Recruit PDF

NOT SALES, RECRUITING! The bookstores are filled with books on sales and how to sell.
Many of them are very helpful. Some of them are even helpful to recruiters. Though many of the books are written by sales people, most never understand the uniqueness of the recruitment sell: balancing both the candidate and client. Most sales books are based on one customer, not two. The lessons, ideas, strategies, and techniques in this book are proven and time tested specifically for recruiters. Finally, the rules of recruitment made simple! You give recruiters what they truly need to know from the point of view of someone who has been there and done that and knows how to succeed. You have provided the template for becoming a world-class professional recruiter in clear and direct language. Barry Niemann, C.P.C., C.I.P.C.
Chairman of the Board, KellerNiemann, Inc. Past President of National Assn. of Personnel Consultants
ABOUT DAVID SWEET, PH.D. Dr. David Sweet has been in sales since he was 8 years old, going door-to-door selling stationary. For the last 20 years, he has dedicated himself to developing individuals across the globe. In 2006, he created Recruitment Training International and LightBulb Training Resources, dedicated to helping individuals illuminate their potential. After over a decade in the bureaucracy of the U.S. Government, he moved to Asia and learned how to recruit, the importance of building relationships, and how to train recruiters. He currently lives in Celebration, FL with his wife, Tomoko, and his two boys Reili and Tetsia, and their dog, Anniversary. David loves to run marathons, read history, write poetry, watch movies, and spend time with his family.
FINALLY, A SALES BOOK FOR RECRUITERS THAT HELPS THEM CLOSE MORE BUSINESS!
RECRUIT!
What You Need To Do To Make The Placement
DAVID SWEET, PH.D.
Foreword by Doug Franklin
Recruit! First Edition Copyright 2007 by David Sweet All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever; by photography or xerography or by any other means, by broadcast or transmission, or translation into any kind of language, nor by recording electronically or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher; except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in critical articles or reviews.
ISBN 978-1-60461-292-9
Creative work by The Concept Design Group Editorial Assistance by Mary Boast First Printing: 2007 Printed in the United States of America. Printed by SPS Publications
For Tomoko You have always been my best audience I love you
CONTENTS
Foreword by Doug Frankin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. Recruitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. Candidates Drive Your Business . . . . . . . 9 3. Clients Pay Your Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4. Open Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5. Every Step is Closing - The Interview Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 6. You Do Need to Know How the Numbers Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 7. Soft Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 8. Time Mastery for Recruiters . . . . . . . . . . . 73 In Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
FOREWORD
Recruit!
BY DOUG FRANKLIN
My lifes work has shown me many professionals around the globe. Ive met literally thousands of recruiters in person and online, many of whom I find to be professional and unquestionably capable, yet only a handful comes to mind when I think of those who have deeply impacted and changed the recruitment industry. One such person is David Sweet. I first met David in 2005. It was easy to see that he possessed a unique combination of enthusiasm, desire, and talent that would serve to create a benchmark for others to model. I knew then he would be a driving force in making the recruitment and staffing industry much more professional. When I went to hear David speak, I was very impressed at how he could translate his vast amount of global recruitment knowledge into a message of practical advice that was immediately applicable. His knowledge of the recruitment industry coupled with his passion and enthusiasm
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brings a much needed resource to our fieldan experienced recruiter and exceptional trainer to help new recruiters learn the field and existing recruiters up their game. He is a valuable educator that anyone can learn from. Recruit! will do just that. In it, David has provided many insights and tools that are anchored to real life, practical strategies. The results of reading and putting this book into action will impact your career and business, as well as your personal life. It is an agent for recruiters, consultants, headhunters and anyone in staffing who wish to build future success. Doug Franklin, Principal
EPIC Business Strategies LLC www.epicstrategies.com April 2007 (Note: Doug joined Hudson Highland Group, Inc. in May 2007 as Director of the Retained Search Group in Orlando, Florida. [email protected] )
Recruit!
INTRODUCTION
This book has seen many shapes. It has been through training manuals and training rooms around the world. The words have been recorded and heard. And finally, they have been bound in a little book. The material has worked for many to become successful recruiters. If you put these words into action, they will also work for you. When finally deciding to put these ideas in book form, I wanted the book to be small, easy to read, quick, something a recruiter would zoom through in an afternoon and start using the next day. So often we make things more complicated than they need to be. This often happens with recruitment. I wanted to make it simple again. I also wanted a resource that recruiters all around the world could easily use. Recruiters dont have many resources to help them grow as professionals. And many of the resources are too expensive, complicated, or impractical. I hope this little book resolves those challenges.
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Lastly, I hope this book helps you to succeed. After all, the reason for this book is you and your success. This is one of the best times to be a recruiter. May you read on and find great success!
www.LightBulbTraining.com
David Sweet
Chapter 1
RECRUITMENT
he recruitment consultant is a salesperson. The consultant also mentors, counsels, and sometimes even befriends customers. Because, as a recruitment consultant you wear so many hats, you never have a dull moment. You spend the mornings making cold calls, picking up and slamming down the receiver; the cold calls where you try to verbally wind your way past the watch-dog of an office administrator. You speak quickly, trying to leave a message in 30 seconds that will inspire the listener to call you back. In this sense, youre a motivational speaker. Then you find yourself in that first client meeting. You need to sell your services, having the person sitting across from you pay top-dollar because you believe you offer top-of-the-line service. You need to have passion in your voice, a fire in your belly, and an assuredness in your person and demeanor. Only this way will you convince the client that you are the best and worth the percentage of the candidates salary. You know your product and service inside
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out and the competition in the market place with their strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes you may wonder why you started this jobwhy you headhunt each day, meet 30 people a month and still fail to make the placement. You wonder if youll ever know about your services that youre offering and if you are giving the client the best bang for their buck. But the fact is that your client sitting behind her desk, inside that Fortune 500 tower of hers probably knows less about the market than you! Have confidence. You are a master of the recruitment process. You hold the knowledge of all you speak to, interview, dine, question, and scrutinize. You speak to candidates about their teams, you hob-knob with Presidents, CEOs, CIOs, CAOs, and decision makers from all areas you know their operations, their succession plans, growth strategies, and all the rest of the market hubbub, including who is succeeding and who is failing. You hold the magic of knowledge. You snoop for leads and referrals like a detective because you know that at a party with friends a new client or candidate or both (everyone is a candidate or client, you know) can magically appear. You know that the six degrees of separation is a reality, and
Recruitment
you as recruiter know the links, how to connect them, and how to advise a client. The role of the recruiter is filled with magic, leadership, teaching and guidance. Your role is one of the best and most gratifying careers in the world. And it all starts with a candidate.
Chapter 2
CANDIDATES DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS
andidates are the first part of your business. They drive your business because from candidates you can find clients, open positions, and receive the most referrals. You may have a long list of open job orders, you may have clients wanting to fill a position, but without a candidate, your product, you have nothing. For those reasons, as a new recruiter, you start with candidates. Also, through your career, you will meet many more candidates than you will clients. At the beginning of your career they train you about your market; afterwards, they are your greatest source of referrals. Where do candidates come from? There are a variety of ways to find new candidates. A general rule of thumb, though, is that everyone you meet is a potential candidate or has the potential to become a candidate. Never fear to ask those around you (including clients) what their next career step is. Here are some general ideas to help you start building your database.
Candidates Drive Your Business
Post jobs on your website. Build your website so that candidates can apply through a portal. Make sure that you refresh your open jobs often. If you are posting jobs on your website and they are a month old, it will drive away candidates rather than attract them. Advertise on career websites you use, such as CareerBuilder or Monster. Advertise on specialist websites/linkups. If you are in IT, find out the IT websites. In Finance, find out the websites that accounts look at. Generate greater exposure through interviews, articles and press releases. Make sure these published articles are on your website, as it helps search engines find you. Place the articles in frames and have them around the office. The more exposure you get, the more chance a candidate can find you. Send customized newsletters to targeted groups that you are recruiting for, such as accountants, engineers, or programmers. Attend networking events, or better yet, host your own sponsored networking event. Be the guest speaker at an event or have speakers at your event. Provide extra, added value that your candidates can see. Join an association or alumni group to network
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with a closed group of qualified people in your area. And the most important source of candidates is other candidates. Every step of the process, ask for referrals. Be a keynote speaker at a chamber or HR event, such as SHRM, and discuss good recruiting practices: youll show everyone that you are the expert you claim to be! Every 30 days, try a new business development technique from the above points. Headhunt every day.
HEADHUNTING After referrals, headhunting is the main source of candidates for a recruiter. There are 3 different types of headhunting. 1. Targeted headhunting. You know who you are calling, their background, and that they are suited to your specific job. 2. Market knowledge headhunt. You learn about a potential candidate from speaking with a candidate or client. Often times, you will find this person off of an organizational chart from a candidate interview (more to come on this in a later chapter). You may or may not have a job
