Empowered employees are the best employees.

This past week men and women around the world celebrated International Women’s Day. On this day women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. In light of this day, we wanted to highlight the 5 ways you can help to empower your female recruiters to help women flourish, develop and excel.

1. Find Out What Motivates Them

We’re all familiar with the saying, “treat others the way you want to be treated”. While this is important, a seemingly more important phrase would be, “treat others the way they want to be treated”. Everything thinks, behaves and is empowered differently. It is important to find out what motivates your female recruiters and then motivates them in that way, not the way you think they would want to be motivated or the way you would want to be motivated.

2. Help Them Build A Strong and Empowering Network

Fostering and cultivating a strong network for your female recruiters is another way to empower them. Allowing them to build a network of other amazing women in their industry will help bolster their confidence and share ideas. This in turn, will create better results for your business and help your female recruiters thrive in their career- win win!

3. Allow Flexibility in Thier Work Schedules

Many working women are also mothers, wives, chefs, tutors, chauffeurs and coaches and so much more. With so many hats to wear, adding a demanding career on top of that is a challenge. By removing some of the barriers that come with working a career and allowing your recruiters to have a more flexible schedule, will help to empower your female employees that they can do it all.

4. Provide Female Leadership

Another way to empower you female workforce is to provide access to female leadership. The opportunity for your employees to interact with female leadership will give them motivation of what they can strive to become.

5. Preach and Exemplify Inclusiveness of Everyone- On All Levels!

Lastly, one of the most exemplary things you can do to empower your employees is to preach inclusiveness, fairness, and respect for everyone. As much as women want to be empowered in the workforce, a larger issue is that they want to feel respected by their male counterparts. Preaching inclusiveness of people of all gender will create a mutual atmosphere of respect and create a culture which allows everyone to flourish.

Looking for jobs in Chicago? Click here to see how partnering with a staffing firm, like Esquire Recruiting, can help.

1.Determine Your Job Seeking Objectives and Goal

In one of our earlier blog post, 7 Questions to Help You Set Your Career Goals in 2018, we spoke about determining your goals and objectives for the new year. If you’re looking to secure a new job in 2018, those goals should be front of mind always. These goals play a huge role in determining your job seeking objections. What are you looking for in your new job? How are you hoping/planning on using LinkedIn and your other social profiles to find it?

2. Check, Check and Double Check Grammar and Spelling

Nothing is a larger red flag to an employer that you do not take yourself professionally than having blatantly spelling and grammar errors on your profile. Remember, this is the profile that is visible to the entire internet. Meaning the hiring manager of your dreams has access to this just as much as anyone else. But your best foot forward by triple checking your spelling and grammar and by reaching out to a professional to admire to check as well.

3. What’s your pitch?

The summary box under your profile is where you can distinguish yourself and create a memorable and enticing personal pitch targeted towards hiring managers and recruiters. Your pitch needs to exemplify your experiences, expertise and value you bring to your organization while showing your personality.

4. Connect and Reconnect

You should be leveraging your existing connections and taking this time to reconnect with connections that you may have lost touch with. Make connections with multiple connections at a company you are interested in and make sure your connections are genuine and thoughtful.

5. Get Some Recommendations

As awkward as it may be, taking the time to ask your clients, colleagues or bosses to take the time to recommend you on LinkedIn can help differentiate you from your competition. Recommendations build trust and an additional layer of reassurance besides your work experience that you are a great candidate.

6. Make it consistent

Consistency helps create a stronger personal branding message for recruiters and shows pride and integrity in your work. Make sure the messages on your website, Twitter biography, Facebook page and other online sites you maintain a profile on are all consistent. Consistency helps you create a stronger personal and professional brand. For example, you should use the same picture and tagline for every profile. Recruiters will be sure to check you are consistent on all platforms before reaching out to you.

7. Show Your Expertise and Stay Active

Position yourself as a thought leader in your industry by sharing articles, company updates, industry news, and professional opinions. Your followers will grow to value your expertise and turn to you for industry news and updates. Additionally, recruiters always want to hire the best and brightest for their clients. Showing your knowledge of the industry will help you develop and grow in your career.

Furthermore, don’t just talk about updates your company has, or what your company is doing, but share how you are contributing to your company’s success and how your company is benefitting by having you working for them. Make sure you are demonstrating clearly how you are contributing to your company’s bottom line.

