The recruitment industry can provide a very lucrative career, if you are good at it. If you are driven, competitive, love building relationships and have strong resilience, this industry will agree with you. However, our industry is always going through constant change and artificial intelligence is a major disruption to our industry that is coming soon. With so many recruiters out there, how do you stand out to make sure that you continue to thrive?
- Connecting with clients needs purpose. What is the purpose of your call? Be clear, confident and have a purpose. You are better off making one call like this: “The purpose of my call is to connect with you, as I am currently representing a candidate who is working for your competitor. Is now a good time to talk? A call like this, is much better than 20 calls like: “Hi, I am Andrea from Connecting Recruiters how has your week been?” This is a career killing death call.
- Pick up the phone. Seriously just pick it up. Text and screen addicts do not and will not make good recruiters! Let me give you an example. You could have the best shortlist and you have the top three candidates in the industry for this vacancy. You email it off and move on to the next requirement. Alternatively, you have three OK candidates, but you call the client, talk them through the email you are about to send and get them all booked in for first round interviews. The client is not going to interview 6 people, probably just 3. Your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate are critical factors in nurturing your process. Hide and seek with email will only get you so far. Be the Jack in the box!!
- Don’t be remembered as, ‘that person from the meeting yesterday’. Walk out of a room and be remembered. Stand out from the pack. Walking out of a meeting, owning it and making an impact is crucial to your success. It takes a lot of work to get a meeting, so make sure you are remembered when you leave that meeting room.
- You need a strong personal brand alongside the agency brand you are working for. Your digital footprint and your personal branding has never been as important. You as a recruiter are judged long before you enter your client meeting. Initial impressions can be determined by the digital footprint you have created. Take it seriously.
- If you don’t ask you don’t get. At the end of a client meeting, always ask what you can take away to work on. You will be surprised what you walk away with when you actually ask for the work. Warm and fluffy meetings won’t get results as fast as meetings with an agenda. Give your meeting purpose beyond a token introduction and ask for the business. Show them how much you want it! If they don’t give it to you, ask them what it will take to get it.
- Let your personality shine through! There are so many colorful personalities in recruitment, use it to your advantage. Show your individualism, let your personality shine through and you will be surprised at what it will attract!