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for this particular person, but they are good to have on your database. 3. Cold Calling. Blind, cold calling when you have a list of names and numbers and you call everyone on it without knowing the background of the person. This usually happens when you purchase a list of names and numbers. Each method is an important tool in the recruiters toolbox. In each of these calls you need to constantly keep in mind your objectives: 1. Go for a meeting. 2. Get as much information as possible. When you call to headhunt a candidate, you are trying to assess how relevant the candidate is for your job or your market. If the person will not meet with you, you must change your mindset to keep the candidate talking to receive as much information about their responsibilities and background as possible to make them a vital and searchable candidate on the database. In a month or two when you call them back, you may find that the employee is interested in your new job. Only if you have all the information can you determine if you are spending your time wisely by meeting this candidate.
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Here are some opening lines you can use when making your call: I work for a recruitment company and we specialize in hiring network engineers for Fortune 500 companies. I understand that you have an excellent engineering background and I was wondering whether you would be interested in meeting me to discuss some opportunities that we have. Or I work for a recruitment company and we specialize in hiring programmers. We currently have a handful of opportunities and I was wondering whether you would be interested in meeting me to discuss these further. Notice a couple of items in these opening lines: They tend to flatter the person. Everyone likes to hear they are good. Being headhunted should be seen as a compliment. Try to keep questions short and close-ended. Remember, you are usually calling someone at work and they may not be able to speak freely. If you are asked how you got their name, say that it is your job as a specialist to know the best in the market.
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Remember to get the following information: Length of time at current company. Job title. Try to find out what they do exactly. Graduation date or schoolyoure trying to hone in on their age. Contact details (work, mobile and home) and e-mail addresses (work and personal). Ask about any friends who are looking to change jobs. If it is inconvenient for the person to speak, take down their contact number and agree on a follow-up time. CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS If you are in the same city as the candidate, meet the candidate face to face. If not, make them feel comfortable on the phone by providing a clear agenda of what will happen during the call. Start off the meeting by introducing yourself and your firm. Explain the structure of the interview and how long it will take (it is very professional to e-mail an agenda beforehand). Stress that the interview is confidential and that you will keep all details of the candidateconsultant relationship confidential and
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expect the same in return with respect to the information you give the candidate. After introducing your firm, have the candidate tell you about themselves. There are two schools of thought on this, and both methods work: 1) Have them work from the most recent position backwards. This serves to relax the candidate and gives you a chance to concentrate on the most relevant information first. 2) Have them speak in chronological order about their experience. This gives the candidate a chance to give a brief biographical overview and allows you later to dive deeper into the areas that need probing. Make sure to get the structure of the candidates current department or team. This means drawing an organizational chart. Draw it! Ask for names. At minimum, learn the structure of the team in terms of age, gender, and skill set. You need to understand this information in order to know the candidates working environment for her next employer. You are also mining for names in case you need to headhunt one of these people. Ask for the reason for leaving and ask detailed questions if there is a gap in the rsum. Stress to the candidate the importance of telling you the truth so that you can coach them how to
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answer this question during interviews. Ask the candidate to confirm his/her graduation date. Some candidates list dates of university attendance, but fail to mention that they have not actually graduated. Ask whether he/she has already been interviewed and whether any other meetings have been set up. If yes, find out who the candidate has met and has yet to meet, and when. These are your new jobs to follow-up on! By the end of the interview, you need to understand and have tested and pushed the candidate on her motivation for change. What makes her want to change jobs? Is it salary, working hours, office location, environment, pace of work, or responsibility? This information helps you sell her your position and assists later when you are trying to persuade her to accept a job offer. Ask the candidate for a minimum of 2 professional references.
CUSTOMER SERVICE You are in a service industry. That means you follow all the rules for great customer service.
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Treat candidates with professionalism, integrity, kindness and the type of service you would appreciate in your own job search. Provide candidates with interview tips and a background of the company before their interview. Maintain constant communication with your candidates, even if you do not have anything for them. The number one complaint from candidates about recruiters is that, They never hear from them again. Keep constant contact with candidates through phone calls, emailed job listings, newsletters, and networking events. Give candidates timely feedback, even if the news is bad. Rather than deliver all the feedback in excruciating detail, tell only what is relevant for the candidate to improve, stay motivated, and maintain good rapport. Be prepared to speak daily to a candidate who is interviewing. If you are in the same city as the candidate, go and meet them, even if its for a 10 minute coffee. Follow up with candidates after they have been placed, making sure they are happy in their new job. It is a good idea to follow the one week, one month, and one year rule.
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BEHAVIORAL PROFILES AND CANDIDATES If youve never done a Behavioral Profile, such as DiSC, then now is the time to do one. Not only is it an excellent way to know more about yourself and others in your office, it is a superb way to know your candidates and clients. If you want more information on profiles, email me or check out our website, www.LightBulbTraining.com Here are four generic profiles of candidates that you will often meet and ways to handle the candidate. CANDIDATE PROFILE 1 Darla Dominant She is a professional interviewee. She tends to take control of the interview situation and become dominant and sometimes argumentative. She believes that her experience and abilities are excellent and loves talking about them at every opportunity. How to handle this candidate: Listen welllet her control the conversation. Give her lots of praise. Ask yes/no questions when she speaks too much.
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Be punctual, precise, and specific. Maintain good eye contact. Selling points: money, time, power, status. Dont appear disorganized or exaggerate.
CANDIDATE PROFILE 2 Isabelle Inspiration She is a happy-go-lucky, warm and friendly human being. She is talkative, especially if it involves her hobbies and interests. She likes to be liked and tends to agree with everything and everybody. She is a thoroughly nice person. How to handle this candidate: Be energetic, enthusiastic and share a bit about your experiencebut not too much. Ask her closed-ended questions. Speak with a faster pace. Use examples and stories. Name drop. Be warm and friendly. Give her options to select from. CANDIDATE PROFILE 3 Chris Conscientious He is a strong character, but doesnt like to answer lots of questions. He knows he has a good employment backgroundall he is interested in is getting a new and more satisfying position. He
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wants just the facts and believes the facts of his resume give you all the information you need. How to handle this candidate: Be organized. Dont share too much about personal experiencesstay with the facts. Dont try to rush him. Provide him with written materials and research. Use facts and numbers and be accurate and logical. Be polite. CANDIDATE PROFILE 4 Shane Steady He is nervous and shy when in an interview. He doesnt like to talk about himself, but is more concerned about the team. He only says the minimum. He is humble and finds it difficult to talk about his good points. How to handle this candidate: Be more causal, down-to-earth. Be slower paced, and not pushy. Emphasize relationship building. Be a good listenerand acknowledge emotions. Discuss feelings instead of facts.
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CANDIDATE RESUMES Your candidates resume is your product. When heading out to a client visit, you always carry a few along. Minimum 3. Even with todays privacy laws, you can still have motivated candidates say, Yes to you taking their resumes to clients. If nothing else, take sanitized resumes where identifying names are taken off. Worst case, take placed candidates as a sign of the caliber of candidates you work with. Resumes should always look professional, clean, and show signs of your companys added value. Mistakes and inaccuracy in a resume can destroy a client relationship. Misspellings are sloppy and can destroy your candidates chances. Make sure that your work meets the highest level when you create a resume. WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON RESUMES Accurate Plug gapsif a candidate took time off to raise a family, go back to school, take a sabbatical in Bora Bora, then you need to make note of that. Ensure that the education and work experience sections are in chronological order, starting
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with the most recent and working back. Show the reason for leaving previous positions, especially if the candidate has moved jobs a number of times. The progression of a candidates job movements needs to be logical. Your job is to make it logical for the client. Do not include summer jobs, unless these are relevant or you are working entry level positions. Check dates, exams, and qualifications. Make sure to ask questions of your candidates that confirm completion. Once we placed one candidate that said she had a CPA, but in fact, she never completed it. The hiring client was furious with us for not verifying our information Check the resume format and make sure its consistent.
Informative When you look at a resume, think like a hiring manager and anticipate clients questions. These are the questions you need to ask during a candidate interview. Ask yourself if the resume makes sense. Sometimes, you might find a CPA who went into human resources for a short spell, then was a tour guide, before being a Controller. This
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doesnt make logical sense and is something that youll need to confirm with your candidate. When you speak to a client about a candidate, share the experience of interviewing applicants: Where did you meet? How did they sound or look like? What did you like about them? What concerns did you have going in that they reassured you about? What concerns do you still have? Make the resumes sound like human beings not facts and figures. Take full interview notes and ensure this information gets into the database! You will forget much of this information in the following months, so you need to have it somewhere you can find it.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN CANDIDATES Matching candidates to clients needs is an art to be mastered, and one of the most difficult of a recruiters skill set. The most important step in making a perfect match is finding out what the true needs of both the candidate and client are, asking probing questions, listening to the answers, then going through and meeting those needs as well as possible.