8. Help Recruiters Find You

Quite possibly the most important tip is making sure you are able to be found by recruiters. Make sure you contact settings are set to include, career opportunities, consulting offers, new ventures, job inquiries, reference requests. Additionally, make sure your profile is public, and customize your public profile URL so that it contains your name.

As we dive into 2018 and begin to delve into the challenges we faced in 2017 we are reminded that with challenge comes opportunities. This year, make it your mission as a recruiter to hone in on these challenges and use them to propel you into your future. Whether your goals are personal, health or career driven make 2018 the year that you not only meet your goals but make lasting change that positively impacts your future for years to come. Today, we are sharing our 5 tips to be a top recruiter.

If you’re a recruiter and one of your goals this year is to stay competitive and at the top of your pack in your industry or at your company then we are here to help. As a leading recruitment firm in Chicago, we think we have mastered the art of recruiting and retaining the best and most qualified clients for our clients. Luckily for you, we like to share our tips and experiences with you to help you become the top recruiter in your field and industry.

Here are our 5 cardinal tips to be a top recruiter:

 

1. Consider accompanying your clients to their interviews

This practice, commonly referred to as a “walk on by” is a crucial element in differentiating yourself from other recruiters and making your client feel as confident and comfortable as possible. A walk on is when a recruiter physically accompanies a candidate to an interview, instead of sending them to the interview solo. This practice is useful in many ways including getting additional time with your client and the opportunity to answer any last minute questions your client may have or last-minute prep. This practice is sure to set you apart from other candidates and a way to make sure your clients remember you

2. Become a candidate “insider”

The best way to connect to your candidates, and tailor their personality and interests to their dream job is to research and find out what they like. Become an “insider” to your candidate by asking them what publications they read, what LinkedIn groups they’re in, what social media platforms they’re on, and who they follow, see where they ’re on the web. Most importantly, don’t just find out this critical information, take the next step to follow these social influencers, subscribe to the website or publications. By emerging yourself within your candidate’s lifestyle you will be more accurately tailor your recruitment efforts to positions where your candidate will thrive, and in turn, helping you advance in your career.

3. Send candidates to on multiple interviews

With the rise of social media, it is increasingly easier for a candidate to research and set up interviews on their own. This has made the job market even more competitive. To stay on top of the competition, candidates need to be sent to multiple job interviews. During your “insider” process be inquisitive of the companies your client respect and tailor your recruiting process to similar companies.

4. Develop a referral program

If you have been in this profession for longer than 18 months, over 50% of your candidates should be the result of referrals.

5. Focus on the 5% of candidates that you will actually place

There is a common misconception that recruiters are guaranteed to place 100% of candidates that come to them. This, unfortunately, is not the case, and in reality, recruiters place 5% of the candidate we attract. Unfortunately, the other 95% are often not placed but deserve to have a positive experience when interacting with you and your firm. The average recruiter spends in excess of 90 minutes a day taking incoming calls and providing free career advice to individuals who represent the least placeable candidates. With such small margin, it is essential, to focus your energy and efforts on the 5% you will place and provide the 95% with resources that can help themselves. This way you’re focusing on efforts that will help you succeed, while still providing a positive experience for the candidates you cannot devote your efforts too.

 

A Millennial Job Interview

Make eye contact. Sit up straight. Give clear concise answers. These are just a few of the tips we are told to do during a job interview. But what about what not to do? Well, of course, there are a million and one things not to do. Do not chew gum, do not arrive late, do not interrupt the interviewee, just to name a few. While these all may seem quite obvious, some millennials are still missing the mark when it comes to their interviewing etiquette. According to an article by Forbes, Millennials are often misjudged and misunderstood in their job interviews.

A “Typical” Millennial in a Job Interview

Here is the typical notion of how a millennial behaves during a job interview: A Millenial Job Interview 

How far off it is really? While this is obviously a hilarious parody, there may be some subtle truth to these behaviors exemplified in this video. Millennials are known to get a bad rap in the workplace from older generations. This could be due to older generations being unfamiliar with the way and upbringings of the millennial generation. Videos such as these are also not helping the millennials case, and if anything, amplifying the wrong message that millennials are entitled and not hard working. That generalization could have a negative impact on a millennials chances of landing a job, despite how well he or she performed in the job interview. But, it is equally as important for millennials to stand up to these generalizations by proving them to be complete fallacies.

