We’re going to cover here the top five things that we say are critical for recruiters or headhunters to be highly successful in acquiring and retaining the top talent in the market. The skills that we’re going to talk about will apply to anyone who’s recruiting or headhunting for any type of position. In other words, these things are universal. They will apply to everybody in all cases. If you’re able to apply all five of these points, you’re going to give yourself a major edge when it comes to being an effective recruiter. If you’re able to implement only one of them, you may give yourself a slight edge, but when they’re all combined together there is an extremely potent strategy that comes into play.
Number five is organization.
It’s critical as a recruiter that you are organized to be productive and successful. In other words, you need to have a quality candidate tracking system, systems for tracking interviews, data, clients, communication, etc. You need to look at all the different aspects of the recruiting process and be sure that you have an organizational system in place to track and keep place of these things. One of the most important things to be organized around, which is a thing that many recruiters get wrong, is to be organized around your results. You want to track all of your activity and outcomes so that you have a clear scoreboard and a clear picture of your performance. Only when you have a clear picture of the facts of your performance are you able to make tweaks in order to increase your performance.
Number four is tenacity.
A good recruiter is someone who’s not easily frustrated and is someone who never gives up and does what they have to do to get the job done. Again this is applicable for any recruiter, whether it’s somebody on the client side or somebody at an agency. If you’re easily frustrated or easily thwarted or think things are hard, this is going to be very detrimental for a recruiter. A successful recruiter has tenacity in the sense that they never give up, they’re not easily frustrated, and they are constantly looking and thinking in creative ways to produce an outcome. You’ve gotta be a creative thinker who can think outside the box and is able to come up with creative ways to solve problems. All while having fun! If you’re not having fun and you’re easily frustrated or thwarted, recruiting may not be the right field for you.
Number three is integrity.
It’s critical that you build a foundation of integrity both for your clients and your candidates whether you’re on the client side or the agency side of your employer’s brand. There is way too much of what’s known as the resume black hole in the market. The resume black hole is the black hole that resumes go into when people apply for positions and then never hear anything back. Part of your organizational structure should include that all candidates who apply get feedback, and get feedback at every step throughout the process. Nobody should ever be left hanging. This also includes how you communicate with your clients if you’re on the agency side. You need to have structures in place to be sure that you’re communicating with your clients and keeping them up to date on what’s happening with their searches. Even if you aren’t producing the result you want to produce, that is the update that needs to be getting to your clients. In order to be a successful recruiter, you need to build a track record of reliability. If you’re known as someone who is reliable and who can be counted on, this is going to go a long way in you being successful as a recruiter.
Number two is to be a good asker of questions.
In other words, you have to be somebody who knows how to ask the right questions and who knows what questions to ask and when, and isn’t afraid to ask a lot of questions. A good recruiter will ask a lot of questions up front about the open position. A good recruiter knows that the more they know and understand the position, the higher the likelihood is that they will find someone who is a match for it quickly. Many people are afraid to ask questions because they think that they’re supposed to know everything and they’re afraid that people will think that they’re unqualified or don’t know something because they’re asking questions. The opposite is true! You need to be able to ask questions and ask a lot of questions, so that you have a clear understanding of what’s going on. When you’re able to ask the right questions, this will give you a huge edge when it comes to being effective. So learn to love to ask questions, learn the right questions to ask, and make sure you ask them no matter what.
The number one trait is the ability to listen effectively.
A good recruiter is able to listen effectively in all situations. Whether that is when you’re intaking a new position, interviewing candidates or getting candidate feedback. These are all the things that you need to be able to be a good listener. Listening is a huge trait as it takes actually being able to be present with the people that you’re speaking with and asking questions to. A solid recruiter is able to ask the right questions but then also listens in the right way. So you want to practice in all your conversations with people listening intently to what people are actually saying. The problem is we tend to listen to things, not what people are saying, but to the little voice in our head. This tends to be our big downfall! You’ve gotta really train yourself to listen to what other people are saying and fully understanding their answers to your questions. The better you’re able to listen and the more keenly you’re able to listen, the more you will be able to get the correct information from clients, candidates, etc., and to be able to make the right matches.
In Conclusion:
These are the five traits that we say make a rockstar recruiter! You can also call these Five Best Practices. Individually each one is powerful, but when put together you get a potent combination that will make you a rockstar recruiter. Most recruiters out there are lacking in more than one of these and that is why most recruiters end up being mediocre. Recruiting truly is an art, and if you’re able to combine these skills and develop yourself in these areas, you’ll end up being a rockstar who will be an undeniable asset to any organization when it comes to hiring.
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