“The Professional Recruiter’s Handbook:” The reference manual recruiters have been waiting for

Posted by: Mindy Fineout

The key to success for any business is its employees. A great product or service will never come to fruition or reach widespread market share without dedicated workers. So it’s no surprise that every business wants to hire the best. The ability to recruit, train, and retain top employees should be priority #1.

Except it often isn’t. Recruiters — those responsible for making sure a company hires the best-in-class — frequently receive minimal training, little practical help, and few reference materials. Without such resources, many recruiters are working without knowledge of best practices or the changing recruiting environment.

Authors Jane Newell Brown and Ann Swain spotted this discrepancy several years ago. Brown has seen the staffing sector from every angle — contingency, search, selection, and managed services — and is a leading management consultant. Swain is Chief Executive of The Association of Professional Staffing Companies, an authority in the recruiting industry.

Together they addressed the issue by building a reference manual to help recruiters learn how to find and attract the best workers. It was called “The Professional Recruiter’s Handbook: Delivering Excellence in Recruitment Practice.” Released in 2009, it laid bare recruiting strategies and best practices for successfully hiring top candidates.

Since then, the recruiting industry has transformed remarkably. The search for talent is increasingly conducted on a global scale. The economic downturn has made the war for talent more competitive than ever before. And social media has emerged as a valuable new engagement tool. So Brown and Swain recently revised their handbook and released the second edition, fully updated to provide today’s recruiters with all the information they need to navigate the waters of the talent pool.

The book is split into three major sections. The first acts as a primer for the recruiting industry, detailing the role of recruiters, relevant legislation, and future trends. The authors then dig into strategic approaches to recruiting, complete with exercises, case studies, and self assessments that help readers identify their strengths and weaknesses. In the final section, the authors get practical, offering how-tos for candidate management, client acquisition, client strategy, and candidate attraction.

With diagrams, flow charts, and scannable bullets, the authors have created a handy reference for on-the-job use. This might be just what recruiters need to adapt to the new pace of recruiting and the increasingly competitive hiring environment to make sure their company or clients come out on top in the war for talent.

Check back soon; we’ll be sharing an interview with one of the book’s authors!