Video: Are Your Recruiters Making LinkedIn Booty Calls?

A recruiter once told me about a time a candidate referred to a cold call he received based on his LinkedIn profile as a "LinkedIn booty call." Although it took me a while to stop laughing, this particular story struck me in a significant way - especially when it comes to the way recruiters reach out to candidates.

It doesn't matter how great the tools are - recruiters still need to know how to recruit.

I have worked with a lot of companies who desire to convert their corporate recruiting team from a "spray and pray" model to a direct sourcing model, encouraging recruiters to make cold calls. This model usually involves implementing new technology to remove all the administrative tasks off a recruiter's plate so they can focus on finding passive candidates. There might even be a change in the compensation plan to mirror a third party recruiting firm.

However, they tend to forget to change the one thing that needs to change the most - the people. Let's face it - most corporate recruiters don't know how to direct source. It's easier today than ever to find candidates, but contacting someone cold is completely different than responding to a resume submission to the company.

Of course, finding candidates is only the first step. The recruiter still needs to make the contact, generate interest, develop a rapport and establish a relationship with the candidate. A good recruiter can find these candidates, but a great one can use their expertise to turn the candidate into a long-term professional contact.

In this video, I share three tips for recruiters to successfully cold contact desired candidates without coming across as impersonal.

---

Do you have any tips to add to my list?