As we get ready to wind down the year, I want to offer a few final suggestions for 2023 regarding the significance of relational recruiters:
To The Candidate: Do Not Hesitate To Reach Out To Relational Recruiters
First, if you have ever started with a relational recruiter and you did not make a move for some reason or decided to turn down an offer that was presented to you, do not have any further hesitations if your circumstances change. Reach out to that same recruiter to start a new search for you. Many people feel that they have burnt their bridges, so to say, by not completing a transaction with a recruiter. You may feel as though the recruiter might hold that against you. I can personally say that I have helped secure great positions for individuals I started and stopped working with over the years. There are transactional recruiters that only want a deal closed, then there are relational recruiters where the relationship builds over years, which is more important than a single deal.
To The Hiring Manager: Recruiters Are Your Ultimate Deal Managers
Secondly, recruiters are more than resume pushers. We are deal managers. So, for all those hiring managers out there that claim they know everyone and do not need the services of a recruiter, I ask you to rethink this as you plan for next year. Knowing the pool of candidates is important and I am not second-guessing that statement; however, the closing of the candidate is what we, as relational recruiters, are experts at. If by chance you are having difficulty closing with certain candidates, you may want to enlist the service of a recruiter to help with that final step. Also, recruiters specialize in finding that passive candidates. The ones you may indeed know, but ones that we as specialists in this area will be able to get interested in having discussions with you.
Get Ahead In Your Career With Relational Recruiters
Third, relational recruiters are excellent sources of career planning for candidates that may not be ready to make a move currently but are entertaining the thought of a move next year. Starting conversations early in the year, even though the timing is not right immediately, will help you prepare yourself when the time is right. A good recruiter should welcome those types of conversations and be able to offer you (the candidate) career advice as to how to protect your current clients or be able to monetize your book of business in the future. All of which will make you a more viable candidate in the long run. There have been many times in my career when we did just that. We would prepare a candidate for over a year or so to get them to be able to be a much more valuable prospect to firms by sharing tips with them. If you find yourself in that position, please reach out to a relational recruiter to get the future “lay of the land.”
Knowledge Is Power
Another bit of advice: relational recruiters are excellent at offering knowledge of what is happening in your particular industry for hiring managers. As hiring managers, you are only seeing what is happening as it relates to your own firm and hiring practices. As recruiters, we see what is happening across the entire industry that we specialize in. If you have a good relationship with your recruiter (one that is not transactionally based), you will reap that additional insight. Having this knowledge may be the difference between closing a candidate and not having him/her start to work at your firm. As the expression goes, “Knowledge is power to those that know how to capitalize on that knowledge.”
We will be back with one more blog next week as we wrap up the year. We anxiously look to next year when we can help change lives again. Have a happy holiday week!
Conclusion
If you would like to discuss your options, please reach out for a confidential conversation at 760-477-1284 or email at [email protected]. He can also be reached on LinkedIn. Harlan publishes a blog every Thursday here. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here, which is a compilation of our weekly blogs, so you never miss one. You can find our listing in the “supplier and services” section of the Red Book under the title of “executive recruiting.”
About Harlan Friedman, JD & Founding Member, H. Friedman Search LLC. Harlan is a thirty-year veteran Public Finance Banker turned recruiter who specializes in the placement of all levels Public Finance Bankers, Healthcare Bankers, Municipal Advisors, Compliance Officers, Issuers, and Bond Counsels.