As a staffing professional, your job doesn’t just start with providing an expert recommendation to a client about which workers will provide the right set of skills to fill a role. You have to find the candidates first. And expert networking will help. Networking puts you in a room with professionals from a wide range of industries who might be looking for a new job.

Expertly honing your networking skills will allow you to gain introduction to workers who could possibly fill either a current or future position offered by one of your clients. By meeting an individual at a networking event, you are getting a face-to-face evaluation opportunity. Leave a strong impression with a professional at a networking event and then fill out a profile for the individual using your recruiting software. When you are looking to fill a position, you will then have a wider array of people you’ve already met who could fit the role’s requirements. And don’t forget that networking referrals from your candidates and contingent employees are often the best source for new candidates.

Keep these three networking tips in mind so that you make the most out of every meeting:

1) Get rid of the sales pitch. When you are at a networking event, it’s easy to fall back on a choreographed introduction of who you are, who you work for and what you can offer someone. You will often be better remembered as a strong listener – one who showed real interest in others – THEN offer up what you do and your (nine-second) value proposition. Take the time to instead create a bond with a person. People remember those who they enjoyed talking to and they are often more willing to work with an individual if a friendly bond was created. Instead of pushing what you do and what you can offer someone, work on trying to create a natural conversation.

2) Create a tracking method. At larger networking events it can become easy for the names, faces and stories to blur together. Try and create a simple method of tracking all the names and contact information you receive. For example, if you receive business cards you have all of a person’s contact information right there with you. Consider jotting down a few descriptors on the card once you leave his or her presence so that you can better remember details about them. If a potential contact does not have a business card on hand, you have another key tool that can be helpful. Ask the individual if they are on LinkedIn and if it is ok to make a professional connection with them while you are right there at the event using your smartphone.

3) Practice. Our number one piece of advice was not to sound like a sale pitch, however, that does not mean you have to wing it when you walk into a networking event. You can practice more than a few different responses to commonly asked questions so you feel more comfortable at a networking event. This is an especially important step if you feel uncomfortable talking to strangers in an unfamiliar setting. Just because you’re used to performing interviews or talking on the phone with someone, doesn’t mean you are infallible to a bit of social jitters. If you don’t have a rehearsed answer ready or a go-to story, make sure you attend networking events somewhat regularly so you don’t fall out of practice.

As a staffing and recruiting professional, a large part of the job is related to having a database or recruitment program of talented individuals who can fill a position at any time. Do you attend networking events? Do you have any other recommendations for making the most out of these opportunities?

It seems that we can’t do anything without a digital presence anymore. Our phones are now gadgets that can handle a million and one tasks – or waste our time with a game of ‘Angry Birds’. Our televisions have become computers and even remotes are getting a facelift with touch screen applications. You and I are increasingly identified by our digital presence, but are you also remembering to keep a human element to your social strategy?

With miles between us and communication being done in 160 characters, it can sometimes be easy to forget that the audience we are talking to is just like you and I. However, the most successful social marketing or branding strategies enable the human element. The strategies remember the individual amidst the collective.

For example, actor Zach Braff from “Scrubs” is making headlines this week for the quickly rising popularity of his Kickstarter film “Wish I Was Here.” The film is expected to be somewhat of a sequel to the popular RomCom “Garden State,” and Braff wished to fund the project and show his backers how a film is made in a step-by-step process. His goal is to give the audience the ultimate inside look. In less than a week, Braff has managed to raise about $2,491,848 (past his $2 million goal) with about 35,000 backers.

You may think to yourself, that’s great, an actor who has a following, but what does this have to do with me in the staffing industry?

Braff has a history of engagement with his fans. He has over 1,092,000 followers on Twitter and 1,334,421 Likes on Facebook, as of May 8, 2013. Amidst that huge following, instead of talking at his audience, he has remembered to talk with them by creating conversations about projects and mundane tasks and sharing funny GIFs. Instead of talking to his fans about his latest clothing line, he is remembering the human element and trying to create conversations as an individual instead of a brand (consequently increasing his brand’s street cred).

As a staffing professional, you don’t have to be as cool as Zach Braff (even if it might help), but you do need to remember to engage your audience with a sense of integrity and honesty. If you’re slightly nerdy, let that come out a bit in your profile. You can still remain professional, while giving a hint of your overall personality.

The most recent jobs report released by the U.S. Department of Labor was full of positive news for the nation’s economy. Based on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the nation added 165,000 non-farm jobs in April 2013. Significantly, the FordyceLetter reports that temporary workers accounted for 20 percent of all of April’s job growth. That’s 30,800 jobs – almost one in five positions. With this improving employment picture, temporary staffing agencies are seeking ways to improve their margins even as they face new challenges to their business.

The shift in employment trends
In addition, revisions to the previous month’s jobs reports signified that employment growth was greater than reported. New job estimates for February and March 2013 increased by a combined 114,000 – on top of previous numbers. This brings the employment growth for the first quarter of 2013 to 618,000. This is only slightly behind the 208,000 monthly job growth average of last year. While some economists or officials lament the decline, it’s important to remember that any additions are progress and the rate of employment growth is remaining steady – instead of jumping up and down and creating uncertainty in the economy.

The increase in the contingent workforce is a new trend that is picking up speed. A wide variety of industries are showing a preference for hiring temporary workers for some positions. As a staffing professional, this may mean a change in how you conduct business in order to improve your margins. For example, you may find yourself contacting potential job candidates who are experienced working as a freelancer or contingent worker, which is more common in the tech and creative industries. Or, it’s very possible that you could find yourself working to convince a passive job seeker to consider leaving a full-time, permanent position for a contract job. Passive job seekers embody the portion of the workforce not actively looking for a new position, but are not opposed to greater opportunities. By seeking out and recruiting high-caliber candidates you can offer these to your clients for positions that require fast ramp-up times – and so generate higher margins for your business.

