Bullhorn Engage has come and gone and there was a very strong theme.
Recruiter Productivity.
Sustainability.
Profitability.
For this to happen Bullhorn1st needs to be a goal – aka using Bullhorn first in your recruitment workflow. Reducing reliance on data and external systems will decrease costs, speed up placements, and create a more robust recruitment business.
And the way to Bullhorn1st?
Recruitment Automation and Recruitment Training, of course!
Recruitment Automation is So Yesterday!
I started using the phrase CRM1st back in the early 2000s. It was borne out of working with 150 busy recruiters who were rapidly being exposed to huge data sets - LinkedIn, job boards, candidates who wielded the Apply button like a Scud missile. But they didn't have the discipline or process to strategically manage the massive increase in data volume or change in candidate behaviour.
I used CRM1st (it was Adapt then) to help recruiters new to the recruitment sector to battle their FOMO (fear of missing out). I used CRM1st with experienced recruiters and resourcers to help them not get dragged under by rapidly increasing candidate pools.
Have things changed in recent years?
Have recruiters gotten better at managing their data, recruitment technology, candidate and client experience?
Has the colleague experience improved now we have so much data and rec tech that should theoretically make recruitment easier....?
Unfortunately, I'm not sure things have changed (enough).
Recruiters have been running to catch up. But the faster they run, the bigger the data set becomes, the more competition they have (even from their own clients), and the more tech they feel they need just to stand still.
Recruiter Frustration – Ready, Fire, Aim
I'm frustrated with the sector that can't seem to grasp what it's good at...
Niche specialisms +
Nurtured communities of candidates and clients reliant on great recruiters +
Colleagues delivering best practice and making a difference, changing lives.
But that "goodness" can't happen without focus.
And how can a recruiter focus with huge data sets, too much tech and not enough process?
Whether you have Bullhorn or another recruitment CRM, it needs to be first on your list to source, engage, nurture, and place from - if it’s not 1st, everyone loses. (Apart from the software company you buy comfort from!)
Automation – The Re-Humanisation of Recruitment!
Automation for my clients has become the missing link. It’s been around for years, but now automation is really being used to take away the pain, and the admin.
Recruitment Automation is being used to drive the best of behaviours.
It's enabling CRM1st (aka Bullhorn1st).
It’s creating time for training – for all, not just new recruiters!
And it’s creating time for trained recruiters empowered to get on the phone and do some good.
Once you automate what you can, you can train what’s left – and what should be left is the gold in the recruitment process – humans!
More effective sourcing
Speedier screening designed to prevent counter offers
Interviews with clients who move to placement uninterrupted
Placements and onboarding designed to generate referrals
Recruiters need training on their systems and process so that can totally nail what their clients pay for. Automation creates space and time for this training to happen.
Automate What You Can - Train What's Left
If you can automate what you can, and train what's left, then your data, your database, and your 3Cs (candidates, clients, colleagues) will be in a really good place, perhaps even 1st place, for the rest of this year and beyond.
What are you going to automate?
What training is needed to deliver sustainable recruitment business?
My team can help with both of these key goals.
Paul Robson, The Crew Hunter. We have managed to restructure our business, with more recruiters and more time to recruit. And the ROI from our Bullhorn Automation training?
Time Saved. Admin Removed. Staff Efficiency.
We've saved 45 hours with 1,345 automated actions in just 8 weeks.
Plus, we built 3 automations at the beginning of the project which allowed us to remove an old core process which freed up space for another recruiter.
Talking of Recruiters Getting More Automated!...
Using recruitment automation to improve data, process, candidates and client experience - that's a great goal! But you also need to free up your recruiters to be exceptional And they need training for this.

Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines. We aim to save every recruiter and resourcer at least 1 hour per day (6 working weeks a year) - more billing time, more fees!
TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT
READ ABOUT OUR BULLHORN AND BULLHORN AUTOMATION TRAINING
BOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS RECRUITMENT TRAINING
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How Can Recruiters Improve Performance? Get on the Phone!
