"We work with the best candidates"...No You Don't!

I worked for two national recruiting firms before opening my own shop. The heads of these firms are fantastic and I have nothing but respect for them and the firms they built...multi-office, multi-vertical, highly successful businesses in their own right; more than most of us can ever attest to. But one thing that drove me crazy at every national meeting was that the only difference between their addresses to the managers/directors/VPs and top billers was the sign behind the podium.

On and on about how we utilize the best technologies (insert name of widely known ATS and job boards here), we utilize the best training techniques (insert name of national trainers here), we utilize the best sales and marketing tools (insert name of Staples, Office Depot, etc...here), and we have the best candidates. Seriously?

When I made the transition I would say 60-70 percent of all candidates from one company's ATS were in the others. You don't work with the best candidates...everyone does. What makes one firm different from another is the recruiter(s). The techniques, the value propositions, the follow up, the jobs to present, the effort...etc. The internet provides all of us with the same tools, it's what we do with them that makes the difference.

Comment by C. B. Stalling!! on March 15, 2011 at 9:22am: No one owns a candidate. I love it when a client tells me sorry no fee on this candidate we had them in our database. I know there are recruiters out there that give out work and as resume start to be submitted to them for interviews the first thing they do is check their database to see if he / she is in there. My reply is then why did you not call them before I did.

Comment by Christopher Poreda on March 15, 2011 at 9:25am: Clients also need to realize that we're not paid to submit candidates. We're paid to get the candidate they want to say YES!

Comment by C. B. Stalling!! on March 15, 2011 at 9:29am: We are the ones that get the candidate interested...

Comment by Paul S. Gumbinner on March 15, 2011 at 12:04pm: A huge number of my candidates tell me I am the best recruiter for advertising executives. Why? Because I only send appropriate candidates. I know my clients and their cultures. I get to know my candidates. So it doesn't matter how many data bases they are in or how many recruiters they have seen. Sure, occasionally a client tells me that another recruiter submitted them, but I have learned how to handle this and, in many cases, I make the placement and get paid for it. Don't ever forget that we get paid, not just for having the candidate, but for matching them with our clients. The best candidates are the ones that get the job. Paul S. Gumbinner, President, The Gumbinner Company. www.gumbinnercompany.com; Blog: www.viewfrommadisonave.blogspot.com

Comment by Delores Ipms on March 16, 2011 at 1:04am: Your so, so right. Just when I decided I was going to stop reading blogs as they had nothing more to offer me besides an opinion or the opportunity to rant and rave about something new on my mind, I am glad I read your posting. Just today i positioned some great candidates only to find that of course these great candidates lied and already heard about the opportunity and applied.

We all have the same tools, its simply a matter of being valuable through verbal trips and continuing to push through stay motivated. I say to myself I am valuable because I am a social butterfly I simply circulate people by introducing them to each other.