We are in the midst of preparing a series of articles on how to become a great recruiter.  No matter what business you’re in, recruiting should always be a priority if you want to grow your business.

For our clients, recruiting is always considered a top priority.  But saying this and actually doing it, are two very different things!  Before we go into all the specifics regarding great recruiting, I want to address the fundamental foundation of recruiting.  You MUST be able to answer, with certainty and conviction, the following questions:

First, what distinguishing value do you provide, that’s not provided by every other company in your industry?  And second, what, specifically, do you have to offer that is unattainable elsewhere?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions, even the most steadfast discipline and best system of recruiting won’t get you where you want to be.  

Here’s a personal example:

When I began building a private practice as a Clinical Psychologist in 1987, I had to market my practice.  But, the problem was that the Seattle market was saturated with Psychologists.  So, I had to ask myself fairly quickly, what set me apart from others?  It became very clear to me, early on, that the busiest Psychologists were the ones who had gone beyond the work they had done to receive their Ph.D., and had invested in several years of extended supervision to learn a specialty, or a very specific way of offering great psychotherapy.

So, after some due diligence, I found an orientation of psychotherapy that made a great deal of sense to me.  I paid thousands of dollars each year for five additional years (beyond the initial nine years of school) to become proficient at delivering this very intense and disciplined way of helping people heal.

Now of course, all the while, I was marketing myself, by speaking publicly, meeting with physicians, etc… all the normal things you do to get your name out there.  However, what caused my practice to reach a state of critical mass, where marketing took care of itself, was offering services that people knew worked for them, services that were above and beyond the standard.

This is what will create the buzz – It’s what caused me to pay top dollar to seek specialized training, and what caused my clients to follow a referral to my door.  Oh and by the way, it also happens to be the right thing to do… to offer something of true quality is in everyone’s best interest; In my case, I improved myself by undergoing the intense training, and my clients benefited from my unique set of skills as well.

So, if you want to become an exceptional recruiter, ask yourself:  What do you offer that other managers or owners don’t?  What value do you add, that’s difficult to find anywhere else? 

Hiring Managers who can clearly articulate answers to these questions, and stand behind them, can recruit with confidence…