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:
- 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.
- To gain knowledge: I wanted “tactical and practical” insight to increase both the quantity and quality of my desk.
- 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?
- Follow a proven system that you can execute and duplicate. –Adam Dalva
- 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
- 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
- Do every activity (source, recruit, market, prep, debrief, profile, etc.) every day. –Bob Marshall
- CERS Certification — only 100 or so recruiters in the country have this!?!? Whoa — I’m jumping on that. –Jeff Skrentny
- Have a major and a minor specialization. –Mike Ramer
- 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
- Know what you do well and delegate everything else. –Jordan Rayboy
- 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
- 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
