How Recruitment Agencies are able to attract Good Recruitment Consultants

While talking and giving consultation to many recruitment agencies bosses, one common problem occurs is that they are having a tough time recruiting recruitment consultants, of course, when they are having a tough time getting “normal” consultants, it is quite impossible to get “good” recruitment consultants.

The main points of this article are:

Does not pay attention to their own branding
Does not seem to have a plan for the future of the potential new consultant
The company size is too small
The office Setup is terrible
Salary offer is not good
Basically, when I reviewed the client company, the operations and the style of management, I realized some common issues that occur that created the “reasons” of not able to attract good recruitment consultants.

Some Critical Reasons Why Recruitment Agencies are not able to attract Good Recruitment Consultants:


1) Does not pay attention to their own branding
Many agencies boss have this simple idea that as long as they have an office, get the clients and candidates, they are in business.

This is absolutely not true because they do not believe or have no idea that branding plays a very important part in attracting good consultants.

In fact, not just the consultants, the clients and candidates also see the “brand” itself to determine whether they want to give you the “business.”


2) Does not seem to have a plan for the future of the potential new consultant
Apparently, the consultant wants to know if they have any future with the company so they will like to know what the career path is if they were to join the company.

But many times, the company does not have a concrete plan for the consultant and hence creating a very blur future for the candidate.


3) The company size is too small
Well, if it is a one-man company, then there is nothing much they could do about it, as it is the limitation in resource available to attract good consultants.

However, this may not be a critical factor as I have helped a company to recruit over 25 new consultants within 2 months that is run by one person and their resources are also very limited.


4) The office Setup is terrible -
The image is very important, if you were to expect a good consultant to join a company whose office is Grade D standard, it does not happen in real life.

You see, if your office is Grade D, you will attract Grade D consultants and vice versa.


5) Salary offer is not good -
If you want to get a good quality consultant, you will need to pay the premium to get them to join you. If their expected salary is too low, usually there will be some problem for them.

Of course, there will be the situation where you may be lucky that you can get someone at a very good salary but most of the time it does not happen.

During my consultation with the clients, I offer the solutions and strategies to get new consultants and how to attract good recruitment consultants like a magnet. 

The journey to attract good consultants is tough for many because they are not able to find their own reasons.

Without good consultants there will poor sales, poor sales mean that the company will not able to last long. It is a problem for many…

Can PPC (Pay-per-click) Really Helps Recruitment Agencies to Get More Clients?

Many recruitment agencies who are at a lost of what to do to ensure that their agencies stays afloat are searching online for marketing methods and strategies to create more sales and business.

Many a time, they will be bombarded with advertisements and articles on pay-per-click advertisement and some of them who are not very sure with this type of advertisement platform yet will venture into it hopping for some magic to happen and sad to say that most of them are not finding great or any returns in their investments in the pay-per-click advertisement platform.

The current more popular pay-per-click advertisement platforms are:

1)      Google Adwords

2)      Facebook  Advertising

3)      Linkedin Ads

4)      Yahoo! Search Marketing (Also know as Overture,formerly under GoTo.com before acquired by Yahoo), updated as of 2018, don't waste time on it, I do not think Yahoo will eventually suvive.

There are still a few other players coming up but the above are more popular and acceptable in the market, overall, regardless of which platform you will be using, the concept is about the same, that is – You will only pay based on per click, regardless of whether the user is potentially a genuine customer or not.

That means you only pay when someone click on your advertisement.

You will have to bid for the top spot usually by the price you are willing to pay, some platform such as Google adword (They have renamed it as Google ads) will also be based on your “quality score” to determine your advertisement placement position and the cost per click.

Determine The Objectives of PPC (Pay-per-click)
Generating Sales

Many times, advertiser has the belief and impression that by placing the advertisement in the Pay-per-click media, they will be able to bring the visitors to their website and convert them into a sales, with this mindset, it is sad to share that most advertisers who are expecting good returns will be in for a big surprise.

In general, most of the advertisers who are looking to generate good sales will not have a great ROI because the cost and the sales generated are usually not good.

As such, many advertisers will face a situation where after placing the advertisement for a while, they will conclude that PPC (Pay-per-click) is not a great platform to generate sales.

