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Getting “Naked” After Vegas

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Jun 8, 2011
This article is part of a series called Fordyce Forum.

As I boarded the plane to head home from Fordyce Forum this past week, I took a minute to check in and see how I was doing after a whirlwind 2 1/2 days in Vegas….

First, I was a little tired…2 1/2 very full days of training, some recruiting mixed in on breaks, plus the 2 very full and fun nights in Vegas – yep, a little tired.

Secondly, I was feeling a little dehydrated, having been in the desert for 2 1/2 days!

Lastly, despite the exhaustion and dehydration, I was surprisingly energized. In fact, my brain was already racing to Monday morning and some of the changes I wanted to make to my desk as well as a few new things I wanted to implement.

So, I decided as soon as I got home, and before Monday morning got away from me, I was going to take Jeff Skrentny’s advice and spend a little time with myself to “get naked.” (Much to my husband’s chagrin, I meant this in a metaphorical sense, rather than a literal sense.) Here’s what came out of my “naked time.”

Why was I there?

Why did I come to Fordyce Forum 2011? What did I hope to gain, other than a few fun nights with my husband and some other cool recruiting folks? In hindsight, I came for three reasons:

  1. To learn from the experience of those who have gone before me, done it longer than me, and those who have done it better than me.
  2. To gain knowledge: I wanted “tactical and practical” insight to increase both the quantity and quality of my desk.
  3. I came for the people: I wanted to meet and get to know more people who love and appreciate the opportunity to be a recruiter as much as I do.

What did I come away with?

  1. Follow a proven system that you can execute and duplicate. –Adam Dalva
  2. Diversify how you make money — your revenue stream doesn’t have to be only contingent, direct, or perm placement. Open your mind to other types of revenue streams, such as contract work or un-bundling services like resume writing, training clients, etc. –Jeremy Sisemore
  3. Be bullish on sendouts — when in doubt, send them out. You don’t have to like them for your client to like them. –Barb Bruno
  4. Do every activity (source, recruit, market, prep, debrief, profile, etc.) every day. –Bob Marshall
  5. CERS Certification — only 100 or so recruiters in the country have this!?!? Whoa — I’m jumping on that. –Jeff Skrentny
  6. Have a major and a minor specialization. –Mike Ramer
  7. Social Media — don’t do it for the sake of “everyone’s doing it.” Find out what your world is doing, and then get in there and use it. –Jennifer Knippenberg
  8. Know what you do well and delegate everything else. –Jordan Rayboy
  9. There are three main differences between top producers and average producers: top producers do it more often, they do it with higher quality, and they know they will be successful. –Bob Marshall
  10. Look fabulous at 40! –Jen Lambert

I’m so glad I came back

When I attended Fordyce Forum for the first time in 2010, it was some of the best training I had received in years. I finished 2010 as my best year ever in a non-recovered industry, had set new goals for myself and my business again, (let’s face it, after 2009, the idea of a “goal” was a foreign concept…I was still in “survival” mode), and met some cool, fun, intelligent people — who happened to be recruiters too. When I left the conference in 2010, I made a commitment to come back in 2011 — and boy, am I glad I did. I mean, where else was I going to go clubbing with a $1 million producer and a 25+ year veteran of the business, get only 4 hours of sleep, and yet never feel better?

So upon leaving the 2011 Fordyce Forum conference, I am armed with new ideas, a commitment to improving my business, and one last question:

Where’s Fordyce Forum 2012 going to be held?

image source: melbow

This article is part of a series called Fordyce Forum.
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