Dr John Sullivan Talent Management Thought Leadership

An in-depth analysis on how the right timing can dramatically improve recruiting

In my experience, the hardest-to-recruit exceptional targets are those who I label as “no, and stop calling me” passive top prospects who simply won’t accept a recruiter’s call. Even though most recruiters will tell you that their lack of interest in changing jobs is unwavering, my research has found that there are exceptions that may occur once or twice during each year, and I call them “their angry hours.”

During this brief time period the prospect is open to a recruiting discussion because something has recently occurred that makes them angry about their job, their manager, or their company. And for at least a few hours … that anger makes them suddenly receptive to recruiter calls and to new job opportunities.

Timing Is Everything in Sales and Recruiting

If you’re going to be strategic in recruiting, realize that finding top performers and superstars on the Internet, on LinkedIn, and on social media is actually now quite easy. The remaining part of recruiting is selling, because it is extremely difficult 1) to get top identified prospects to even talk to you and 2) to “sell” these individuals to the point where they are willing to apply for your job. Read More »