How can you make your Q2 count?

It’s SCARY how quickly this year is already going by - so let’s make it count.

As Q2 is fast approaching, you’re probably feeling pretty reflective on how Q1 has gone: from your performance all the way down to your mindset and how you’re approaching your desk.

It’s no secret that the market has been different in the past 6 months - and it has created a new set of challenges for recruiters who need to adapt to the demands.

We wanted to unpack (and give you some practical insight) on how you can really make your Q2 count.

Business Development

Business Development is one of, if not the most important skills that you need to develop and consistently improve on as a recruiter.

Let’s get into some key areas to consider:

Valuing your worth

When business development is at its toughest - like what we’re currently experiencing in the market - it can be easy to go for “quick wins” to look busy or broaden the market that you currently recruit for to make placements.

We’ve all done it, and sometimes it can be successful - but are you valuing what you’re truly worth?

It’s crucial to stay hyper-focused on the market you recruit for, but equally, ensure that you are prioritising high-quality rates and winning “A” jobs.

Some tips you can use:

• Have a rate that you are comfortable walking away from

• Don’t work competitive jobs

• Go for high-ticket (retained, exclusive, high volume) roles

Leverage your track record - it’s time to start marketing yourself

Whether you’ve been in the industry for 6 months or 6 years - you’re going to have some sort of track record that you can draw upon and use to your advantage in business development.

But, when was the last time that you did this on a business development call?

Do you have any marketing collateral or a one or two-page spread that you can send to your clients or candidates so they have more information on who you actually are?

Creating a one or two-page document that demonstrates your track record.

Encompassing testimonials and case studies, can be a great way to present yourself to candidates and clients.

It ultimately gives you the confidence going into a business development call that you have the right roles to make the call or meeting as successful as possible.

Here is a recent example on what this might look like that was taken from a live learning session at Recruitment Mentors with Arjun Gillard - Download Testimonial Graphic Example.

Client meetings

We’ve spoken about the importance of client meetings time and time again here at Limitless Learning - and this edition will be no different.

Client meetings should be your bread and butter for business development.

There is nothing better than being face-to-face with your clients, being in their offices and getting under the hood of their business and team structure.

Even if your client meeting doesn’t always result in picking up roles, it’s still a networking opportunity and an opportunity to start building the foundations of a great professional partnership.

Top tip: Utilise your case studies and testimonials to book more client meetings, use your track record and results to give the other person more confidence that you could help them now OR in the future.

Mindset

“Those who believe they can and believe they can’t are probably both right.”

This quote resonates with me & I read it daily.

Mindset is everything in recruitment - from how you converse with yourself (in your own head) through to the content that you consume and take inspiration from and influences your mindset.

When times are tough in recruitment, this can be hard to cultivate.

The highs are high, but we all know that the lows are LOW in our industry.

Another quote that I keep top of mind especially when it comes to managing imposter syndrome & self doubt - ‘Every great man is an actor of his own ideal’

Try and detach from the outcome

This is particularly difficult to do.

But we’ve all been that recruiter who has spent the commission in their head before they’ve even made a placement.

Or the recruiter who has been so hyper-focused on a client or a candidate that they’ve developed tunnel vision. It happens.

The reality is, the better you become at detaching from the outcome the more abundance you can have when it comes to creating more opportunity.

Having a growth mindset, not being phased whether things do or don’t go your way, and always trying your best is the ‘holy trinity’ of cultivating a healthy relationship with this line of work.

Another quote to bare inmind to drill this home (Sorry full of quotes this edition)

Make 'doing the thing' the goal, not "what you get" from doing the thing

Only focus on what you can control

Contrary to what “old school” recruitment preaches.

There are things that you can’t control, and relinquishing that control enables you to have a healthier mindset on the recruitment lifecycle overall.

For example, as much as you can influence and have control over the candidate process- you’re still dealing with humans at the end of the day, and humans can be unreliable.

We can change our minds, lie, tell you what you want to hear and ultimately, let you down.

What you can control is your ability to qualify, your intuition and ensuring that you leave no stone unturned - but even then, there will still be things out of your control.

Focussing on what you can control enables you to not just be a better recruiter, but enables you to also rationalise things as and when they happen.

The quicker you build this mindset the more successful you will become in my eyes.

What has massively helped me cultivate this mindset is Stoiscm, specifically Ryan Holidays work.

I would highly recommend reading ‘The Obstacle Is The Way’ if you want to delve more into this.

Here is another quote taken from the book.

‘Focus on the things you can control, let go of everything else and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, and tougher.’

Candidate management

You’re probably in a position where you’re reviewing how your candidate management has been the past quarter - and equally how your clients’ processes have been.

Don’t let poor processes and poor candidate management (from either side) get in the way of your interview-to-placement ratios.

Commit to world-class basics

To effectively manage candidates, you need to ensure that you’ve got your basics completely nailed down: qualification, feedback, process management and offer negotiation!

We love this saying & it is taken from The High Performance Podcast.

Highly recommend giving it a listen if you haven’t before, they speak about the power of having world class basics a lot & we love this perspective.

Consult your clients

If a process isn’t working, don’t sit on your laurels and hope that it gets better.

If there are things that have bothered you - or your candidates - don’t let this bad practice bleed into Q2.

Consult your clients and let them know how they can improve their process.

This helps you but it also helps them to achieve their strategic talent goals.

Understand drivers and intrinsic “why’s”

Aside from the technical capabilities that you’re testing candidates for, make sure that you’re really diving into people’s drivers and their “why’s” for leaving their current organisation.

Especially in a market like this, where less candidates are moving, and clients are hiring less (again, largely dependent on your industry)

Testing commitment and drivers is more important now than ever before.