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The following are strategies which should be considered to facilitate more effective matching. When you start to search for candidates and look through resumes, there are certain characteristics you will notice that usually make a good candidate. Though each market is different, here are the most important qualities found to help you judge whether a candidate is good or not. Age candidates in their 30s and early 40s are the most marketable in general. This isnt to stop you from looking outside these boundaries and pushing clients to accept outside. But for most mid-manager jobs that the majority of recruiters work on, this is the majority of your candidate profiles. Education and Qualifications have you ever heard of the school? If not, you need to find out what selling points that school has. Why did the candidate choose that school? Background stability are they changing jobs every 2 years? If so, this is a red flag for most hiring managers. On the flipside, if theyve been at the same job for 20 years, this too can be a negative. Career Development gaps or lack of career
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progression in employment history leads to many questions. Again, the career development should make logical sense. Here are some other less common questions to ask when matching resumes. Type of company Are the company and the candidate similar in terms of image and reputation? Generally, a candidate who has been in big name, Top 100 companies, doesnt want to slide down into Tier 2 companies. Culture of company and team does it match the age and personality of the candidate? If the team is generally in their late 40s, how will someone in their late 20s perform? Role Is the candidate too junior or senior? And does his age match with his title? Generally, if he is junior, he should be younger. Experience does the candidate have enough relevant experience and the right skills to do the job? Salary does the candidates age match her requested salary?
Chapter 3
CLIENTS PAY YOUR BILLS
lients are the companies, accounts, and users who pay for your services. This chapter introduces strategies for researching a market, finding clients, finding the decision maker, and making calls to close for a meeting. STEP 1 RESEARCH THE MARKET Before you start recruiting, find a way to specialize in your market. You might do this by working only with selected clients. It might be working only in specific locations. Or you might only work certain positions in any field. The more you specialize early on in your career, the easier it is to be successful. Afterwards, you can start to branch out. Look at industry trends and what you notice is happening and who will be hiring (or firing). In the end, you need to find a field that resonates with you. This doesnt mean that you necessarily have to work a field youre interested in or have worked in. Many recruiters, who have no interest in an area, go on to become very successful.
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STEP 2 NARROW IN ON YOUR MARKET Ask yourself who you know in the market. Begin with your own network, which is always the strongest. Maybe you might list the top 50 industry leaders in the market. Whatever it is, take your industry and narrow in on who you can start calling. Give yourself a finite number, like 50. Call 10 a day for a week. STEP 3 FINDING THE DECISION MAKER Once you have decided on the clients you will be working for, you need to find the decision maker. Before making a cold call, find out the name of this person. You can find out with just a bit of research. Take a look on the internet: are there any names? Have you asked your colleagues: do they know anyone in the company? Could you make a call to the company and ask who is in that position? Ive even gone so far as to use a fake name and ask to send over a free sample magazine to the Head of _____(Fill in the Blank). Who might that be? If the person doesnt want to tell you, smile and say, Great! Can I send it to you instead? Often times
Clients Pay Your Bills
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the person will say yes. Sometimes, they will get nervous and just tell you the name. Never forget the role of the gatekeeper: not to keep people out, but to let the right people in. Your job is to make yourself the right person and make align yourself with the gatekeeper. If you have tried the above with no success, try calling the general line and ask for the relevant department. Once you connect, go into your sales speech. If the person who you wish to speak to is not around, ask for the individuals name and direct line, and call later. Make sure to put a reminder in your calendar and update the database accordingly! STEP 4 CALL AND CLOSE FOR A MEETING Your objective for calling a decision maker is to close for a meeting. Do not sell on the phone. Most people will not buy over the phone. You need to get a face to face visit. If you are working nationally or internationally, then you are trying to close for a telephone or video conference. However, let me contradict myself for a moment:
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if you are working a vast distances from the client, and you have the hiring manager on the phone, and she agrees that she has time, then use the opportunity to your best advantage. Ask an experienced colleague or manager to help you prepare a script. Often times, someone in your office may know someone in the company. If so, you can use that name and mention it when you call the decision maker, saying, Chris in marketing told me to call you Then in the shortest, most succinct way, you will try to close for a meeting. State what you can do for them and what information you think is valuable. Aim to close for a meeting by controlling the process with an either/or close: I am available at 2:00 p.m. this Wednesday or 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Which is best for you? Alternatively: I am visiting another client in your area on Thursday. Which time would be best for you: sometime in the morning or afternoon? Again, if you are in the same city, do not try to sell your services over the telephone and do not launch into long explanations. Give the clients only as much information as they need to close for a
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meeting. Remember, phone to close for a meeting, but meet to close the deal. If the conversation goes well and the client is interested, then take down some specifics of what their needs, wants, and pains are. This will enable you to prepare information for your first meeting. OBSTACLESTHE BIG 5 Youre bound to meet with obstacles when making a cold call. Remember, it is human nature to say, No, right away when someone tries to sell you something on the phone. Also, remember that it is human nature that makes it difficult to say, No for an extended amount of time. Ive had potential clients say, No six times and still meet with me. No just means no to what they perceive you are offering. You need to make what your offering meet their needs. To do this, ask yourself what are the benefits to the client for using your services. Often times, recruiters will all say the same things, We save you time or We source the best candidates or We are specialists in our market. BORING! Anyone can say those things. Also, all these sentences start of with We rather than the client. You must start
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to think in terms of the client. For example, if you are specialists, then you can say something like, Your market is narrow and you are busy trying to grow. Youre a specialist in making widgets. Chances are you probably want someone who is a specialist in finding widget makers. Do you see, this is all about the client, not the recruiter? Here are the Big 5 reasons not to speak with you: 1. We are not hiring at the moment. 2. We deal with too many agents. 3. Im too busy to meet (or speak). 4. We already have an offer outstanding. 5. Call me back next month. Most recruiters start to refute these statements with any number of reasons. In fact, most recruiters have a come-back line (or several) for all of these. However, once you start down the line of defense, you have lost the client. Remember, your objective is to close for a meeting or start a significant conversation. A significant conversation means the client has a job for you that you can fill. Here is a simple principle to master: the person who asks the questions controls the conversation.
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You may hear a conversation go like this: Recruiter: Client: Recruiter: Client: Will you meet me? No, we deal with too many agents. But if you meet me, then youll be working for the best. We specialize in your market. Yeah, Im sure you do. (click)
Try this instead: Recruiter: Client: Recruiter: Client: Recruiter: Will you meet me? No, we deal with too many agents. (Smile when you speak!) Why? Well, Im not sure. HR set it up that way. Would you like to see a way that you can control your hiring costs, save time, and still find quality candidates?
Now, who would say no to this? Unfortunately, someone might, but at least, youre asking questions, probing for answers and letting the client find the answers for himself, which is the most powerful way to sell and make a placement. The best defense against the Big 5 is a simple question.
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PREPARING FOR YOUR MEETING Of course, youve closed for a meeting. Now what? Most recruiters say that they will research the company. Research means a great many things to different people. Dont go in without knowing something about a company, but in the same breath, dont waste so much time researching that you loose track of what you are doing. Some recruiters will spend hours researching and then never work with a client! Here is what you do: Look at the clients website. Find out what the client does. If they have a job page, look it over. Look at mergers and acquisitions, subsidiaries, and a bit of company news. Also, find out about company locations.
Then look for that one piece of special information. What is that? Well, its something that interests and entices you to the client, and also lets the client know you research the company. It is that tidbit of information you use to pepper a conversation. For every person it is different. If you like France, it may be that they have a nephew
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in Paris. If you like soccer, it may be that they sponsor a professional team. Whatever it is, you need to learn how to find it in about 5 minutes usually, less time than that! PREPARE SAMPLE RESUMES The client likes you for only one reason: resumes. If you walk through a clients door or into a telephone conference without resumes, you are wasting their time. I will repeat this point because it is the most important point: The client wants your resumes! Even with privacy laws and all the rest, you can still find a way to sanitize resumes, write candidate bios, or have a list that you can describe to a client. With that said, you may not present any of the resumes you have prepared. However, if you go in emptyhanded, you will walk away empty-handed. The type of resumes you bring will vary, as you may not know the position. Youll want to bring different types so that you can key in on what the hiring manager wants. Youre not trying to place the candidate as much as learn the clients likes and dislikes.
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Even if the client doesnt have any positions, if you have a good resume that generates interest, you may find yourself placing a candidate without even having an open jobwhich is always a wonderful day!
Chapter 4
OPEN POSITIONS
o you make it through the door of a client. Stay alert. I rarely sit in a clients officeI walk around, look at awards, vision and mission statements, licenses, and emergency escapes in case of a fire or bombing during the meeting. Again, youre searching, like a detective, for anything that will help build rapport with the client, understand the clients company culture, or provide information for you candidate. Each client meeting will have its own character and ebb and flow, but you need to remember that the client has agreed to see you, so there must be a want. Even if they say there is no open position, they may have an ulterior motive: they are looking for a job themselves, they want to find out about the market, they are bored and need someone to talk to. Whatever it is, you need to find it out. Ive had a client say they had no positions open, then throughout the meeting they told me about one. By the time I left their offices, I had 4 work orders! If someone is spending time to meet you, there is a reason. Find it out!
