Dave chats with… Louise Triance – Talent Matters Podcast
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The One Where They Talk About…

  • Finding a USP as a recruiter
  • Building a community
  • The recruiter as a sports agent
  • Positive vibes in the industry
  • The return of in-person events

Talent Matters podcasts are back! After the success of the podcasts we published over the pandemic, all aimed at how to survive and thrive during turbulent times, Wave CEO Dave Jenkins is back on your screens and in your headphones talking to a diverse line-up of recruitment faces. Each episode will feature a different industry professional talking about their experiences in the recruitment space, sharing their insights and offering advice.

It seemed only right to kick the podcast series off with a face everyone in the industry knows and respects, someone with bucketloads of experience in and knowledge of recruitment, Louise Triance. Recruitment industry connector, owner and founder of UK Recruiter, event specialist, and of course experienced podcast host herself, Louise is a bonafide leading authority in the recruitment arena. As such, Louise is incredibly well placed to share some insights into what people in the industry and feeling, saying and doing right now.

The full podcast episode is hugely valuable and well worth 25 minutes of your time so please do give it a watch or a listen here. In the meantime, we’ve pulled together some of the many words of wisdom discussed during Dave and Louise’s chat.

A challenging time for the average recruiter…

Many recruiters are still struggling and feel frustrated with constantly hearing that we’re in a time of great opportunity. If you’re not hiring in certain markets or using certain technologies, it isn’t necessarily an easier time for you right now and that should be acknowledged.

… but there is a buzz in the air, especially at events

At recruiter events, there is a real feeling of positivity. They are in-person again and packed. Talks are well-attended, recruiters are having lots of conversations with vendors, and there is a huge amount of networking going on. Recruiters are hungry to learn, to network and to pick up new tech. They’re not sitting in offices and worrying about the current climate but proactively getting out there and trying to upskill. There are certainly challenges but the overwhelming feeling is positive.

The importance of finding a USP as a recruiter

This is the silver bullet yet to be solved – what is a real USP in the recruitment space? How can you actually be different in a way which matters? How can you prove that you are different to any other recruiter that says they can make connections and find the right people? In short, in a time of low candidate availability, how can you stand out from the competition and prove to clients that you are the recruiter to attract talented candidates to their jobs? Part of the answer is to own your niche – know your market, your clients, foster great relationships with them, and know where to find the right people. To do that, you need to build a community.

Build a community and foster relationships

Build a community within your niche and you’ll have more leverage, which goes a long way towards forming a USP. Running events that bring clients and candidates together as partners can be an important part of that. It doesn’t have to be large-scale physical events, you could also host webinars or a podcast series in your space. Speaking to people, getting in front of your audience, is a fantastic way to establish credibility. They can also serve a dual purpose by building relationships with clients too as you can invite them onto podcasts or to speak at your event. Events, webinars, blogs – all can help to establish industry niche expertise and build trust from client and candidates.

Will we see recruiters acting like sports agents?

Events, whether physical or virtual, all help to encourage clients to return but does the same stand for candidates? Today’s professionals don’t have a job for life, they have several. Could we see recruiters acting like sports agents, whereby candidates return to a single recruiter for different career moves throughout their working life? If a recruiter continues to network and foster relationships with employers and candidates in that community, there is no reason that candidates shouldn’t use them again and again each time they want to take that next step. It does already happen with recruiters that have huge experience in the industry, especially in the rec to rec space – they take their candidates from placement to placement, as and when they are ready to make their next move. Again, that comes from relationship building, with both clients and candidates.

Attending events can be hugely advantageous

In-person events are back on and we are here for it for a multitude of reasons. For a start, the importance of face-to-face really cannot be overstated. Recruitment is a people business that relies on building and nurturing relationships and that is so much easier in person. They are of course also great places to learn. Tech events such as the UK Recruiter Technology Showcase (which Wave will be attending, do come and see us!) grants recruiters the opportunity to learn about what’s out there and what they really need. There’s a huge tech stack to understand and these events can help recruiters to know what they need, what they don’t, what different tech offers and how it can help your particular business.

Louise’s top 2 tips:

Choose who to listen to

There is a lot of noise in the recruitment space right now. Recruitment is a colossal industry, particularly in the UK. We have close to 30,000 recruitment agencies and a rapidly growing number of companies supplying the industry with tech to help every aspect of the process. It’s great to have so much choice but that choice can be daunting and confusing. How do you decide what you need and who’s going to supply it? What do you really need in your tech stack? This is where listening to the right people can be hugely helpful. For example, each Talent Matters podcast talks to a different recruitment personality. Take in bits from each one and you’re going to learn. Panel discussions are also great and ‘mistakes I made and learnt from’ type podcasts or webinars are immensely valuable.

Don’t get swayed by shiny things

Pick what goes into your tech stack carefully. It can be tempting to jump on the Next Big Thing but you need to differentiate what you really need for your business and what is just fancy. What is perhaps the most vital consideration – and one that is often overlooked – is that you need something that will work with your existing processes or will drive your processes better. Always keep that at the back of your mind when shopping for new tech.

Don’t miss our next podcasts, coming soon, when Dave will be joined by other well-known industry faces, including Mitch Sullivan, job ad copy guru and founder of Copywriting for Recruiters, and Nick Dean, MD at ADLIB. Each guest brings something a little different to the table but you can always expect bucketloads of insight and advice.