How many recruiters do you know?

The other day, someone asked me, "how many recruiters do you know?"

My social network has grown tremendously over the past few years. I attribute much of that to blogging, the use of social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I'm now directly connected to over 900 people on LinkedIn, which translates to over 13,852,700+ professionals through that network. Through LinkedIn alone, I'm directly connected to over 100 recruiters who work in various non-clinical healthcare sectors.

How many executive search consultants (also often called: executive recruiters, headhunters, talent acquisition consultants, etc.) do you know? If you're not actively looking for a job, then you may not care to maintain these relationships. However, I would encourage you to foster your relationships with recruiters even if you're not actively looking for a job. You simply never know when you may be able to help someone.