Many Contract Recruiters have contacted me over the last couple of years to inquire about “virtual” Contract Recruiting opportunities.  Well, with the price of gasoline reaching $4.00 per gallon, maybe it’s time to get serious about virtual Contract Recruiting?  Certainly, it’s time to suggest it to our current employers.

So what holds back companies and agencies from setting up Virtual Recruiters?  I think the answer may just be “out-dated thinking”!  I think they are afraid that if some recruiters do virtual recruiting that everyone may want to do it.  I also think they don’t understand the technology of today supports virtual Contract Recruiting.  After all, we recruiters are hooked to a telephone and internet connection for most of our normal work day.  The big exception might be when we spend time with candidates or clients, but those are and should be scheduled events.  The rest of our day doing sourcing, database mining, recruiting, telephone screening, and other recruitment tasks can all be accomplished quite efficiently anywhere we can get a phone line and internet connection.

It appears that the biggest concern with virtual recruiting is to make sure Contract Recruiters are efficient, motivated, and actually getting the work done.  Seems like all of those issues can easily be accomplished and verified first with the “professionalism” which needs to be a part of all Contract Recruiter’s efforts, and secondly with some goal setting or metrics which recruiters can provide to employers to substantiate their high performance.  Bottom line, if you don’t fill the positions, you are not effective right?

As a virtual Contract Recruiter, you should reach out to your employers and suggest ways to be more effective and efficient.  I think virtual recruiting at times can make the most cost effective sense.  After all, you don’t even need a desk, office space, or water fountain to gather around if you are virtually recruiting.

As gas prices continue to rise, more Contract Recruiters will join the ranks of “virtual Contract Recruiters” in the coming months and years.  It only make sense to get a VOIP phone and a high speed internet connection in your home office and spend at least part of your week doing recruitment work and not pumping gas!

Every day we hear about the price of oil going up and of course gasoline and other fuels going up just as fast or faster.  It takes a fifty dollar bill to fill my SUV!  We also hear about some of the work going on in alternative energy products and strategies for fixing our energy problems in the future.  Well, I am here to tell you that there is an “alternative energy” source right here in the recruiting industry which we can all start utilizing tomorrow.  It’s a Contract Recruiter!

OK, not in the car or lawn mower, but for sure in the recruitment industry where today’s recruiting challenges need extra energy to get the job done.   I’m talking about that spurt of energy that comes to an agency or recruiting department when a new face shows up or dials in from a virtual recruiting location to lend hand in the tough recruiting challenges facing the industry more and more each day.  I’m talking about bringing a new perspective for those impossible to fill positions.

Whether we agree or not that economic or other trends are making recruiting more challenging in 2008; we all must agree that sometimes pulling in new recruiting talent through Contract Recruiters can save the day when everything else seems to fail.  A talented Contract Recruiter can hit the road running and initiate a new approach to success on that difficult to fill open position or search assignment that has been going on for months.  Contract Recruiters face each new contract with vigor as well as excellent past experience at taking on the tough assignments and winning.  They are pros and are not worn down by traditional recruiting techniques or strategies.  Contract Recruiters are independent thinkers and love the ability to succeed where no other recruiter has gone.

As a Contract Recruiter, we can bring fresh ideas to the sourcing strategy, or creative technique to the screening interviews to present better candidates for the hiring manager.  We also are able to look at a job specification and compare it to a large variety of past assignments we have worked on to reach in to our bag of tricks and successfully complete or fill the open positions.

So the next time you stop at the pump and shell out the gold for that ole gas guzzler you are driving, thank the Contract Recruiter spirit for solving the most challenging of alternative energy and recruitment assignments.  Who says we need that oil in the middle of the desert?  We’ve got Contract Recruiters!

As many of you know, I founded and moderate a Yahoo Group for Contract Recruiters.  It is called ContractRecruiterJobs and is open to all Contract Recruiters, Agencies, and Corporations who employee Contract Recruiters.  There are almost 4,000 members to date and literally daily, job opportunities are posted, or contract Recruiters list there resume looking for new opportunities.

I created the Group to of course help Contract Recruiters and employers find each other.  I was very surprised and pleased to see the Group grow so rapidly and become so effective in helping this talented sector of the Recruiting world.  What has also come from the Group is an awareness or almost barometer of the state of Contract Recruiter opportunities.

Recently, as we hear more and more about economic cutbacks and woes, I have noticed that the Group continues to grow and even more Contract Recruiter opportunities seem to be posted.  So, at first I figured maybe the obvious was happening; that companies were laying off full time recruiters and hiring Contract Recruiters.  But then, as I watched the job postings a little closer, it seemed to indicate that many companies are actually bolstering there existing recruiter staff with additional Contract Recruiters so as to process internal search assignments even more quickly than the past. 

