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Good clients don’t only want resumes, they want insights!

Great recruiters need to understand their industry, their company, the competition, and the business environment for the types of people they place. You need to be a mile deep and an inch wide!

I find that recruiters are easily seduced. In fact, truthfully we can be a bit tarty. A client wants help with a hire that’s outside our area of expertise and we jump right in. And then we find we don’t have the skills, knowledge, or connections to do a good job. We waste time, we get frustrated and we actually risk damaging our client relationship, when actually we were trying to go ‘above and beyond’.

And think of the opportunity-cost of working in areas we are unlikely to ever revisit. Interviewing candidates we are never going to place. Successful recruiters are specialists. They know a niche and they work that niche.

Specialisation is critical because it creates a perception that the recruiter is a recognised industry expert. That is absolutely key if you are serious about this business. This expert status appeals to both prospective clients and candidates. We all want to deal with an “expert” right?

Furthermore, it gives recruiters instant credibility with passive candidates, which will be increasingly crucial. Clients are already seriously questioning the value of our fees. We have to elevate ourselves to a trusted advisor relationship.

And for that to happen we must not dabble.

Don’t allow distractions.

Go deep.

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  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On February 16, 2011
  • 6 Comments
Tags: Relationship building, specialisation, Trusted Advisor

6 Comments

Lawrie
  • Feb 16 2011
  • Reply
Hi Greg Could not agree more. Reputations and credibility take a long build to build and can be trashed in a moment of weakness when we delude ourselves into thinking we can find a nuclear scientist when our real skill is dealing with office administrators. Our industry will have much more credibility if we stick to our specific expertise and our clients will love us for it.
Lesley Horsburgh
  • Feb 16 2011
  • Reply
Very true Greg. I think to be fair it starts at the top - alot of consultants dabble beacuse they need results and are managed in with a "recruiting by numbers mentality " - that feeds poor service and lack of depth. Ultimately everyone loses.
Navid Sabetian
  • Feb 16 2011
  • Reply
Greg always speaks the truth. Specialization is the main reason why this industry is still in business and has not been replaced by advertising boards or Linked In.
Jeremy Sanderson
  • Feb 16 2011
  • Reply
Short but sweet insight this time Greg. I totally agree. I've suckered myself into making the mistake of taking something on that's outside of my area to please a client in the past and it's almost always a waste of time, and dilutes my brand. I teach my own staff not to do it now. If you go to a BMW dealership and ask them to sell you a Mercedes Benz they'll laugh you out of the shop. Recruiters should have the same discipline!
Nick Edwards
  • Feb 16 2011
  • Reply
I have recently moved into an internal recruitment role with a digital marketing agency in the UK, I have been in recruitment for almost 7 years recruiting within the digital marketing sector. My role is to resource across the whole business and do find I sometimes struggle with roles that fall outside of my usual areas of expertise within digital marketing
Laura Hope
  • Mar 1 2011
  • Reply
Hi Greg, Great post! You're absolutely right of course - being able to offer your client expert knowledge of your particular market niche is far more useful than trying to be a one-stop shop! Similarly, being part of a large organisation that operates across a number of different markets means that there's usually someone in the building who will be able to meet the client's needs in areas that you might not specialise in, and sharing expertise will strengthen relationships with the client in the long run.

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Greg is the founder of leading recruitment companies Firebrand Talent Search, People2People and Recruitment Solutions, and a current shareholder and director of several others, including Consult Recruitment. He is a regular keynote speaker worldwide and provides specialised advice for Recruitment, Professional Services & Social Media companies.





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