Marketing and Branding

If you notice that many players in the PPC are actually BIG players and they are constantly putting their brand name and advertisements in PPC and their agenda usually are to create the awareness to the public so that people will continue to recognize their brand for a long time.

The big players know that by constantly exposing their ads and brands in the internet PPC campaign, they are able to secure a firm market share in the long term, hence even with a huge budget for the PPC campaign and with almost a negative returns, they are very willing to do so because their agenda is very different.

Hence, whether PPC (Pay-per-click) can really help recruitment agencies will really determine by the objectives of the agencies, if they are seeking for a quick sales in a short-term, many will be pretty disappointed but if they were to use it as an awareness and branding perspective, then the rewards will be better in the long term.

In summary, PPC (Pay-per-click) can be great for sales, only and when you know what you are doing.

It is also a great avenue to branding and positions your recruitment agency as more exposure means more people recognized you as a brand. (Provided you have a great brand to be remembered)

In the game of PPC (Pay-per-click), do ensure you know the rules of the game as failure to understand them will lead to wastage of advertisement cost and also a low click-through ratio.

Good luck on your PPC (Pay-per-click) campaign!

An article by Dougles Chan, SEO Singapore Master | Digital Marketing Singapore Guru

Age Should never be the issue when Hiring

Sometime ago, I came across a candidate who was 50+ years old and was looking for a sales job. I felt obligated to interview him, as I always believe that everyone should have an equal chance, but I am not too sure other employers would be open enough to hire someone at that age….

At first glance, he was not very impressive. His beard was not shaved, he wore a shirt that was torn, and my impression towards him was not too good; but something amazing happened when he was describing his job experience….

The atmosphere changed for the better, and I felt so glad to give him the opportunity to prove his worth. As I was rushing to another appointment to meet a client, I told him:

“Sir, (his name was Yuosf) I like what I am seeing in you, and I want to see you in few days at my office again. I want to talk to you further on how I can hire you.”

A few days later, he came into the office, and he was hired. He was 50+ years old, and nobody would give him a chance; but I did, and I am glad I did because I know he will be one of the best salespeople I have ever had.

What was his secret in turning the tables around and getting the job that he really wanted? The keyword is “SINCERITY.”

In his eyes, I saw the burning desire that he really wanted this job and really wanted to prove to someone that he was still worth the value.

If he can do it, I believe anyone can…the only problem is that YOU are the only hurdle. It takes sincerity, passion, and desire to overcome this hurdle and if you have it, the job will be truly yours.

An article by Dougles Chan, Digital Marketing Singapore Guru

If you like to talk to people and make a difference in a person’s life by finding them a job and career, then a recruiter job is one of the most fulfilling occupations one can have. It would be even better for a recruiter to work freelance, so they can enjoy the freedom and still stay employed with pretty decent income.

Being in the recruitment industry for so many years, mentoring and training people to become super recruiters has been a passion and a source of enjoyment for me. In turn, seeing those people enjoying life, family, and financial freedom are the rewards I have achieved for the past few years.

These types of “2-hour” weekly jobs are a highly sought after lifestyle; so much so that many people are discovering that such “jobs” are proving to be somewhat of a dead end.

Anyhow, let me introduce the lifestyle of the “2-Hour Work Week Freelance Recruiter:”

Monday – Use Email marketing to reach 10,000 candidates, asking them if they are looking for a job (5 minutes).

Tuesday – Attend to replies from candidates via e-mails, and filter their CVs based on category. Reply to each of them to arrange a meeting on Skype for personal profiling (20 minutes).

Wednesday – Skype interview and profiling with three candidates (40 minutes).

Thursday – E-mails sent to 20,000 companies regarding the three profiles (5 minutes).

Friday – Attend to replies from companies and arrange interviews for three candidates (50 minutes).

The following week those three cases are closed in just two hours of work.

Total sales generated – Based on a $3,000 salary and charging 100% of the 1st month’s salary, a total of $9,000 is earned.

