The most recent recession was a brutal one (and the recovery isn’t much to write home about, either). In fact, many recruiters went out of business, and some of the ones that didn’t either switched their niche or entertained the thought of switching their niche.
But how many of them actually did? Well, we conducted a poll of the Top Echelon Network Membership to help determine the answer to that question. Or at the very least, to get a much better idea of what that answer might be. In true Top Echelon style, we were straight to the point with the question that we posed, which is as follows:
Have you altered your niche within the past 12 months?
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each one:
- Yes, I’ve completely switched my niche—8.5%
- Yes, I’ve gone slightly outside of my niche—19.7%
- No, but I’m thinking about making a switch—4.2%
- No, I don’t plan on switching my niche at all—67.6%
As you can see, the vast majority of recruiters who responded to the poll haven’t switched their niche during the past 12 months, and they don’t plan to do so. However, there was also a number of recruiters who did change their niche, either completely or just slightly. That number added up to 28.2%, nearly a third of all respondents.
So… a sizable amount of recruiters have felt the need to switch their niche during the past year. Either they believed their current niche had dried up or that their chances for greater billings and greater success were located elsewhere. Quite a few industries and niches were hard hit by the recession, and many of them might not return to their pre-recession level of activity for quite some time (if ever).
What about you? Have you switched your niche during the past 12 months? If so, why did you do so? If not, are you considering a change, or do you have no plan to switch the niche in which you’re currently working?