Talent Hunters

The last 3 years have made it clear that AI isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's set to become a bigger part of our jobs.  In the recruiting industry, we've seen the rise of tools that are changing the way we find and communicate with candidates. Even though many recruiters are concerned about AI, it's actually not the enemy. It's the key to efficiency in our businesses.  By leveraging certain tool...

When you've spent your corporate career specializing and thriving in an industry you love, why not build your search business in the same space? The more you know your industry, the easier it is to spot A+ talent and build trust, and the easier it is to run your business.  The opportunity to continue in an industry he's passionate about from the other side of the desk has been a powerful driver fo...

Social media recruiting is all the rage right now, and while it has its merits, we have to be clear that we're not doing it for all the wrong reasons. Posting content on LinkedIn is a good way to gain visibility as a recruiter and even warm up a cold lead, but that's not why many recruiters use it. For a recruiter who is afraid to pick up the phone, social media is the perfect thing to hide behind...

The current economy has been good to the construction industry, but the entire field is still fighting a major battle on two fronts.  The lack of both qualified labor and talented project management personnel continues to be a challenge, and it might get worse before it gets better. With recent political changes, construction companies are going to face some hurdles when it comes to staffing for t...

The staffing industry isn't immune to economic ups and downs, dips in demand, and challenging years. Since 2020, we've seen both competitive record breaking years and lean years where business was a bit of a struggle.  The good thing about a slow season is that we can learn lessons, leverage new strategies and create new opportunities. The most important thing about business dips is how they allow...

Ever since covid, every employer has been grappling with the same trilemma - work remotely, return to office or do a bit of both.  While there are benefits to the bullpen environment, post-pandemic, we can't put that genie back in the bottle - employees don't want to go back to the past.  There are unseen benefits to remote work that leaders often overlook. For a lot of employers, the fear of lost...

Over the last decade, the workplace has changed dramatically. From covid and the work-from-home trilemma, to an increased emphasis on fostering a more inclusive culture - leaders are faced with huge decisions that can make or break their teams. How do we cultivate workplaces where everyone feels seen, valued, and trusted to execute? How do we create environments that help people thrive? How can we...

The interview has always been our primary way of evaluating candidates and their abilities. But let's face it: the time we have in an interview is limited so it's hard to know how someone will fit in the team and whether they'll excel in the role. This is especially true in a space like sustainability, where the right hire isn't just about being a technical fit. It's about having passion for solvi...

We might think technology is the greatest threat to the recruiting industry, but it isn't. The real issues we're facing as an industry are a lot closer to home. There are two types of jobs: can't-help job orders and search assignments, and the majority of the industry can't tell the difference. Success comes from chasing the 4% of companies who truly need our services and recruiters are stuck chas...

For the last few years, the US workforce has been experiencing a severe labor shortage. With over 8 million jobs in need of talent, there just aren't enough skilled workers to fill the jobs available on the market. There are many factors driving this challenge in finding and retaining talent. There are less people participating in the labor force. Entrepreneurship has exploded in America, and of c...

One of the greatest threats to company culture is growth. Even though expansion is usually a good thing, it's easy to rock the status quo and lose your grasp on culture as you bring more people.  This gives growing companies a huge challenge: how do you make sure employee 6 and employee 206 have the same experience? It's all about building a culture that can accommodate growth without getting dilu...

Picking up the phone might be the oldest recruiting method in the book but in recent years, it's been outperforming modern strategies by a massive margin. With more recruiters choosing tech tools, the phone lines that used to be crowded are now wide open for the taking, making the phone the ultimate differentiator. A few years ago, the market was so good that just about any recruiter could get a p...

In today's influencer-driven world, recruiting is as much a branding and marketing job as it is a sales one. Every person on the planet makes buying decisions the same way. From restaurants to products we buy, we look for credibility, external validation, reviews and ratings before we spend our money. Hiring authorities are no different - they are looking for recruiters who have a visible track re...

A successful acquisition takes place when an organization that sees something special to invest in meets a company that will be propelled further through a partnership. It's a perfect marriage allowing both sides to achieve more together than they would separately. This is what HireQuest looks for when they're looking to acquire a business. It's not about money - in a people-facing service-based i...

One of the key pillars of great recruiting is the phone. It's impossible to find and place talent if you're not constantly calling and talking to people. There was a time where a phone call guaranteed a contact, but let's face it: those days are long gone. In today's digital world, you can't expect an answer or even a call back from a candidate. So the challenge for recruiters is reaching people w...

Every successful recruiter has outlasted changes that could have easily taken them out of the business. Economic downturns, demands dips, covid, the rise and fall of entire industries, and the ever-present threat of technology. Every year, we're presented with new disruptions that test our staying power. The people we featured on this podcast passed every test with flying colors, and they each hav...

Going from account executive to an owner is a transition many recruiters have gone through. That doesn't mean that it's easy in the beginning. You go from having one area of focus to having 4 hoses transfixed to your head trying to figure out what the priority of the day is. And at the same time, you still have to be out there billing. Juggling all the added administrative functions is tough, but...

Some of the best recruiters used to be professionals who hated recruiters. That's because they had to interact with wannabe headhunters who didn't really take the time to understand the industry they were hiring for. What companies and candidates want is a recruiter who feels like an industry insider - someone who goes beyond the general information most headhunters give. That's why former profess...

Talent acquisition isn't a first career choice for most recruiters, and honestly, it starts out as just a job for many of us. But then a switch flips, and the job turns into a passion and a purpose for helping people. It stops being about order taking or just putting butts in seats. It becomes a real drive to touch the lives of candidates, and help them connect their skills with the right opportun...

When we think of what unlocks high performance at work - effective leadership, passion and good culture - we usually focus on adding a skill or level of knowledge.  What if we already possess everything we need, but it's just being obscured by our own thoughts? What if instead of focusing on doing more, we could pivot to being more?  Everyone in the workplace - in the whole world, in fact, is driv...

In the world of startups, getting the right talent on board is mission critical. You need to have the right team to get that early momentum and ultimate success. The challenge is, in a fast-paced environment, companies struggle to distill their vision in a way that connects with people outside of the organization. On top of that, in those early stages, it's hard to dig for the intangible skills yo...

The recruiting game is built on connecting talent to organizations based on 2 requirements. We look for a match based on skill and experience. The problem is this approach overlooks a very important requirement which can make or break the match - motivation. Every individual has a unique set of personal motivators. From stability to autonomy and mastery - people in the workplace are motivated by d...

Recruiting may be a sales job where we pitch candidates to companies, but that doesn't mean we have to be robots.  Many people try to come up with the perfect script or pitch that will lead to a placement, but they miss the point. A one-size-fits-all approach will never make for long term success because you can't build trust that way.  The best recruiters know that the job is really about having...

As recruiters, we're well aware that for a candidate, getting the job is only the first step in the journey. In order to excel in the organization, they have to show up to work and feel like they belong.  Every human being brings their entire self to work. They are an amalgamation of all of their identity and life experiences. When the culture within an organization is narrow, people can struggle...

The construction world currently has a skills trade shortage of up to 1 million jobs, and it's 50 years in the making. Even though they have so many benefits, trade jobs just aren't as cool as they used to be. For decades, educators and parents have steered their kids away from working with their hands. People don't see the possibilities a trade job offers and as time has progressed, blue collar h...