What you may need to handle the shift in employment trends

Because of the changing trend in the employment industry and the rapid growth, you may find yourself being inundated with requests from clients and potential job candidates. Especially if you find yourself with a steady go-to group of workers in set industries who specialize in contingent positions, you will have to gain instant access to where these people are in the hiring process. This includes knowing who is under contract when and whether an individual worker and his or her temporary employer decide to turn the position full time.

A cloud-accessible recruiting software that enables you to better understand the situation an employer or potential job candidate may find him or herself in will become necessary. In the fast-paced industry of staffing, missing the right candidate or being unable to have information on hand can be a detriment to your job performance and to the margins you would like to generate. Are you seeing a change in the number of clients who are requesting for contingent workers? Do you think you have the right tools in place to handle this trend?

Are you striking the power pose in every meeting? While it might be great for your own self-confidence, it may not be the best way to boost your business. People enjoy interacting with likeable individuals. If you’re a strong, professional recruiter who gets the job done and is also likeable, you’re more likely to get their business.

However, not everyone has a natural ability to build camaraderie with new acquaintances. This doesn’t mean you’re not likeable, just that the natural ability to put someone at ease and establish a rapport may not be your strongest talent. Here are a few tips for boosting your likeability factor:

1) Keep a positive attitude.

It’s easy to remain positive when things are going your way. However, the true test of a person’s character is her or his ability to keep things positive when work is getting tough or a project is not succeeding. By reflecting a more positive outlook, people will be more inclined to do the same back to you.

2) Let people talk about themselves.

As a staffing professional, a majority of your interactions will be with clients or potential job candidates who are telling you about their needs, skills and experience. As a result, most of the time you should be encouraging individuals to talk about themselves. However, open this up to a more general conversation that is a bit less structured. Take a few minutes here and there to open the discussion up to more personal items. Just remember to make sure no lines are crossed with potential job candidates that could get you into hot water! You’re trying to get the most information about a person to appropriately fill his or her profile in your staffing software, but you’re also trying to identify what type of work environment they would be best in. That ‘cultural fit’ can be extremely important to the long-term success of your placement.

3) Show a bit of holiday cheer.

Regardless of what time of year it is, try and keep goodwill in your heart. Not every missed call or gaffe is intended to make life hard for you. Keeping the warm feelings associated with the winter holidays and other special moments throughout the year will allow you to feel happier and encourage others to also be kinder, more likeable to their peers.

Finally, remember that ‘likeability’ is nearly synonymous with ‘responsiveness.’ Make the effort to return every call and every email from a candidate or employee. Don’t rely on canned responses. Let them know you are interested in their success, and you will be rewarded with trust and a big thumbs-up ‘like’.

Some workers may ask themselves “What’s the difference between a traditional recruiter and online project staffing websites?” While both serve to connect workers with employers, they are hardly the same thing. As a staffing professional, you know that you provide professionals with an invaluable connection to employers that is built on trust and expertise.

However, it’s understandable if you’re worried online project staffing websites are cutting into your business. Elance.com, one of the premier online freelance communities out there, is dominating a large portion of the contingent workforce. But, this unique portal is vastly different than a recruitment firm.

Elance is an industry leader and controls about 25 percent of the online staffing market share, according to a paper from Deutsche Bank Markets Research. Online staffing generated about $1 billion in 2012 and gross revenues are expected to grow to $2 billion by the end of 2014 and $6 billion by 2018.

Approximately 50 percent of the work contracted through Elance is IT, 35 percent is marketing and creative and 15 percent is in a category that lumps customer service, administrative, translation, engineering, finance and legal. While 33 percent of the talent working on the site is based out of the U.S., 60 percent of the hiring companies are U.S. companies. Most of these organizations (90 percent) are small-to-medium sized businesses.

While you may be saying to yourself that those are exactly the markets you’re working in as a recruiter, you have to take a look at how business is conducted on online project staffing websites like Elance. Companies are hiring for particular jobs and projects and rarely are they continuous work. As a result, a vast majority of the jobs offered to contract workers provide work here and there, and while these jobs are certainly positive for a portfolio, many workers are not going to be thrilled with managing a large client base in order to make a living wage.

As a staffing professional, you may offer contingent work in these fields, but it’s typically for longer periods of three or six-month contracts (maybe even longer). You’re hiring and recruiting for a completely different niche, which is why there is enough room in the staffing world to fit both traditional recruiters who use strategic cloud-accessible staffing software and online project staffing websites.

“While online staffing is growing very fast, we believe so far that online staffing is expanding the overall contingent labor market, not yet taking share from temp staffing. We think IT is the staffing discipline that faces the biggest challenge, but not until large companies embrace online staffing – which is likely still a number of years away. Even if SIA is correct in its long-term forecast, online staffing would only take about 1pt off IT staffing’s revenue growth rate annually over the next five years, but even then we have to assume all incremental growth is W2 (which is highly unlikely). Longer term, as the online staffing market develops and becomes more mainstream, we believe temp staffing agencies will either have to embrace this more efficient, self-service model, or miss out on servicing a potentially large piece of the expanded pie,” said Elance senior management, according to Deutsche Bank Markets Research.

The number of employed individuals using both staffing resources may increase as professionals become more comfortable taking on contract work instead of being a part of the permanent workforce. The key question is: Do you think that online staffing represents an employment trend that you should be concerned about? Sound off and let us know.