The Six Steps to Candidate Recruiting….by Dave Smith

The most difficult candidate search will navigate through 6 sequential Steps.

Step 1 an ad is posted on the internet and related social media sites and email returns are harvested.

Step 2 involves searching resume boards or sites like LinkedIn or Indeed.

Step 3 includes recycling through previous submittals or pre pipelined candidates where a relationship

exists. Emails and Voice Mails are most commonly used in steps 1-3 because candidates are anticipating

recruiter contact or familiarity of the relationship usually triggers a prompt return response.

Steps 1 – 3 embody First Layer Recruiting. Because first layer recruiting (FLR) triggers the fastest

candidate returns, it is always implemented the first few business days of a new candidate search. It

seeks to get “low hanging fruit” candidates to the client before other competitor 3rd party recruiting

firms. The advantage of FLR recruiting is its candidate to client speed. The disadvantage is that it only

touches 5 to 10% of the talent population the client is wanting to recruit within.

If Steps 1 -3 have been deployed without success - Step 4 is the next logical step by searching and

contacting old candidate leads within the in house data base. Emails and Voice Mails generally do not

work here because Step 4 candidates mostly are not actively looking for opportunities. Most old

recruiting leads in an in-house database have been emailed many times over many years with very

dated or in some cases no responses from the candidate. In many cases there is no history of prior

phone conversations. Although Step 4 populations are mainly passive candidates, almost all would

consider themselves conditionally active –for certain opportunities. First touch phone calling or “cold

calling” with the right kind of message and recruiting process is the only way to yield a high rate of

return from this population. Step 4 candidate populations are very large and can often yield more

candidate interviews than Steps 1 -3. Step 4 populations are the most underutilized of all recruiting

populations.

Step 5 infers Steps 1 through 4 have not yielded the right candidate. This step involves creative

sourcing techniques to include internet research or phone based name gen techniques. The lengthy

time for research during Step 5 can disrupt recruiting rhythm; therefore there is a danger of deploying

this approach too soon in the recruiting life cycle.

Step 6 includes 1st touch phone contact of newly sourced leads – most or all of which are passive

candidates. Voice mails and emails do not have the same positive effect in Step 6 than they do in Steps

1 through 3. Execution of steps 4 through 6 are not recommended unless pipelined candidates can be

reverse marketed or reused for similar future searches within the calendar year.

Steps 1 – 3 deploy fast but are usually exhausted the first few days of the search and touch only 5 to

10% of total talent population client wants to reach.

Steps 4 – 6 require more sophisticated research, recruiting process with 1st touch phone messaging

skills and touches 90% of the total talent population client wants to reach.

Deployable recruiting methodologies govern new business selling potential.

A 6 Steps methodology will always outsell the 3 Step culture.

Clients are more savvy than they used to be. Most are either building or continually improving their in-

house recruiting process. Because of this they don’t see the same value in 3d party recruiting than they

did 5 or 10 years ago. It is becoming more common that corporate recruiting will manage Steps 1

through 3 of the recruiting process and outsource to 3rd party recruiting Steps 4 through 6.

Because 90% of new business sales calls now prompt the question, “what value can you offer that’s not

redundant to inside corporate recruiting or existing 3rd partners?” A strong business case can now be

made that any 3d party recruiting firm that is doing business the same way it did 5 years ago will slowly

be phased out of the market.

Without question most or all recruiting firms are highly skilled and offer fast candidate responses using

Steps 1 through 3 – But is that what today’s clients are seeking from their 3rd party recruiting partners.

If the 3rd party recruiting market is a Darwinian jungle where natural selection mandates the survival of

the fittest. What are the odds that the “1-6” model will soon render the “1-3” approach obsolete?

Also could a recession further expedite this natural selection?