How Select Headhunter Took Recruiting To The Next Level With Text Blaze

Note: This GIF shows how to copy snippets to your dashboard so that you can use them and customize them to fit your needs.

Andrew Hairs, CEO of Select Headhunter:

Select Headhunter Indonesia is a recruiting and headhunting firm for mid to senior-level positions in the Indonesian market. We work with two types of stakeholders - companies, who are looking to hire talent, and candidates, who are looking for a job.

Driving results consistently

“With best practices implemented using Text Blaze, we’ve been able to increase candidates’ response rate on LinkedIn from 5-10% to 50%”

Andrew Hairs — CEO, Select Headhunter

In our line of work, following communications best practices consistently is key. We implement those through shared frameworks. For the recruiting process, for example, we have 12-stage framework including qualifying a candidate, interviewing a candidate, preparing a candidate for an interview, debriefing them and so on.

We use Text Blaze to implement these frameworks consistently across channels (LinkedIn, Gmail and our ATS). When we take a job order, for example, we have a Text Blaze snippet that is a script for the conversation and includes all the questions and information that needs to be gathered.

Similarly, when we conduct candidate interviews, we use Text Blaze snippets that include interview questionnaire pickers that our consultants can use to create their own interview, but ensure consistency.

[Simplified] Interview Framework

{note}Introduction Hello, I am talking to <candidate name>? I represent Select Headhunter and we are working with a <industry sector of job> company who are seeking a <Job Title>. Briefly describe the position Describe ‘need’, outcomes, responsibilities Describe person, skills, experience{endnote: trim=left} Interest Does this position sound of interest to you? {formmenu: name=Interested; Yes; default=No - discuss motivation and goals; cols=29} {if:Interested="Yes"} Current position You are currently working at {formtext: cols=28}, is that correct? What is your current position: {formtext: cols=39.5} Who do you report to? {formtext: cols=45} Has anyone called you to describe a similar position? {formmenu: Yes; No; cols=21; default=Select; name=similar} {if: similar = Yes} {formparagraph: cols=63; rows=2; name=Who?When?}{endif}

Simple Interview Question Builder Please select the type of questions you wish to use {formmenu: name=Interview_Questions; multiple=yes; Motivation; Behavioural; Situational; Skills-based; cols=63} {repeat: for choice in Interview_Questions} {=choice} {if: choice = "Motivation"}Please select the type of motivational questions you wish to use {formmenu: What's your understanding of the role and why are you interested?; What parts of your current role do you really love?; What parts of your current role frustrate you?; name=Motivation_Questions; cols=63; multiple=yes} {repeat: for choice in Motivation_Questions} {=choice} {if: choice = "What's your understanding of the role and why are you interested?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: choice = "What parts of your current role do you really love?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: Choice = "What parts of your current role frustrate you?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {endif} {endrepeat} {elseif: choice = "Behavioural"}Please select the behavioural questions you wish to use {formmenu: At times you will be asked to do many things at once. How do you prioritise your tasks?; Have you ever worked in a role where priorities and goals have changed frequently, what were they and how did you ensure you were successful in that environment?; Tell me about a project or idea that was implemented or executed upon successfully because of your efforts?Tell me about a time when you've thought about the bigger picture and recommended or implemented a change that's had long term benefits?Tell me about the most difficult stakeholder you've had. Why was this the case and how did you make the relationship productive?; name=Motivation_Questions; cols=63; multiple=yes} {repeat: for choice in Motivation_Questions} {=choice} {if: choice = "At times you will be asked to do many things at once. How do you prioritise your tasks?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: choice = "Have you ever worked in a role where priorities and goals have changed frequently, what were they and how did you ensure you were successful in that environment?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: Choice = "Tell me about a project or idea that was implemented or executed upon successfully because of your efforts??"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {endif} {endrepeat} {elseif: Choice = "Situational"}Please select the situational questions you wish to use {formmenu: If you had two important deadlines coming up, how would you prioritise your tasks?; What steps would you take to make an important decision on the job?; You realise that an early mistake in a project is going to put you behind deadline. What do you do?; name=Motivation_Questions; cols=63; multiple=yes} {repeat: for choice in Motivation_Questions} {=choice} {if: choice = "If you had two important deadlines coming up, how would you prioritise your tasks?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: choice = "What steps would you take to make an important decision on the job?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: Choice = "You realise that an early mistake in a project is going to put you behind deadline. What do you do?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {endif} {endrepeat} {elseif: Choice = "Skills-based"}Please select the skills-based questions you wish to use {formmenu: Talk us through your professional and technical skill set.; What is the one professional and/or technical skill you would most like to develop?; Based on your understanding of this role, which of your skills do you believe will be most valuable to our organisation?; name=Motivation_Questions; cols=63; multiple=yes} {repeat: for choice in Motivation_Questions} {=choice} {if: choice = "Talk us through your professional and technical skill set."}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: choice = "What is the one professional and/or technical skill you would most like to develop?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {elseif: Choice = "Based on your understanding of this role, which of your skills do you believe will be most valuable to our organisation?"}{formparagraph: cols=63; rows=10} {endif} {endrepeat} {endif} {endrepeat}

