Keeping It Up

One of the biggest mistakes I see in the local Recruiting community is when corporate recruiters let their professional industry (i.e. other recruiters) networks lapse. Agency and consulting recruiters never let that happen, because this is also their client base.

But as we saw when the economy headed south in 2008, recruiting is among the first casualties in a downturn, and you would not believe how many recruiters and recruiting managers reached out to me then for job referrals. My LinkedIn network grew like crazy. It’s probably because although I’m mostly a corporate recruiter, I’ve contracted so much that I keep my network up for that next opportunity.But it’s more than that. As the “face of recruiting” in Seattle that I have consciously become, it behooves me to keep those contacts up. At a recent recruiting roundtable, I looked around and realized I knew more than 65% of the people in the room, either from directly working with them, or by virtue of attending a lot of the same industry functions.

Yes, it absolutely takes time and energy to keep up your recruiting network, but it’s also one of the best things not only for you, but for your candidates. Yes, your candidates, especially those that have trailing partners/spouses to take care of. And lets face it, today’s candidate may also be tomorrow’s candidate, or tomorrow’s hiring manager, or tomorrow’s client. Most professionals remember the value of a professional favor. It may take a while, but most people are happy to pay you back when they can.

 

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