Using social (and “professional”) networks should be a common practice among recruiters. Just the other night I used my knowledge of social network sourcing to generate a handsome list of candidates for a client. I personally use LinkedIn as my professional networking site. You can say that Twitter is my a networking tool as well. Facebook is all about me and the friends and family I associate with. Very savvy recruiters learn to take advantage of these sites by joining groups and becoming fans of organizations.

There are many ways to take advantage of social networking sites. Here are some ways that recruiters can use social networks to their advantage:

• Establish your own business profile
• Build business-relevant networks
• Maintain a networking interchange
• Make new connections
• Conduct candidate searches
• Find new business
• Research people and companies
• Real-time communication
• Expand visibility and influence
• Develop information exchange portals

This list is not exhaustive by any means. With functionality and benefits like those on the list, it is no wonder social networking has been widely adopted by recruiters. Jobscience even integrates their ATS and strategic sourcing tool with today's most popular networks including: LinkedIn, MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, etc.

You would be amazed at the amount of information that is accessible within seconds. Invest in yourself and career and join a social network. The experience and networking will be valuable.

Does preparation make for better recruiting?

Do you prepare for each day you work in recruiting? Do you script your phone calls to passive candidates? Do you prepare for each job order by researching the job market?

I have learned through experience and by reading many books on sales and recruiting that preparation is an enormous differentiators when it comes to recruiting and sales. Those that want to win the war on talent prepare for battle every day and adjust as necessary.

Preparing for your day. Before your day starts you should finish it on paper. Set goals to be completed for the day. Allow for fires that seem to start everyday in Human Resource management. Set aside some time each day to read and update your knowledge base. Make new connections as a part of your daily plan.

Scripting your calls provides a smooth and seamless message to your contacts. But practice makes perfect. If you don't rehearse your calls then you sound like you are reading from a prompter. Develop a script for voice mails too. Let each caller "hear" you smile whether it is a direct connection or a voicemail.

Every job order or requisition should start with a battle plan. First thing. Are you and the hiring manager/client on the same page? Are there any internal candidates they are thinking about? Second, you should consider your existing database of candidates. Unnecessary money is spent on advertising or search firms for candidates that could be easily minded out of your own ATS. If you don't have a good search tool, find one.

Build and maintain a candidate pipeline for all of your anticipated openings. Strong candidate pipelines communicate strong employment brands, long-term growth expectancies and potentially prevent salary wars with your competition.

Prepare for recruiting the way you would prepare for battle. Understand the market, know thine enemy, and develop relationships with your existing candidates. This will set your recruiting apart from any others and give you that competitive edge.

How to Stay Relevant

How would you feel if your favorite athlete never committed to continuing to improve performance? What about a doctor that didn't keep up with the latest diagnostic advances? To be considered a professional you would expect the individual would be committed to self education and improvement.

As a recruiter, do you feel you have conquered everything there is to know about recruiting? Probably not. New recruiters are starving for ideas. How do you maintain competency and excellence in your profession.

Tonight I completely read through a book called 101 Strategies for Recruiting Success. Best book I've ever read. Was a fresh look into all aspects of recruiting. Get a copy of this book. It will put many ideas into your head on how to turn your good recruiting plan into a great recruiting plan.

Even though the book did not mention the changes to recruitment marketing (Due to 2006 printing no mention of the use of Social Networks), the advice was solid. Christopher Pritchard did a solid job with this piece and is to be commended on the advice he gives to keep 3rd party recruiter costs down and how to defend yourself against the raiding of head hunters.

Make plans to improve your performance by investing in your career and skills by reading and researching the latest trends.