I’d love to hear from you Contract Recruiters who have recently started a new contract or gig on what the circumstances were that drove your employer to add Contract Recruiting staff?  Are you there to bolster the existing recruiting talent or replace it?

Looking forward to a Great 2008 in Contract Recruiting!

OK, so all day and night I have been flipping channels trying to get away from the election results and the bad economic forecasts, bummer!  But it got me to thinking about the Contract Recruiter world and how Contract Recruiters may be impacted if 2008 continues to be doom and gloom?

If you look at some of the opportunities out there for Contract Recruiting positions, it appears that in some ways the professional Contract Recruiter is insulated from huge economic swings up or down?  When times are good, companies and recruiting agencies are in a position to add Contract Recruiters to quickly bolster their capabilities to meet hiring manager’s needs.  Then, on the other side of the coin, when the economy slows, Contract Recruiters are brought on to fill gaps in the recruitment department without having a long term commitment by hiring direct employees.  All in all, Contract Recruiters are the perfect solution in either economic situation!

Then why do Contract Recruiters fear the unknown of these economic swings?  I think it’s because of the lack of planning and proper market position.  In other words, we need to do a better job of planning for the upswings and falloffs too.  So how do we do that you say?  Well, I think we need to have a plan for our “careers”.  We shouldn’t just hop from contract assignment to contract assignment and never reinvest in our futures.  Here are a few thoughts on the things we can do to bolster our long term success and insulate ourselves from these economic gremlins:

Ø      Create a marketing plan for our Contract Recruiting career.  Include the proper materials like business cards, portfolio with past experiences, and a great resume. 

Ø      Challenge ourselves to find new contacts and opportunities “before” we are in need.

Ø      Stay current in technology and training for recruiters.

Ø      Establish ourselves as an expert by function, market, or some other differentiator.

I’m sure there are many other ways to improve our Contract Recruiting careers.  I’d love to hear from you and also whether you think that Contract Recruiters can stay insulated from the economic swings of 2008?

No, it’s not the “jelly of the month club”, it’s Recruiter Training.  And it's time for every good professional Contract Recruiter to plan on giving yourself the gift that will improve your career and earning power in 2008 and beyond.

So where do I get this training you may ask?  Of course, right here on ERE and other very helpful web sites where you can find all sorts of helpful information and training ideas.  There’s also a host of books, webinars, and training tools out there that deal with recruiting which are applicable to Contract Recruiters as well.

I’m proud to have recently written the foreword to a recruiting training book by Dr. David Sweet.  The book is called Recruit, Becoming the Top Biller, and it’s a blueprint for all recruiters who want to help their own careers and improve their own performance.  Dr. Sweet writes the book from the angle of a contingent recruiter, but it’s great points are applicable to the entire recruiting industry and all Contract Recruiters.

So, take some time over the holidays to decide how you are going to enhance your training in 2008 and maybe take a look at this nice easy reading book from an industry leader in training recruiters, Dr. David Sweet.  His book can be found on Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Recruit-David-Sweet/dp/1604612924/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198157849&sr=8-1

As I spend more time in the recruiting industry, I continue to hear about the strength of the Contract Recruiters who are out there every day getting the job done.  I almost feel like Contract Recruiters are a subterranean group of experts who carry a major portion of the recruiting workload but who seldom are given the credit for their extensive capabilities in recruiting?  I often wonder how many thousands of Contract Recruiters are out there?

Last week I met with a company who is a leader in the entertainment world.  Our topic of conversation eventually came to the aspect of recruiting and some specific recruiting agencies in their vertical market.  When I described the various ways I know major recruiting firms utilize Contract Recruiters to flex their recruiting staff, I began to think how Contract Recruiters can be a significant portion of the recruiting staff for major recruiting agencies and corporations.  Of course, most companies will not differentiate between “contract” recruiters and full time recruiters.  So, the only way Contract Recruiters can stand up and be recognized is through Blog like this one, and other association groups like my Yahoo Group ContractRecruiterJobs with over 3000 members.

I doubt there are any easy ways to determine just what percentage of the workload is completed by “Contract” Recruiters at any given company or agency?  However, I think in some cases the percentage would be significant.  The Contract Recruiting profession is a very important piece of the overall recruiting industry and growing every day!  It is important we all recognize the responsibility we have to promote the Contract Recruiting profession, and strive to improve our ranks through professional training, completing our contracts with integrity, and helping the recruiting industry in every way possible as Contract Recruiters.

