People always ask me, why I network and share my ideas?  Why would I help a competitor or another recruiter gain expertise and knowledge?  Simple, there is enough to go around, try to build good karma.

As you know, Recruiters don’t always have the best name/reputation in the business.  There are “used car salesman” recruiters that give honest recruiters a bad name and a bad rap.  But if I do the little things, with my fellow recruiters and my candidates, I am changing that view, one conversation at a time.

I try to keep in contact with old candidates.   I network with them.    I communicate and partner with them.    I may not have the right job for them today but you never know what will be open tomorrow.  Staying in contact with candidates also helps me get candidate referrals.   Good candidates always seem to know other good candidates.  

If I am unable to help a candidate today and they need a job – ASAP, I refer them to other recruiters.  You never know who may be able to help them.  Networking and sharing candidates, ideas, procedures with other recruiters,  will make me a better recruiter and a better person.   And it helps the candidate who needs that job. 

Networking and sharing helps me identify the candidates and recruiters, who I want to partner with.  Are there Recruiters who help me and give me new ideas?  Of course there is.  Are there Recruiters who do not share?  Yep, there are those also. The ones that share and network, I feel will also be successful.

In short – there are a lot of good people out there and enough knowledge and networking to go around.  Try it and pay it forward.

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Comment by Christopher Perez on June 1, 2012 at 10:24am

The value of networking depends on your point of view. It has tangible business benefits but also can be very rewarding in intangible ways as you mentioned. Today I got a taste of both types of those benefits.

I recently presented a candidate for a position and he made it to advanced rounds of interviews before the client decided to go in a different direction. He took the news well and was impressed enough with the process that he stayed in touch with me. In fact, he asked if I could advise him on a deal that I was not a part of. I asked him if he had another recruiter he was working with on it and he said that he did, but he wasn't getting any value out of that relationship. I felt like it was ethical of me to give him a hand without any expectation of a quid pro quo and I with no intent to negatively interfere with a colleague's placement. I liked this guy and thought he was a winner.

After an extended coaching call this morning, he thanked me and before we hung up, he gave me a lot of information about other companies where he had been interviewing and had decided to take a pass. I knew that he had been actively looking when I presented him at the first place but I had respected his privacy and didn't press him for info on these other firms at that time. He volunteered this client info with the understanding that it might open a few doors for me, which it very well might. So even if you're not looking for a direct incentive to network with someone, good things could drop in your lap.

The other huge benefit (to me) of networking and coaching/advising is that it serves to expand and enrich my personal knowledge base. I find that creative problem solving gets easier with each case study I'm exposed to. Candidates and clients love it when we're able to offer a different point of view on a "problem" and it opens up the potential for a host of positive outcomes for all involved.

Good post, Bruce.    --Chris

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