Recruiting software by BlackDog - Radin tip of the month

Let’s say you made a killing in real estate, and you’ve got a fat wad of cash in your pocket. Do you carefully manage your new capital gains or fritter the money away? The answer should be obvious.

Yet, recruiters squander their hard-earned assets—their candidates—every day, without even realizing it. They work hard to identify qualified people and then proceed to alienate them on the first telephone contact.

In sales, this is called “burning a lead,” and it’s a cardinal sin. Why? Because each candidate is precious, and can open a wide door of possibilities, none of which can ever be realized if the recruiter fumbles with the key.

The Irony and the Ecstasy
Electronic recruiting is revolutionary, in that it gives us the means to quickly find, attract and evaluate prospective candidates. But after all is said and done, recruiting is inherently a value-added function. In other words, it takes considerable training, skill and insight to consistently transform a mountain of data into an employment transaction; and it serves little purpose to harvest a bumper crop of candidates and then damage the goods in handling.

As a recruiting manager and trainer, I see the symptoms of ineffective first-call presentations all the time. It’s downright painful to witness recruiters who:

• can’t get (or hold) a candidate’s attention;
• can’t speak knowledgeably about the position that needs to be filled;
• can’t stimulate a candidate’s interest and elicit referrals; or
• can’t build rapport that will lead to a future callback.

The irony is that the ability to locate a candidate often exceeds the ability to recruit the person. Which is too bad, because a weak presentation not only snuffs out a potential placement, it wears out your welcome and fatigues your candidate base.

Learning the Tricks of the Trade
By contrast, the best recruiters I know are those who build relationships on the strength of their very first presentation of the job opportunity. Here are their secrets to success:

1. Create visual imagery. Effective communicators paint word pictures and use metaphors and analogies to convey ideas that make an immediate impact.

2. Tell a compelling story. We all know that a job is more than a dry set of specifications or departmental requirements. A skillful recruiter knows how to tell the story behind a job opportunity, and explain the dynamics of the people within the company.

3. Transfer enthusiasm. People are, by nature, problem-solvers. And the more interesting you make the problem (and the more you get the candidate to identify with your search), the more likely you are to spark the candidate’s interest in a job or receive referrals to secondary candidates.

By assimilating these techniques into your recruiting vocabulary, you can maximize your first-call impact and turn one-night stands into beneficial, long-lasting relationships. Remember, a powerful presentation is what makes the difference between an information broker and a fully-functioning recruiter.