Your pipeline is your professional network, made up of every potential candidate you meet. Your pipeline is your pool of talent that you can pick from and position for open opportunities. Your Goal as a Recruiter is to build your pipeline, constantly adding qualified candidates to it. Great recruiters rarely source for candidates on job boards, they rely on their pipeline to provide them with qualified candidates that can be leveraged for open opportunities.

There is no secret to building your pipeline, you only need to be constantly on the lookout for good candidates. The best way to do this is by asking everyone you speak with one simple question: Who do you know?

Always remember that good people know good people. If you are talking to someone marketable, make sure you ask them if they know anyone else that you could potentially help. Keep in mind that almost any opportunity is an opportunity to grow your network and build your pipeline. These opportunities include networking events, reference calls, recruiting calls, even nights off at the bar. All you have to do is spark up a conversation and see where it takes you.

The best way to keep track of everyone in your pipeline is to create a candidate record for them in Bullhorn and add them to an MPC list. Even if you don’t have resumes for them, just add their name and contact information. Using Bullhorn will also allow you to add notes to their record. Adding notes about where you meet them, what their kid’s names are, who their favorite sports teams are, or what they like to do are all great ways to create conversation when you call and build your relationship.

WDYK | WHYB

As a full desk recruiter, you are responsible for generating leads and collecting market intel to develop strategies for building your pipeline. The two most important questions you will ask to build your pipeline is asking:

Who do you know?
Where have you been?

WHO DO YOU KNOW	WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN
– What do you do? – Who did/do you report to’? – Has anyone left your company recently? – Who in the (blank) field has a good pulse on the business? – Who do you know is really up to date on technology? – Who do you consider an expert in your field’?	– How long have you been with the company? – Where did you work before? – Have you taken any interviews recently? (If someone recently left their current company) – Where did they go?

Active candidates are your single best resources for Job Order and candidate leads. They are in the game, speaking with other recruiters, looking on the Web. Responding to classified ads, getting leads themselves from friends, family, colleagues, etc. Stay in constant contact with them and they will bring the marketplace to your door!

By constantly asking the WHYB, they bring you this market information. Just remember this information is constantly changing and just because you spoke with them last night it doesn’t mean they don’t have another lead they are following up on for themselves. Always ask WHYB/WDYK, because things will have changed since the last time you spoke. The names of who your contacts give you will begin a never-ending process of building market information and a network of people that you know. There are six degrees of separation between everyone on the planet. Ask lots of questions like the above, and the professional community will become a very small place quickly.

The names of who your contacts give you will begin a never-ending process of building market information and a network of people that you know. There are six degrees of separation between everyone on the planet. Ask lots of questions like the above, and the professional community will become a very small place quickly.

NAME DROPPING

When talking with a person whether it is at a networking event, on a reference call, or client, you can be quite effective by looking at their previous companies and name-dropping people they worked with at those companies.

i.e. You’re talking with a Project Manager and you are recruiting for a Business Analyst position, you can ask them directly who the best Business Analyst was at their previous company. You can search through LinkedIn to see who they are connected with and also ask directly how that person in their network is.

YOU: “You used to work with Bill when you worked at Universal Studios, right?”
SOURCE: “Yes, I sure did! I know him quite well.”
YOU: “Small world! How was it working with him?”
SOURCE: “He’s a pretty good guy. Easy to get along with.”
YOU: “Sounds like a great guy……”
- Who else worked on that team?
- Etc.

Think About Getting Started

Who do YOU know?
Where have YOU Been?
What can YOU do over the next month to grow your network?

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