What Makes a Good Recruiter?

Recruiting is an exciting and impactful job. It is full of excitement because every day as a recruiter you are in fierce competition to attract top talent. It is impactful because you can literally change the life of someone by placing them in their dream job and you can effectively change the direction and the success of a corporation with a single significant hire in a key job. Ever wondered what makes a good recruiter? Here are key characteristics that great recruiters possess.

1) Great Communicator – Both Listening & Speaking

Having good listening skills is the backbone of a top-billing recruiter. We take notes of all interactions with our clients and candidates and track these interactions in our database to ensure that we deliver what they want. If you don’t listen to client and candidate needs, then you can’t deliver and, if you can’t deliver, then you don’t offer any value.

It is important to be a clear communicator, both in person and via phone and email. Both the client and the candidate expect to be kept in the loop throughout the entire recruitment process, so it’s essential that we provide all parties with frequent updates and work as a middleman.

2) Relationship Builder

The top billers in recruiting also prioritize their client and candidate relationships and spend time developing them. By truly knowing our stakeholders, we can ensure that we deliver what they require, thus building loyalty and a great reputation in the process. The overall goal is to have your clients and candidates want to come back to you for future placements and/or recommend you to others.

Natural leaders think strategically, prioritizing the relationships that offer promising long-term value, rather than worrying too much about short-term wins.

3) Confident

It’s no secret that the recruiting industry tends to attract extroverts. As a recruiter, networking and interacting with a lot people is part of our day-to-day life, so confidence is key. It’s not only important that we have confidence in ourselves, but also in the services that we can offer a client and candidates.

4) Strong Sales Skills

First and foremost, recruiters are sales people and they achieve their target goals by placing people into jobs. As recruiters, we first sell our services to our clients and then we sell the job to the candidate, explaining why it would be a great opportunity for them to take. If you lack this panache for sales, it will probably be tough for you to get any clients on board.  

5)  Multi-tasker

Recruiters often work on a number of jobs at the same time, from various clients, so you need to be able to juggle several projects at the same time. Sometimes you will need to prioritize certain jobs due to a higher level of urgency to fill the position, so you must also be good at managing your time effectively.

Good recruiters know that things don’t often go as planned. You need to be patient if interviews need to be rescheduled, or if you don’t find the right job candidate in the first round of searches. Though this can sometimes be frustrating, it’s important to not panic and have confidence that you will find the most-qualified candidate for the job.

6) Organized & Goal-oriented

Great recruiters must also work quickly and use the systems and processes set in place to organize and prioritize work. Set your goals and have a clear plan for each day. Smart recruiters will also need to work effectively in teams and utilize all of the available resources that you have at your disposal, directing your time and energy toward the highest value activities and accounts.

Recruitment is an incredibly competitive industry, so it’s critical that you are is driven and can work well under pressure. Recruiters typically work on a commission or bonus basis, which works as an incentive to hit our monthly targets. If you are not willing to put the effort in to meet these targets, then your earning potential will drop significantly.

7) Constantly honing your personal brand

Because recruiting is a highly competitive business, it is crucial to promote and market your services and skills effectively, showcasing your knowledge and demonstrating your ability to add value to the recruitment relationship. Big billers know how to hone their selling, interpersonal and negotiation skills to build up a client base and win great business. Know that every interaction is important – from the way you present yourself– to the way you follow up on client meetings with a personal note, dinner invitation or other value-add activities to position yourself in the forefront of the client’s mind.

In today’s digital world, good recruiters keep up with the current trends. Smart recruiters utilize their social media platforms to further market themselves, effectively blending online and offline activity to meet and exceed their target goals.

8) Passionate & Proactive

Finally, you need to have the passion for this job and be proactive. Posting your job opening on a job board and waiting for a great candidate to come to you is a thing of the past. Why? Because only active job seekers visit job boards.

With the unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, it’s a candidate-driven market and the best job candidates are passive job seekers. These candidates aren't actively looking for a new job but would be willing to consider a better offer.

According to LinkedIn, 70% of candidates are passive job seekers who are not actively looking for new job opportunities. You need to proactively capitalize on inbound recruiting strategies to attract these passive candidates and continue to fill your pipeline with great talent.

If you possess these skills, odds are you would make a fantastic recruiter and truly be able to shape the career trajectory of your candidates and help facilitate business growth for your clients. If this sounds like you, apply to join Lucas Group today!