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As a recruiter you need easy sourcing and sales.
"Social proof" is key to this! Candidates and clients in your network who think that you're ace and are prepared to recommend that others work with you will drive your pipeline for you.
But we often see a lack of process in getting recommendations and this makes recruitment harder.
3 Stats to Focus You on Getting Testimonials
9 out of 10 purchases happen because of peer recommendations. (Source: Marketing Charts)
Referrals are 5x more effective than all other sources of hiring. (Source: Zeti)
69% of clients would work with a recommended recruiter. (Source: CIPD)
So, having a strategy to get recommended is key!
1 Stat Says it All, Though!
But here's the clincher: 91% of customers say they’d give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. (Source: Sale Carnegie)
So:
Referrals, recommendations, testimonials are easy to get...
However, recruiters are just not asking for them!
But, recruiters! You have a wealth of candidates and clients to tap into and convert in to great referees.
Choca Bullhorn CRMs.
Busy LinkedIn contact lists.
And surely for every placement you make you could get 1 x candidate and 1 x client testimonial... But are you?
My 3 Tips to Help Get Testimonials and Weaponise Them for Easy Sourcing and Sales
1️⃣Ask, but be specific! 💪
Don't just ask for a testimonial and leave it to the client or candidate to get around to it. Have a call with them at the end of your assignment and ask them questions. These questions could get you started:
What was your issue?
Why did you choose to work with me?
What did we do for you?
How will this new hire / new job help you now?
Give me 3 words to describe your experience of working with us. (These in be super helpful in getting your message across to who you want to work with...)
This testimonial call will not only get you valuable feedback. It will also be a great excuse to manage your candidate and client experience (and account / pipeline), and also ideally help you get further business / candidate leads.
Ask:
Who do you know that we can also help?
2️⃣Write it for them📝
Draft 2-3 short paragraphs and email it back to the candidate/client to get their OK.
Use their language in the copy you create - this will make it sound more human, less "markety", and also get them to sign off quicker.
Pro tip! Ensure you use valuable keywords to ensure that this content is optimised on your website and LinkedIn profile when you come to publish it.
3️⃣Get it online 📢
Publish testimonials on:
Your website, and not just on your testimonials page. Knit them into your blogs, job adverts, sector pages.
Google updates - ask your marketer to do this for you.
Your Linkedin profile recommendations. (Use the Request a recommendation feature in Linkedin and paste in your copy - make it easy for your community to recommend you.)
Your Glassdoor page.
Your email signatures.
And create cute images. I use Canva to create speedy 2minute testimonials that I can use in my sales and marketing.
My Final Tip? Timing is Key
So recruiters! Don’t be afraid to ask for a recommendation you deserve it!
Promise yourself to ask for a recommendation from the candidate and client on your next placement – just do it! And then rinse and repeat using my tips above.
And don't keep them secret - get the message out there. Your desk, pipeline, boss, and bank account, will thank you!
Recruitment Training
We deliver the best Recruitment Training through live webinars and our online training platform Recruitment HIIT.
Our recruitment training helps new and experienced recruiters qualify their jobs, speedily source and advertise, and improve their screening. It boosts CV to interview ratios, whilst giving great tips to prevent counter offers, and secure the placement and beyond.
Plus, if you have Bullhorn, Analytics, Automation, SourceBreaker, LinkedIn, Calendly, Teams, Daxtra, Broadbean, idibu, Hinterview, Paiger, and more... we train on those too!
TRY HIIT FREE HERE
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Lisa Jones
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Recruiters! 10 Reasons Why Candidate Engagement is Critical
Recruiters and their leaders who want to spend less time and money sourcing, and more time placing, need to read this blog and think about why they need to create a virtuous circle of talent.On our recent Bullhorn Tips webinar, where we focused on candidate management tips, we asked the attendees about their current candidate management strategy.The results were unsurprising, but also disappointing.They told us that their candidate database was...And that their candidate management strategy was...In other words, not future proof or focussed on creating a robust, easy to deliver pipeline. It's mainly focussed on live, active candidates who are imminently placeable... and Linkedin / Job Boards continue to win at the expense of the recruiter and their profits.Recruitment Data Wealth💵💶💷If we've learned anything (at least since 2008) we need a clean, warm databases to see us through easy and tough times.We need engaged, loyal, happy candidates who are easy to find, happy to recommend, refer, and show up!Some recruiters call this "Data Health" - I call it "Data Wealth".I've seen a lot of tech and data hitting the recruitment market, but still do not see enough process improvements to capitalise on it. We just keep buying more, rather than exploring how we actually need less, but need to work it better.It's Time to Move from Vicious to Virtuous!Recruiters still waste crazy amounts of time sourcing and advertising, but not enough time engaging and managing.And ironically, by not engaging, and letting hot data cool off, the industry creates silos of "cold" data. Hence sourcing is key and reliance on external systems is high, costs increase, placements take longer... Vicious cycle!What if, though, we take a moment? Let the stats below sink in, and engage with our systems and data in a proactive way. Could recruiters create a virtuous circle of engaged candidates staying loyal and placeable, meaning less need for job adverts, Linkedin, sourcing, and insanity?Yes!