Hi Danny,
What is the ultimate key to success in this industry? I.E. what are the main bullet points to being successful and a top biller in this industry? Some guidelines to follow if you will. I have no problem doing the work. I have organization. I have motivation. I have the phone time. I have the send outs and the resumes. What will set me apart from the pack?

Danny’s response,
It seems to me the most pragmatic way of answering your question is also the most revealing…what traits do I look for when I hire recruiters? If you know what I’m trying to measure, you can extract what is required to be a big biller. (Let’s define a big biller as 500K or more in direct hire revenues each year. I have mentoring students doing 3-4 times that amount.)

Let’s start with what I actually test for. We use two tests, one to test intelligence, and one to test your natural level of salesmanship. So there you have it, you need to be not just smart but quick...

Hi Danny,
I very much appreciated your recent newsletter about the evolving methods of recruiting professionals through social media, email blasting, and more.

In the same line of thought I was hoping that you could talk about work/life balance. Our top biller in the office leaves at 4:25 in the afternoon (while the office stays until 5 or later). He also has between 30 and 40 calls during a day, and talk time around an hour per day. Yet the result is between 60 and 100K per month on the board in solo deals from him.

Similarly, the next couple of top billers in the company have similarly low call rates, and yet our President continues to drive the importance of doing all prep work and planning at home, and staying late, and being on the phone above all else as a means of guaranteeing effectiveness and revenue.

It has always been my contention that quality trumps quantity and that in order to live a healthy life-style there needs to be a break in the time that one works, to after...

Dear Danny:

Is it just me or is there an increasing trend of hiring execs only making themselves available for interviews at ridiculously inconvenient times – usually phone, but we just had one do this for an in person, final interview at the end of a two-month process.

In the last month, I’ve had several HA’s who have been impossible to nail down for a call with a candidate offer, “I’m only available Friday at 7 am or Sunday at 9 PM” for a call with the candidate. Another – (a COO at a $400 mm company who insists on interviewing both on the phone and in person every candidate they hire making around 90K or more) just flipped the final onsite interview from 3 pm to 7 am.

When I protest and tell the HA the time is too early, too late etc. and that the candidate may not be on their game as a result of getting up at 5 am and traveling to make a 7 am series of in person interviews, the client starts with the “Well, he must not be that...

Hi Danny,
There aren’t enough parking spaces for all of us here. The boss has a reserved spot – so he is not affected. Do I just suffer?

Danny’s response,
I thought briefly of recusing myself since I have a space right outside our office door and would beat anyone who tried to park there to a bloody pulp, but let’s assume for purposes of discussion I earned my spot and your boss didn’t. What is it you are angry about? The fact that there are not enough parking spots or that your boss is not affected?

If it is the former, GET TO WORK EARLIER than those who get the spaces that are available!

If it’s the latter, work your butt off, become the top producer, rise above the petty concerns like this, and before you know it… there’ll be a space that no one else can park in but you. And then, I promise you, the system will seem very fair.

Script Submission

Good afternoon,

I hope this email finds you well. I am reaching out to you today because I came across your profile, and it really piqued my interest. I was most impressed with your extensive UX background, and capability to drive end-to-end research and design work at ABC Company.

I noticed that you’ve been working at ABC Company for about 2 and a half years now (that’s awesome!), and I hope it’s still going great. But, in case you’re looking to explore something new, I have a UX Designer role and a Senior UX Designer opportunity in mind. I think these roles could be a fit, and I’d love to share them with you.

I am always looking to network with passionate and ambitious design individuals, and would love to learn more about you and your career goals. Are you open to a conversation? Let me know if you are available anytime this week to chat.

I look forward to connecting!

Danny’s Critique:
So there are these cool eye tracking...

Hi Danny,
It seems like all the training, etc says to block out hours of time to execute – do not answer the phone during these times. Here is my question – I am calling and leaving voice mail after voice mail – both marketing and recruiting – don’t I want to answer the phone to see if it’s one of these people calling me back? Yes, I have caller ID but sometimes it’s hard to tell who is calling. I have tried leaving specific blocks of time when I can be reached for callbacks on voicemail messages but often people don’t pay attention. How does it work with your top producers?

Danny’s response,
There would be zero shoplifting, a billion dollar problem in America, if we installed X ray machines and hired Bar Bouncers at the entrances to beat up anybody caught doing it. But then nobody would go in the store. So “Retail Reality” is you are going to take the risk of some loss in order to have an overall “flow” to...

Hi Danny,
For some reason I am finding old clients going to new sources although our candidates are staying, no one left, and I can’t find any issues.

Without seeming desperate how can I ask them what happened?

I have asked one and they said it wasn’t their call and they don’t know why. We don’t work on exclusivity so I can’t understand what happened.

At the same time, for some reason some companies are still signing contracts, giving us a mandate then not replying although I know they are working with other recruiters on the mandates we were asked to work on or they leave me in the dust.

What am I doing wrong????

I feel like the market is picking up yet I had the two most terrible quarters imaginable…H-E-L-P

Danny's response:
The world you want, and think you have earned, one in which whenever there is an opening or staffing need at the clients you’ve done quality work for, they all sit in a meeting, sign off the req and then send...