I'm a recruiter....I get paid to find people. So, why write an article on what it takes to not use me? Well, like everything, nothing is foolproof. There really is no silver bullet and recruiting is an art and it takes time. It's like finding a needle in a stack of other needles surrounded by more needles. It's planting seeds where most of them will die but some will bear fruit.
So how do you get started building a pipeline of candidates without using a recruiter?
Here we go........
1. Your Team
Utilizing your team is the best way to find other advisors. Wealth Management is a small world and a lot of advisors connect with and talk to each other. If your team is small, it may require some additional work such as going to networking events or even creating content. Newsletters, radio spots, e-books, all of these are ways to get your name out and get some name recognition. Once you start doing this, you will be noticed by people in the industry. It will allow you to be more effective with the next steps.
2. Social Media
I see a lot of managers posting things on LinkedIn, and other members of their team sharing the post. This is a great way to get the word out. If you have a Facebook page, post it there. Really post it anywhere. Social Media ties everyone together and with billions of people on one or multiple platforms, you can get some great candidates. A lot of larger firms have content writers and videographers creating things that you can piggyback off of and share on social media. If you're a smaller firm, it will take a little more effort but creating content on who you are and what sets your firm apart will reap huge rewards.
3. Brokercheck
This one takes some time but is a great way to find people in your area that may not be on LinkedIn. Brokercheck allows you to search for licensed individuals within a city/state or zip code. It also allows you to filter based on radius, current licensing, experience, and what company they're currently with. Once you get a list, you can see if they're on LinkedIn, or do a google search to find them. After you find them, shoot them a LinkedIn invite or even shoot them an email. There are a lot of tools that will find emails for you, a lot of them free.
4. LinkedIn Groups
I'm a big fan of LinkedIn groups. A few that I have utilized are: Financial Services Career Center, The Recruitment Network, Mutual Fund and Investment Jobs and Careers, Finance Club, Finance JobSeekers, and RIAmarketplace.xyz. All of these have tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of members. Post that you have an opening available and would appreciate any referrals. Again, it's a small world and more than likely you will receive some names of people who are looking.
5. Open House
Several teams I've worked with have done this to a lot of fanfare. If you have a branch, set something up on a weeknight to have an open house. Let people come in, see the branch, talk to your employees, learn what it's like to work there, etc. Have a themed night like "Women in Finance" or "Learn Why Being a Financial Advisor is so Great." Another option is a virtual open house. One benefit of doing something virtual is you have that video forever and can continually post it on your website and social media feed. It also allows people that may not want to come in because of timing or they don't want anyone to know they're job hunting, to check out what makes you different.
As I mentioned above, not all of these work for everyone. There are a lot of factors in finding that one special needle in a stack of other needles. A lot of times I come in when these things haven't yielded the expected results. At the end of the day, using a recruiter that only gets paid when they find that needle is still a great option. The 5 things mentioned above will give you some great tools on not having to use one at all.
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