Early Bird Registration for the upcoming Fall Conference may be over, but you can still register for his sure-to-be fun event!

There are already 85 recruiters signed up, and the conference is still two months away. But forget about broad generalizations. Below is specific information:

• The dates are Tuesday, October 18, and Wednesday, October 19.
• The locale is the Sheraton Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel.
• The main speaker is Scott Love of The Attorney Search Group.

And were are here to help you even more, with a handy-dandy (but blessedly short) guide to activities of note. Below are four things to do at the upcoming Fall Conference:

#1—Hear from your peers.

There’s actually a session at the conference titled “Hear from Your Network Peers.” During this session, a panel of Top Echelon Network members will share how they’ve achieved success with TE’s services. However, you can also take advantage of the Lightning Rounds and Business Building Discussion Groups. Network, network, network!

#2—Enjoy pizza and drinks!

During the Networking Reception on the first day of the conference, you’ll have your choice of four different styles of pizza, plus hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. (“Did he just say open bar?” “Yes . . . yes, I believe he just said open bar.”)

#3—Share hot job orders and candidates.

Okay, let’s get down to business, and business means placements. You want to make more placements, and the quickest way to do that is to find out which recruiters at the upcoming Fall Conference have the candidates you need to make those placements. Share, share, share!

#4—Sing karaoke!

There’s more than just pizza and an open bar at the Networking Reception. There will be karaoke, friends and neighbors. That’s right: pick a song, throw caution to the wind, and amaze everybody with your vocal range and lack of self-awareness. Better yet, form groups and compete against each other. Remember: nobody is there to judge, only laugh.

You still have time to sign up during the Regular Registration period, but NOT all the time in the world. Regular Registration ends on September 30. But why wait until then? Why be a slacker? Be proactive. Be a go-getter.

Be in Chicago this October!

Don’t unfriend Facebook as a sourcing tool just yet! You should take a second look, especially when targeting contractors within a specific niche.

Searching the Social Network

Facebook wants to attract recruiters and took a big step in this direction with the launch of the Graph Search in 2013. This search feature allows recruiters to find information shared publicly or by friends. The search engine is being touted as being more user-friendly, since it’s built around natural language rather than keywords. Below are examples of searches recruiters can run on the Graph Search:

• Job title + location. Example: Engineers who live in New York
• Job title + employer. Example: Developers who work at Facebook
• By education: Example: People who graduate from Notre Dame in 2014

Contract staffing recruiters can take this a step further and look for candidates who are currently working on contract. Below are some searches we tested which brought up results for potential contract candidates:

• Engineers who work in contracting in California
• Programmers who are contractors
• Contractors who are nurses

Hashing out Hashtags

Facebook now supports hashtags giving recruiters another option to search the social network for candidates. Hashtags are created by adding # to a phrase are used to stress a word or phrase as important. Common hashtags used by job seekers include #hireme, #needajob, and #resume. Know a phrase popular within your niche? Try searching for the phrase as a hashtag.

Also, hashtags are valuable when you are posting jobs on your company page. Some common ones searched by job seekers are #jobs or #jobposting. This increases the post visibility so more potential job seekers can find the job opportunites your recruiting firm has available.

To Friend or Not to Friend?

So how do you reach the candidates you find on Facebook? People are not very receptive to “Friending” strangers on Facebook, making a Friend request not the best strategy. Sending messages has about the same success as a friend request. If you are not Friends with someone, the message goes into a semi-hidden inbox which is rarely checked.

One option is if the candidate is a Friend of a Friend, ask your Friend to introduce you. Secondly, once you have their name, you could also try finding them in another network, such as LinkedIn, where it is more common to make connections with people you have not met in person.

A Good First Impression

Lastly, don’t forget to optimize your Facebook profile so candidates can find you.  Make sure your firm’s business profile is highly searchable by using keywords they are likely to use, including industry-specific terms.

Make sure you don’t just post jobs. Share articles which are relevant to the candidates you wish to attract. This makes yourself a valuable resource for industry information setting you apart from the sea of other recruiters. Stand out even more on their Facebook news stream by utilizing eye-catching images.

While Facebook recruiting will probably never replace traditional sourcing methods or LinkedIn as a candidate source, there are ways to use this social network as a valuable sourcing tool.

A lot of personal preference is involved when it comes to the design of a recruiting firm’s website.  However, there are certain points you should keep in mind when putting your site together.  A website design is about more than just what the site looks like and feels like, and neglecting these other aspects can spell disaster.

Below are the three key points of a recruiting firm’s website design:

1. Navigation

There are two points to remember about navigation.  First, the site has to be easy to navigate.  People will not stay on a site that’s clunky or difficult to manage.  The attention span for web visitors is miniscule.  If it’s easy, they’ll do it; if it’s not, they won’t.  Make navigating your website easy.  You can do so by implementing a navigation bar, which is usually located just below the title on the front page.  That navigation bar is then placed in roughly the same spot on all of the inside pages.

The second aspect of navigation to remember revolves around this question: “What is the number-one thing you want visitors to your website to do?”  Is it contact you via telephone or email?  Is it view your database of jobs or candidates?  Is it register with your site and submit their contact information and/or resume?  Whatever the case may be, the site’s navigation should guide your visitors in that direction.  For example, if you want visitors to register with your site, make sure there’s not only a link on every page allowing them to do so, but a call to action, as well, such as “Make sure to register with us today!”

Website visitors don’t want to take the time guessing what it is you want them to do.  They want to be told so they can make a decision.  If you’re not straightforward and direct, they’ll be gone quickly.

2. Color

If, in the past, you’ve used certain colors in your firm’s logo, then you should use the same colors in your website.  It’s vitally important that you utilize the same colors in a consistent fashion.  This helps to market you more effectively.  If you’re not exactly jazzed by the colors of your logo and the prospect of using the same color scheme for your website, then perhaps this is the time to change your logo or its colors.  You could change just the colors of the logo or do a complete overhaul.  Whatever the case, consistency is important.  (Keep in mind that you can add colors here and there for effect or as a highlight to the main design.)

3. Style

What do you want to portray to clients and job seekers?  High-tech?  Old-fashioned?  Or do you just want to keep is simple?  What kind of graphics to include is an important decision when contemplating the style of your site, as are the different ways you want to incorporate the colors you’re using.  Of course, as a recruiting firm, you’ll want to come across in a highly professional fashion, and this can be done in various ways, in accordance with individual tastes.  In addition, you can incorporate other elements, such as moving text or pictures, which can be accomplished with special software.  Making a site too flashy, though, can prove to be more detrimental than attractive.  Above all, visitors crave simplicity and ease of use.

Something else to remember about website design is that a site can look outdated rather quickly.  The general rule of thumb is to update the design of your site every 18 to 24 months.  Wait any longer and you run the risk of falling behind the curve.

If you need a website built from scratch or if you believe that it’s time to update the design or functionality of your current site, check out some examples of websites that we’ve built for other recruiters.

For more information, you can contact me at 330.455.1433, x135 or at smiller@topechelon.com.