“We’re spending 200 to 300 percent more time educating our candidates about how to establish a value proposition. That value should be evident during every stage of the process, from the initial phone interview through the face-to-face interview. At each step, they should be explaining the value that they’ll bring to the company. That value should make their salary pale in comparison, and it should make our fee look insignificant in comparison.

“We’re saving marketing templates that candidates have been putting together. We had a candidate create a proposal that one CEO said was the best he’d seen in 25 years. It was the best one I’d seen in 22 years. We saved that one and are showing it to candidates so they can see what they have to do in order to get an offer.  We’ve placed three people at companies with hiring freezes this year. It wasn’t easy, but the value proposition was clearly made at each stage of the process.”

(The above information appeared previously in the Networking News newsletter, a publication of Top Echelon Network, the leading split placement network of recruiters.)