Test your online recruiter

[Ray van den Bel]

Quite often a client asks me this question:

'Can you recommend an Online Recruiter in your network for...X.'

Sure I can, but there are ways to review someone's expertise online yourself. Naturally you can Google someone's name and see what comes out, but be informed that there are also some (online) methods to assess someones proclaimed expertise.
For Online Recruitment there are 3 main success criteria you will have to investigate in order to find out if your Online Recruiter / Trainer Online Strategies can be considered to be sufficiently professional:

1) Quantity
Everything begins with a 'quantity' in your network. First you will have to be able to see 'who does what'. If you don't know who is available and thus a potential candidate, you will never be able to source him / her.

On quantity oriented network networks like LinkedIn (LinkedIn thus isn't a quality oriented network!) that simply means, be able to reach out to a lot of people in your direct (1st degree) or secondary (2nd degree) network. If someone mentions his 3rd degree network he will automatically disqualify himself because in real life you cannot reach the 3rd level of people in your network.

Also, be aware that a lot of online recruiters have added their network up to just over 500 direct contacts because LinkedIn than just will add (500+) behind your name. However there is a huge difference in having more than 10.000 members in your direct network or just 500. Some very important issues in networking on LinkedIn can only be experienced by approximately that amount in your direct network. Furthermore, there are tricks to add hundreds of direct contact to your direct network in a matter of minutes (!). If your recruiter isn't aware of that, he obviously has not enough experience to really add ROI to your quantity strategy..

Solution: Just ask your Online Recruiter to provide you with a screenshot of his network information, such as this example of my network:



2) Target the right people, quality
Quantity will only get you that far. It will enable you to 'see' profiles on quantity oriented networks and to make yourself visible there as well.
Those quantity oriented techniques however are just enabling a broadcasted online strategy, not a targeted strategy. In order to do that and to create Value, you need to interact online in a very targeted way (more information, click here).



That is where the ROI for your online strategy begins and that is where the difference lies between e.g. my courses and consultancy and the 'online strategists' that don't bring you Value.


Also Blogging & Portal Networking Blogging experience is very important. A lot of online recruiters / consultants claim a certain expertise in Blogging. Most of the time that means that they have written some articles on other people's blog but have not set up or managed a blog or a (social network blog) themselves. This active role is crucial however if you want to understand the techniques needed to get e.g. a high Google-ability of your vacancy or company expertise or to understand your target's group behaviour.


Solution: Just ask your online recruiter for his / her specialism in that area or simple Google to investigate it.
Ask and investigate recommendations, are they real?
Ask for their opinion on syndicated strategies and syndicated sourcing
Ask for their basic strategy to find and to target specific Target groups and idividual profiles matching you networking style in order to create Value.





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