Novel or just cringey?

Last week Helena posted an article about ‘The Extreme Job Hunter’ found on The Mail On-Line. It got us to thinking how recruiters can find new and inventive ways of marketing their candidates.

It has to be said that some of the antics of the aforementioned job hunter leave us a little uncomfortable, but you have to give him his dues, he is definitely making an effort.

Most recruiters should use a variety of techniques to effectively market their candidates to clients. These will often be:

• Direct calls to clients with the intention of discussing the candidate’s details to ascertain if they are interested in interviewing the candidate.
• Email marketing, either in the form of a direct, personalised email if the consultant knows the client or in a more generic profile based format.
• Direct Mails, similar to the information a consultant would email but send through the post.
• CV sending – sending out CV’s either via email or mail in the hope that they will be of interest.

However with the increase of recruiters on the market and in a time that is generally ‘candidate rich and job poor’ it pays of to be a little inventive.

Many recruitment companies will provide branded paraphernalia for example mugs, mouse mats, calendars etc, which is a good way of having a presence on a clients desk (unless it goes in the bin the minute the consultant leaves!). There are also the ‘food bribes’, doughnuts for the team being particularly popular.

Taking a client out for lunch, is a little more expensive, but can pay off and is a great way of building a good relationship and one that isn’t based purely on endless fliers and CV’s. 

But what else can we do? The problem with ‘standing out’ is ensuring that you remain credible and professional, which is often not the case.

We’d be interested to hear about any novel ways you may have been approached by not only recruiters but other companies looking to sell services to you. Did any work? Or is it, as we believe to be the case, work hard, be professional,