How I became a Top Biller
After my last post and the help I was able to give to Marisa, I thought it would make sense to write a post on how I became a Top Biller, I suppose taking a leaf out of Bill Vicks books or should I say pod!!
Before I start I would like to say Bill’s One Minute Interviews, really does give an insight into what makes a top Biller and certainly will help you grow your business, you can either listen to them on his website at Xtremerecruiting, their comments certainly reflect mine.
Although it has been a number of years since I was recruiter, I always generated revenue as a manager and the principles have not really changed, whereas the technology has.
When I started out in Recruitment I was offered a job with a large company called Austin Benn, they had offices all over England, the funny thing is that if I had seen the job advert for the role I would never had applied. If I remember rightly it was something like, are you dynamic, hard working, want to be the best etc and at the time I did not think of myself like that, to be honest I was quite shy.
Why I was offered the Job I will never know, I will always remember walking in with patent shoes a cheap suit and I was completely naive. What made it even more unbelievable was the company was made up of aggressive young males, a little like the video from computer people, on top of this they were a hire and fire company and if you didn’t perform Keith Austin had no hesitation to fire you.
So feeling a little out of my depth I started with the company and just got my head down, when I looked up I found myself at the top of the league table, I couldn’t believe it really. So how did I beat these young aggressive dynamic colleagues I was up against, not only one month but consistently.
Well the answer isn’t to complicated, just hard work and making as many calls as possible in a working day, the funny thing is by making so many calls you can really hone your skills to the point you can achieve the same revenue from less calls.
Obviously there was a lot of training that helped me succeed on top of this, I do not want to go into every aspect here but what I thought would help is to mention the key points I focused on, which I felt made the difference
They are:
1) Continually be on the phone
2) Treat every client and candidates as if there were Royalty (take their call, would be a good start here!)
3) Never give up, you will need to have skin of a Rhino at times as this is a sales role.
4) One phrase worked wonders for me “why should some one come to work for you?” the information I gained here often made the difference.
5) Leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding the perfect candidate
6) Believe in yourself as a recruitment consult, you can make the difference between the candidate getting the job or not. (it helps to always think your candidate isn’t the favorite)
7) Expect the worst and prepare
I hope this is of benefit and as you can see and as a good friend of mine put, “it isn’t rocket science”
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The Recruitment Buzz
I may not be recruiting any more but I still get that buzz when someone is offered a position they wanted and you have had some part to play. Its that feeling that has kept me in the industry for so many years, OK the money was good but when a candidates or client says thank you, there is nothing better in the world.
Just to put you in the picture, a young lady from South Africa contacted me about a week ago, via this blog asking for some interview advice on how to handle a few issues. I put my recruiter hat on again and did the best I could. Today she has contacted me to let me know she managed to get the position she wanted.
I cannot be sure if it was me that made the difference or not, but it did reminded me that recruitment consultants have the ability to make a difference in whether a candidate gets a job or not, so if you treat each candidate as a human and not just a piece of paper then you will succeed.
So thanks Marisa for making my day, there is nothing better than helping someone, even when there is no financial reward.
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Linkedin raises $13.4 Million
Well it seems as though there will be no stopping linkedin, with more funding made available a $13.4 Million in fact. Still it doesn’t surprise me it is an excellent site for networking, I certainly have been able to reconnect to some of my old friends and work colleagues.
There are a few others out there of course, facebook comes to mind but Linkedin is so much more professional and I can see them going from strength to strength.
Mind you Jason from Jobster are giving them a run for the money at the moment, what with the video attachments and their latest’s upgrades.
Thanks to Techcrunch for the lead, their post can be found here
Tags: linkedin
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Job a Matic is this the future of job boards or the end!
A few days back I was talking about passive candidates and jobs being advertised on blogs. I highlighted Guy Kawasaki blog and techcrunch as blogs with their own job boards.
I have to admit when I wrote the review I had no idea Guy was using Job*a*matic, as it was a seamless integration to his blog. What will ensure the success of Job*a*matic is not only will Guy benefit from the revenue the client will have their vacancy in front of passive candidates, who read Guys Blog. In addition the vacancy will be posted simultaneously on Simply Hired giving it greater exposure. Until now I was only aware of Indeed or Google Adwords as an option to have relevant vacancies on blogs, so Job*a*matic have taken this to the next level and superbly well.
