How to Build a Successful Executive Search Business While Running Your Own Desk, with Jeff Herzog, Ep #71

The Resilient Recruiter

The toughest job in recruitment is the role of a Billing Manager. You’re trying to build a team and run an office with all that entails -- hiring, training and managing recruiters. Plus you’re trying to lead by example, looking after clients and making placements.

It’s certainly not easy - but it can be done.

My special guest, Jeff Herzog, has mastered the balancing act of the Billing Manager. Jeff is the President of F-O-R-T-U-N-E Personnel Consultants, an executive search franchisor with 62 offices that has been recognized as one of the top 1% of professional search firms in the United States. He also manages an office, FPC of New York City, recruiting for manufacturing companies nationwide. On top of all that, he still runs a desk and maintains a high level of personal production.

In this interview, Jeff shares his approach to making the most effective use of his time. He reveals how he uses technology combined with “resource allocation” to successfully run a franchising system while managing a recruitment office and running his own desk. Jeff provides lots of practical tips and approaches that really make sense.

Also, Jeff divulged strategies for engaging with candidates and overcoming the challenges of delivering them to your clients.

Episode Outline and Highlights

• [1:16] Having 62 offices in the US, Jeff shares his perspective in terms of what is happening in the market now and how that compares with last year.
• [6:30] Turndowns and counteroffers - Jeff shares 3 keys to reduce the risk.
• [15:10] Overcoming the challenges of delivering candidates with VA & technology.
• [20:15] Sharing best technology tools for recruitment (aside from LinkedIn).
• [22:15] Three strategies for reaching out to candidates that are difficult to engage with.
• [27:48] Learn the seven touches in 14 days rule when reaching out.
• [30:30] Juggling three full-time jobs at a time, how does Jeff do it? Two tips.
• [40:27] When is the right time to hire and expand your business?

Overcoming the Challenges of Delivering Candidates

After the recent disruption to the market caused by the pandemic, a lot of industries are now bouncing back and hiring a lot of talents. Rather than just getting job orders, Jeff believes that delivering candidates is a more difficult task. How should recruiters overcome this challenge? Jeff mentioned two best practices:

• Technology - making sure that they fully utilize their own ATS (applicant tracking system) and CRM (customer relationship management) properly.
• VAs - Virtual assistant services are used in certain parts effectively.

Jeff also gave an interesting insight on how technology should be utilized in the recruitment business. “AI can make us more efficient, but it’s never gonna replace recruiters…” Jeff truly believes that recruitment is a human business. Technology is a tool - having a high tech but high touch process will make us win in the long term. He concluded, “It is really balancing, not overplaying your hand with technology and not underplaying the importance of human connection.”

Reach-Out Strategies

I also asked Jeff - what has been his most effective strategy for reaching candidates that are difficult to engage with? He gave three key strategies:

• intuition
• research
• brute force

Jeff shared, from personal experience, how he applied all three. As he mentioned, “We have so much more information today than we ever had before, but so much less connection.”

Running a Franchise While Managing His Own Desk

Jeff is doing something that can be overwhelming to most of us - running a successful franchise operation, running his own desk making placements every month, and having an office with recruiters working for him. How does he manage to pull that off? Hear at least two pointers on resource allocation and working on your business.

“Even if you’re a single desk recruiter on this call, right now. You have to look at what you do as a business. It’s not just a desk, you’re not just a recruiter, it is a full-fledged business and you need to have figured out how to be more efficient,” he explained. Hear how he further elaborated his mindset and how he started from scratch.

Jeff Herzog Bio and Contact Info

Jeff Herzog, President and Chief Development Officer, F-O-R-T-U-N-E Franchise Corp. (FPC National). Jeff brings over 20 years of experience in recruitment and recruitment advertising from a variety of companies including Update Legal Staffing, CareerBuilder.com and Tribune Corporation. He was promoted to President of F-O-R-T-U-N-E in October 2016. Prior to that, in 2007, Jeff started FPC of New York City – a company owned recruiting office where he spent ten years placing mid to senior-level executives in life sciences companies around the country. Jeff was the Director of Recruitment and Real Estate Advertising for Newsday, a Tribune Publishing Company. There he managed a budget of over $80 million and oversaw a staff of over 70 employees. He was voted Manager of the Year and was one of the youngest employees to be selected to join the exclusive Tribune Leadership Development Program. Jeff came to Newsday via another Tribune subsidiary, CareerBuilder.com where he was the Area Sales Manager for the New York office. Jeff began his career in recruitment as the manager of the New Jersey office of Update Legal Staffing in 1997. Jeff graduated from SUNY Albany and he lives in Old Bethpage, NY with his wife Denise and their three sons, Benjamin, Derek and Chase.

• Jeff on LinkedIn
• FPC National website link
• FPC Franchise website link
• FPC National on Twitter @FPCnational
• FPC National on LinkedIn

People and Resources Mentioned

• Doug Bougie on LinkedIn

Connect with Mark Whitby

• Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call
• Mark on LinkedIn
• Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby
• Mark on Facebook
• Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

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• TRR # 69 Recruitment Legends: Leadership and Life Lessons From 40 Years in the Global Recruiting Industry, with Doug Bugie

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