Now that you’ve secured your first or first few clients who each have real requisitions, job orders or search assignments, you now need to be able to successfully execute against those searches by placing uniquely qualified candidates – thus establishing yourself as an experienced recruiter and justifying your service charges to your clients. The ability to close the deal with a placement is crucial as success will potentially earn repeat business with your clients and it will definitely give you the ammunition needed for personal success stories to use as examples for all future business. Search professionals earn their fees by being able to identify, surgically extract, and place top talent within their chosen industry. Clients depend on us to know the passive candidate market – those candidates which the client themselves cannot easily find on job boards or social networking tools. Of course, learning how and where to find those hidden or passive candidates is another topic. Once candidates have been located or identified is where the real recruiting process begins.

First let’s keep in mind the primary objectives of each recruiting call:

1. To recruit a candidate for a current, open position

2. Learn enough from the conversation to know “with what” and “when” you should call this person back in the future when new opportunities arise

3. Solicit direct referrals or indirectly gather names

4. Uncover client development opportunities

5. Increase your market knowledge by gathering industry information

6. Exchange all contact information – business and home emails plus work, cell and home phone numbers to ensure you never lose track of your potential candidate

7. Learn about the professional associations to which candidates belong

Click here to download our Recruiting Flow Chart.

Direct Recruiting Approach (Learn More)

The Direct Recruiting approach is a rapid fire approach to making calls which can be used when you quickly need to get to a yes or a no decision from a candidate to the question of “are you interested in this opportunity?” or “what are your thoughts on this personally and professionally?”.  A primary advantage to using this approach is that it is quite effective when making calls within certain marketplaces where the work can be project based and a high volume of candidates are needed; you may have the potential of hundreds of candidates and hundreds of subsequent calls to make in a short amount of time.  The Direct Approach is a no-nonsense way of communicating with candidates; being upfront about the purpose of your call and desired outcome could earn respect within a certain type of candidate marketplace.  This approach could be effective with individuals who respond well to affirmations regarding their professional success and accomplishments or who are in sales roles and responsible for business development.

The possible downsides of the Direct Recruiting Approach include the element of credibility; if you are building your reputation around a consultative approach with candidates and clients, but then recommend an opportunity without getting to know their professional aspirations and desires, your approach does not mirror your desired relationship.  The other disadvantage to this approach is that your question following your presentation is a closed-ended question, and it can be difficult to engage in an ongoing dialogue when your question elicits a one-word response.  If using the Direct Approach, it is valuable to be prepared with different lines of questioning to continue the dialogue.

Indirect Recruiting Approach (Learn More)

At the core of the Indirect Approach to recruiting is asking your prospective candidate for a referral, recommendation, or the name of someone else having the level of expertise and experience to match the role you just described. By intentionally using a variation of the take-away close, you are enticing the individual on the other end of the phone to either buy-in to the opportunity themselves, or to let you know who they know that could be a match for your need. Think about the principles of reverse psychology which are at work here. Anyone who is a parent knows an effective way to ensure dinnertime compliance is to challenge a child; “don’t eat any more of those peas – I know you can’t finish them” can be a successful approach as people cannot resist the urge to prove someone else wrong when the opportunity to do so is served to them this way! The psychology behind this approach it is that your prospective candidate could be more interested if they need to nominate themselves or share a referral, versus being in a position to be able to turn down an opportunity that is presented to them.

The Indirect Recruiting Approach comes with advantages and disadvantages.  The Indirect Approach is great for fostering a collaborative conversation – a chat with the intention of getting to know the candidate beyond just seeing if they fit into your current opportunity. This approach also works well when you don’t have much information on the individual you are calling so you aren’t sure if they are a potential match for your opportunity or not. Finally, consider using this approach when recruiting people in roles which are famous for having big egos or having Type A+ personalities as it adds control to the process. When a candidate has to request consideration, most people will sell themselves harder when they have to volunteer and also tend to screen a little less.

Disadvantages to the Indirect Approach?  The referrals that you receive may not be qualified referrals; they could be individuals who are unemployed or underemployed but still not a match for your client’s opportunity.  If your need is to get the candidate on the phone, determine mutual interest, and move on to the next prospect if there is no mutual interest, the Indirect Approach may not be the recommended approach to executing the recruiting call.

Market Mastery Approach (Learn More)

The Market Mastery is based on having a level of in-depth industry insight and knowledge above and beyond your competitors and then applying it to your everyday conversations with candidates and clients alike. This hyper-level of insight and knowledge comes from developing a true expertise in a very specific industry or niche. To determine your area of Market Mastery you must be able to succinctly define the Function, Industry, Location and Level (FILL) of the market in which you specialize. The niche should be large enough that you could contact every candidate a few times a year but not so small that you are calling every other month. This approach works by immediately establish credibility by highlighting the strengths and attributes of your network, firm, team, fellow associates, yourself or all or any combination of the preceding. The Market Mastery approach may work best with those who have a track record of success, but if you are new in the business you can certainly build on the success of your firm’s previous track record.  The key to the Market Mastery approach is to quickly share your insight as it benefits the candidate – but that insight that you share should be compelling enough to drive the conversation forward and keep your candidate engaged.  The end goal of Market Mastery is to know more about the people and organizations within the niche than the people themselves!

Reference Check Approach (Learn More)

Reference checking is a great way to make a warm call to a prospective candidate.  The process begins as a reference check call but with a dual purpose to ‘flip’ into either a recruiting or marketing call for new business.  The call itself is one that is easily executed, because you will not encounter much resistance when you are calling to facilitate a reference check.  You then build credibility because this prospective candidate now knows the caliber of both candidates and possibly even opportunities that you represent.  However, most prospects are savvy to this approach, and it’s best executed when you introduce the dual purpose of the call up front.  This is typically received more openly than when you flip to recruiting the candidate midway through the call, with no prior notice.

Pillars of Presentation (Learn More)

There are four primary pillars that can comprise the structure of a strong recruiting presentation: the company, the boss, the position, and the compensation. Some opportunities will be stronger in certain pillars and it is not necessary to try to cover every pillar in a single presentation; the bottom line is to remember to always look at your client through the eyes of a candidate. What would indicate that working for your client would represent a better opportunity? What are the most appealing and differentiating facets of this company, city, leadership, responsibilities, or financial security? Remember that credibility is earned through the words you speak and information you share – make sure to put plenty of thought into eloquently describing what is it in for the candidate to learn more about your client’s opportunity. Go over your word choice selection carefully, so you can you can be more impactful than other recruiters delivering the same message as well as appeal to a passive candidate marketplace.