Staffing Professionals Tell All

Words of wisdom from the recruiting front lines

We asked staffing leaders around the world to share their top
priorities, biggest mistakes, and best career advice.
Here’s what they said.

What excites you most
about your job?

Finding people their dream job and knowing that you are
helping them to make a positive career change is really
rewarding to me. No two days are ever the same. One day you
can be working on a role based locally in Sydney, the next day
flying to Singapore to meet with clients and candidates. There is
never a dull moment! You are on a constant learning curve…
Elaine Moran
Senior Recruitment Consultant, Market Search Executive Recruitment
Staffing Professionals Tell All 4

I truly love my job because of its diversity. I work as an advisor
for our internal stakeholders answering all kinds of questions
about recruiting our target audience. I am responsible for all
online recruitment initiatives. I also get to know the best
professionals in our field because of all recruitment activities we
explore.
Britt van Capelleveen
Sourcing Expert, Yacht (Randstad )

Job satisfaction. We put so much effort into building
relationships with both our clients and candidates, and put
immense focus on understanding the cultures and values of our
clients’ working environments. When you find the definitive
match and place the right candidate with the right client, it’s a
fantastic feeling. All parties are delighted with the outcome and
you’ve just reinforced relationships all around.
Richard Hindle
Recruitment Specialist / Account Manager, M&T Resources

The variation of the work. Always getting in contact with new,
interesting people with interesting careers and personal goals.
Also, being able to help candidates as well as customers find
new career opportunities and employees.
Johanna Hultemar
Sourcer IT / Engineering, Academic Work

As a specialist recruiter focused on the high-tech market, I am
heavily involved in launching some exciting startups across
APAC. I am always learning about new, emerging
technologies, and this keeps me engaged in the industry… I
am passionate about people in technology.
Sasha Jenson
Northern Region Manager, Launch Recruitment

What would you say to someone who’s
thinking of becoming a recruiter?

Always try to understand both the position you’re looking for,
and the person you found. Make an imaginary match before
approaching the candidate. Then listen.

Resilience. Accept that there are going to be highs and lows
working in this industry, and despite your best efforts,
unfortunately things don’t always go your way. After all, it is
ever-changing and you are dealing with very diverse opinions,
personalities, cultures, and economic situations. So don’t take
it personally. Dust yourself off and move on. And remember
that the feeling you get when you are successful far
outweighs any disappointments.
Elaine Moran
Senior Recruitment Consultant, Market Search Executive Recruitment Staffing Professionals Tell All 11

You need to be creative, have faith in your own ability, have
the ability to see the big picture and fearless when you speak
to the market.
Jim Roslund
Sales Manager & Senior Partner, Additude Öresund AB

Make sure you know your field of work. No matter if you’re
recruiting IT professionals, engineers, or economists, you
need to know their market and understand what it is they
actually do.
Johanna Hultemar

Be a sponge. Soak up everything around you from other
recruiters (good and bad!), meet as many clients and
candidates as possible and read industry articles. Knowledge
will empower confidence ,and once you’ve learnt a structure
around how to recruit, it is this self-assurance (not
arrogance!) that will set you apart from the rest.
Richard Hindle

Invest in LinkedIn and get certified. I’m strongly convinced
that LinkedIn is the best way to understand and to find your
addressable market. LinkedIn has brought me a lot of
knowledge and skills, not only to use the Recruiter Seat, but
also in terms of recruitment in general. Within my vertical, we
get most of our candidates from LinkedIn. It’s the way to go
for the future.
Marco Van Veggel
Senior Recruiter, Yacht (Randstad)

To be a good recruiter, you must harness your empathy and
ability to listen. I always remind new recruitment consultants
coming into our business that they should remember the time
they were once looking for a job and to think about what
exceptional service they would like to receive if they were in
those shoes again.
Sasha Jenson

What are your tips for
closing candidates faster & getting
a better candidate acceptance rate?

Celebrate successes. Showcase your successes so clients
and potential candidates will see how you can be an added
value to them. Brand yourself as the dedicated recruiter for
your client and towards your potential candidates…it’s
important to showcase your successful placements.
Marco Van Veggel

Don’t contact people who are “long shots.” If you don’t think
the position is a good fit from what they’ve told you during your
contact or their profiles why waste their (and your own) time?
It’s not professional…Feedback. Always let the candidates
know what’s happening. Even if you don’t have any new
information, let them know that.
Johanna Hultemar

Meeting every candidate you represent for a job builds
rapport and trust immediately. Candidates will automatically
feel an affinity to recruiters who take time to meet and
understand them fully. Already you have their buy in.
Richard Hindle

Asking the right questions at the start of the recruitment
process can help eliminate any potential surprises towards the
end. For example, why are you looking for a new role? Quite
an obvious question, but understanding why your candidate is
looking for a new position will help when it comes to dealing
with any counter offers or salary negotiations that may crop up.
Using the knowledge you gained at the outset enables you to
handle any issues quickly and efficiently.
Elaine Moran

1. Try to understand the person you reach out for. Is this
opportunity you’d like to offer really a great next step? If yes,
why? Use social media to get to know someone’s motives. 2.
Keep your message short and sweet! 3. Try to be original. The
more original you are, the more your vacancy/opportunity will
be shared and seen by the right people.