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Give a quick introduction about you and your company. I dont spend long on this, because the client doesnt really care about you, your background, or your company. However, if you go in, ask really good questions that makes a client think about how they are recruiting, then you may build enough rapport that they do care about youa bit, anyway. Skip the BS, skip the selling, skip the we are the best recruiter in the world baloney because most clients have heard it. Ask them questions. Your questions will prove youre a professional and know the recruitment business in your specific market. An easy start is this, Tell me about yourself. You are looking for a couple of things here. First, rapport: you need to build a good relationship with your client. By letting them speak more, you give them a chance to share with you about their likes and dislikes. Dont interrupt as they speak! Nod, look interested, and smile. Next, you want to build up as much of the clients background as possible. This assists you 1) should the client ever become a candidate, and 2) helps you search for candidates with similar background, with similar universities or companies: clients usually love to hire alumni from their school or
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previous employer. Youll want to know about how the client got his job, why he likes his company. By his selling you the company, you get excited to recruit for them. A question that most recruiters skip over is asking about the clients next career move: Whats your next step? is a powerful question. Sure, the client may become a candidate from this question. But you also want to know if there is any career progression in the company. When you talk to your candidate and say, The hiring manager is looking to move to home office, which allows you some promotional potential in a couple of years, you are beginning to sell a dream, rather than just filling a position. Next, ask about the make-up of the organization and the team. I stress the importance of drawing an organizational chart. Too many rookie recruiters assume they know the organizational structure and dont. Draw it out graphically. This lets you know exactly where the decision making process is, where your candidate will be, and the team structure which your candidate will be curious about. Also, if you want to be an expert in your vertical market, organizational charts are your bread and butter.
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Now ask about the open position. Here are some questions to ask: How long has the position been open? Does the client have headcount approval? Why is the position open? Is it due to expansion or replacement? What steps has the client taken to fill this position to date? Has the client met many candidates? How many agencies is the client using? Has the client already advertised the position, and if so, who did the client advertise with and what have been the results so far? If they have not advertised, do they want to use your firm to do the advertising? Are there any internal candidates? Does the client know any potential candidates from her own network, such as ex-colleagues? Have any offers been made to date? If yes, why were these turned down? Why were candidates rejected? What is the personality of the hiring manager? What is the interview process and who will conduct the interviews? How does the client like the rsums to look? What is the highest salary the client would pay for the perfect rsum?
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If this is a difficult position, would they consider working this on a retainer?
For the position itself, there are several specific questions to ask: Do they need to have a qualification or certification? What is the salary range? Clarify other benefits such as health benefits, company car, free mobile phone service, company stock. How is the pay structured? How many days of annual leave will they be entitled to? Do they need specific skills or experience such as Spanish, Oracle or a CPA. Who will this person report to? Get them to describe their ideal candidate in terms of age, education, work experience and target company. Gather ideas for possible head hunting calls and dont be afraid to ask the client if they know anyone in the market you should contact. Any targeted companies for headhunting? What is the background of the person currently doing the job?
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Dont forget to ask if the client has a job description. Get them to send a softcopy as it will save you some administration work. If they dont have a copy, ask them if they would like you to send them a copy of what you draft, therefore giving value added to your customer for a job that you to do anyway. At this point, after you have an answer for all these questions, you present resumes and receive preliminary feedback from your client. When you bring resumes, you are obviously bringing your top candidate, but try to mix it up: bring women and men, young and old, high and low compensation. What you want to learn from your client is what they really want, versus what they say. You want to push the envelope as far as you can on all the restrictions the client gives. If the client only wants to pay $80,000, then ask about $90,000. If they want the person to start in 4 weeks, try to get them to say yes to 6. You want to manage expectations. Lastly, you want to summarize what you will do for the client. Here again, manage expectations. If you know a couple of candidates and think you can get them in to the client by Wednesday, promise by Friday. That way, if something goes wrong, you have kept your promise. If you arrange it sooner, then you look like a hero. Both outcomes are good.
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Now you have your client interview done and a job to work on. What do you do next? First, you need to prioritize your position in terms of the other positions you hopefully have open. Some jobs may seem like a great opportunity for a recruiter to work, but when diving a bit deeper, you start to find that the job may not be as good as others or conversely may be better than others.
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Job priority questions 1. Does the client have headcount approval? 2. What fee will we charge the client: 35%, 30% or 25%? 3. What is the interview process and how long does it take? 4. Do you have a history with the client? Have you made placements with them before? 5. How many recruiters are they using? 6. Do you have suitable candidates in the database? 7. How long has the client been looking? 8. Are you working with HR or the decision maker? 9. Does the company have a good reputation that will be easy to sell? 10. Have you been to lunch with the decision maker? 11. Are there any internal candidates? 12. Is it a key hire? 13. Where is the company located? 14. What is the salary compared to other similar positions?
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Before you work any position, take a minute and ask those 14 questions. Now if you decide to work the job. Here are the steps to take to fill it. Tell your colleagues about the job ask for help! Needless to say, this only works if you work out of an office and you work in teams. Such a structure for a contingency based firm works very well. Ask for referrals from people whom you have a good relationship with, such as close candidates and friends. Get people to work for you while you are searching other sources. Call motivated candidates who are currently interviewing at other companies. You can do this by searching the database for similar roles you and your colleagues have worked on in the past. Search the candidate database. Try not to dig into the database until you have to. If you can find candidates by talking to people (which you should always be doing, anyway) then do it. Post jobs on your database and any internet job boards you use. Headhunting calls.
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Obviously, as youre going through this, youll need a job description. You will most likely have one that the client has given you. In addition, youll want to create a simplified job spec that you can post on the web and share with candidates. WRITING A JOB SPEC Job specs find their way on to the internet and often times serve as your first introduction to both clients and candidates. Many job boards you look at, youll find poorly written specs, misspellings, and inconsistent formatting. Recruiters are pressed for time; however, this is not the place to cut corners. Also, a job description is a place to entice a candidate, but not necessarily to sell. If you are too specific on a job spec, many candidates will loose interest. For example, if you say the company is French, and the candidate hates working with the French, then you may loose out. Its better to write, European Powerhouse. Or if the manager said the salary was $43,000, you may say the position starts at $40,000, rather than put doubts into the candidates mind early on. Here are some ways to avoid these pitfalls.
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In general, a job spec is divided into 4 parts: Company Description Job Responsibilities Job Requirements Salary
In your specific field, you may need another area. For example, someone working in the IT arena may want a Technical Requirements section as well. A couple of notes on each of these. The Company Description should not be copied off the internet! If it is, other recruiters can go on line and find the job you are working. Make the company sound enticing! On the Job Responsibilities and Job Requirements, use bullet points and limit it from around 6 to 8 key qualities. Remember, we live in an Attention Deficit Disorder world so you will most likely be able to hold a candidates attention on any one job for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Make the write-up short, punchy, and accurate. Make the candidate want to call you and ask clarifying questions. Lastly, have a salary. Normally, stray away from
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writing based on experience. When you do this, it makes people think you are trying to trick them. If you give a salary range or a starting range, you limit or expand the number of applicants. You want candidates to pre-qualify themselves. If you write, for example, Salary starting at $100,000 then the candidate knows that if they are in range, they will apply, and if they make more, they will apply.
Chapter 5
EVERY STEP IS CLOSING THE INTERVIEW PROCESS
rom the time of your first meetings with the candidate and the client, you should be closing. Closing itself is only a formality. The process of negotiation is done throughout each contact with the candidate and client: the probing questions, managing expectations and testing motivation is begun the first time you sit down with someone. That is why I say being a recruiter is like being a detective: everyone is a suspect and you need to ask really great questions, paying close attention to inconsistencies to find the elusive truth. I think Colombo would have made an excellent recruiter. Many recruiters take for granted the interview process. Anyone can do it: set up a meeting between the client and candidate. Yes, anyone can do it; but not everyone can do it well.
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INTRODUCING CANDIDATES There are 3 main ways to introduce a candidate, depending on how your company works. If you work in the same city as your client, then the number one way to introduce the candidate to the client is talking to your client face-to-face. You will receive instant feedback and you have a chance to sell your candidate to the client. The second way is via the telephone to describe the candidate to the client. The last, and by far the worst way, is by email. Recruiters often say that the only way they can reach their client is by email. Dont believe it! If you have created a good relationship with your client, youll be able to reach them. Try it in the morning when they are checking their email before you check yours. Email a resume as a formality so there is a record of the introduction. Of course, you should be aiming for the point when you just call the client and talk about the candidate and your relationship is so good and the trust strong that the client says to just arrange the meeting.
