How to be remembered when companies aren’t hiring

Safe to say, a lot of people are currently in a challenging market, but I’m not going to dwell on it and tell you things that you already know.

What I do need to talk about is how you can be remembered when companies aren’t hiring.

I believe you can do this in three key ways.

Marketing - How are you utilising marketing?

If you are lucky enough to work in an agency with a marketing team or marketing person, they are your kryptonite to making an impact and making yourself heard in the market.

Strangely, a lot of recruitment companies seem to put their marketing on the back burner, instead focusing on driving sales and seeing marketing as a separate entity.

Some agencies even think that Marketing has no influence on sales and is considered part of your operations department.

In fact, your marketing function/person sits at the forefront of sales, and both should complement each other.

Think about the best products in the world - they haven’t become the best products just because of a few great salespeople.

They’ve had a thought-out campaign and brand identity - crafted by incredible marketers.

Sit down with your marketer/team and explain to them the individual (and organisational) struggles that you’re currently having.

Look at what your marketers are currently doing and whether this is actually tackling the issues you’re having or if it feels disjointed.

It’s important to keep your marketing team in the loop so they can create content and campaigns that are relevant.

Let’s say your clients are currently paused on their hiring, but you know that they’re doing a lot of work on their D&I, for example.

Why not put together a market-specific D&I pack that you can use as a conversation starter and relationship builder with your clients while the market is quieter?

It’s all about adding value when you look at how marketing can support you.

Whether it’s blogs, packs, guides, or building the company brand - your marketers should be the go-to individual(s) for help.

If this isn't an option for you, jump on Fiverr or Upwork - I have worked with such talented people on these platforms for minimal cost.

Put together a half-decent brief on what you need, and someone will be able to create it for you - highly recommend these platforms and have used them multiple times.

Information - Utilise your market knowledge to facilitate conversations

As recruiters, we have our ears on the ground constantly.

We know what’s going on in our markets because it’s all we talk about.

We get so much insight, so why aren’t you utilising this when the market is difficult?

Sharing knowledge and being a hub for knowledge is your superpower when you aren’t picking up roles as quickly as you’d like.

Clients want to feel in the know - they want to know what their competitors are doing, and they want to know who is hiring and what else is going on.

The only way they get that information is if you give it to them.

Focus on utilising critical information (that you know is of interest to your clients) to facilitate conversation.

Not only does it give you a valid reason to call them (because, look, no one wants to be pestered week on week for roles), but it also establishes you as a key conversationalist in the market.

Some food for thought.

How can I help you? - Finding out how you can help them

A simple “how can I help” for your clients can make a huge difference.

Often, it can be easy to assume that because a client isn’t hiring, they don’t need your help.

We can add so much value as recruiters, and sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we possess so much knowledge and insight that clients and their talent teams simply don’t have the time to cultivate.

Our roles are solely recruitment - whereas for CEOs, HR, and TA, they have thousand-and-one things on top of recruitment that they need to be focussed on.

You can provide so much value, but you need to find out your client’s pain points first and then tell them your capabilities.

There’s a reason why recruiters are paid “big bucks” - we know what we’re talking about, and it doesn’t just have to revolve around finding a candidate for a role.

Here’s a list of things that you could potentially offer to your clients that don’t need a live job to be worked on:

• Interview process advice.

• Employer Benefits analysis.

• D&I insights.

• Salary surveys and benchmarking.

• Succession planning advice.

• Exit interview help.

• Talent pooling and mapping.

• Market insight and advice (on a bi-weekly or monthly basis)

• Facilitating introductions to other services they may need.

• Events and talks.

& whatever else you think you can offer as a USP that your clients will be interested in.

What’s in it for you?

Honestly, right now - there’s no guarantee that you will get a role from it.

But, in a tighter market, the best recruiters are the most helpful and are focused on building relationships rather than expecting a quick win.

Those are the recruiters who are going to be successful in the long run.