🔢Candidate Management Stats Every Recruiter Should Know78% of placed candidates are already in your CRM. – Yet many recruiters go straight to LinkedIn or job boards before checking their own database.Only 30% of CRM records are typically up to date. – That means 70% of your candidate data might be incomplete, inaccurate, or out of date.60% of recruiters admit to rarely revisiting past candidates. – This leads to missed opportunities and duplicated effort.It costs 6x more to source a new candidate than to re-engage an existing one. – Save budget and time by starting with your CRM.43% of recruiters say poor data quality negatively impacts their ability to place quickly. – Dirty data slows down sourcing, shortlisting, and matching.48% of candidates who apply to a role never hear back. – Proper candidate management helps ensure consistent communication and better candidate experience.80% of candidates say they’d reapply to a company with a good hiring experience. – Engagement doesn’t stop at “not selected”—it builds your future pipeline.Recruiters spend up to 1/3 of their time on admin. – Automation and smart candidate management free up time for relationship-building and placements.Re-engaged candidates are 2x more likely to be placed than cold-sourced ones. – Prior placements and silver medalists are often your hottest leads.Companies that nurture candidates improve quality of hire by 20%. – Keeping in touch with passive talent builds a stronger, more prepared pipeline.The stats above are from a variety of sources, including IBM, TalentBoard, Bullhorn, and LinkedIn.Even just one of the stats above should be enough to make you stop and think "how can I create a virtuous circle of happy, engaged, and placed candidates?"And then ask - "I wonder how Barclay Jones can help with me Bullhorn RoI, Training, and Automation to help me engage my candidates more, and reduce reliance and time/money wasted on Linkedin and Job Boards?"Then arrange a chat with us😇ARRANGE A CALL BACK Watch Our Candidate Engagement WebinarRecruitment and Bullhorn TrainingWe deliver the best live Bullhorn ROI webinar training, and you'll find other tips and tricks in Recruitment HIIT, our online recruitment training platform.Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.TRY HIIT FREE HERECONTACT US ABOUT BULLHORN ROI
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Wayne Barclay
Blog
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 2 ~ Create a Virtuous Circle of Candidates
Recruiters and leaders — ready to do less admin and make more placements?Do you need to be less reliant on LinkedIn and Job Boards, and have a more engaged, valuable database of candidates?Then Part 2 of our "Unlock Bullhorn with Automation" webinar series is for you. We'll fixate on candidate management and engagement.REGISTER NOW💡 Why Candidate Management and Engagement MattersIn our recent Bullhorn Tips Webinar, we asked recruiters about their candidate management strategies.The results?🙈Most recruiters said their CRM was out of date.🙉Even more admitted their candidate engagement was reactive at best.🙊And LinkedIn and job boards still dominate, draining time and budget.AKA vicious cycle. You source externally, internal data gets colder and becomes irrelevant, sourcing becomes slower and costlier. And the cycle repeats.📊 Candidate Management by the Numbers:70%+ of placed candidates already exist in your CRM.It costs 6x more to source a new candidate than to re-engage.Recruiters spend up to 1/3 of their time on admin.Re-engaged candidates are 2x more likely to be placed.Now ask yourself: What if that cycle could be flipped?💥 From Vicious to Virtuous: Using Automation to Flip the Recruitment ScriptInstead, imagine a virtuous circle where:✅ Your CRM is rich with warm, engaged talent.✅ Your pipeline is always ready, without needing a new job ad.✅ Candidates actually reply to your emails.✅ Admin drops, and placements rise.That’s the power of Bullhorn Automation.Join us for this free webinar and learn how to use Bullhorn Automation and smart workflows to build—and sustain—a thriving talent pipeline.This is part of our "Unlock Bullhorn" Automation webinar series.📅 Webinar Highlights🛠️ Real-Life Automation Tips to Drive Recruitment Workflows:Automate outreach to dormant candidates (without sounding robotic).Keep silver medalists engaged for future roles.Trigger real-time updates when candidates change jobs or locations.Build loyalty with consistent communication at every stage of the journey.Drastically reduce sourcing times and costs.💸 Turn Data Health into Data WealthThis Webinar is for you if:You’re tired of LinkedIn / Job Board over-reliance.You want to scale your placements—not your sourcing costs.You want a Bullhorn CRM to be a database and not simply be a data dump.📍 Save Your Spot!When? 21 May 2025: 15:00 BSTREGISTER NOWPS. Want to go even further? Check out our "Unlock Bullhorn with Automation" series.🔍 24 April 2025: Automate sourcing to find qualified candidates faster and with less effort.Watch the recording💬 21 May 2025: Engage with candidates on autopilot and nurture relationships effectively.Register Now📈 Date TBC: Boost lead generation using automation to improve conversion rates.💡 Date TBC: Streamline your recruitment processes for maximum efficiency and profitability.Automation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICECONTACT US ABOUT BULLHORN ROI
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