My tip; ALWAYS disclose the bill rate. A former colleague/consultant of mine that went independent mentioned this on a post I wrote earlier. I’ve always done it, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. But after thinking about it, and talking to some other colleagues, it’s a rarity. In today’s consulting environment, people are going to find out their bill rate anyways, so why not disclose that before submitting to a client position? The way I look at it, they’ll appreciate the openness, and if they don’t like the margin you’re taking, they’re probably not someone you want to work with anyways. Do yourself a favor, open up your books to any incoming consultants. All parties will benefit from the information.

Honesty. I was just talking about this with a colleague the other day. We were talking about bill rates, and how some companies don’t tell the candidates they’re working with what they’re billing them out at. Why not? If they have a problem with it, they are rookies in the consulting business and need some hand holding – or just don’t work with them. I always thought it was best to let them know what your margin is, they’re going to find out anyways. If you know certain things about the client or position (even if it’s negative), let the candidate know about it. Trust me, it does more harm than good if you’re trying to wiggle a candidate into a position that he/she wouldn’t normally be interested in. Don’t be one of those “shady” recruiters we all hear about. Be approachable and honest about the hiring process, it will pay off in the long run.

Work More. I hate to say this, because I don’t typically enjoy this anymore. But, when I was REALLY succesful in the recruiting biz, I was working well over 40 hours per week. There really isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done. And the best time to get a hold of people is after business hours. When I first got into the biz, I would work Saturdays most every week. And it paid off. I think all the work I did early in my career has really paved the way for me now. I don’t really need to work over 40 hours anymore, but I do when I’m under the gun. I’ve worked with recruiters in my day that were rookies and didn’t think they needed to work more than 35-37 hours per week at most. Wrongo! You can survive for a little while, but you’re not going to be a top producer. Put in that extra effort and hours if you really want to be a rock star recruiter.

Get involved with Sales. In our industry there’s always the sales/recruiting battle. I think it’s always going to be there, but I generally think it’s ridiculous. Recruiters are the heartbeat of the company, without them, sales can’t deliver. Goes both ways though. If you don’t have sales, no need to recruit! I think there also needs to be a solid management team in place that understands both sides of the business. I’ve been in situations where sales management would blame the recruiting staff for EVERYTHING. If submittal numbers were low, we’d get blamed. If someone wasn’t an ideal fit and didn’t get the job, we’d get blamed (I could keep going here, but you get the picture). Unfortunately it usually wasn’t the recruiting that was the issue, he just looked at his little reports and made assumptions. Needless to say, most of that staff turned over in a short amount of time. My advice as a recruiter is to get in really good with the entire sales organization. Go on meetings with them, go to happy hours with them, get to be the “go to” guy. Trust me, if you win the respect of the sales organization, you’ll be far more effective for yourself and the company.

Know the Technology. Obviously, not all recruiters should know how to program a Java application or anything like that, but at least know enough to talk intelligently to the candidates you’re working with. Want to sound like dumbass? Ask really technical questions you know nothing about. I always find that funny. You should research a candidates profession before meeting them. Know something about what they do, know some good questions to ask that you can comprehend the answers, make an effort. I used to recruit a lot for Business Analysts. So I made an effort to simply meet with a Sr. BA that I had hired and learn all about what he does on a daily basis. Pretty easy to do. He actually went so far as helping me with some general questions that I could ask new candidates. Most consultants (if you have a good relationship with them) will gladly help you understand what they do….just ask. Knowing a little about what your candidates do will help with your validity as a recruiter and will increase the respect you get from any incoming recruits.

Relationships! I mention relationships a lot when talking about recruiting. It’s the single biggest necessity in recruiting. This is a people business, you NEED to get to know the people you’re dealing with. Don’t just get to know them professionally. Get to know them personally, hang out with them outside of work, develop long-standing relationships with them. Back in the day, I’d judge some of my success by the amount of x-mas cards and wedding invitations I got from my candidates. I truly wanted to know them, and I made extra efforts to do so. I’d invite them to my house for a sushi party, I’d go golfing with some of them, I’d invite them to play on my hockey team, and of course I’d have regular lunches with ALL of them (whether they were looking for a position or not). Every year I’d hand write 500+ x-mas cards, and include something personal about my family and whatever I knew about theirs. I guess for me, I really like that part, I truly do. I didn’t just want to be another recruiter to them, I wanted to be “Skippy” or “Ehren” or “Seimer” or whatever other names I was called (I will not mention the bad ones). The great thing about the whole social networking phenomenon is that a lot of the “get to know them” is automated for you. Facebook is sweet because you can see them in their element, outside of work. Because of all of this, the amount of referrals I received were off the charts. And my turnover was lower than others, because they knew me and didn’t want to leave me in a bind. Don’t look at candidates as dollar signs, look at them as potential friends, they’ll open up more.

I guess I could keep going on this subject. There are so many things we all can do better as recruiters. But just remember, you’re dealing with people. Treat them with respect and dignity and they’ll do the same for you. And dole out free lunches and happy hours! Free booze and food make people happy.