POWER RECRUITING
by: DOUG BEABOUT, CPC

"Top billing search consultants or recruiters are always in the right place at the right time."

Is this an accurate statement? Sometimes it seems so. However, the most successful and powerful people in the history of the world are always in the right place at the right time with the insight necessary to succeed. The most successful and powerful search consultants seem to share in that same advantage of "being in the right place at the right time".

Does this all depend on being lucky? In a word–– NO! Successful search consultants make their own "luck". To gain the necessary insight in a situation, a search consultant must do several things. First, ask the right questions. Second, have the judgment to effectively discern the answers or "read the green" as duffers say.

If you distill everything we have to sell in the placement business down to its essential elements, you only have time and information to sell. Given that time is a static reality providing all of us the same 168 hours each week–– the obvious variable in success or failure must be the element of insight. Insight is simply INFORMATION, in the possession of the individual at a certain time that enables that individual to proceed--- and make their OWN LUCK by exploiting the INFORMATION appropriately. Those are the ingredients required making a success of a circumstance and an event in time. Therein lies the power!

Nearly every placement that failed can trace the cause of it’s demise to a critical piece of information of which we were not aware, should have asked for, or worse, glossed over in our efforts to "hustle". Hustle is very critical in a time sensitive business like ours. Hustle for the sake of speed without direction reminds me of a speedboat without a rudder. Knowing how to evaluate and use the information we gain is the insight that brings success.

The sources of information are many and vary from deal to deal. No one answer is correct for every situation we encounter. The information we require IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE. The basic information given by our client in the form of a job description always falls short of what we need to help them solve critical talent requirements. Suppose, for the sake of argument, we take the best qualified candidate and we simply read the "job description" to him or her. Gauge their reaction! Do they fall all over themselves to leave work for an interview? Put their home up for sale? Leave the political inner-circle at their employer (they have sweat blood to be accepted into)? relocate their children?, convince their working spouse to do the same?, and completely change their lifestyle just because you and your client want it? Obviously, they need to know a lot of information to accept the offer.

Serious candidates need to know why the job your client wants to fill is an opportunity for their career and family. That is right… I said family. Face it, the Eighties are over. The Nineties are nearly over and quality of life rules the hearts and minds of our candidates, not greed. Some one grumbles, "Well, it used to be that way." And it was! This adage is getting enough age on it to be called an "old adage", Nine out of ten candidates turn down offers for reasons other than money". Candidates will accept an offer of employment if the "money is right", but only after personal, career and family issues are satisfied. They also lean very hard on the excuse of inadequate compensation when rejecting an offer. The truth, in many cases, is that hidden issues left unsatisfied or ignored often causes the "turn-down". In other words, a lack of INSIGHTFUL INFORMATION killed the deal.

How do you find this golden information?

Start with the search assignment. Probe your client contacts thoroughly to learn every single advantage of the position. Know what the recent history of the position reveals. Did your client promote the predecessor? Is the manager on an upward track and about to leave an opportunity for advancement in his or her wake? What side roads exist to other technical or professional advancement opportunities in the company or its divisions? The insights as to why the job is an opportunity must be discovered when you take the search. What must the successful candidate do in the first thirty days, sixty, ninety days, six months or first year to succeed? These nuggets lead to the main vein of gold.

You need to understand why a candidate would leave their current situation. Determine everything they would love to see in the right position, employer, community and manager. Once your candidate feels you understand these things. You then align the specific advantages of the "opportunity" to the needs and desires of the candidate. Do not fall back on the weak tactic of using clichés. Do not tell them it is a "great" opportunity with a "really good" company. Tell them why the opportunity is great and why the company is a good employer.

Demonstrating your knowledge as an extension of the client’s company will aid you in gaining control over the decisions and actions of the candidate. Techniques and tips on how to gain these insights are thoroughly discussed in the Power Recruiting seminar.

Candidates rarely do what we tell them to do because we want them to do so. They will do far more for us if we first make them feel understood. Many minor candidate concerns vaporize once they fully understand how a position can address their perceived needs and value system. Learn it! Once we have clearly aligned the advantages of the position to the needs of the candidate, the candidate will start demonstrating emotional attachment to the opportunity. Candidates must show this level of desire or they cannot be closed!

Why go to all this trouble?

The majority of our candidates have families or significantly positioned people in their lives when we call. This reality poses a challenge to search consultants. This challenge lies in the fact that our candidates rarely make totally autonomous decisions in considering an offer of employment. A partnership-based decision is typically the norm. We need to find out, from the "other partner" what is most important to them as well. Beware of the candidate that puffs up their chest and says "Don’t worry, I make the decisions in this situation". That is the one who comes to us, tail between their legs (usually on the Friday before the start date) and says" I have been doing some thinking…. and well… I don’t think I can accept this offer… there are some things my ‘partner’ doesn’t like about this whole thing". Be the caring professional that shows honest interest in the needs and wants of the "other" person in this decision process. Stay in touch with all parties involved. Find out whatever they need to know and care about having. Information overload is an essential practice of the best billers. The "other" person, once sold on the opportunity and its advantages, becomes your advocate not your nemesis.

Search consultants do not employ the services of fortune-tellers or mediums to succeed. Therefore, we must learn everything possible in advance of the cold call to our prospective candidate. We first establish an awareness of the client’s opportunity, the advantages of the company as an employer and the community as a place to relocate to and live. We then "mine" out the additional facts as our probing efforts reveal the candidate’s specific areas of concern and interest. The power and advantage of knowledge is indisputable in our business. The top billing search consultants learn what they can in advance. They cultivate further sources of information as required. They probe clients and candidates early in the process. They have the required insights and information as objections arise or questions arise. They are proactive, not reactive.

When we pick up that phone to call a prospective candidate and possess an in-depth understanding of why this really is a "great opportunity", we are infinitely more effective at recruiting the best-qualified people.

Our knowledge becomes belief and belief is very compelling to the listener. Real power lies in knowing what we need and settling for nothing less than professionalism. Do not be led astray by the heat of battle, the infatuation of a search or the pressures of commissioned income. To become a top billing consultant–– find the GOLD in the information you acquire and the insights it provides you to be in the right place at the right time.