How to recruit without a headhunter

May 22, 9:50 PMSeattle Jobs ExaminerTara Gowland

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                                  Looking for talent?

How to recruit without a headhunter?

Just as the economy is slowing down, there may be positions that still need filling. If you are employer, you know the pain of having a vacant position, especially if it is a key one - typically you are doing the work yourself or are having to overburden your staff to get the job done.

Here is my response, albeit changed a little, to a similar question on Linkedin:

Recruit through associations and industry organizations

First thing that comes to mind when an employer is looking to recruit is to advise that they go directly to the associations or industry organizations that these type of candidates are members of.  Depending on who you are looking to recruit, there will be whole membership lists online if you look carefully. Also, sometimes they have meetings and you can attend, sometimes you can advertise - it is worth getting involved as much as possible with these professional organizations as you will no doubt pick up a ton of leads from working with them.

Ask for referrals

Do you know at least one person that works within the area you are looking to recruit from? If so, you can build upon that. You can this person for referrals within and outside the company - sometimes if you take the time to discuss the opportunity with them (preferably after hours), they will open up more and be willing to help you out especially in the event that they are not the right fit for the position. I find that people are looking to share their knowledge and if you give them the opportunity, they will talk - both about themselves and about others, their company and the industry as a whole. (And don't be put off if you are new to the particular area they specialize in - many people actually enjoy educating you about their career and specialty!) Then of course keep that relationship alive - how I like to do it is by calling them after a week or so and give them a few names of people I have found and who I think may be a fit - and I and ask their opinion. Not only will you learn about the individual you are talking to as well as the people you mention, but you may be on the way to getting business from them as a client (since you are so thorough and professional with them, why not give you some business?) Ph, and one more thing about getting referrals - when asked, some people respond with "I don't know anyone who is looking." If you hear this, don't just say OK  - tell them "I understand...what I would like to know is who does this kind of work within your organization?" Most will say AH, I understand as people assume you are looking for someone who is actively looking for their next opportunity...

Find one phone extension and you can start recruiting

Once you have exhausted that avenue, one thing you can do is to get into the company's voice mail system after hours - many systems have a dial by name directory. Start by calling the extension of your contact (and if you don't have any contacts, try Jigsaw, ZoomInfo, LI etc - there is bound to be at least one person who works in the target area whether they are the right level or not), and listen to the options after you hear the recording..sometimes it says "to be transferred to the person taking calls for ____, press O or an actual extension..." In this case you may get a colleague or an assistant - either way it is valuable information. The next thing you can do is to try extensions in the same sequence - increasingly I am finding companies no longer use the proper sequence for a variety of reasons, but play around...you might be surprised!

Cold-calling options

Once you have a list of names of potential candidates for your open position (even if you do not have all of their titles or extensions), start by calling reception and asking for the exact spelling of the person's name and then "and I have them as the Tax Manager of XYZ area, am I right?" Oftentimes they will correct you and you have everything but the extension.

Another trick you can try is to dial security during the night, as Paul suggested - often it is one lonely person sitting waiting for something interesting to happen - I find they are very helpful and generally have no problems reading to you the entire department list, including titles and extensions.

Another idea is to ask for the mailroom - they typically do not get a lot of calls and you can always call and ask the same thing you asked of reception - especially if they have been trained to be a pitbull gatekeeper - and get results.

Stay tuned for more tips on how to recruit without a recruiter or headhunter!