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If your introduction is off the mark, find out specifically why. Then give the feedback to the candidate via telephone. Rejection through email lacks professionalism. If the client wants to interview your candidate, then ask for two, preferably three, times when she is available. Then you call the candidate. The first thing you say to the candidate is, How is your job search going? Find out what the candidate has been up to. You may learn of a new position you can work. You also find out what point in the interview process your candidate is in elsewhere. After you find out that information, then you set up the meeting. INTERVIEW PREPARATION Before sending most candidates to an interview, you should prepare them. Here are some standard preparation tips. Even though a candidate may be very qualified, he still must know how to articulate his strengths and experience. Your job is to guide him in that direction. Have them research the company. If you have websites and information about the interviewer,
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provide them that information. Have the candidate know why they want the job. Make sure it matches the wants of what the client is looking for. Ask the candidate what is motivating them. Have the candidate prepare questions for the client. If you know the questions the client will ask, then practice those questions with the candidate. Listen to the answers and provide feedback. Tell them to switch off their mobile phone. Teach them how to correctly pronounce the interviewers name. Tell the candidate how to dress. Combed hair, pressed suit, polished shoes and any other appropriate advice. If the candidate smokes, have them avoid smelling like smoke before the interview. No gum. Sometimes, this may be difficult if you need to tell a candidate to get a haircut, shave, or any other personal item. Of course, you cant force a candidate to do anything, but you can give advice that will give them the best opportunity to get a new job. Then you start to role play and prepare them for the questions they are likely to encounter.
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Here are the most generic and usual questions. COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Tell me about yourself. The candidates answer should contain much more about job skills and employment history than about personal life. Train the candidate to talk about the growth of their career, what they learned from previous jobs, and how they developed their organization, time management, and leadership skills. What are your strengths? Most interviews will have the strengths/weakness question in some form. Train your candidates to answer both. If your candidate enjoys new challenges and tackles them in an organized manner, this would be a useful strength in almost any situation. Have your candidate back this up with concrete examples. Where do you expect your career to be in 3, 5, 10 years? This question judges how motivated the candidate its. For some positions, there is a career ladder and they want a motivated candidate. In others, they dont. You need to prepare your candidate for the appropriate response. Realize that most clients want someone stable to grow with the company.
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Why did you leave your former job? or Why do you want a new position? You need to train your candidate to never speak badly of their former employer. If they do, it reflects badly on the candidate. Have your candidate speak more in terms of fulfilling their potential, upward mobility, pertinent responsibilities, career plan, or the need for a more challenging position. Once the candidate goes in to meet your client for an interview, have your candidate call you immediately. When you speak to them, make sure you get the interviewers names, questions asked, how they thought the interview went, and how they left the interview. The names and questions will help you know more about the client. The impressions and how the candidate left the interview will assist you in knowing how to approach the client. SECOND INTERVIEW STAGE When you call the client for feedback, confirm what the candidate has already told you. If the client rejects the candidate, again, find out why and give the candidate immediate feedback. More candidates quit using specific recruiters because of the lack of timely feedback. Dont be one of them!
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If your candidate is anything less than number one for your client, then you need to keep searching for a better candidate. You cant afford to be second best. If the candidate moves on to the next interview, then your job is to get closer to the candidate. If you can, meet them. When you speak to the candidate to set up the second interview, you first ask the reoccurring question: How is your job search going. Youll ask this question nearly every time you speak to your candidate. It is important to assess the motivation of your candidate before you begin congratulating them on their next interview. SETTING AND MANAGING EXPECTATIONS It should go without saying to set low expectations and deliver high. Remember at this point what is motivating your client and candidate. Your client is looking for a quality candidate that they can hire at the most inexpensive rate. Your candidate is looking for a better job with more money.
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As the mediator between these two extremes, you need to expand your clients thinking and contract your candidates. Right from the start encourage an attitude of flexibility from both parties, using the Fantasy Style of questioning covered in Chapter 7. On your side, you need to be open and honest. Do not make promises that you cannot keep, not to the candidate or the client. CLOSING At this point, you should know things such as counter offers, salary expectations for both parties, the chances of a sign-on bonus, what is negotiable and what is not. When a client approaches offer stage, be first to mention salary. It is always easier to bring this up now than to tell the client he has to raise an offer. If appropriate, mention the chances of a counter offer and make sure to advise your client that a good offer equals quick acceptance, which means less hassle. If an offer is too low tell the client. Dont feel awkward with thisits what youre paid to do. Plus, negotiators playing table tennis back and forth, rather than just getting a candidate a new
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job, may cause a strain between the candidate and client, having the relationship break before it has a chance to start. In principle, always meet face-to-face to give out an offer unless the candidate is out of your region. Make sure you are on the look-out for body language that is congruent with the candidates words. Congratulate the candidate Make the candidate feel good, and ask if the candidate understands the offer. How does the candidate feel? If happy, when will the candidate resign? How will the candidates boss likely react? Is the candidate likely to get a counteroffer? Is there anything the candidates current employer could offer that would make her stay? Ask how the candidates family and friends are likely to react to the move. Would they be supportive? If unhappy, list all of the concerns about the job, show the candidate the list and confirm you have understood everything on her mind.
If the candidate, in your opinion, is being unreasonable in any area, try to understand their
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point of view. Have them sell you on their ideas. If you still think it is still unreasonable, it is your job to explain this. If appropriate, tell the candidate you will go back and negotiate. On this point though, you need to get commitment from your candidate that if you go back and negotiate, that the candidate will sign the offer. There is no need to go to the negotiation table with your client when the candidate will reject an offer anyway. Next, contact the client and try to negotiate any of the concerns the candidate has. Contact the client and see if you can negotiate the above points of concern. If everyone is pleased with the contract, then get it signed and the candidates start date! At this point, it is again good to meet the candidate face-to-face and take the candidate through the resignation process. How did the candidates boss react? Have any counteroffers been made? Has a final working day been agreed upon? Is the candidate excited?
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Arrange to take the candidate out for lunch or dinner to celebrate. Also, if the candidate was interviewing somewhere else beforehand, have they notified these other companies that they are no longer interested? Find out as much information on these other roles, as they could be a good job for you. In the same vein, ask the candidate if their company has lined up a replacement. This may be another role for you to work. Lastly, this is the best chance to ask for referrals. You have just succeeded in securing a better position for the candidate, and they should feel obliged to help you. IS THIS THE END? Call the candidate a couple of days before the he starts the new job and make sure everything is okay. Leave your mobile number just in case an emergency crops up and he cannot start on time. Then you call the client on the first day to ensure that the candidate arrived. You would be surprised at how many candidates fail to start on their first day of work!
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Arrange continued engagements of lunch or coffee with your candidate throughout the probation period. If you are outside the region, call regularly to find out how they are doing. Once the candidate has successfully passed the probation period, make a diary note in your calendar to call the candidate every three months. By staying in touch, you will continue to grow a relationship that will lead to referrals. And of course, you will continue to contact the client to verify that they are happy and paying their invoice on time.
CHAPTER 6
YOU DO NEED TO KNOW HOW THE NUMBERS WORK
ecruitment is a selling ball game. With any sporting event, there is a great deal of finesse and art. But without the discipline of daily practice, youll never reach the peak performance youre looking for. Though each market is different and every firm has its own guidelines, here are some targets that you can use as a beginning benchmark. If you dont know your numbers, call or email me and we can discuss your specific market. First, start by thinking backwards to build your ratios: For one placement, how many jobs did you have? For one placement, how many candidates did you introduce? For each introduction, how many candidates did you source? For each candidate sourced, how many candidates did you have to meet?
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For each candidate met, how many calls did you make?
Keep these ratios and continue to improve upon them as they are a great measurement tool for you. Here are some general contingency search numbers that have worked all over the world as a minimum benchmark. Please notice the word minimum. Each market is a bit different and world-class recruiters generally blow them out of the water. Whatever your numbers might be, take them down to their weekly and daily goal and then stay on track. For these numbers, there is no carryover or plus/minus from day-to-day. Each new day, each week, each month, the counter resets. Clients Meet 4 clients per month (1 per week) Take 4 clients out to lunch per month (1 per week) Speak to all your clients every month
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Candidates Meet 20 new candidates per month (5 per week) Take 4 candidates out to lunch (1 per week) Introduce 2 candidates per day to clients
Networking Attend a minimum of 1 relevant networking event per month. On a quarterly basis, organize your own networking event.
These numbers are very obtainable and are adequate for one placement a month.
CHAPTER 7
SOFT SKILLS
oft skills are so important to sales, that I dedicated a whole book to it. What is covered here is the minimum of what you need to know. The best way, though, to practice your soft skills is to put yourself in front of a video camera and take a critical eye to what you are saying, how you are saying it, and how you look.
How you look versus what you say

