Dear Recruiter,
How do recruiters find candidates? Don’t companies have the access to the same tools and technologies as the recruiters?
Ryan
Dear Ryan,
This is a fair and common question. As a disclaimer, we can’t speak for all recruiters but have been doing this for over 20 years and have been exposed to, or worked with hundreds of other firms. Here are a few ways recruiters find candidates beyond what companies can do:
- Consult their “Black Book.” They have a built in, established network of people to speak and network with. This often comes with a degree of specialty in a specific industry.
- Look at LinkedIn. Internal or corporate recruiters also have access to this, so an external recruiter only benefits a company by actually getting on the phone and calling the candidates. When on the phone, they can either recruit that person directly or ask for referrals.
- Send emails to their current database. This is only as effective as the network or database the recruiter has built up, but is an efficient way to get in touch with candidates quickly.
- Postings and resume databases. Frankly, if a recruiter is only doing this, they won’t be around long. This recruiter provides little to no value to a client when this is their focus.
There are many great recruiters out there, and by asking a recruiter how they find their candidates, you’ll be able to identify where they fall on this spectrum.
Regards,
Recruiter