Today I was asked by a good friend (MD of a large company) to help them identify some recruiters for them to help them with some interim roles. No problem I said, my LinkedIn network is fairly good, so that is where I started. Should be easy I said!
This is where my frustrations started.
Initially the search was easy - I knew what I was looking for. First I made contact with the people I knew worked in that space. Done. But I wanted to get a couple more specialists for my friend to balance the opinion. Easy you would think? Heck no!!
I did a tight search, had the results page in front of me and then got annoyed.......
- Half of the results didn't tell me what the recruiters actually did in their headline. Technical Recruiter will just not cut it! I want to know what you recruit for, and quickly. Put it in your headline, tell me what you do...... it makes it easier to find you and make a decision whether to call you! [You might want to read this advice from me here about your LinkedIn headline]
- ALL of the recruiters I found had NO CONTACT DETAILS in their summary (the block under the profile). I mean none. No phone number or email address. You are recruiters, make it easy for clients and candidates to contact you. You don't work for MI5, you are not super-special and your contact details should be public anyway, from all those adverts you post on job boards. Put your contact details on your summary - right at the top! [It might also help to put your contact details in the Contact Info as well - I know this sounds obvious, but just go and check yours!]
- OK, no problem, no contact details. I will just click into the contact info and go to their website - after all every recruiter puts the website of the company they are working for on their LinkedIn profile don't they?
Well, you know the answer. What is the damn point of that? Idiots!!
Last week I wrote a post about recruiters being negligent in the way they use LinkedIn. Well today, I think I am going to add the words professional stupidity.
What is complicated to understand about this?
- If a client doesn't know clearly what you do quickly and easily THEY WILL NOT even look at what you do. They are not mind-readers. Result = potential lost client.
- If a client can't contact you, they won't. Simple. They will go to another recruiter. Result = potential lost client.
- If a client can't check out what your company does - either on your website (because there isn't even a link there) or on an incomplete LinkedIn Company page, they will go elsewhere. Result = potential lost client.
How many clients have you lost in this way?
Clients (and candidates for that matter) don't have the time to faff around looking around profiles for your specialisms, contact details or website details. Quite frankly, if you can't be bothered to get the basics right, then you don't deserve to have the pleasure of a new company phoning you up with a new order!
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