What NOT To Do

Here is a list of what NOT to do during a job interview that may be a little less obvious for Millennials:

  • Stop saying “I”: While yes, a job interview is used to talk about your past experiences and skills, but that is not all. A job interview is used to see what attributes and skills you could bring to the company. Make sure you illustrate how you can contribute to the companies success and not just your past accomplishments.
  • Not setting goals for your career: Employers want to know you see a future at their company. Millennials are known for jumping from one job to the next, which causes a strain for their company. Make it explicitly clear that you have goals to move up in their company and that you see a future there.
  • Not being a team player: Back to the first point. Acknowledge your accomplishments as part of a team effect, and not a solo mission. Employers want to know you can work well with others.

Millennials are an amazing generation, who are eager to make a difference in the workplace. Older generations, with more experience, need to continue to teach and guide this generation, instead of labeling them.

Like it or not, millennials are flooding the job market with strong resumes and great experience. The perfect candidate from this demographic is easier than ever to find—yet harder to sign and retain. A Gallup poll  from 2016 showed millennials are 10% more likely than the older generation to seek another job. This dissatisfaction may be worsened by the disparity between what young people want and what managers think they want. If you want to hire and retain millennials, you need to know what really motivates them– even if it’s as simple as examining their responses to  “why do you want to work here?

Millennial Mentorship

One of the biggest misconceptions concerns mentorship opportunities: 26% of millennials named it their top priority in the job search, yet recruiters estimated that only half of one percent would. Acknowledging and marketing to this desire can increase a millennial’s willingness to accept and maintain a job position. A fix as simple as highlighting employee guidance programs during interviews can make a job much more appealing. Even creating a new mentorship system altogether represents a cheaper alternative to improving the other underestimated priority for millennials: compensation.

Motivation

Hire and Retain Millennials

Entice younger employees with community engagement endeavors.

A whopping 71% of millennials lack engagement in the workplace- a value that recruiters underestimated by 25 percent. Think interest affects productivity more than retention? Think again. According to the Harvard Business Review, active disengagement among millennials almost tripled their odds of quitting within the year. Provide current and potential employees with a greater sense of purpose by taking on the occasional pro-bono client or organizing weekend volunteering opportunities. These measures will improve your ability to hire and retain millennials– not to mention your PR.

If this generation’s job-hopping habits and different priorities have you reconsidering your young recruits, remember this: they also place a relatively low value on work-life balance. Given an engaging job with the right resources, they can make dedicated and successful team members. If many of your best candidates are millennials, it might be time to refurbish your hiring process and workplace programs.

For new or small professional services organizations—think doctors’ offices, accounting companies, and law firms—figuring out how to weigh or increase advertising ventures can be a big problem. How many people and resources should you devote to it? What are the important traits for a marketing manager? As usual, there are no quick wide-spread solutions to hiring marketers for professional services firms; just guidelines.

How big should my marketing team be?

Always hire personnel based on the best use of resources, not the overall size of your firm. The number of people you hire, their experience, and salary, depends on what you hope to get from the department. Scale your marketing team size by goals and initiatives, not total staff. No matter your size, if you’re going to spend good money on marketing, try for at least one full-time employee.

How much should I budget for a specialist?

Especially in the professional services sector, plan on relatively high pay for marketing staff. Many small firms struggle to find hires willing to deal with, say, a one-man team or state bar advertising rules. Therefore, compensation offers must be more appealing than those of other offices with established and organized marketing teams. Still, salary will depend on the employee’s education, experience, and time commitment.

 

What skills show promise in marketers for professional services?

An employee with experience in an accounting firm will have an advantage in understanding and marketing that service. Written communication and relationship-building are must-haves. In such referral-based fields, traits such as extroversion and empathy are valuable– especially if you don’t have a business developer of some sort sharing the outreach work. Depending on the size and structure of your company, either teamwork or independence may be essential for the job; social media or event planning skills may rank high on your list of needs as well. Finally, remember the general skills that make a good employee: accountability, attention to detail, and fit within the workplace.

 

Marketing jobs can be hard to hire for, especially in smaller professional services firms with shared responsibilities among staff. If the task falls to you, be prepared to weigh these industry-specific considerations. Ultimately, however, the best marketing candidate depends on the specific needs of the office.