful when talking with candidates and making sure that you find not only a skilled candidate but the right cultural fit as well.
2. You aren’t talking to enough people
The second most likely reason why you aren’t making a placement has to do with your production numbers.
How many candidates are you calling each day?
How many candidates are you screening and submitting to your client each day?
If you don’t know the answer to either of these questions, this is a problem. When you do not know your ratios, you will not be successful. If you don’t know how many candidates you need to talk with in order to get a submission, you will never have a baseline to judge if you are doing a good job.
A constant problem I noticed from failing recruiters in the past was the simple fact that they were not on the phone enough. Recruiting is about talking with candidates and building relationships with them. While the internet can help in doing this, the phone is still king. You need to be spending the majority of your time on the phone with candidates each day in order to be successful.
Numbers are a huge factor in recruiting. When you know your ratios, you will know what you need to do in order to make a placement.
3. You aren’t hunting.
What are you doing to find the right candidates for the job?
If you are only relying on applicants or candidates who are actively searching for opportunities, you will fail.
Recruiting is sales and like sales you must hunt for the right candidates. This means stepping outside of your comfort zone and calling candidates who may not want to hear from you. Yes, you will get hung up on and you will get the occasional nasty response. This is part of recruiting and it is key to get over it and keep on going because that next phone call could be your perfect, interested candidate.
Stop farming and waiting around for candidates and start hunting for the BEST candidates for your clients.
4. You aren’t communicating
Communication is a top skill when it comes to recruiting. After all, recruiting is a people business and whenever you are working with people it is important to communicate clearly and frequently.
Are you communicating with your submitted candidates?
Are you communicating with your hiring manager?
Stay in contact with your hiring manager and submitted candidates AT LEAST once a week. Even if you do not have any updates for your candidates, call them to let them know that you have not forgotten them.
When it comes to the hiring manager, I recommend that you set up a time each week for a phone call to touch base. It is important that you are informing the hiring manager of any updates on the candidate search. Likewise, it’s extremely important that you are receiving feedback and status updates from the hiring manager regarding the open position and any candidates you have submitted.
By staying in contact with your candidates you are keeping them interested in the opportunity and keeping yourself informed of any status changes in the candidates’ availability or interest in the opportunity.
When you stay in contact with your hiring manager, you are more likely to find out much faster if the position has been placed on hold, filled internally, or if the hiring manager is not satisfied with results.
5. You aren’t utilizing new technology
Video interviews have proven to be a powerful tool for recruiters for connecting with candidates and placing more of them in open positions in a more efficient manner. Video interviews, particularly the one-way, are convenient for both recruiters and candidates. You simply choose the questions you want a candidate to answer and they can record their responses whenever they have some free time.
Some video interviewing platforms will even allow you to share these recorded video interviews with your clients to better enhance collaboration so a great hiring decision can be made.
What are some other reasons why you might not be making a placement?
Image: Jakub Jirsak/BigStock.com
Josh Tolan
