Do you have what it takes to be a technical recruiter in the energy industry? Perhaps you’ve read previous blog posts where The FootBridge Company General Manager Joe Squires shares insights from working smart to having fun and building trust. Squires divulges even more must-have tips for anyone looking at a recruiting career in this article. Interested in meeting with Squires to convince him you’ve got the skills he’s been looking for in top recruiters? Contact him at: JSquires@FootBridgeCompany.com or call 877-807-8400.
Tip #1: Build Relationships
“Don’t focus entirely on jobs that are open today,” says Squires. Instead, prioritize, be proactive and build relationships with great candidates, regardless of your current openings.
If you have a sense of the types of candidates you are most likely to place, you’re more likely to recognize them while sourcing. They may not fit today’s open positions, but that’s not to say they won’t work in the future. Squires advises making the call anyway as it gives you a sense of a candidate’s skills.
“You can say we do a lot of work in your field, would like to keep you in mind and have a basic building block for the future,” says Squires, who points out it’s just a matter of staying in touch with a candidate moving forward.
Tip # 2 Develop Good Work Habits
“Recruiting has highs and lows,” says Squires. “It isn’t a linear progression. Your contractors or contracts will eventually come to an end. It’s essential, however, to stay focused because the cycle will turn around.”
According to Squires, all you can control is your daily activity, develop good habits, and a positive work ethic. Focus on what you can control and not on the recruiting swings in the short term. Instead, keep your eye on the big picture.
Tip # 3 Maximize Your Time
“Put the majority of your efforts into candidates who qualify for your time,” says Squires. Chasing people who aren’t serious or don’t value what you do is a waste of time and energy.
Keep in mind that candidates make the best decision based on opportunity, location, and compensation. If a prospect doesn’t work out, know you did your best and move on.
Tip # 4 Communicate
Let your candidates know when an opportunity falls through for any reason. Do this EVERY TIME. In addition to being a simple professional courtesy, this is an easy way to build strong relationships. Finding people is the hard part, so calling them and letting them know they didn’t get a job is simple.
Alternatively, inform your candidates if your client isn’t communicating with you. Be transparent about the situation, whatever it may be. Maybe a job fell through, or the client passed on the candidate. Contrarily, calling a candidate with no news is better than not calling them at all. “Sometimes people don’t like giving bad news, so they avoid it – but it’s ridiculous because avoidance only makes things worse,” says Squires.
Candidates don’t expect to get every job, but they expect good communication. “I can’t tell you how many times over the years I had to tell someone a job didn’t work out, or the job got canceled, and the candidate is really surprised that I called to tell them. The feedback I got was most recruiters don’t call back if they have bad news. Doing so makes you stand out,” adds Squires.
In addition to being courteous, polite, and professional, you may have something that is the perfect fit for the candidate the following month or even next year. But if a candidate doesn’t hear back from you the first time, why would they trust you down the road? It’s such an easy thing to do, and you set yourself up to have a much easier time in the future. Plus, they are much more likely to answer if you call the person again.
To summarize, recruiting can be an exciting career with high earning potential. At FootBridge, we are willing to train the right candidate too! Our team is well informed, knows the market, and delivers top-notch candidates. We are also honest people who are always ready to support our clients. To learn more about salary and commissions, not to mention career growth, don’t hesitate to contact us. For a complete description of recruiting requirements, hop on over to our job page.