When searching for a new place to work, a recruiter may be the one to link you to your next job. Every day, corporate recruiters across the country are working to find and attract high-caliber candidates to meet companies’ needs. This process can be very rewarding for recruiters. Because there’s a lot to like about putting candidates in a position that helps advance their career or grow their earnings.
But what exactly does a recruiter do? What skills do you need to be one? This article explains it all.
Key Takeaways
- To become a recruiter, you need strong networking and communication skills and be able to build relationships with clients and candidates.
- Recruiters can either work in a big organization or a recruitment agency.
- Working with an agency gives a recruiter the opportunity to gain industry
- As a recruiter being resilient and enthusiastic will help you get through difficult times.
What Does a Recruiter Do?
A recruiter is an individual whose job involves finding, attracting, or enlisting employees, new members, and students to mention a few, for open positions in an organization.
Recruiters are grouped under the Human Resource (HR) field. They own the entire talent acquisition process from end to end.
This may include advertising the job opening, reaching out to qualified candidates, reviewing resumes, interviewing candidates, and working with hiring managers to find the right fit.
A good recruiter’s goal is to help the team find a new member whose needs, skills, experience, and attitude fits the company’s culture.
They also help to hire managers to prepare for interviews with job candidates.
What skills does a recruiter need?
Working with candidates and hiring managers– whether internally or as a part of a recruiting agency– requires listening and communication skills to decide which traits, skills, or previous experiences should be prioritized for an open position. And now that you know a bit about the job, you may be wondering if you will be a natural fit for the role of a recruiter. Well, we’ve selected a handful of critical skills and characteristics for success as a recruiter.
Passion to Help
Many recruiters naturally enjoy speaking with people and learning about what they love to do, and what they want to do. A good recruiter works on understanding candidates and you treat them with compassion and integrity. Your job is to make it a win-win situation for both candidates and companies. So you work on understanding the needs and expectations on both sides.
Critical Thinking Skills
A recruiter job involves a lot of data– from salary change to performance metrics and requirements. You have to be able to handle large amounts of information and avoid getting overwhelmed. Also, you need to know how to prioritize your time daily.
Zeal to Succeed
A good recruiter is always on the lookout for the best candidates to fill available positions. You’re always passionate about exceeding the company’s goals in terms of employing new members.
Resilience and Adaptability
Getting the right candidate for a position is hardly ever a straightforward process. No matter how detailed your plan is, there will always be twists and turns you didn’t see coming. This is why recruiters have to be adaptable and ready to move forward and find new solutions. Also, the market changes and new technologies emerge constantly and the goals of individual clients and companies change from day to day.
People Skills
As a recruiter, you need to know how to communicate (both oral and written) with people. It’s common for recruiters to spend a large portion of their work time on the phone talking to candidates or chatting via email. Also, you need to interact with the clients or managers needing to fill a position so you know exactly what they need in an employee. Here’s a list of other skills you need to have to be a successful recruiter.
Where Do Recruiters Work?
There are two main types of work environments a recruiter can work in. Many big organizations will employ their team of recruiters to help get the right candidate to fill available positions in the company. The other option is to work with a recruitment agency to fill positions for various companies. Recruiters employed by a single business usually have a deep understanding of the company’s culture. So, they know how to search for candidates that are the right fit for the position and company.
While agency recruiters often work in a specific area of expertise, such as real estate or health. This allows them to have a deeper understanding of industry trends and the necessary skill sets.
There are various job titles for recruiters, here are a few common related job titles that you may come across:
- Talent Acquisition Specialist.
- Corporate Recruiter.
- Personnel Officer.
- Human Resource Specialist.
- Employment Representative.
- Head Hunter.
- Talent Scout.
- Recruitment Agent.
- Recruiting Specialist.
What’s Enjoyable About Being a Recruiter?
“I get to talk to interesting people every day, help build relationships, and be an advocate for someone’s livelihood. I love seeing my team grow and pushing them to their fullest potential. Also, we have a lot of fun!” – Haillie MacNeill, Team Lead, CRNA Anesthesia.
Your everyday work as a recruiter centers on building a relationship, helping others, and making a real difference.
Promoting an environment that is collaborative, positive, and friendly is key to your success and happiness, as well as the satisfaction of your clients and hiring managers.
You can start working towards being a recruiter today, check out this guide on how to become a recruiter.
What is Challenging About Being a Recruiter?
Working in recruitment is a roller coaster of emotions. Trying to surpass monthly targets is not always an easy task.
Even an experienced recruiter can find it difficult navigating the sea, not to talk of someone starting.
As a recruiter, you need to get used to hearing the word, “no” a lot. Sometimes it will be a client you’ve put a lot of time and effort into trying to win over. On other days, you’ve to deal with your candidates being turned down for their dream role.
But being resilient, determined, and enthusiastic can get you through the first few months– then you begin that none of it’s personal.
A Recruiter’s Job: Making it Happen for You and Others
Being a Recruiter is not the easiest job, but it’s highly rewarding.
A Recruiter’s job is rarely straightforward, and there are reasons why it’s this way. Recruitment is a very rewarding field to be a part of. Because you’re in a position to help candidates find their dream job and companies thrive.
With the right skills and attitude, you’d be a great addition to any HR team!
Getting People Right (GPR) is an educational website providing professionals from all types of businesses with practical education in human resources and leadership. To keep evolving your leadership toolkit, additional GPR resources below will be useful:
