How to Build a Network of Recruiters

Learning How to Network With a Recruiter is a Terrific Approach to Find Additional Chances and Open Doors for Future Opportunities

• Size of the Firm – Some recruiting firms are small businesses that have only 1 or 2 people while others might have hundreds spread across the globe.
• Industry Specialization – The recruiting company might have a specific industry niche in which they specialize, or they might cover a broad range of industries.
• Roles and Titles – Recruiting companies often focus on specific positions within a company. For example, one might work only with Chief Financial Officers while another might only work with Neurosurgeons. Some might cover a broad range of titles and positions.
• Geography – There are some companies that focus on only certain geographical areas, such as a metro area, state or region. These firms are becoming fewer in number as technology and telecommunications allow recruiters to work from almost anywhere.
• Retained / Contingent – Retained recruiters charge their employer clients money upfront to secure their services. This allows the firm to focus more intensely on fewer searches since they have resources on which to operate. Contingent firms only get paid a placement fee when their employer client hires a candidate presented by the firm. Contingent firms are less able to focus their time and efforts on any one search since they are not assured of being paid for their efforts.
• Permanent Placement / Interim / Staffing - Permanent Placement firms focus on placing candidates in full-time positions that are not defined as a short-term contract. Interim recruiting firms place candidates for short-term positions to hold a position while there is a temporary vacancy. Staffing firms are firms that employ the candidates and then lease out their services to a company on a contract basis. For most Endeavor Agency clients, we will focus primarily on the permanent placement recruiters for networking.

How to Find Outside Recruiters

Finding recruiters can be challenging for job seekers, especially if it is something they don’t do on a regular basis. The search strategy requires slowing down to think through the resources you have available and how best to use them.

• LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a powerful tool for recruiters and nearly every recruiter has a LinkedIn profile because it is so important to their job. Filtering and searching for recruiters on LinkedIn is a great way to find hundreds of them in a short period of time. Clients can use this to connect to these recruiters on LinkedIn. Additionally, clients may send their agent the LinkedIn URL links of any recruiters they find, and the Endeavor team will help them find their email address.
• Search Engines and Artificial Intelligence – Searching on the internet for recruiting firms that specialize in various areas of practice will yield quite a few great results.
• Your Existing Network – In your existing network are likely quite a few people who are very similar to you. It is only natural to associate with people who are in the same field and at a similar level. Many of these connections have worked with recruiters at some point in their career who specialize in the very things you are targeting. Reach out to the people in your network and set up a call. Ask them about recruiters who have contacted them previously or with whom they have worked in the past. You will likely get quite a few great referrals.
• Other Recruiters – Sometimes you will have a conversation with a recruiter who simply doesn’t have an opportunity to share at this time. Ask them for a referral to someone in their network who does similar work. Quite often you will get some good referrals, especially if you let them know that you are happy to be a resource to them in the future when they are looking for referrals to candidates you might know.

Discerning Which Recruiter is a Good Target

Finding recruiters isn’t the hard part given that there are so many, and you have multiple resources available to you. Discerning which recruiters are good targets is the more difficult task. The investment of time needed to check them out and then begin the outreach process is a big one. Below are some good tactics and tips to use to determine if the recruiter is a good target.

• Know What You are Looking For – You can’t find what you want until you first know what you want. Spend a little time defining the parameters of what you are seeking in a recruiter. The following are some parameters that might be helpful.
• Their Firm – Recruiters are individuals who work for a recruiting firm. Networking is focused on starting conversations with individual humans, not companies. However, these humans work for companies and your search will often start with finding the company to narrow it down to the people. You might find several individuals within the same firm who could be good targets. Always remember that even though they work in the same firm they are essentially competing with each other. Decide what kinds of firms you want to target. The preceding section has quite a few categories to consider when targeting recruiting firms.
• Their Focus Area – Each individual recruiter has his/her own area of focus and expertise. When you find the person on LinkedIn, or their company website, it will often include details about their area of focus on or expertise. If their description seems to match what you are targeting, then it could be a good fit.
• Their Experience and Role – Are you targeting the sourcing recruiters who are tasked with finding good candidates to share with their senior partners? Or,Or would you rather only target the more senior partners? Both can be effective tactics to utilize. How long has this recruiter been with the firm, in the industry or even in the workforce? What is their role in this recruitment process? Many times, the senior partner at the firm is more focused on business development and client relations versus sourcing or screening candidates. Every situation is different and sometimes our initial assumptions can be off the mark.
• Size of Their Network – If you found the recruiter on LinkedIn you can usually see how many people they have in their network. A recruiter who has been in the business for over a year who only has a few hundred connections might not be the person you want to invest time in. Conversely, a recruiter with 5,000 connections and 10 years’ experience has definitely been making connections and working the process.

Connecting with Recruiters

After you find the recruiters with whom you want to network, the next step is to connect with them. There are several different ways you can use to connect.

• LinkedIn – Invite the recruiter to connect with you on LinkedIn. Recruiters love using LinkedIn and are more likely to connect with you than average people because this is their job. This is especially true if the details in your profile generally fit the kinds of people they regularly recruit.
• Email – After you connect with them on LinkedIn,  you can find their email address by either finding it in your LinkedIn network (click on Connections, then a name, and then Contact info), or by sending the LinkedIn URL link to your Endeavor agent.
• Recruiting Firm Website – If you located the recruiter on their company website, there’s a good chance they have their email address posted on the site. Recruiters do this because they want candidates to contact them. Send them an email to request setting up a screening call.
• Phone – Recruiters will often post their phone numbers on their website and LinkedIn profiles. Give them a call and be prepared to leave a message.
• Follow Up – It might take several emails, LinkedIn messages and/or phone calls before you finally break through to start a conversation. Don’t let this deter you from your mission. If you have already spoken to the recruiter, set a reminder for yourself to follow up with them in a month or two to see if they have any new opportunities on their radar. Ask them to add you to their database and distribution lists so you are alerted when a new opportunity comes along. Lastly, offer to be a resource for them in an ongoing fashion when they are looking for candidates for other opportunities and need referrals. This will keep you at the top of their mind and you will learn about more opportunities.

Conclusion

Building a network of recruiters is a great way to uncover more opportunities and get your foot in the door not only for your next opportunity be also for others well into the future. Once you determine what kinds of recruiters you want to target you can use some amazing tools that are readily available to you to rapidly grow your network. Then, reach out in several ways to garner their attention and set up a screening call. The Endeavor team is here to help in your efforts to network with recruiters. These tactics are especially well suited for those clients who have the time and extra drive to do so at their own accelerated pace.