7%
56%
37%
7% Verbal - What you say & the words you use 37% Vocal - Ho you say it, such as tone & pace 56% Visual - Non-Verbal, such as gestures & appearance
The chart, which has been around for years and is
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now falling out of fashion, still proves a point that we know, but often forget: most people judge a book by its cover. Over half of what we communicate is based on how we look. The message to you is that you need to look professional when out meeting your candidates and clients. Whether you believe it or not, people who dress better get more respect and better treatment. As a recruitment professional, I want your candidates and clients to give you the utmost respect and treatment so that you will bill the most.
Telephone Communication
16%
84% 16% Verbal 84% Vocal
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On the flip side, here is your communication over the phone. It changes to 84% vocal variety. You need to have great vocal variety if you do extensive phone work. And above all else, smile when you speak on the phone! Buy a mirror and look at yourself. Better yet, buy a recorder for yourself and record your voice on the phone, listening closely to your vocal variety. It will have a great impact on your job. ASKING QUESTIONS After how you look and sound, the ability to ask intelligent questions ranks high on the sales skills list. Many of the questions in this book will guide you down the right path of asking intelligent questions. Here are some question types, their values, dangers and examples. Your job as a professional is to master them all and use them at the appropriate time for both candidates and clients. Develop questions around each category for both.
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OPEN ENDED Examples Who? What? Where? When? How? Why? How do you hire now? What have you found as a result? Value Most important type of question to a sales person. Lets the other person speak in narrative. Dont interrupt. Increases the other persons involvement in conversation. Encourages people to discover things on their own. Creates an unstructured dialogue in which the clients or candidates behavioral styles can be revealed. DEVELOPMENTAL QUESTIONS Examples Tell me more about that. Tell me more about your experience with other recruiters. Value Starts with a more narrow focus and leads to more specific questions.
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CLARIFYING/PROBING QUESTIONS Examples What exactly do you mean by long hours? How did you measure success? Value Seeks feedback, an explanation, or more detail. Reveals relevant strengths and weaknesses, even in areas they wish to hide. LOW ORDER (OPEN/CLOSED) Examples Did you have any problems getting here? Do you think it will rain? Value Unthreatening, useful icebreaker. Easy to answer. When all else fails, talk about the weather. CLOSED QUESTIONS Examples Are you the decision maker? How long have you worked with them? How many employees do you have?
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Value Seeks a yes/no or a brief, predictable answer, such as a number. Serves as a form of feedback. Directs the conversation. ASSUMPTIVE Examples Youd like to avoid legal problems? It sounds like youve used many recruiters. Presumably youd be happy to try our services? Value/Danger Can be useful as summarizers. Too big a leap by making a wrong assumption, and it leads a person to think you havent been listening properly. BROAD Examples What about your school days? How about operations? Value/Danger Confusing, and may well mean a vague answer or direct counter-question.
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LEADING Examples I suppose you have troubles with your boss? Didnt you have trouble with your last recruitment company? Value/Danger Leads a person to give an answer you want and not necessarily the true one. MULTIPLE Examples What hobbies have you, how do you enjoy them, and which is your favorite? Danger May get only part of the question answered, while the rest is ignored or forgotten. Leads to confusion or vagueness as the person doesnt know where to begin the answer. FANTASY Examples Suppose? What if? Lets imagine if we sent your resume to many companies
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Value/Danger Tests creative, lateral-thinking abilities, reveals thought processes. May be outside the clients job scope, therefore difficult for them to answer. LISTENING SKILLS By truly listening, you begin to hear your candidate and clients needs, wants, and pains. You begin to know their urgency, motivation, and specific needs. As you often hear, nature gave you one mouth and two ears for a reason. As a recruiter, when someone else speaks, you need to shut-up and listen. This can sometimes be difficult for recruiters who love to talk, especially if the other person pauses for a moment. But that pause may be a way for a candidate or client to collect their thoughts and provide you with more key information. As a general rule, candidates speak 70-80% of the time; you speak 20%-30%. Save your conversations for family, friends, and pets. Recruiters get paid to listen. Candidates and clients may also feel uncomfortable in the silence. To compensate for the discomfort,
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they will speak, and fill their silence with a vital piece of information. Here are 10 key ways to improve your listening skills. . When someone is speaking then pauses, wait 2 to 3 seconds before you speak. Try it! Youll be surprised to find that people will often go on speaking and give you more information then you ever imagined. . Ask questions. Clarify needs and check for understanding. Often check for understanding of the emotion as well as the message. Use open and probing questions. My favorite statement to check for understanding is, Tell me more about that . Resist Distractions: Focus on what the other person is saying. Ignore internal and external noises. We speak around 140 words per minute, but can effectively hear more than 400 words per minute! With this gap, we tend to fill it in with chatter from our brain, and this distraction induces us to jump into any conversation with a response at the first chance! Avoid this temptation. Concentrate on those 140 words as if each holds the jewel of your success, because it does.
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. Take Notes. Most people only remember about 50% of what they hear, so make sure you write enough notes to refer back to afterwards! Also, by taking notes, you shut up and give importance to what the other person is saying. 5. Let people tell their story. A persons narrative reveals a great deal of valuable information. Save your development and clarifying questions for later. . Offer verbal feedback. Let your customer know you pay close attention by giving verbal clues - uh-huh, yes, sure, I understand. . Relax. Create a relaxed environment in which your customer will feel comfortable about opening up. 8. Listen with your entire body. Show youre listening - lean forward, keep your arms uncrossed. Use good eye contact and nod in appropriate agreement. . Be aware of personal space. If you stand next to someone, dont stand too close. 0. Show interest. Remember, there is no such thing as an uninterested speaker, only uninterested listeners.
CHAPTER 8
TIME MASTERY FOR RECRUITERS
ost recruiters ask how they can be better time managers. There is a great deal on a recruiters plate, as they have two customers to deal with instead of one. Time management is the easy part; execution is difficult. Most of you reading this have probably taken a time management course of one sort or another. Now you need to implement those ideas. Lets start with general principles. First, time management is a farce. You cannot manage time. You can only manage yourself within time. See the difference? This means that time management is really the discipline of having right action, leading to good habits. When we say that someone is good at time management, what we really mean is that they follow disciplined habits when working. Along with the principle of self-discipline, there is the very important idea that we all have the same 24 hours. If you see someone in your office making more placements than you, then you need
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to start asking yourself what that person is doing differently and model those actions. Another important principle is focus. As a recruiter, you are pulled in many different directions during the day. What do you focus on? When I was just starting out in recruitment, I asked a friend of mine the same question. He answered me, What will make you money today? You need to ask yourself that question each morning. Write down 3 things that you can do that day to help you hit your monthly targetthen do them. This will help you build your focus and momentum. Focus in a broader sense means that before starting another task you must fully complete the task currently engaged in. Not only must the task be finished, but finished within the standard timeframe allotted to that particular task. This sounds relatively simple in theory, but in practice, it can be quite difficult since you need to train yourself to ignore your colleagues, telephone calls, incoming emails and the bombardment of other interruptions that flood our day and keep us from working effectively. Thinking logically, this ability to focus makes