Total potential sales for the month = $9,000 a week x 4 weeks = $36,000 a month. Commission earned? More than enough to have a very interesting lifestyle…



This is the lifestyle of the Freelance Recruiters that I train and mentor. The difference between this and a normal consultant is that the Freelance Recruiter’s “style” is different, their approach is different, there is no visiting of clients, and no asking for job orders or even job descriptions.

Such an approach is not being used in any recruitment agency simply because it does not exist. They either do not know how to do so, or they do not have the technology and database for it.

Many people, even with the database and the technology, are still not able to “copy” what I have taught the “Elites” because they do not have that X factor. The X factor is defined as: eliminating fears with a strong belief, a strong gut feeling, and the ability to adapt to ultimate openness in anything I showed to them.

Success is not about copying; it is about innovation. One method used only works in the first round. If it is used in the second round, people will get used to it, and by the third round it will become stale. This is why many formulas out there do not work after some time.

I train people how to adapt, change, and innovate. Using the “2-hour work week” concept, one can enjoy the lifestyle of having time with your family, enjoying life, and achieving personal financial freedom.

Financial and personal freedom—that is everybody’s dream

Financial and personal freedom—that is everybody’s dream. I must confess that when I started the review for this book, the first person who came to the back of my mind was this friend of mine whom I know was working as a recruit agent. I would love to shout out, “If your recruit agent is not doing his or her best to understand your needs or find you a great job today, show them this book today! If your HR department colleagues or subordinates are not performing well enough to earn a grade A appraisal today, show them too!” No one would reject an extra dose of booster, do they?

Whilst reading, I began to think of those people around me who have been constantly distracted by the recent bad economy and has chosen to focus on the repercussions of it. I wondered, why do people complain about getting bad jobs these days? Why do people find it hard to look for a job these days? Also, why are companies experiencing high turn-over rates when it comes to hiring? I say that this could very well be due to how recruit agents and recruitment agencies help their clients and candidates! If you are a recruit agent, I highly recommend that you give some attention to this manual here and use it to your best knowledge to help all your candidates!

I am sure people out there do love reading books that give us an idea. The very idea that speak for itself—that each and every of us are in charge of our destinies! Just like what Dougs had done here once again. As with his other manual, Job Seekers Power Manual, Dougs must have had a great time enjoying himself writing his life experience! Boy, I wouldn’t have that kind of courage he portrays to put his personal real-life romance case studies in public light for us to do self-assessments! And I must applaud him for that as without these personal examples, some of us might not even be able to understand what and how we should self-reflect upon.

These are his secrets, and I confidently say that’s what makes this self-help manual works. It is written in such a way it is so easy to read at one glance and make the reader feel as if he or she is the author’s friend. One lasting effect of the book after one has read it is that anyone would have easily remembered its contents. Undeniably, he is the spokesman who brings us into his world and gives us advices in a non-threatening way, plus the efforts to summarize the main point at the end of each chapter. Just how many of us would do self-reflections these days? I was just glad that I have picked up a wealth of information through his 25 chapters of “Been there, done that.”

Now, the author is a believer of “you can do something to change your life, and you must really get your butt out there to do something in order to achieve it!” I love the way Dougs is persuasive and sincere in telling us how we can change our mindset to make our lives change for the greater effect! Now, everyone can say that they know that theory too. But not everyone can sound as positive as he is! How many of these people out there can really put it to practice and into reality? I do not hold the answer. These days, everyone is afraid of changes, aren’t they? We all need that burst of extra positivity in us, just like how this book certainly works for me.

Dougs’ idea is really a virus. It impedes your mind and makes one wonder how they can better their lives in time to come, especially in this bad economy and most importantly, it is easily an inspiring book for even laymen like us. For those aspiring HR personnel, this is a great treasure book which guides you to all you need to know about being in the recruitment industry. You can forget about being shy and approach your clients and candidates from now on with much more guts and professionalism!

If Doug can, you can too! Why not take it and see where you will end up? You are the only one who can change how things will be. Use it to your advantage!

Advantages of Recruiting through Social Media

Job hunting has always in essence been all about networking.

Catch friends, relatives, family-friends, ex-colleagues, seniors, someone you met at a friend’s wedding, someone at a cousin’s party and absolutely anyone you can strike a conversation with and say that you are looking for a job.

