I joined in on a discussion on Twitter the other morning on what HR needs to do to be brave. My view was the role of HR is to say what everyone else is thinking.
But I think the brave recruiter is different. The most successful recruiters I have seen are brave. Indeed without bravery they would not have been so successful. It’s fair to say you can be an OK recruiter without being brave.
A truly great recruiter will stick their neck out time and time again.
For the last couple of days I’ve suggested you focus on your clients, both existing and lapsed so you know exactly what their plans are for next year and when you’ll be able to help them. Hopefully you’ll have been spreading a bit of Christmas cheer along the way.
Now on the third day of Christmas it’s time to turn to your candidate base. Candidates increasingly have bad experiences when job-hunting; they apply in such volumes that they have little hope of a reply and some of the sourcing emails I have seen wouldn’t tempt someone desperate let along a candidate of quality with scarce skills. So it’s not hard to be the exception.
Spend today speaking to all your ‘black-book’* candidates for an update. Ask them what they have planned for Christmas (no, it’s not too early to ask!) and wishing them a Happy New Year. While you’re speaking ask which of their friends and colleagues have mentioned they might be thinking of a career move in the New Year and also ask them whom else they think you should be talking to at this point about a career move. Notice you’re asking both about people who they know will be actively looking and those whom they feel perhaps should be, thus capturing both active and passive candidates.