Understanding what’s important for the candidate if it comes
to the offer. Know what drives him and how to play with the
package to offer. Always offer a career growth trajectory.
Marco Van Veggel

Continuous contact with your candidates throughout the
application is key. Set date expectations with them and stick to
them even if you don’t have any tangible updates. A trusted
relationship that has been built is much harder to fracture. Also,
ensure the job description, rate or salary, and length of contract
are clear up front and agreed to. Last-minute disagreements
are the root of all evils when finalizing a placement.
Richard Hindle

Who & what do you turn to as
resources for doing your job better?

I work closely with my manager who has been in recruitment for
over 25 years; I have learnt a lot already and continue to do so.
Networking with industry peers and attending events is a great
way of keeping alert on what’s going on in the industry. It’s also
a good way to share your experiences and learn from others.
Elaine Moran

Colleagues and other sales executives and business
developers in our sector. Customers and clients are also a
good source of how to be better in your profession.
Jim Roslund
Sales Manager & Senior Partner, Additude Öresund AB

My colleagues. One of the reasons for the success at M&T
Resources is the collaborative manner we share information
around our candidates, clients, and markets. The people I work
with are the first point of contact I go to when resourcing for
that next role.
Richard Hindle

I keep my industry knowledge up to date by interacting and
sharing information on some niche technical groups…Here I
can interact with both clients and candidates whilst raising the
Launch Brand in the market…I also refer to the Linked In
training forums to keep me abreast of new product
enhancements and ensure that my team is maximizing the way
they use LinkedIn.
Sasha Jenson

Utilising the techniques and tools available from LinkedIn, as well
as attending their training workshops, participating in online
seminars and events ensures that you are consistently learning
and making the most of what is available to you.
Elaine Moran

LinkedIn is an effective way to proactively contact and attract
new professionals to your talent pool. Job boards are another
one. There is always a case to be made for advertising any
role, and new contacts that are readily available can be made
easily here.
Richard Hindle

What are your tips for becoming
a better sourcer or recruiter?

Choose a specialty/vertical. Due to all online possibilities
nowadays — like LinkedIn, Twitter, Google — you are able to
become a thought leader in your field, build strong networks, be
the one who people think about when they like to take a next step
in their careers. The second best advice is to stand out for all the
right reasons; don’t spam your target audience just to get as
many as possible responses on your vacancy, but show genuine
interest for each potential new colleague you'd like to recruit.
Sourcing Expert, Yacht (Randstad ) Staffing Professionals Tell All 33

As recruiters, one of the most frustrating aspects of the role is
when you struggle for feedback after interviews or sending CVs.
Set the tone in how you deliver information and gain an
understanding as to how and when your contacts prefer to be
contacted. Also, be in it for the long haul. Clients are fed up of
cold callers and one-off contacts. Building relationships doesn’t
happen overnight. You need a long-term strategy to become and
remain front of mind when your client goes to market.
Richard Hindle
Recruitment Specialist / Account Manager, M&T Resources Staffing Professionals Tell All 34

Don’t be afraid to delve or ask the tricky questions. Even ask the
same question twice if necessary. It is much better in the long run
to have all the information you need at the first meeting. Your
clients and candidates will appreciate that you have a complete
understanding of their requirements.
Elaine Moran

Investing time in getting feedback of all interactions you have
with potential clients and candidates. Asking feedback of
candidates you hired, but also candidates who decided to give it
a pass. What do they think of the way you’ve approached them
and what did they perceived positive or less positive? What tips
could they give you so you can grow your knowledge and get
more insights to improve yourself?
Marco Van Veggel

Focus on building and developing good relationships. Making a
good impression from the start is essential for a successful, long-
term relationship. Don’t forget that candidates can often become
clients, so you want to make sure that everyone remembers you
and has a positive experience.
Elaine Moran

Be interested in the field of work for which you are recruiting. If
you don’t understand your customers, candidates, or the market
you won’t be able to do your best work. And feedback! Always
make sure that candidates and clients know what’s happening
in the process.
Johanna Hultemar

One thing which really helps me is doing market research to
understand the market place, the persona of your target profiles
and understanding what drives them and what has their
importance. Based on that you can set a strategy how to
approach, how to steer during an interview, and how to manage
them throughout the process.
Marco Van Veggel

What was a mistake or
difficult situation you learned from?

