You Don’t Suck @ Sourcing

It just feels like that today.

This is a message to my friends in the recruiting industry who spend all day every day networking: Just stop.

All recruiters are trained to push forward, to keep getting the message out, to making that next phone call. You know how to do this. You’ve stopped counting all the people you’ve placed into fabulous positions. You’re doing all the right things. You’re glued to your laptop. You’re combing LinkedIn. You’ve got inmails and messaging and feeds and matches all going at once. You’re #onfire. You’re making. it. happen. Until you’re not. Some days, all the work in the world just doesn’t seem to result in the connections and candidates your hiring managers need.

What if you stopped shouting, just for a minute? What if you walked away, found yourself a salad, or a big juicy burger or something, and listened, just for a minute? Where in your network is that friend who knows someone? Who in your network is even better connected than you? Who could you call? Who do you know?

Years ago, I had a rambling conversation with a headhunter who told me he never calls more than three people when he’s trying to fill a position. Let’s think about that. He has a lucrative position to fill, and within 3 phone calls, he has a candidate. Sounds aggressive, but maybe it’s not. If you spend a fair amount of your day having rambling conversations, you’re going to get to know a few people really well. You’ll know what they do, how they tick, and who they know. You’ll get to understand what’s in their wheelhouse, and they will get to know yours.

I know, I know, building that kind of a network takes time. You have time. You do. And you have a phone. Who do you kind of know, that you’d like to know better? Who might benefit from networking with you? Now might be the best time to finish up that juicy burger and give them a call.