Recruiters can always improve their performance, whether it be marginal gains or drastically improving failing pipelines. Right now is the time to dig deep and ask:Where can I improve my recruiter performance? AndWhat part of my recruitment workflow can I improve?Take a speedy 30mins and listen / watch my latest Recruitment Leaders’ Podcast. Take a few notes and grab a few takeaways for your recruitment business and your recruitment desk.Recruitment Research: Phone Calls Are a DownerI spent time with Josh Symons from Hinterview. Hinterview has completed some interesting recruitment research to help recruitment leaders and their recruiters focus on where and when they need to get mean and lean in their recruitment workflow!We chatted about how and where recruiters can improve their recruiter performance.Recruiters, Get On the Phone!Josh and I have both been in recruitment for a while and the tried and tested recruitment mantra “get on the phone” has never been more relevant…BUTOnly 10% of calls get answeredCall volume is up 200% - your candidates and clients are saturated with callsBut only 5% of voicemails get listened to.So “get on the phone and hope” isn’t the way to go.But what is? What do recruiters need to do to improve their recruiter performance? And how can we keep phone calls front and centre?How Can the Phone Still Be “The Way” to Recruit and Sell? Josh and I talked about:With all of the recruitment technology available, how can you keep the recruitment process human?Where in the recruitment life cycle can recruiters improve their performance?How can video improve recruiter performance?Phone calls work IF you want and mean them to – but how?How can a recruiter generate heat?What’s Daley Thompson’s decathlon got to do with recruitment?Why does recruitment technology often not work in recruitment (hint – it’s got the word “training” in the answer)What are 85% of male recruiters also doing when they are most engaged with their mobile phones?Recruitment leaders and recruiters – you want your phone calls to work! Listening / watching this recruitment podcast episode will help you use your mobile to improve your phone calls, candidates and clients, and sales.Get at least one takeaway to help you improve recruiter performance and nail those phone calls.Make Your Phone Calls Work! Listen and WatchLISTEN TO THE RECRUITMENT PODCAST EPISODEThanks, Josh, for being such a great sport. You have such passion and purpose, and have so many valuable ideas around best practice and recruiter productivity and performance.Listen and subscribe to the rest of Barclay Jones’ Recruitment Leaders’ Podcast Series on SoundCloud or find us on iTunes and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch our vodcast series too!… Talking of Recruiter Performance, Phone Calls, Productivity…Improving recruiter performance and recruitment tech ROI comes from recruiter training. Our recruitment training platform, Recruitment HIIT is focussed on those 2 things.Recruitment HIIT helps onboard new recruiters, and refresh experienced recruiters so they can improve their performance.It contains a wealth of recruitment best practice tips, as well as “how to” for recruitment technology such as Bullhorn, SourceBreaker, Hinterview, Daxtra, Broadbean, idibu, and LinkedIn.TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT FOR FREE
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Blog
3 Ways to be a Jedi Recruiter
Recruiters! Did you know it takes over 25 hours to watch all of the Star Wars movies? I personally think that's a great use of time, of course, once you've attracted, engaged, converted, and placed the best candidates in the galaxy! Every day is a Kessel Run for the recruiters we work with! Being a Jedi is crucial!To celebrate the annual upcoming Star Wars Day I spoke with a fellow Star Wars geek (and recruitment trainer), Phil, Head of Talent at First Point Group, about what he feels are the top 3 skills that Jedi and Recruiters share.Defence – Recruiters Need to DefendThe ability to objection handle, be prepared, prevent drop outs, and to expect the unexpected – that’s part of recruitment. It’s about reading the Jedi path in front of you and being ready to defend. It’s about defending your candidates, whether they be scruffy-looking nerf herders or teachers. It's about managing and preventing counteroffers. 57% of candidates accept counteroffers that are made to them. This shows the odds are not in your favour, so you need to be prepared.Luckily, our Recruiter Circuits workout on Recruitment HIIT has a course dedicated to helping you manage the offer stage of your recruitment process with your candidates so you can prevent counteroffers and secure your pipeline.Knowledge – Be a Knowledgeable RecruiterKnow your market! Whether it be Ewoks, or IT Developers, Millennium Falcon flight skills, or how to down a Dreadnaught, you need to be knowledgeable. What’s old, new, emerging in your sector…? Knowing the market, client, job, candidate, (and who your sister is) is key. Without this knowledge who knows who you’ll end up kissing!Continuous training is key to enhancing your recruiter skills and can increase sales by 50%. From reducing admin to improving sourcing, BD and beyond, Recruitment HIIT has speedy recruiter training videos to help you continuously improve your recruiter skills and fees.Training – Recruitment Training in The ForceLike Jedi, recruiters continuously training is a must. As Yoda says - “There is no try, only do!” Just like the Rebel Alliance fights against the evil Empire, as recruiters, we are in a battle - a battle for top candidates and clients! You need to be continuously upskilling to stay ahead in the competitive recruitment market - your commission depends on it. Just like The Force is a weapon for success, the best recruiters use their key rec tech, their CRM first for sourcing, engaging, nurturing, and placing candidates.As much as Jedi have the gene (midi-chlorian) they need to constantly train to battle dark forces, whether they be dirty data, drop outs, back door placements, or challenging clients (siths?). Our Bullhorn and Adapt training on Recruitment HIIT will ensure you use your CRM first to save time, improve your candidates and client relationships and placements.Become a Jedi RecruiterJedi, like recruiters, need to follow “the way”, whilst changing lives. They need to know when to lead, when to fight, and when to kiss! Never let it be said that recruitment is just a job – it’s a Way! Someone (Mando) once said… “This is the way!” How can you follow the "the way" as a recruiter? Our recruiter training courses on Recruitment HIIT will help you follow the recruitment 'way'. Our Recruiter Circuits course, especially, has "the way" with 5-minute training videos to ensure qualify your jobs, source, advertise, screen and nail your CV to Interview ratios.Thanks Phil– The Force is strong in you!Speaking of Recruiters Improving Through TrainingOur recruiter training courses on Recruitment HIIT helps recruiters and resourcers source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines. Bullhorn CRM training, job qualification, screening, candidate sourcing, job advertising and management, and reducing counteroffers, are just some of the 5-minute topics recruiters love.We're saving recruiters and resourcers at least 1 hour per day (6 working weeks a year) - more billing time, more fees!TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT FOR FREE
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