If You Always Do What You've Always Done, You'll Always Get What You've Always Got

Great article today in ERE. Lou Adler makes a couple of great points about the current state of recruiting. Maybe because of the workload that many corporate recruiters carry today, they have become extremely reactive. Lou says "stop waiting." Wait for the req to open. Then post the job to external job boards and wait for candidates to apply. Then send resumes to hiring managers and wait for them to respond. Then send schedule requests to candidates and wait for them to accept. Then the interview happens and wait for hiring manager feedback. And so on. This process is causing hiring times to skyrocket, and is largely focused on active candidates only--not always the best source of top, high-quality talent.

It's time to get proactive! Dare to do something different. Build a close relationship with hiring managers to gain insight into what's coming. Really understand who will be needed in terms of skills and background. Start developing relationships with potential candidates BEFORE the requisition opens. In fact, knowing the kinds of talent that are going to be needed by the hiring manager allows a good recruiter to build long-term relationships with passive and semi-active candidates so there will be a pool of candidates available--not 30 days after the req opens, but on the same day. Imagine that!