Death of the Professional Recruiter?

In the 90 s the value or need to use a professional recruiter was a hot topic of discussion. Internet Job Boards and the Monsters of the world had surfaced. Companies flocked to post their jobs online so that their recruitment needs gained global visibility. The result was a mass influx of resumes - most of which may not have been qualified. HR organizations burned the midnight oil - reviewing, cataloging and responding to unqualified resumes. At the same time there were also resume databases. These databases provided some good resumes but were typically of candidates in active job search. We all know that when the economy is good and all things are normal the best candidates aren t looking. Therefore, the value of the professional recruiter to find the best talent was felt to be retained.

Now fast forward to 2010 and we are faced with a new challenge to our value - Social Media.

With the emergence of sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, discussion boards, etc., the days of the professional recruiter may be numbered

In the golden days of recruiting we had to rely on cold calling, phone books, company directories, magazines etc. to build our network. However, today Social Media has made it possible to connect with thousands of people at the click of a button. The amount of cold calling or getting around the gate keeper is significantly down.

By Chad McDaniel

Chad McDaniel is the President and Founder of M.E.R., a Professional Search Firm dedicated to the contact center industry, CRM, BPO, Direct Marketing industries.www.justcareers.com

Chad shares his thoughts about the recruitment industry, job hunting and career advice athttp://chadmcdaniel.blogspot.com

The last few years have seenSocial Media become part of therecruitment process.

M.E.R. Professional Introduction Services

Executive Search & Merger/Acquisition Introductions

Outsourcing Industry Experts (Managed Services, Call Center, Direct Marketing, BPO)

www.justcareers.com

If you do not have qualified people learning, setting up and working the tool then it becomes another one of those great gadgets that you bought but only half works. If per chance you spend the time and energy to set up Social Media to deliver appropriate results you still need to organize, analyze and decipher those results. You still need strong industry knowledge to make the appropriate and successful matching of talent to need- beyond the title, and the organization that show up in the results. Even more importantly, you still need to take the time to talk to people and understand them beyond the resume.

In the end however, Social Media is about access and targeted networking and that s really just one piece of the recruitment puzzle. Recruitment is not just a transactional process. It is a thoughtful, time consuming, evaluative, engaged and nurturing process. It is a changing and maturing relationship each step of the way.

You need to discuss and add value to clients business challenges or candidates personal career search goals. You need to: stay on top of who s who in the market; gain the trust and commitment of your contacts; make time to listen to employers unique hiring needs; make time to listen to potential candidates career goals and aspirations in order to make the necessary match to not only skill and expertise but also your client s corporate culture and communication style.

You also need to organize, track and constantly communicate with this network in a way that offers a return on yours as well as their investment of time and attention.

We recently conducted a survey Impact of Social Media and Recruitment and the trends confirmed our initial assumptions. (To review the results, please click on the following link)

http://www.justcareers.com/PressReleases/SocialMediaSurveyResults-ImpactofSocialMediaAndRecruitment.pptx

We had over 800 responses offering critical insight to where companies are struggling today. Companies struggling to create and develop employer brands on the web and companies struggling to understand how they should be using Social Media in their current recruitment strategies.

The last question of the survey asked When it comes to embracing Social Media and how to best leverage this medium, where do you see the greatest pain point for your current company and area of need ?

Pain points the respondents shared were:

Time

Knowledge/Training

Implementation

Filtering out the Noise (i.e. screening through the sea of responses and resumes)

Confidentiality

FirstUsing the word community may roll off the tongue easily, but it s really all about creating relationships of value and supporting each other in our areas of mutual interest and need.

A professional and specialized recruiter makes it their life to develop and build a network of contacts of specific talent and expertise . If you have not heard of communities web 2.0 technologies, then standby as it is coming.

It is our job to establish a community that produces a compelling

A professional recruiter establishesa community

The results from the survey clearly show employers are struggling on how to effectively and efficiently embrace Social Media and the information overload that can come from it. As employers gain knowledge and learned techniques of Social Media, the element of time and implementation to create a robust employer brand could be at risk.

So Why the Professional Recruiter?

content and/or facilitation and engagement of candidates, industry trends and other relevant industry data. This process takes significant time and insight to build and to create engaged followers. These contacts will leave as quickly as they come if you do not establish value for their time and attention.

SecondThe professional recruiter is the bridge between engagement and candidate experience with an employer. If you want the right talent - the most suited to the clients need talent - this bridge cannot be overlooked or thrown to the wayside.

The talent (or hidden talent) that most employers seek to hire are savvy. They want to be engaged like never before. They expect the online job seeking experience to mirror that of shopping or banking. Whereas you can track an order online, you can't track how your job application is doing because it stops at the point of submission to the employer. Then it's down to the individual recruiter to 'engage' with jobseekers. The more effective the engagement, the better the consumer/jobseeker experience and likelihood of success to win the best talent for the employer.

In the new arena of Social Media a professional recruiter will find out and headhunt where their audience hangs-out online - monitoring where relevant conversations are taking place and learning how to take part. Most organizations do not have the resources and or time to hang-out in these online communities. Once again, it is apparent Social Media is a great tool when worked effectively but it is not the complete picture.

ThirdA professional recruiter promotes their client job openings amongst select and targeted groups of trusted contacts. This has the opportunity to vastly increase the reputation, visibility and activity around a vacancy.

FourthHiring managers typically come to a specialized professional recruiter because dedicated internal HR resources are struggling with filling a role. The struggle is sometimes about industry reach but more often than not it is around the true understanding of the role that needs to be filled. Sometimes the struggle is finding the fit to the Corporate culture which is a key evaluation to position the candidate and their new employer for success after the start date of the new hire. Access and use of Social Media as a tool does not remove this from the evaluation process and can actually make it more difficult as there are now so many more people to view and sort through than ever before.

A specialized professional recruiter is invaluable when dedicated internal HR resourcesare struggling with filling a role.

A professional recruiter will findout and headhunt where their audience hangs-out online.

FifthContrary to what some might believe- not everyone has put themselves on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. In my mind, the dedication, professionalism, skill, tenacity and creativity of which professional recruiters employ their craft still has undisputed value to the hiring process.

FinallyThere is no doubt in my mind - the future of Social Media does offer a wealth of new ways to interact with core audiences. We, as professional recruiters, must keep up or we will miss out in both opportunity and success in our field of expertise.

In my opinion, if an organization s success rests significantly on their human capital then engaging the professional recruiter at the appropriate time and place ensures a greater likelihood of success to attract not only the best talent but to hire individuals who will fit your organization in both ability, future potential and personality.

The continued emergence of Social Media is a force to be reckoned with. Discussions around employer branding and the changing way job searching is conducted, is forcing the conversation.

Is the death of the professional recruiter eminent? No, I do not believe so. Yes, the value add for our involvement may still be open for debate, however ensuring you are attracting the best talent should not be taken for granted.

The real truth is - change is here. The way we embrace or do not embrace this change is the interesting paradox.

Your comments and opinions are welcomed. Please email Chad at mcdaniel@justcareers.com

The death of the professional recruiter or need for ourinvolvement is still open for debate.