Social media is putting virtual networks in a technological exploration towards the cause of recruitment.

Social recruiting leverages various different features and tools offered by social networks so that they can get access to the information of and reach out to potential job candidates.

Social Media and Networking

The simplest way of processing this is to post a job opening on the social media and then evaluate the respondents for a good fit.

But a prerequisite to this method yielding good results is that you need to have a strong network or multiple connections.

And this holds for both, the company offering a job as well as the candidates looking for one.

It is very important that the news of a job opening with your company must reach as many people looking for job, as possible.

Once shortlisted, the HR will just have to run the candidate through the usual procedures.

And yes, social recruitment also involves evaluating the candidates on the basis of their web presence, at some stage or the other.

It can involve looking through the activity on social networks, browsing for general web presence etc.

Social Media and Cost Benefits

The basic advantage of social media is in the cost-benefit it offers.

Companies can advertise at a smaller expense and at the same time be able to create ads which are highly customized helping them to target specific groups based on location, expertise, gender etc.

Keywords are the key tool they have at their disposal and even the candidates search for relevant keywords when looking up over the internet.

Nowadays, it is also possible to publish a particular ad to only those users who belong to a group with certain characteristics.

Another benefit of social recruiting is the optimization of man hours invested into the process. The unemployment rates might suggest otherwise but it is not always easy to find the ‘right’ candidate for any position.

If a candidate has to turn out a disappointment after being interviewed, the efforts which go into procedures undertaken till that stage can be reduced a little if done through social networks.

Pre-Screening

We ‘meet’ people online, we get a chance to ‘see’ what they are like, we can ‘learn’ from people in their networks what are the traits of a particular candidate.

This method of gauging the candidate beforehand is more effective when done through social media than reviewing applications.

Although CVs and cover letters might still be essential components of social recruiting, this platform offers more information than you can ever collect offline, at an early stage.

The world is going tech and every interaction among human beings is evolving with this.

No personal or professional relationship is spared from being impacted by these phenomena, needless to say, employment through social media just a part of it!

An Easy Way to Double Your Sales In Your Recruitment Agency.

Many recruitment companies and recruitment consultants have asked me this VERY IMPORTANT question, and one of the strategies I have shown them in order to DOUBLE their sales is this:

Make your contract value DOUBLE, and you will be able to see your sales DOUBLE.

This method is so easy but many people fail to see the advantage of how it works.

You see, if you are working on a $2,000 case and charge the client a $2,000 professional fee when the candidate is successfully hired, can you do a $4,000 case where you can charge at least $4,000 for the deal when it is successful?

Sometimes you can charge even 1.5 times the $4,000 salary when you meet a client that is agreeable with this rate. From that you can get $6,000 as a professional fee and guess what?

You have not just doubled your sales for the deal, but instead tripled the amount.

Let’s assume you are working on 5 assignments that are $2,000, and when you close all of them, you have $10,000 ($2,000 x 5) in sales.

If you were to focus on a $4,000 value – assuming you still have 5 cases, will your potential sales be $20,000 or more? You bet it will!

Let’s get to the details:

Are you taking the same amount of time to get the client assignment?

Are you taking the same amount of time to post advertisements and generate potential candidates?

Are you taking the same amount of time to interview the potential candidates?

Are you taking the same amount of time to coordinate the interview?

I think you get my point; the answer is that you take almost the same amount of time to give a $2000 value and a $4000 value! Some may argue that the number of $4,000 assignments will be fewer.

Well, the fact is that there is the same number of assignments in the $4,000 category level as compared to the $2,000 category level.

The secret is that you will have to find them.

They are out there, and if you are good enough, the assignment will be yours.

This simple, yet effective, the strategy not only applies to a recruitment agency, it can also be applied in many other trades or industries too. I have a friend who was in financial insurance seven years ago, and his take-home commission was about $1,500 per month.

After I shared this simple strategy with him, his earnings went up to $3,000 per month within the next two months.

Now he has set up a company by himself with the good income he had generated previously and is already the CEO of a big training institution.

My friend, you can double your income when you choose to do so.

Cheers, and be happy always.