Today’s “Top Echelon Recruiting Tip” comes from industry trainer Doug Beabout, CPC of The Douglas Howard Group. According to Beabout, during the past 10 years companies have turned cell phones into an essential business tool for their employees, just as essential as the briefcase.
“What companies have been doing is buying cell phones and giving them to their employees,” said Beabout. “There are ‘Crackberries’ all over the place.”
The problem occurs when recruiters attempt to contact candidates by all means other than through their cell phone. Why is that a problem? Because candidates these days—especially younger ones—use their cell phones as their primary tool for communication. These younger candidates are part of what is called the “Millennial Generation.”
“Some recruiters are pulling their hair out, trying to chase candidates with email and calling them on their work phone or home phone,” said Beabout. “They wonder why these candidates don’t get back with them. Millennials just don’t do that.”
As a result, when it comes to contacting candidates and actually connecting with them, Beabout opts for the cell phone, although he doesn’t necessarily place a phone call in order to reach the candidate.
“I can get the candidate to call me in five minutes by sending them an instant message or a text message on their cell phone,” said Beabout. “I tell them I’m a recruiter and that I have an excellent opportunity for them.
So if you don’t have the cell phone numbers of your superstar candidates… then get them! Below are some avenues for doing so:
- Through the various cell phone carriers
- At www.switchboard.com
- Directory assistance
- At the social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, etc.)
“It’s not difficult to get these numbers, and you need to get them, especially with the Millennials,” said Beabout. “They’re the most divergent generation. Culturally, they’re even far afield from Generation X. You compare Baby Boomers with the people who worked in the factories at the turn of the century, and there’s not much difference. But when you look at millennials, at least Baby Boomers and Generation X started in the same universe.”
As a recruiter, do you get the cell phone numbers of your candidates? If so, how do you go about it? Are you keeping these numbers in your recruiting software? And has it paid dividends for you?
(Doug Beabout, CPC, has been a recruiter and a leading industry trainer for over 30 years.)