How this Veteran Recruiter Averaged $750K Annually for 29 Years Straight, with David Bradley, Ep #216

Being a high biller requires a combination of hard work, skills, and strategies. But what does it really take?

My special guest, David Bradley, is a 29-year veteran who averaged $750k in annual billings his entire career! In this episode, David shares the strategies and mindset that make him a very effective recruiter! On top of that, David also manages high-volume accounts with a team of 60 headhunters. If you are a recruitment leader like David, you will find insightful takes on how he manages KPIs and how they drive a culture that is geared towards performance.

In 2009, David helped start Movement. He is a partner with Movement and has been an instrumental part in helping the firm grow from 3 to 65 plus headhunters over the past 14 years.

Movement has 5 brick and mortar offices across the United States.

Episode Outline and Highlights

• [02:29] How David got into the recruiting business.
• [07:14] Top recruiter secrets & grinding on a 10-5-2 formula.
• [10:32] Structuring daily activities & time management best practices.
• [17:52] You need to get three critical pieces of information when speaking with a candidate.
• [24:26] The foundation of what makes David a successful recruiter.
• [26:50] Movement’s culture and mission.
• [34:30] Striking the balance when managing your team’s KPI.
• [37:40] Retaining the momentum in 2024 - key to continuous growth and eight-figure billings.
• [45:20] How Movement’s owners play different roles?
• [52:29] David’s future growth plans.

 

What it Takes to Be a Top Recruiter

What does it take to become a top recruiter? It certainly involves grind and hard work. David’s 29-year experience provides him with a credible perspective on what it takes to be successful. This also gives him an advantage as a recruitment leader - his capabilities are a testament to how his team has been performing. Below are the critical topics that David and I discussed:

 

• 10-5-2 Formula

• Being cognizant of your time

• Planning ahead of your phone time

• Mindset

 

If you are listening, as a recruiter or recruitment leader, David's insights are inspiring!

 

The Foundation of Being a Successful Recruiter

 

Being consistently successful in a long time requires more than hard work. There is something else and David generously shared his secret sauce:

 

“So I think having that gratitude, understanding that we get to talk to people for a living and have just an incredible life, incredible income opportunity, incredible balance, we can manage our life any way we want it… And I think that fuels getting up in the morning and saying, you know what? This is gonna be another great day. It's gonna be a great year. It's gonna be a great month. Well, if it's not been a great month, next month's gonna be great. So having that sort of mindset, I think, is really, and factor a lot of fun into this.”

 

This fantastic mindset is an invisible but highly influential factor that determines your success as a recruiter or recruitment business owner. Possessing a positive mindset enables us to navigate the favorable and unfavorable changes we encounter with resilience.

 

The Keys to Continuous Growth and Eight-Figure BIllings

 

David shares how Movement produced $20M in billings around 2022-23. It was a great year for them post-Covid, and the systems and frameworks they had at the time enabled them to retain the momentum even when things appear to slow down in 2024. I wanted to pick David’s brains on the culture and systems they have in place, given that not many recruiting firms get above 8 figures. 

 

My takeaway is how they emphasise creating and enabling a culture geared towards high performance.  They have annual trips for the top 10% of producers, on top of regular social activities and loyalty bonus programs. They also have annual meetings where they fly everyone in, including their staff’s spouses. Doing so contributes to relationship-building and as David said, “an essential part of the culture.”

 

David also discussed their profit-sharing scheme. What I also loved was his insights on managing KPIs while not micromanaging everything.

Our Sponsor

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro 

i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Their technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees, and increase their billings. Their software combined with world-class training enables you to transition from transactional, contingency recruiter to consultative, retained recruiter. Instead of being perceived as a “me too” vendor, you’ll be positioned as a “me only” solutions provider. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: https://recruitmentcoach.com/retained

 

David Bradley Bio and Contact Info

 

David is a 29-year veteran of the headhunting business. David stumbled into the business in 1995 when he was working with a headhunter to help him find a sales job. The tables got turned and David actually got hired as a headhunter. He spent the next 16 years working for Spherion. He enjoyed success right from the beginning. He billed $175K in year 1 and the following year billed close to $400K and he never looked back from there.

 

In 2009, he left Spherion (later known as Ranstad) to help start Movement. He is a partner with Movement and has been an instrumental part in helping the firm grow from 3 to 65 plus headhunters over the past 14 years. Movement has 5 brick and mortar offices across the United States.

 

* He has been a leading producer at Movement with 750+ placements since 2009 with the most placements in the firm's history (Personal billings of $1.3M in 2023, $1.1M in 2022, and averaged $750K+ in billings throughout his career)

* He manages high-volume accounts with a team of 60 headhunters

* He has helped mentor aspiring headhunters into the business.

* He has completed over 2500 placements throughout his career.

* Member of Pinnacle Society since 2023.

* David holds an MBA from Franciscan University.

 

David has been married to his lovely wife for 32 years and has 5 grown children (ages 17 to 31) He is an avid hockey player and resides with his family in Clarkston, MI.

 

• David on LinkedIn

• David on Facebook

• David on X (Twitter) @jdavidbradley

• David on YouTube

• Movement Search website link

 

People and Resources Mentioned

 

• Pinnacle Society website link

 

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• Mark on LinkedIn, 

• Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby

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• Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

 

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