Three steps to crowd recruiting

Before the rise of social media and online communities in the 00’s, many Head Hunters had to rely solely on their networking skills to gather the right information about what was happening in the world of recruiting. Information was the key to success — and still is today. Imagine what recruiting looked like before the internet came around and a simple search could reveal a whole world of opportunities.

Luckily today, we can combine our ability to network with our online tools, and help people get their dream jobs much faster. One of the challenges for both recruiters and employers, is the noise and the overwhelming amount of information available out there.

That’s when the concept of crowd recruiting comes as a natural reaction as more and more people get connected online. The more people we are online, the more noise. The more noise, the more we must unite the tools of online research with activating our indirect network.

Kind of like going back to the old days, but with a twist.

No matter if you are a trying to explore your network for the first time, or if you are a professional recruiter, we have gathered three tips to help you succeed with crowd recruiting.

I sat down with Søren Rosenkrantz Larsen, a professional Head Hunter and partner at HireXn and asked him what he thinks are the three most important things a crowd recruiter should know.

1. Knowing what you are looking for

What are you really looking for here? Or rather who are you looking for? Search for keywords in the job description and try to get the bigger picture of the ideal candidate. Are there any factors more important than others and are you looking for a specialist or someone with a broader set of skills?

Starting with a keyword is always a good idea when you begin your search online and it plunges you into a pool of candidates to research from. Don’t give up too easily when looking for your candidate, persistence is every good recruiter’s top skill.

“Work yourself up towards more and more matching keywords and don’t be afraid to reach out and communicate with interesting candidates,” says Søren.

They are out there!

2. Activate your network in a smart way

Imagine your network as a map of a country or an underground metro map and visualize the connected cities or stations. Can you map out your inner circle of friends and family? That is called your ‘direct network’ and that’s where most of us feel safe and to whom we easily reach out to.

Outside of that circle you find your ‘indirect network’ which is the next layer of your multi-dimensional network of people — your direct networks network. Next up is the big landscape of 3rd, 4th, 5th degree connections and so on, who we simply don’t know.

Activating this outer landscape of your network can bring you the most value, yet many feel it’s a tricky thing to do.

“We thought about that at HireXn and we wanted to do something about it, so we created the Magic Link that attracts interested candidates to you. By sharing your personalized link you can reach your indirect and outer network in an effective way, and find the perfect candidate for the job.” says Søren.

3. Use your time right

Crowd recruiting is different from the traditional type of recruiting, where you have full responsibility of the whole recruiting process from search to hire.

“You must focus on going straight to the case and submitting the right person for the job. You need to let the hiring company make the decisions from there.” Says Søren. “They know what they want.” he adds.

So, from a recruiter point of view, this means that you can use the time saved the way you want. You can make sure you have good pipeline of candidates to submit, or sip a MaiTai on the beach. Neither way, you will be rewarded for just bringing the right candidate to the table, in case of a successful hire. But you don’t own the whole process.

I hope these quick tips gave you a bit of inspiration on how to become more efficient as a crowd recruiter. In the end, it’s a matter of mindset and technology combimed. It’s about changing the way professional recruiters think about their process, the way employers think about receiving candidates, and the way ordinary people see and use the full potential of their network. All integrated in a great IT-platform.

And the best part of it? Everyone is invited.

Find this article helpful? Or do you want to know more about how you can earn money as a crowd recruiter or networker? Visit us at hirexn.com