Vladimir Covic

10. Things You Can Do Today to Become a Better Recruiter It’s no secret that a recruiter and a hiring manager are often not friends, to put it bluntly. However, for every five recruiters who cause their hiring managers to pull out their hair, there is at least one that does a damn good job. How can you become that top notch recruiter and a commodity for your employer? Here are 10 things you can do today to become a better recruiter: 1. Lead panel interviews to eliminate hiring mistakes. Recruiters are people like any other. That means you may like some candidates more than others and may even become biased. Should you refuse a candidate an interview with the hiring manager just because he wears a beard or is a little overweight? To eliminate these mistakes, makes sure to conduct a panel interview and lead it yourself. 2. Understand the hiring requirements of the company your represent Sit down (or call or email or Skype) the hiring manager and ask him or her: “What are your current priorities for filling position X?” Don’t forget to write it down. This way, you will definitely improve the quality of the hire and will be able to much more clearly present to candidates what are you looking for in them. 3. Be aggressive in identifying and attracting the best hiring candidates Slow and meek recruiters rarely get the job done. The profession often demands aggressive, quick-thinking individuals to do what’s necessary. If your employer wants the best people for the sales department, it is your job as a recruiter to give him the best candidates. This is why you can’t rely on only one method of recruiting such as Internet postings, agencies or job boards, but as many of them as possible and you have to be a master of all. 4. Know the answers to the tough questions the candidate will ask At some point, after presenting him the job position, the candidate will have questions of his own. If he doesn’t have any questions, don’t bother the hiring manager with such a candidate. But, for those that do have questions, you need to have answers at the ready. Even for the tough questions. A lot of the questions the candidates will ask might have answers that they don’t necessarily like and that will turn them away from the job you have for them. They might not always like the answers you are offering, but under no circumstances should you try to sugar-coat them. That way neither the candidate nor the employer will get what they want in the end. 5. Asses the candidate’s performance, not just the experience and skills Experiences and skills that the candidate has are definitely important for the hiring decision, but what’s even more important is how they performed at their previous jobs. You shouldn’t look for average candidates that match the requirements, but for extraordinary ones, those who are above and beyond their peers. These are “achievers” and if you find that they might not fit in a particular department, make an effort to find a department that fits them well. Even if it means putting a bit more effort. 6. Introduce the candidate and the hiring manager yourself A lot of recruiters simply refer the candidate to the hiring manager and, as far as they are concerned, finish with that candidate. But put yourself in the candidate’s shoes. They must be nervous for the interview, waiting in front of the hiring manager’s office, resume and CV in hand, while waiting for the other candidate to finish. Instead, an excellent recruiter will accompany the candidate to the interview. This will give you some more time to maybe give a few extra tips to the candidate and ensure his success at what could be the most important interview in his or her life. Finally, when you get to your destination, you should be the one to introduce the candidate to the hiring manager (and vice versa) as, after all, you are not only a recruiter, but also a match-maker in a sense. 7. Less is more The amounts of resumes you send to the hiring manager are in no way an indication of how good you are at your job. They have better things to do than look over 50 resumes for one position. Instead, send them only the best candidates’ resumes. That way, you will make everyone’s life much, much easier. 8. Follow and measure different recruiting methods To the uninitiated, recruiting probably equates to picking the person you like the most. But this isn’t the school playground where there’s always one kid left behind. Instead, there’s a lot of thinking involved and you will have a number of recruiting methodologies at your disposal. Naturally, not all of them will work all the time. That’s why you need to carefully follow and measure both failure and success in these methodologies. Pay attention to the smallest detail, including things like cost of acquisition or source of hire and eliminate those that don’t work. 9. Ensures that the candidate understands the job before you talk about the pay Many candidates immediately jump to this question: “what’s the pay?” Then, if you say an amount that they like, they beam up and accept the offer. If they don’t they say their thanks and leave the interview or hang up. Ignore the compensation for a moment and explain to the candidate instead why this could be a good move in their career. Make sure they understand the job requirements and what will be expected of them. You’d be surprised at how you can turn their opinion of this job by simply explaining to them what it is. Then you can talk about compensation and everything that goes with it. 10. Remember, practice makes perfect Just as a talented basketball player needs practice to become an excellent athlete, you as a good recruiter, need to practice your skills constantly to become a great one. Always aim to improve yourself, add no skills, try new approaches and be persistent in your practice. Conclusion Recruiting can be a mess sometimes, but only when it comes to bad recruiters, who are disorganized. To be a better recruiter, you need to get organized and to always remember these 10 things if you want to help your clients and candidates.