This is a guest post written for us by Luke Stiles about how to be the recruiter who hits their targets the majority of the time.
What is a Target?
Within recruitment a target is not just a number you have to hit – it is a number you have to hit in a specific timeframe, consistently. Anyone can hit a number and most people will hit their number eventually. Average people will hit their number some of the time. Good people hit their number most of the time. In my experience the way these two types of people work is often not too dissimilar either but there is a difference. Here is what I believe they are.
The Difference
1. Planning – Know Your Ratios!
To know your ratios, you need to ask yourself some questions;
• How many things do you need at any one time on the go?
• How many pipelines do you need?
• How many ‘A’ grade jobs do you need?
• How many employable candidates do you need on the database?
• How many first interviews do you need to arrange?
If you work these out (this will vary amongst consultants) you know what you need at any one time to hit target within your timeframe. Therefore you can spot where you might be short as its happening and act quickly.
• A weak vacancy pipeline means that you need to get on the phones, canvass candidates out, ring new clients, ring old clients.
• A weak candidate pipeline means that you need to resource more, go back to old candidates, get on LinkedIn and social platforms and have a stronger referral system in place.
2. Have a Balanced Pipeline
Your pipeline should be balanced between big and small deals.
Too many small ones will mean you will be relying on them all to come in to hit your target.
Relying on just the big ones means that if it doesn’t happen or the candidate starts and leaves you take a big hit!
Bigger deals are often bigger decisions for companies/candidates and it is not uncommon for these to not make it over the line as easily as a small deal (counter offers, budget withdrawn, etc)
3. Know Your Month Start & End
Sounds simple but in recruitment this is more complex, any recruitment consultant worth their salt knows the month really starts around the 15th/20th. By the time you get to the 1st of the month, any candidate with a notice period cannot start that month. Most companies start candidates on a Monday so you need to know how many Mondays there are in a month and when they fall to ensure you are able to hit your targets.
There comes a time in the month where long-term stuff should be put to one side and you just focus on the unemployed candidates who would start ASAP or the job that would start someone ‘yesterday!’
4. Put in the Hours
The difference between hitting target and not hitting target could be one deal.
This could be the difference between staying until 6.30pm to catch that CV you’ve had on your desk for a day, that could be ‘perfect’ for that ‘A’ grade job you’re looking to fill.
It’s not about doing hours of overtime every week but it is about recognising opportunity and doing what it takes to get hold of the best candidates. This could mean getting in early or leaving late, sometimes skipping lunch or having a shorter lunch. You should consider planning your day and make those important client/candidate calls.
Successful, consistent consultants don’t do 9am/6pm.
5. Prioritise Your Work (Pareto’s Law)
The poor/average consultants will just come in and go through the motions. This is what they will still call work – they may even work harder than those who hit target every month! (not that I’m encouraging this!) They will try to get everything done and not think about the order. You need to be organised and ensure you have a list to work off knowing who you are going to talk to next. Consultants who are unorganised are the people who will generally be inconsistent with their figures. Work out where your best chance of doing a deal is and work this first!
• If a client has given you complete control of their diary (i.e. three interview slots to fill) work this.
• If a client has realistic expectations and an open brief work this first.
• If you have exclusivity, take advantage of that window of opportunity.
• Canvas the average candidate who is realistic about salary/role and will attend interviews before that ‘ideal’ candidate that will only work for Microsoft on £100k per annum.
Finally, a ‘Things-To-Do sheet’ is a recruiter’s best friend! This will help you prioritise your work-load. This is the number one tip in business and done properly will greatly enhance how effectively you use your time.
I would be interested in hearing what your criteria is for hitting target!
Luke is the Sales Director for TSR Select, a specialist IT Sales & Technical Recruitment Consultancy in the UK. You can follow on Twitter on @TSRSelect
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