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complete sense. If you cook an omelet, you wouldnt start chopping an onion, then half-way through, jump into slicing peppers, then say, Oh, wait a second! Then start grating away at the cheese. If you cooked this way, you would only make a mess! This holds true in recruitment. So many times, a recruiter is sitting there going through a database search. Then an email comes in from a client wanting to schedule a meeting with a candidate. The recruiter jumps out of the search, calls the candidate, sets the date, then calls the client and confirms. The recruiter then dashes off a quick confirmation mail to the candidate. An interview scheduled in record time! Now what was the recruiter doing again? Oh, thats right, a search. The recruiter will need to start the search over, but before that, might as well run to the bathroom and then get a quick cup of coffee. Then its back to the search! But where was that last candidate the recruiter was looking at? Hmmmm and 3 more minutes goes by to find it. In this example, anywhere from 10 minutes to 20 minutes flutter away. Yes, setting up the interview was important. But it would still be there 20 minutes later. And the search would have been done.
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Focus means doing each thing in its allotted place and time. You must keep focused and resist distraction. Train yourself to finish one job before moving on to the next. Ensure that you prioritize your day, then focus. Work in respect to the most important, not the easiest, tasks you have to complete that day. PLAN WEEKLY, ADJUST DAILY As a block of time, a week makes for a good time frame to meet long-term demands. In contrast, your daily 3 tasks keep you on track for the day. Use both to help meet your monthly numbers. On Friday or Saturday morning, spend 45 minutes to an hour with your calendar and task bar. Write out all the tasks you need to complete. Then start assigning them time in your calendar. Some of them may be additions to your dreams, some of them may be parts of your vision to fulfill, and others may be leads generated, referrals or reports given to you from the boss. Next, contemplate your biological clock. Do you feel charged from 6 a.m. or does 3 p.m. sound better to you? Do you prefer to complete administration
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at midnight or lunch time? When are you swift and sharp? When do you feel sluggish? For me, I hit the ground running in the morning and pile up my tough tasks that take energy and brain power. In contrast, in the afternoon Im dead and try to schedule meetings to keep me energized as I spend time with others. If I have to look at the computer screen in the afternoon, I would sleep. In the evening, I can usually concentrate on mundane things like administrative updates and returning emails and phone calls. Next, take out your calendar and schedule in the meetings. Allow extra time for administration. Schedule email time and working with snail mail. This may be 3 times a day. DO NOT WORK FROM YOUR EMAIL IN-BOX! This will disrupt the time you had planned to work by jumping in and out of your in-box. Imagine if you were to run outside every time you heard a car, thinking that the mail carrier was putting a letter in the mail box! That is what working from your email in-box is like! When you schedule in a week, you should only schedule in about 60% of your time. If you have a great candidate walk through the doors, you want to have the time to meet him.
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TEN TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS 1. Avoid procrastination. In time management, and for all successful business people, chant the mantra of Do it now! Many people want perfection or fear failure. This leads to people planning and never acting. If they would make a great effort of it, they will make something happen and then move on for corrections at later dates. It works with computer software upgrades that fix the bugs on later versions. You can do the same thing. Done is better then perfect. 2. Use blocks of time, such as 60-90 minutes where you break up between being creative and functional. In those amounts of time, focus only on those tasks. 3. Control your interruptions. Your phone has an on/off switch. You can close down your email. You can close your office door. These times allow you to focus only on what needs done. If you pick up the phone to make phone calls, make those calls and dont stop for someone walking into the office (unless its your boss). Just keep pounding away. 4. Batch as many tasks as possible. When you have notes to type up on the data base from hand-written notes, try to do them all at once.
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5.
6. 7.
8.
9.
10.
Have a time of day when you batch your phone calls. Similar tasks done all at the same time will help. Improve everything you touch. When you open a filing cabinet, can you purge a file? Clean out files? If you grab for something on your desk, can you tidy up that area? Always look for ways to improve and clean your work space. Revisit, review and refine your systems on a regular basis. These are the 3 Rs to continual improvement in your time management. Have time limits. Creating start and end times, especially for meetings, will help give you a sense of time. For projects, it forces a sense of urgency. For meetings, it lessens the amount of small talk. Take the 4D approach to written communications, including electronic files: Dump it, Delegate it, Do it, Defer it. If you ask, How can I apply one of the 4 Ds? you will rid yourself of a great deal of clutter. Start an hour earlier. If you do this, it gives you 4 extra hours a week, 16 hours a month. You can easily make an extra placement with the extra phone calls you can fit into 16 hours. Dont check your email first thing in the morningmake 10 phone calls. If you remember nothing else from this section, remember this! Most
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decision makers check their mail first thing in the morning, so this is a great time to call them. And just the physical act of calling 10 people in the morning, motivates you for the rest of the day. The night before, list the 10 names and phone numbers that you will call, then when you walk in the door, start dialing. Then you can have your coffee and check your mail because you earned it!
IN CLOSING
n your hands, you have a great many ideas. I hope the book has some of your writing in it too, along with underlines and highlights. I hope you have a notepad with a to-do list on it. Those hopes are only dreams. The real work comes when you start using the ideas in this book. Go out and put them into practice. Some of the ideas may seem uncomfortable at first. Great! When you try something new, it sometimes feels uncomfortable. Remember your first kiss? By now, Im sure youve gotten over any troubles you may have! Putting new plans into strategic actions is just like locking lips. Make a plan for yourself and work your plan. Every day set out 3 things that you can accomplish to gain momentum. Maybe its 10 calls before checking your email. Maybe its closing with 2 candidates today. When you give yourself those three specific, achievable and measurable tasks each morning, you will start building unstoppable momentum. That is what youre looking for. Also, be brave and start asking the hard questions. The more you do, the easier it becomes. Referrals
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should always be on your mind; ask for them. Lastly, continue to grow as a consultant. You are there to serve your candidate and client, to guide them, to assist them in making the best choices that can truly impact their life. Uncle Ben told his young nephew, Peter Parker, With great power comes great responsibility. I want you to go out and wield your power with passion, enthusiasm, and joy.
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As a recruiter, you need to constantly work in 3 areas: sales, motivation, and time management. Every 6 months you should read a book in each of these categories. Many of these recommendations have audio editions which make it easy to listen to in your car, while working out, or as a form of review after reading the book. Here are some of my favorites to get you started. SALES: Agatha Christie, anything with Hercule Poirot. He is a natural recruiter, though he would hate me writing it. Dale Carnagie, How to Win Friends and Influence People Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything John Dijulius, Secret Service Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton, Getting to Yes Jeffrey Fox, How to Become a Rainmaker Jeffrey Gitomer, The Sales Bible Robert Miller and Diane Sanchez, The New Conceptual Selling Robert Miller and Diane Sanchez, The New
RECOMMENDED READING
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Strategic Selling Neil Rackham, SPIN Selling (I prefer the Field Book and find it more useful for messaging) David Sweet, Sweet Sales: Soft Skills that Lead to Sweet Sales Brian Tracy, The Psychology of Selling Zig Ziglar, Over the Top
TIME MANAGEMENT: David Allen, Getting Things Done Stephen Covey, Focus: Achieving Your Highest Priorities Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (especially Habit 3 on Time Management) Richard Koch, The 80/20 Individual: How to Build on the 20% of What You do Best Richard Koch, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less Alan Lakein, How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life James Loehr, The Power of Full Engagement Alec Mackenzie, The Time Trap MOTIVATION: William Boast, Masters of Change: How Great Leaders in Every Age Thrived in Turbulent Times Nancy Austin and Tom Peters, The Passion for
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Excellence Steve Chandler, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself George Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon Jim Collins, Good to Great Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich James Loehr, The New Toughness Training for Sports Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within David Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big W. Clement Stone and Charlie T. Jones, The Success System that Never Fails Roger Von Oech, A Whack on the Side of the Head
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Book David Sweet to speak at your next meeting or event.

