5 Tips From Finkel

Thursday, I attended my first training session since starting at ERP-Consulting.com a couple of months ago.  The trainer was Steve Finkel, who has done recruiting training for a number of years.  I actually had recently finished Steve's book---"Search and Placement!," so I was pretty excited to hear him.

For those in the Milwaukee area, the Wisconsin Association of Personnel Services hosted this event.  A full day of training (breakfast and lunch included) was only $119.  ($99 for members)  WAPS will be hosting their next event in January.

Here are 5 things I pulled from his presentation:

1)  Assumed Need  Steve talked about moving away from the typical marketing call to a company using an MPC candidate.  Instead, talk about an assumed need.  By learning beforehand what types of candidates are in short supply, you have the leverage to then call a company and say that you heard this company has a need for this type of skill set.  Regardless if there is reallty an opening, you will gain credibility by understanding their industry.

2)  The Results of a Little Extra Work  Its no secret that hard work yields results.  However, in the training Steve showed statistics on how 5 extra calls per day adds up over a calendar year, and staying on schedule and keeping to a plan to make those extra calls will add to more success.

3)  People Move On---Stay on Companies  Steve talked about how most recruiters fall into a trap where they make a marketing call to an organization, and if the contact there quickly turns them down, they assume that this company will never use recruiters.  It pays to look up other contacts at the organization, or recognize that people often switch jobs or organizations, so keep them on your call list.

4)  Be Aware of Client Stability  After a rough 2009 for the world economy, candidates are understandably very cautious when changing jobs.  (Everyone is in their ear about last in, first out.)  Steve explained thatl like never before, recruiters need to have detailed information on how an organization survived this last downturn and what their plans are moving forward should we dip again;.

5)  What's Special about Your Guy?  On the other side, its not news that organizations are taking a long time to make a hiring decision.  To show how your candidate differentiates themselves from the pile, recruiters should know a specific accomplishment that helped their previous/current employer save money or increase revenue, as all jobs do one of those two things.