The Superstar Recruiter

I come across a lot of aspiring recruiters and talent acquisition professionals and this profession has seen tremendous scope of growth, especially in the last few years the demand of talent for this kind of role has increased.

Becoming a recruiter doesn’t really take any rigorous educational qualifications or out of the line qualities. Also there is no niche technical skill set required to practice recruitment. Starting off as a recruiter is also comparatively easier than most of the allied professions, but for an outstanding recruiter, the path unfolds only if you really foresee a long term career and growth out of the opportunity.

Following Traits and Habits make you a “Superstar Recruitment Professional”:

Are you convinced about being a Recruiter?

Now you may kick-start in recruitments just after your graduation and even before if you are a distance course student. You are actually making a mistake If you taking up this opportunity just for sake. Every profession requires focus and dedication and recruitment too is not just a casual job anymore. If you think you got the “talking tongue” and “eagle eye” to hunt out talent from the crowd, you definitely have beginning traits of a Recruiter.

Go Social & Create a Network

Most of the Recruiter population depends upon their gathered databases and the leading job boards. But those who have realized the power of Social Media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have taken one giant leap forward from the rest. Social recruiting has been in hype in last couple of years and it really isn’t science but practicing requires some efforts. Building or participating in talent communities and evolving recruitment techniques via social channels gives you a better edge over traditional methods. Social Recruiting has evolved from just a tool to a complete methodology adapted by hundreds of search firms and employers across the globe. And let me make it very clear; “Social Recruiting is not about updating your LinkedIn status with some job opportunity”

Learn Marketing

Recruiting became a Sales job in last few years but the recent trends have transformed recruitment more or less into a marketing job. You created the need within the available pool of talent and more than selling the job you need to actually brand it in accordance to the candidate’s expectations. Most of the recruiters intend to sell the “Job Description” to the prospective candidates but an intelligent recruiter will transform that job opportunity into a complete product which can comprise of “job description, the role, the growth, vision and the employer”. This entire exercise needs you

to convert recruitment into marketing and not just purely selling the job. Employer branding is the most important thing today where talent acquisition professionals are putting strong emphasis at.

Go Google

Recruiters are majorly dependent on the database of Job Boards and otherwise the Job Postings. Everyone knows that only 1% to 4% of working population is registered with these databases and have regular access to internet. What about the rest of talent pool available in the market and how to go about them? Headhunting is what takes you to next level of recruitment. Google is your best friend. Practice Boolean searches and dig deeper in google to hunt out information about the prospective candidates or target competitors. Google can give you a gold mine if you are not giving up.

Relationship Management

Yes the relationship building is much more important than just racking up your databases with excel sheets and resumes. Who will even recall your name after a call made in a gap of 2 years or even more? But if you have been wishing birthdays and seasonal greetings, you definitely have maintained a recall proposition. This exercise of relations building with passive or active job seekers or candidates can help a Recruiter in generating strong references for other job opportunities and social support in terms of career counselling, resume guidance, etc. can be an another extension of relationship with the candidates.