As you may know, our company sells (among other things) web-based software to help recruiters and hiring managers work more effectively.
I was sitting in a conference room with some of our employees last week, when one person made the following observation:
“I feel like we are selling fly rods to trout anglers, but every time our customers step into the stream, the trout pool around their legs. Maybe we should be selling nets, not fly rods!”
While there are some industries that are healthy and still hiring, there are many others that have pulled back significantly, or have stopped hiring all together.
If you’re a hiring manager or recruiter (i.e. someone responsible for building a team), there is a temptation to take your eyes off the horizon and just concentrate on what’s in front of you. That’s a mistake. Now is your opportunity to get ahead of the game.
We speak with hundreds of candidates every week and have noticed that when people are looking for a job or are concerned about the stability of their employment, they are very open to new information, advice, networking opportunities, etc.
This “openness” is something that can be leveraged for your group’s future success. While you may not be hiring today, you can be building a network of people who could potentially be part of your team in the future.
Can you identify 20 to 30 people who fit this description right now? If not, this is a lucrative task to put your energy toward during a slow hiring period.
The best way to build this network is through traditional “networking” and through the many social networking / Web 2.0 opportunities available. If this does not yield adequate results, now is a great time to run a few job ads because the return on investment (R.O.I.) is so high right now.
For example, our Hot Jobs Account Manager just contacted me this week with “recession specials” in an effort to increase their client base. In addition, the number of candidates who are responding to traditional job ads is quite high right now.
You would be wise to take advantage of these favorable economic conditions and use this time to build your candidate pool. (By the way, be honest in your ads by letting candidates know you may not be hiring for more than 6 months — By doing so, you will gain credibility, attract higher quality candidates, and avoid building false expectations among those responding.)
Tomorrow, we’ll talk a little more about what to say to candidates once they’re a part of your network.
Before I sign off for today, let me throw a few questions out to the group: What are you doing to bring people into your network? What techniques have you found to be effective in developing new business relationships?
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