Sourcing
for talent and clients should become an ongoing part of an independent
recruiter’s business strategy. Since
scoring one “yes” can take many days of “no” making sure that your daily
marketing efforts include targeting both clients and job candidates is key to
surviving slow periods. Below are a few tips on how to create that steady
stream of work and opportunity:
- Maintain a database of both
clients and job candidates. Your
client database should include basic information such as the contact’s
name, address, email and phone number; but it should also include a
history of interactions you’ve had with them. When was the last point of contact? How
many of your job candidates have they interviewed and/or hired? What are their major hiring goals for
the year? The same goes for your
job candidate database. The
database should give you information about which of your clients the
candidate interviewed with and whether or not they made a good impression. There are a myriad of software programs
available that can make it easy to answer these critical questions; but it
will take some research on your part to find the right one that fits your
needs.
- Create a system of regularly
contacting job candidates and clients.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should receive a call or email from
you at the same frequency. Different prospects should receive different
treatment. For example, if there is
a job order you’re trying to win, you may want to contact the employer
twice in one week by phone and email. While on the other hand, if you have
a client who isn’t hiring until later in the year, you might be better
served sending them a monthly email.
Once again, there are several software programs on the market which
can help automate these tasks, do your research to find the one which
works best for your needs.
- Always generate new leads
for clients and job candidates. Even if business is brisk, take the time
to make new contacts and add these people to your database. This way you
will create a steady stream of opportunities to find out about job orders
before your competition and to fill those job orders quickly by having a
variety of job candidates already on your radar.