Trouble finding good candidates? Don’t forget about the cold call!

Social media recruiting may have captured the buzz in recent years, but let’s not forget about the recruiting cold call – like the pick and roll in basketball, it’s timeless and proven in its effectiveness.  However, it’s not as simple as just picking up the phone – first-year recruiters and seasoned veterans alike still struggle to use cold calling to its full potential.  First, let’s look at a great example of what NOT to do that comes from HR professor Steve Boese, who recently wrote a blog article recounting his experience with a clueless cold caller: 

Recruiter – So tell me, what are you doing these days? Are you working full-time? Are you contracting or consulting?

Steve – Well, I sort of do a number of things, I’m keeping very busy.

At this point I am basically stalling, because I genuinely want to know if the Recruiter really doesn’t know what I am doing, or they are using Recruiter jedi mind-trick #7 and attempting to see if what I say matches what they ought to k know about me, (that’s assuming that since they are calling me about an opportunity, they should know something about me).

Recruiter – Aren’t we all?  Ha-Ha-Ha.  So let me tell you about what I am working on, it is a contract/position/engagement at …….. Is this something you may be interested in?  Can I send some more information to you about the position?

Steve – Sure, send me the information, you have my email don’t you? No? It is steveboese@gmail.com. If it is something I am interested in, I will get back to you.

This recruiter apparently knew nothing about his candidate and displayed an inability to inspire interest.  Needless to say, Steve did not call him back.

Cold calling is not easy by any means, however, if recruiters follow some best practices for cold calling the process will not only be much more bearable, but begin to yield even better results as well:

1. Keep control in your court & save yourself hours of calling time

• Never leave a call-back message unless you absolutely CAN NOT reach a candidate via phone.  Maureen Sharib at ERE.net calls each candidate 5-6 times before she even thinks about leaving a message.  Call-back messages leave the initiative-taking with the client and leaves you waiting around.
• Hang up after 3 rings.  A receptive candidate will have usually answered by the 3rd ring.  Seeing as the average phone rings 5 times before going to voicemail, this tip can literally save you hours in the long run.

2.  Research your candidates before you call them!

It may be a paradigm shift, but really, it’s that simple!  Invest at least 30% of your time researching, then call a smaller group of targeted leads instead of blindly rushing through a large list.  If you do your homework, you’ll seem less like a telemarketer since you’ll be able to offer the candidate a relevant value proposition.

Of the many resources for researching candidates, LinkedIn is an obvious first stop.  Arguably the largest online database of professional information, LinkedIn offers users a free search option.  LinkedIn also offers upgraded benefits such as more advanced search options for a fee, which you may use if you so choose.

There are ways to use LinkedIn without paying, however.  Connecting to people who have lots of connections will quickly increase the reach of your searches.  An easy way to find those people is to search for LinkedIn LIONs (Linked In Open Networker), users who accept and requests and are typically connected to thousands of other LinkedIn users.

Another completely free way of digging through LinkedIn is to use the “site: command” option on search engines.  Type in the type of position you are looking for and add “site:www.linkedin.com” like so: Program Developer “site:www.linkedin.com”.  This allows Google or any other search engine to dig into its archives of LinkedIn pages to see where any program developer leads come up.  You can also include other classifying factors such as location to tighten up your search.

Kelly Dingee at Fistful of Talent offers some additional great LinkedIn tips for recruiters.

 

3.  Frame the conversation favorably

You want the candidate to be thinking about your position as a potential career growth opportunity, not a lateral move to a similar paycheck.  Often the position that you are offering will not offer a substantial enough increase in pay to entice a candidate to leave his/her current job.  Lou Adler, founder of professional recruiting firm The Adler Group, writes in his article that the majority of top candidates listed long-term career opportunities and potential compensation growth rate increases as the number one reason for changing positions.

If candidates bring up the fact that your position offers a salary similar to their current one, redirect their attention to the fact that the excellent career growth opportunities of your position far outweigh the salary.

 

- Sometimes just getting a candidate on the phone is a small victory in itself.  Be persistent and good luck!