Candidates are King How to Maximise Your Most Placeable People

Candidates are King How to Maximise Your Most Placeable People If youve experienced a candidate-driven market, youll know that  it means great candidates can pick and choose between employers, which  can be difficult for a recruiter to manage.  For those of you who are familiar with this scenario, Im sure youll be able to appreciate that it feels like its getting harder and harder to find good candidates, so when you do,  make sure you avoid sending them to your jobs page alone.  this requires a complete change of mindset, form working a job to working a candidate. Dont wait for jobs to relevant fall on your desk; go out and find them, with the aim of selling in your stellar candidate. This is also a great way  for you to open doors with  new clients. If you dont do this you risk the candidate being sent to another company by another agency, and totally missing out on new business. Make sure youre doing everything possible to find them the right role, while providing a high level of service. This will mean that  even if you dont place them, when they are looking again  in future you  will be top of their list to contact! With every good candidate  you work with, make sure you  do these things (as a minimum): Match their interests to available opportunities Make sure youre not pigeon-holing a candidate into your live jobs. Ask about their passions and career goals work with them to help them identify a list of available opportunities in the area and send out their CV to other colleagues. When discussing whether there are any companies which the  candidate is particularly interested in, make sure you explain to them the benefit of having a third party recruiter proactively approach the company/s on their behalf.  I would always recommend doing this in person or over Skype as you can have a detailed conversation (perhaps suggest new industries / job ideas). Use Google Maps to do a skills-based search Based on their likes/dislikes craft a tailored list of companies and managers to proactively call through on their behalf. You can easily find out companies which take on the candidates skill set by searching for the skills on google maps and cross referencing the companies on LinkedIn. From  here its easy to navigate around the company and find your best point/s of contact. If you dont get through to a manager make sure that you send a tailored follow up email which explains that youve discussed the company / the candidates interest in the work which they are doing there. I usually attach a copy of the candidates CV with personal details removed as hopefully their relevant experience will grab the managers attention! Companies are much more likely to get back to you if they feel that its a genuine approach on behalf of a candidate, rather than a speculative mail shot. Make reference to the projects which the candidate has mentioned and how they could add value to the company! Email out their skills-based profile There arent enough hours  in the day to call everybody, so tell the candidate you would like to send  out their  skills based profile to a wider network of managers to ensure that they are being marketed to all relevant companies. Working in a tech industry, Id usually include the skill-set in the subject title so that clients know how to filter emails I sent- it also ensures that the niche skills which could be of interest grab the attention of recipients. Stay engaged Arguably most important is to make sure that you keep in contact with the candidate throughout the process and let them know whats going on with their application/s. It doesnt take long to pop a candidate a quick five minute call / email to let them know of any updates, in return theyll be grateful (in an industry where reputation is important and referrals are key) it seems mad that you wouldnt want to keep  them happy. Further down the line theyll also be more likely to keep you up to date on leads and people in their network looking (gold dust!). Ask for referrals Leverage what youve done and make sure you ask for referrals from any candidate you speak with (good candidates know good candidates). If they dont know of anyone proactively looking, ask them for the names of the two best colleagues theyve ever worked with and why. Get them to intro you in case they are ever looking or, if they dont feel comfortable doing this, pop them a very informal LinkedIn message inflating there ego and explaining that they came highly recommended. Conclusion Building trust, staying in contact and nurturing relationships with these candidates  will only result in a positive outcome. Even if you dont place them theyre more likely to  consider you from the other side of the fence when they do get employed, too. If you dont manage to place them and they find a new role, ask them to recommend your services to their new company (theyll want any potential employee to have a good recruitment experience). Even better, if they have started a new role as a hiring manager ask to meet them to continue the working relationship a much warmer start to a relationship!