It’s pretty awkward to source and “seduce” a candidate to
have a talk with us, and then hear from the hiring manager
that there will be no interview with this person because of a
shared past, a candidate’s bad reputation, or whatever. That’s
why I ALWAYS share the profiles I’ve sourced and found with
the hiring managers who I am recruiting for before
approaching them.

Not long after starting off in recruitment…I sent a resume to the
client following a telephone interview. I had not met face-to-
face as I wanted to get the candidate’s details in front of the
client that day. Although the client was impressed with the
resume, they were not impressed that I hadn’t met the
candidate and wouldn’t interview them until I had. I managed to
meet with the candidate that night, and the following day they
were in front of the client. Luckily, I filled the role and I definitely
learned not to let that happen again.
Elaine Moran

Not knowing enough about the company and the role I was
recruiting for. Not knowing everything there is to know would
set the wrong picture for the candidates I contacted. I’m
never doing that again.
Johanna Hultemar

I took in a job briefing onsite with a client. There were 2 other
recruiters in the room…I made myself a coffee before I called
a candidate I felt was suitable. When I called 5 minutes later,
he told me he just got off the phone with one of the other
recruiters about the same role and gave them permission to
represent him. I won’t ever go to a job briefing without the
numbers of candidates that I think could fit the role. It’s a
competitive industry and speed to market can be critical.
Richard Hindle
Recruitment Specialist / Account Manager, M&T Resources Staffing Professionals Tell All 44

Always follow through on your promises. Integrity is
everything in my industry and open and transparent
communication is extremely important. Even when news is
difficult to relay to a client or a candidate, it is important to
communicate that news in a professional and caring manner.
Sasha Jenson

From a recruitment/sourcing perspective, LinkedIn always
keeps me up to date of all developments within the industry,
what’s happening at target companies/clients, and gives me
access to connect with candidates. Search strings and search
alerts really help me to be efficient, and the analytics give me
insights how I work and how I can improve. About 90% of my
candidates are from LinkedIn, both by direct sourcing and
indirect sourcing.
Marco Van Veggel
Senior Recruiter, Yacht (Randstad) Staffing Professionals Tell All 47

LinkedIn is part of my daily routine as a recruiter. From checking
my search alerts in the morning to posting jobs, reviewing
applicants and performing searches. I also use the online training
centre regularly if I have a query or can’t work out how to do
something. Reading the articles and updates usually keeps me
busy over morning tea, and sharing articles or posting jobs on our
company page is something we also do regularly.
Elaine Moran

I use LinkedIn almost every day, to source, to engage with
our future talents, to know and understand our market and
our target audience, and to keep up to date about latest
recruitment news.

I use LinkedIn daily. Everything from educational articles,
connecting with interesting profiles, contacting potential
candidates and to get a good look of the market in a specific
area, segment or branch to name a few.
Johanna Hultemar

Important for me is that my personal profile is updated with
relevant information for my clients, the developments within
the industry and my employer, but also information which can
help in driving business development. It’s a great platform to
share your successes with clients and candidates to trigger
their interest. It’s a great way to showcase yourself as the
recruitment professional of choice towards your current
network, but also towards your to-be network.
Marco Van Veggel
Senior Recruiter, Yacht (Randstad) Staffing Professionals Tell All 51

After browsing the LinkedIn Updates email for connections
that have changed jobs, I’ll scan the homepage for interesting
posts and profile updates most morning to like or share. I’ll
also check who’s been viewing my profile…as well as my
profile ranking amongst colleagues and peers. Depending on
the types of roles I’m working on, I’ll log into Recruiter and
commence some key searches on potential candidates
before carefully selecting profiles for an introductory InMail.
Richard Hindle

All businesses should harness Linked In to promote their
employment brand. LinkedIn Recruiter is a fantastic tool to
help any business to pipeline talent and pool candidates for
future hiring. It’s worth pointing out that LinkedIn is a highly
effective way of initially engaging with your next potential
employee and works well when copied in with personalized
engagement strategies.
Sasha Jenson

Staffing Professionals Tell All

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (20)

Destaque

Destaque (17)

Semelhante a Staffing Professionals Tell All

Semelhante a Staffing Professionals Tell All (20)

Mais de Andy, Xinbin Hu

Mais de Andy, Xinbin Hu (20)

Último

Último (10)

Staffing Professionals Tell All