It is imperative that you create urgency to make fills and close perm or contract placements. This is a candidate-driven market and candidates know they are in demand. Today we will address how to create urgency with candidates.
Fifteen steps to create urgency with candidates
1. Complete paperwork up front for more efficient resume screening and identification of candidates you cannot place in a job.
2. Learn to conduct a courtesy interview for the 95% of your candidates you will not place and provide resources that can assist them. You must focus on the people you can place and not waste time conducting a full interview or providing free career advice.
3. DIRECT: Prepare your candidate to interview. Explain sending them on an interview will help you fine-tune their search. TEMP: Assure your candidates that you will not waste their time. Only send them on jobs you know they will accept.
4. Use the wording, “I take my direction from you,” which encourages them to give directives while they also flex on their availability.
5. Ask every candidate where they want to work and why to help you send them on multiple interviews. Ask every candidate where they would never work and why. This helps you to identify great recruiting resources.
6. Know their time frame to make a change, their target date.
7. Know their next promotion and raise, as well as details and costs of their current benefits package. This will become their counter-offer.
8. Share the time frame of your client. Always add some time.
9. Let them know there is competition.
10. DIRECT: Stay informed of all their interviews and possible offers. Know their offers better than they do and share the information with your clients. Everyone wants what someone else wants.
11. Make sure you have closed them on money. Urgency will not exist if the offer is lower than anticipated.
12. Tie in what is most important to this person to your client. Know the five things they’d change about their current job. This gives you the real reason they are talking to you.
13. Listen for possible red flags during interviews, presentations of existing opportunities, preps and debriefs. You need to hit them head-on. In order to create urgency, there has to be a very high level of interest.
14. Never interview with one specific search or contract placement in mind. You will slant the interview and not know what is really important to your candidate.
15. Provide written expectations. What they can expect from you, what you need from them, in order to find their next logical career move.
Implement these tips and you will create urgency with your candidates. This will result in increased fills and placements.
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Barb Bruno, CPC/CTS is a guest writer for the Top Echelon Recruiting Training Blog. You can hire her for your next conference or event or for in-house training. Barb’s training techniques have guided thousands to a higher level of sales and profits. She is best known for her methodical, easy-to-implement strategies that she shares with her audiences. Her enthusiasm is contagious! If you would like to hire Barb, please call 219.663.9609, email support@staffingandrecruiting.com, or visit Good as Gold Training online.