5 Things Headhunters Must Stop Doing To Be More Successful
To do, or not to do. Often as a headhunter, the "Not To Do's" are more important than the "To Do's".
You're at your desk all day, working hard, but are you working smart? Working hard on the wrong things leads the feeling of accomplishment without the results.
While it's true that persistence and hard work is necessary for success, sometimes taking an objective look at what you're doing and making changes (i.e. quitting the unnecessary) is the most effective way forward. As a recruiter, you're pulled in different directions all day long (client and candidate calls, leads, scheduling interviews, managing an offer), and unexpected problems arise all the time. It's important to distinguish the important/non-important and urgent/non-urgent tasks.
Knowing what not to do is a skill that can be learned by simply looking at your days objectively. If you tend to be the hardest worker, who is tirelessly blasting the phones, cold calling, or cold emailing, without results, it’s obvious that what you’re doing isn’t working, and you can train yourself to do better. There are plenty of opportunities to do this.
Here's a list of 5 things you should stop doing to be more successful and productive as a headhunter.
1. Stop meeting so many people.
Now, meetings are the cornerstone of recruitment and building trust with both clients and candidates is essential to lasting relationships. However, meeting unnecessary people wastes precious time and if you cannot offer them anything and they don't offer you any value, it's important to turn them down. Recruiters need to be able to say no and many don't. This goes for colleagues, managers, clients, candidates, and all the random friends of friends who reach out when they're on the market for a new role. You have to learn to be selfish with your time. So many recruiters will take a coffee meeting with a potential candidate at their office, an hour away from them, and talk about their career and aspirations, only to never be able to work with that person. That's an entire morning/afternoon... Gone!
Only meet people who you can directly impact or who can bring value to what's going on with your desk. Once a recruiter figures out who are the right people to meet (and when), they will manage their time much differently, ultimately leading to better results. Meetings can be irrelevant, go off topic, are distractions from your day, and are often unnecessary - choose who and when wisely.
If and when you do meet with people, ensure there is a clear agenda laid out and a set end time. And while we are on the subject, this goes for calls too. Don't answer calls from numbers you don't know. Don't waste time on long-winded, meaningless discussions. You may look busy, but it's not going to help you in the long run. Mark McCormack said in his book "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School" that he rarely takes (unsolicited) calls, but he always returns them. A great piece of advice that I live by.
2. Stop doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Insanity: doing the same thing and expecting a different result. It's simple: if you keep the same approach, you’ll keep getting the same results, no matter how much you wish and pray. If you want different results, you need to change your approach, even when it’s painful to do so. Tim Ferriss made a fantastic point in his book "Tools of Titans" on how after months of struggling in his first job out of college, (selling data storage, which is not so dissimilar to recruitment), Ferriss decided to experiment with doing the opposite of all the other sales professionals: He made his sales calls from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., rather than between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. He asked questions instead of pitching. And he studied technical material in order to sound like an engineer rather than a sales guy.
Guess what: The experiments paid off. The last quarter in that job, he outsold the entire L.A. office of their biggest competitor. Successful people tend to take risks, try things differently, and innovate. If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got.
3. Stop working with problem clients.
Most recruiters I know, especially ones just starting out, are willing to work with any and every client who has a requirement. However, as we all know (some people more than others) not every client is a good one. When you love your job and are passionate about it, these clients can cause a lot of sleepless nights. The agony caused by a bad client relationship can keep you from enjoying your job, which can cause a variety of problems in other areas of life.
Let go of those clients who are holding you back. I use the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule). I do this in 2 ways: Which 20% of my clients are bringing in 80% of my revenue? And which 20% of my clients are consuming 80% of my time? I can bet you there is not a direct correlation here.
If your clients are exhibiting these red flags, maybe it's time to refocus your attention:
Responsibilities & Budget don't match: Asking for an Allstar, but don't want to pay what it takes. I know companies have bands and budgets for a reason, but concessions typically have to be made on skills and experience. If they want an A-Player, they normally have to pay. If they don't have the budget, but don't want to concede on experience, this can cause big problems late in the process.
They want you to deliver the world at a fraction of the cost: Ensure your clients value what you do. If your pricing is fair and you successfully deliver consistently, don’t worry about losing a client or two who doesn't value your work. Low-quality clients typically lead to low-quality projects.
They don't listen to you: If you're a true expert in your industry and function, and know you've mapped the market, the talent they require may not exist. Don't be afraid to educate them and be a consultant in the truest sense of the word. If they don't take your feedback, it can be a huge time-waster.
They don't respond to you: For me this is the worst of them all. You agree terms, map the market, approach everyone, create a shortlist, and are excited to set up interviews and then your client disappears. You follow up they are nowhere to be found (I've known a few clients who must double as magicians). I know people are busy, but it's important you value your time (and the time of your candidates).
4. Stop doubting yourself.
Confidence plays a huge role in success and recruiters can be their own worst enemy. A deal falls apart, you miss your monthly target, things go awry. This is life. Every single headhunter ever to step foot in the job has experienced it before. When the product you're selling is a person, anything can happen (Would love to know the weirdest things to happen to you in your recruitment career - comment below). So, embrace the process. Embrace the journey. Embrace losing because you're not alone. The best recruiters I have met take losing as a learning opportunity. Sometimes confidence is all it takes to reach that next level, even when on a losing streak. The trick is, you have to believe it. If you doubt yourself, it's not going to work. Believe in yourself, trust the process, and welcome the journey with open arms.
5. Stop procrastinating.
Recruitment can be hard. Doing the same thing day in and day out is hard. However, your worst enemy is yourself. "I will do that tomorrow" is a killer for us, because that tomorrow never comes. Saying you’ll do it tomorrow is just an excuse, and it usually means that you
(a) don’t really want to do it (maybe recruitment isn't for you)
or
(b) that you want things handed to you on silver platter (which is not going to happen).
Stop procrastinating. Stop putting things off. It only hurts you in the end.