Looking at the job specifications, what are you strongest in? {formparagraph: name=; cols=63; rows=2} Looking at the job specifications, what are your weak spots? {formparagraph: name=; cols=63; rows=2} What aspects of your current job do you find frustrating? (push factors) {formparagraph: name=; cols=63; rows=2} What are you looking for in the new job? (pull factors) {formparagraph: name=; cols=63; rows=2}

Compensation & Benefits (GROSS) {note}(explain to the candidate that as part of our process we provide compensation information to our clients when we submit a candidate and before an offer is made we will request proof of salary in the form of a salary slip. Then collect the following information){endnote} Basic Salary: {formtext} x {formmenu: default=13; 14; 15} months per year Variable bonus: {formtext: cols=50.5} Car allowance: {formtext: cols=51} COP / Company car: {formtext: cols=46.4} Government insurance: {formtext: cols=44.2} {endif}

“We're not only building consistency by using frameworks, but we're also making sure that all valuable information is logged to our recruiting system.”

Andrew Hairs — CEO, Select Headhunter

Recently, as a result of a training we went through, we changed the way we interact with potential candidates on LinkedIn to incorporate communications best practices. We implemented these touch points as Text Blaze snippets and have seen a significant improvement in candidates response rate from 5-10% response rate previously to 50%.

BD Industry Function message #1

Hello {formtext: name=name}. I'm {="{user: username}"} and I am a {="{user: jobtitle}"} Select Headhunter Indonesia. I specialise in placing the top 5% of senior {formtext: name=function} professionals with {formtext: name=specific sector} companies in Indonesia.
I have been following your company for some time and notice an increase in your hiring activity. I would be very interested in arranging a 10 minute introduction call to introduce myself and discuss benefits of working with a specialist headhunter. Would you be available now or later today?

BD Industry Function message #2

Hello again. I just wanted to check that you had received my last message? I appreciate you are a busy person, but I really feel I can introduce you to some excellent candidates. Are you free to talk now or should I call you later today?

BD Industry Function message #3

I am following up on my last message regarding the supply of senior {formtext: name=function} professionals within the {formtext: name=specific sector} sector.

As I haven't heard back from you, I would like to know who would be the right person to contact in your organisation to discuss recruitment? Who else do you know that might be looking for these types of people? Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

Boosting productivity

“Text Blaze saves us a lot of time on the repetitive elements of our role”

Andrew Hairs — CEO, Select Headhunter

Recruiting has a significant sales component, whether it’s selling a job to a candidate or selling our services to an employer. These sales interactions include a lot of repetitive messaging and follow-ups in email or on LinkedIn.

Text Blaze saves us a lot of time on repetitive communications. We create a number of templates for the different touch points and Text Blaze makes it easy for consultants to follow up and make sure they're getting through to the right person.

Ensuring quality of communications

“Text Blaze helps us ensure that our messages are on brand and error-free”

Andrew Hairs — CEO, Select Headhunter

Our consultants are all Indonesian and are based in Indonesia. They're working in English, which is their second language.

Text Blaze allows us to to make sure that our communications are not just aligned with our framework and best practices, but also are accurate and don’t contain grammatical or spelling mistakes.

How to implement Text Blaze successfully

We started by creating snippets for the entire team and then encourage the team to use them. Then we used the Text Blaze reporting functionality to track which consultants are using Text Blaze snippets.

For some, a change in behavior such as adopting a new tool is hard. To encourage adoption, we connected the slow adopters with heavy users so they can understand the benefits and value of Test Blaze from their peers.

As consultants adopt Text Blaze, we track snippet usage at the consultant level and we nudge them in the right direction if they're not using some of the shared snippets.

Our consultants can also create their own snippets, if they’d like to add a personal touch or twist to their communications. We also use randomization in our snippets to create variations of the same message and make sure they’re not all the same.