David is hands down a thought leader! He was instrumental in creating training and development programs, and was by far the best trainer, career development counselor, and mentor. Highly intelligent, articulate and yet very personable. I would strongly recommend David. Lachlan Sloan, Director, Asia Talent2
Become a top-biller!
David conducts his presentations for groups of recruiters who want to learn their trade as a professional or professionals who want to make more placements. Depending on your format, time available, and meeting objectives, his presentations can run from thirty minutes to 4 days. He looks at the key issues that recruiters face on a daily basis finding candidates, closing, time management, more referrals, and ultimately more closing! For availability and booking information, call your favorite speakers bureau or you can reach David direct at 877-401-6949. www.LightBulbTraining.com
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FINAL THOUGHTS 1. Share Recruit! with your colleagues, clients, candidates, and anyone that works to hire world-class employees. Buy 50 copies and receive a 50% discount off of the retail price. Call 877-401-6949 for special pricing on larger quantities 2. Send us your comments. Wed like to hear your success stories, insights, and any ideas you have for our future reference and additional books. Email us: [email protected] 3. Go to www.LightBulbTraining.com. It is a great place for tools and products for recruiters, managers, and business owners who want to grow their business and perform their best. 4. Build Relationships! That is the first measure of a great recruiter. The relationships that have helped me put this book together are invaluable. Thank you to my family, friends, recruitment colleagues and clients. A special thank you goes out to George Leaning, Sam Bliss, Barry Niemann and Steve Leichner. Your advise and support made all this a reality. David Sweet

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NOT SALES, RECRUITING! The bookstores are filled with books on sales and how to sell.

DAVID SWEET, PH.D.

Foreword by Doug Franklin

CANDIDATES DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

Candidates Drive Your Business

CLIENTS PAY YOUR BILLS

Clients Pay Your Bills

Clients Pay Your Bills

Clients Pay Your Bills

Clients Pay Your Bills

If this is a difficult position, would they consider working this on a retainer?

EVERY STEP IS CLOSING THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

Every Step is Closing

Every Step is Closing

Every Step is Closing

Every Step is Closing

Every Step is Closing

YOU DO NEED TO KNOW HOW THE NUMBERS WORK

You Do Need to Know How the Numbers Work

How you look versus what you say

The chart, which has been around for years and is

84% 16% Verbal 84% Vocal

TIME MASTERY FOR RECRUITERS

Time Mastery for Recruiters

Time Mastery for Recruiters

Time Mastery for Recruiters

Book David Sweet to speak at your next meeting or event.

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