Recapturing Your Recruiting Roots in 2025
“Wounds Heal; Scars Last”
–A Ten-Part Series–
Part Three
by
Bob Marshall
April 22nd, 2025
Part Three – What Are Recruiters – Part One
First and foremost,…
- They Are Marketers.
Successful recruiters are, above all, proactive marketers. They make daily marketing—or sales—calls. This is the first key to their success. As Sidney Boyden, founder of Boyden Associates in 1946, famously put it (quoted in The Headhunters by John A. Byrne):
“When I employed an associate, I was interested in a man who could be a business getter and a merchandiser. I was looking for widely acquainted top sales executives. Because the ability to go out and promote business and get business is more important than finding the men. I was least interested in somebody who would know how to track down a man and find him.”
That insight still holds true today: building client relationships and generating new business is the foundation of a recruiter’s success.
- They Are Recruiters.
Yes, they recruit for a living. That means identifying and engaging high-performing professionals who are currently successful, well-compensated, and not actively seeking a job—and presenting them with compelling, career-advancing opportunities. We call these professionals Candidates.
Recruiters do not spend time with job-hoppers, job-shoppers, or individuals who are chronically unemployed. Those are Applicants, and they are not the focus of a high-performing recruiter’s efforts.
- They Are Discriminators (in the positive, discerning sense of the word).
Top recruiters are highly selective about the job orders they take on. They focus only on the highest quality search assignments—ones that are worth their straight-commission time and effort. These fall into three key categories:
- High-urgency searches – Positions the client needs filled immediately. Recruiters are often brought in to compress the timeline and deliver results quickly.
- Hard-to-fill roles – These are searches that internal teams have already tried to fill—perhaps through advertising, employee referrals, or tapping their networks—without success. In these cases, the recruiter becomes the company’s “court of last resort.”
- Proactive talent scouting – Trusted client companies that want to stay ahead of the curve will ask recruiters to keep them informed of exceptional talent as they emerge, even when there isn’t an active opening.
Next week: Part Four– What Are Recruiters – Part Two
My Best,
Bob
Bob Marshall began his recruiting career over 45 years ago at MR in Reno, NV. In 1986 he established The Bob Marshall Group, International, where he has trained recruiters throughout the United States and also in the United Kingdom, Malta and Cyprus. With a dedication to executive recruiting, he continues to offer his proven training systems to individuals, firms, and private corporations both domestic and in select international territories. To learn more about his activities and descriptions of his products and services, contact him directly @770-898-5550/470-456-0386(cell); bob@themarshallplan.org; or visit his website @ www.TheMarshallPlan.org.
Bob Marshall
President
TBMG, International
247 Bryans Drive, Suite 100
McDonough, GA 30252-2513
770-898-5550
520-842-5550 (fax)