I have to admit I was tempted to integrate this into recruitment views, unfortunately and this is where it falls down as they cannot cover international jobs, it is such a shame as blogs are read all over the world. I am sure it will not be long before they address this. Although it maybe a little more complicated, as Simply Hired if I remember rightly and I am going back a few years now, could not function in the UK, as they are an aggregator of vacancies from different job boards and as such were banned, or it was technically not viable. Maybe someone could correct me on this.
So with Simply Hired not being able to scrape the craigslist and Monster for vacancies in the US, this is a fantastic development, which will re address their set back. I believe they have something which has a huge potential, not only in the US but it will enable them to break into the UK market and the rest of the world.
So lets see what happens!
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Computer People Recruitment Video
Louise was first to this recruitment video from Computer People, so now I feel terribly guilty mentioning it, I hope you do not mind.
To be honest Louise’s review of the video is excellent and I suggest you read it on her blog, if only I could be so articulate.
I agree whole heartedly with Louise’s comments particularly the 90’s feel, yes I remember those days well, it was the late 80’s for me! Back then we were all in our 20’s and the office was full of male testerone and hyper, just as in the video. I am pleased to say it has all changed and women are often the top billers and so are the over 50’s, just shows you how wrong they were.
Obviously the interview is aimed at the young professional who is just in it for the money, it is that attitude that gives our industry a bad reputation, candidates are just a number to them!
Interestingly I was the top biller in the group by being the complete opposite.
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Late for that meeting, then try this
Now here is an idea for those of us who are always late for meetings or if you tend to procrastinate in sending out those resumes.
Dave Seah has come up with a grand idea "The Chindogu Clock for Procrastinators", I can here you say, "I just set my own clock 10 minutes fast."
Ah Ha, that is where this clock is different you never actually know how far ahead the clock is, it can be anything from on time to 15 minutes fast, it will certainly keep you on your toes.
To down load or read more visit the designer David Seah here
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Spot the Mistake!
One thing I was thinking of sharing on Recruitment Views was a little bit of me. Saying that I am not sure if it is such a good idea,. still anyone who knows me knows I can handle a bit of ridicule.
So this weekend I managed to get away from the computer and tackle a few odd jobs, one of which was to re-strengthen the dinning room chairs, well I was doing well until Conchi (My Wife) came in and shouted "what the hell are you doing?"
After a little heated discussion on who is the man of the house and leave the DIY to me, the next thing I know Conchi has taken a photo of my handy work.
I have always said "a good recruiter can think outside the box!!"
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Don’t Join the Army join the Navy Video
I know I am a bit late for a funny Friday video, and as Dave Mendoza had one out yesterday I thought I would quickly get this one in, it is a so called recruiting video for the Navy.
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Free Resume ebook from Louise of Career Hub
Yesterday I was contacted by Louise from Blue Sky Resumes in regards to her latest ebook called the insiders guide to resume writing which you can down load here. It is the second ebook from Insiders Guide to Job Search, which I kind of reviewed here
Having now had time to read, which wasn’t easy as it has 73 pages crammed full of resume writing tips or as we call them in the UK CV’s (Curriculum Vitae (just in case you didn’t know!)). Still it is jam packed with really superb and more importantly up to the minute information, on how to write a better resume, I certainly found the opening chapter "the Resume is Dead Long live the Resume" was an excellent starter.
What also makes this book work is that it isn’t just Louise thoughts, but it is a collaboration of various experts giving a complete overview.
Still the cream da la creme, is that Louise is offering this for free so if you are currently job hunting or you want to make your Linkedin profile standout, then I suggest you download it, no excuses!
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Is this the next Jobster or Linkedin
Today I was contacted by Jonathan Philips of Ebeebo, a strange web name name but memorable. Still it cannot be that easy to find a good domain these days with so many companies hoping to profit from them.
The site is in Beta and as a result Jonathan is looking for as much feed back as possible to take it out beta and ideas to help improve the site.
After having a play I came away thinking that this could really work on a number of levels, probably because it has taken the best bits out of Jobster and Linkedin and it is for the UK. Although I feel the concept is a good one, my only reservation is that it may not suit companies with huge volumes as it could be time consuming.
What I do like is that Ebeebo could really help differentiate the more professional consultants amongst us with their Red card system and will show up the cowboys who keep giving us a bad name. I also feel that this could certainly help the smaller consultancies or career consultants, as you will have access to a potentially huge database for free or £4.99 per month, how much are Monster charging us at the moment!
So I really hope the site takes off, as I am hundred percent behind anything that improves standards and brings down recruitment costs.
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