Recruiters need to find a USP and quickly.

I was recently reading how BT were warning their recruitment suppliers to not discriminate against disabled candidates (why would they in the first place if their client did not??) or they’d be off the PSL and it occurred to me how beholden Recruiters have become to their Clients.

Now that candidates are relatively easy to track down and recruitment is being taken in-house, Recruitment Consultants need to find a USP that will change the balance of power and stop the whipping-boy band-wagon. Don’t think because there is still demand for agency recruitment today that it isn’t shrinking.

The USP needs to be something that In-House recruiters cannot do and it needs to offer positive hiring outcomes that only Agencies can deliver. Otherwise why would you need them?

If Agencies owned and had unique access to LinkedIn for example this would give them a USP. Perhaps we could club together and buy it?

This question is the key to the future of the recruitment industry.

What’s your suggestion?

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on September 15, 2011 at 4:44pm: too much chatter out there about what you can do / I can't do / I do better / you don't do at all. Any good recruiter can and will do all the important things recruiters do. Sometimes that's inside, sometimes outside, sometimes we actually (gasp!) work together. All depends on the organization's needs and what makes the most sense.

And by the way my Unique Selling Proposition is I'm Amy Ala! I'm the only one of me that does exactly what I do exactly how I do it. :)

Comment by David Palmer on September 19, 2011 at 11:38am: BT owns the last metre of cable into 98% of houses in the UK. How about that USP!

Comment by David Palmer on September 19, 2011 at 11:39am: Amy I believe you and I'm going to take your word for it inspite of what they say about self-praise.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on September 19, 2011 at 12:53pm: Thanks David, I was being a little facetious. :) It's been my experience in recruiting that job seekers and clients alike work with people they TRUST and LIKE. That works for my little tiny population of the world I work with, and I'm willing to bet most good recruiters would say their customers work with them because of THEM, not necessarily because of their company, or their fancy website, or their high/low fees.... it's a people business, that's my point.

What do "they" say about self-praise? :)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on September 19, 2011 at 1:25pm: They say, "If you don't blow your own horn, somebody else will get your spot in the band and you will never sit first chair."