The Holiday Season is almost upon us and traditionally, the job market can take a sometimes much needed rest.  But that rest signals a bad omen for Contract Recruiters because we can be the first to go when hiring slows.  So, are you ready for this Holiday Season in whatever it holds?  If you haven’t given it much thought; you might want to start planning for the Holiday Season right now!

Here are a few ideas which might ease you through the Holiday Season in the Contract Recruiting business:

Ø      Talk to your employer to get an idea of the workload ahead and whether they foresee any cutbacks in their Contract Recruiting needs.

Ø      Spend some time reviewing the Contract Recruiter opportunities in the market to judge for yourself how difficult it might be to find another gig quickly.

Ø      Spruce up your resume or portfolio in preparation for a quick change or contract search.

Ø      Stay networked as always – make sure you are keeping in touch with other Contract Recruiters, Agencies, and Employers who will know of new opportunities in Contract Recruiting.  Respond to ERE Blogs for visibility!

Ø      Keep your head down and stay focused – those that produce are the last to go…fill those positions and be a top producer.

Ø      Enjoy the Season and make sure you have a few bucks salted away to ride through the slow period.  2008 is right around the corner and the candidate market is still super tight, so Contract Recruiters will be in high demand.

I’d sure like to hear from the rest of you Contract Recruiters out there on what you see coming during the next couple of months and the Holiday Season.  Respond to this Blog with your comments and let’s collectively have a great Contract Recruiter Holiday Season!

Contract Recruiters need to invest in their own education and training to improve their performance as well as increase their earning power.  I recently met a great trainer, Dr. David Sweet and learned of a new class he is teaching on Top Billers for recruiters.  Better yet, he has classes in Orlando, Florida which provides a great winter get away and some time for fun in the sun with the Mouse as well!  I understand his classes fill quickly, so email Dr. Sweet as soon as you can to check out which dates are still open.  Tell him you heard about the seminar on the ERE Blog for Contract Recruiters!

Here is the information David sent me which I think is a valuable step towards improving your skills and value as a recruiter or Contract Recruiter:

THE TOP-BILLER SEMINAR

The Top-Biller Seminar a special 2 1/2 day program for contingency recruiters and headhunters who want to make more placements and grow their market. Attendance is limited to 15 attendees.

This training, with a money back guarantee, is limited to 15 contingency based recruiters to teach what to do and how to do it so they can make more money, quicker, and more consistently. Through a series of 5 modules, they learn all the elements of becoming a recruitment consultant:  communication skills and body language, candidate and job vacancy generation, developing new business, controlling the recruitment process, client and candidate management, time management, headhunting, using the phone effectively, fee negotiating, handling objections, closing,  and counter-offers. When an attendee leaves the training they will be more than a recruiter, they'll be a professional.

ORLANDO:  November 5-6-7

ORLANDO:  January 7-8-9 (2008)

Lightbulb Training

Dr. David Sweet

dksweet@lightbulbtraining.com

www.lightbulbtraining.com

Orlando, Florida

• ERE - Well of course, look at the posts right here on ERE.
• Yahoo Groups - Come join my free Yahoo Group called ContractRecruiterJobs.  There are 2900 active members and many opportunities posted daily!
• Yahoo Groups - Don't forget to search the Groups list to find other regional recruiter Groups. 
• Contact Agencies who frequently have Contract Recruiter jobs.  Find them here on ERE, or my Yahoo Group, or elsewhere and email them your resume.
• Search the main job boards.
• Make yourself known by responding to this ERE Blog or others.

So where else do you look for Contract Recruiter opportunities???

Recently I have felt the heat of the Orlando summer and also observed the slowness of late summer recruiting.  Or should I say “lack of recruiting”.  I think every year I work my way in to the summer and fail to be observant enough to recognize the slowing of recruiting efforts as a result of summer vacations, the third quarter blues within companies, and other effects just prior to Labor Day.

I have become convinced that Labor Day was actually invented as a way to signal companies and the recruiting industry that it was time to start hiring people again, rather than providing a Holiday for the masses at the end of summer.  It seems like corporations almost make a mark on the calendar to slow down hiring until the day after Labor Day!

In the Contract Recruiting world, we can see regular cycles of recruiting efforts that tend to be magnified both negatively and positively.  So, the bad news is that when there is a slight slowing of recruiting in the late summer, the “contractors” are the first to suffer.  However, the good news is that as soon as there is a spike in recruiting there will be an immediate panic to add Contract Recruiters to take up the slack.

So, as we await the panic in hiring which we hope will come shortly after Labor Day; I hope you have the time to spruce up your resume as well as work on your tan by the pool in expectation of a great fall hiring season soon to arrive!