Home » 2010 » March » Monday the 15th » On Becoming A Recruiter

3/15/2010 @ 8:46:40 pm by dynamicareers.com

On Becoming A Recruiter


Do you enjoy talking to people you’ve never met? Would you be comfortable asking others about the intimate details of their professional lives—including how much money  they are make?  Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where you have to divide your attention among multiple competing priorities like a bee pollinating a rose garden?

Do you enjoy competition? Does the prospect of finding the most perfect person to fill a particular job give you goose bumps? Is money—and lots of it—motivate you?  If so, you might want to look in to the world of professional recruiting which can offer you challenges galore—if you can make it through the disappointments.

So what exactly is the role of a professional recruiter--aka Headhunter? First and foremost, it is to identify an individual who has the skill, knowledge and ability to work in a given role. (In a sense, it’s substantially similar to running a dating service, where you are seeking compatible personality matches between men and women. Only in this case, you’re seeking compatible professional matches between a company and its employees.

In essence, a recruiter serves as a catalyst or an intermediary between positions to be filled and an available pool of candidates. How does a recruiter find these candidates? The short answer is through his connections—and lots of them!  The long answer is through his connections!

Recruiting professionals tend to be paid handsomely. Many serve as what is called ‘contract employees’ where they come and go as a function of the recruiting contracts that are available. Contrary to the way an employment agency works—i.e. finding jobs for people—a recruiter finds people for jobs. When successful, it’s not at all unusual for a recruiter to be paid up to 25% of their candidate’s salary, and sometimes more in the case of executive searches. In sharp contrast, so-called ‘in-house’ recruiters draw a regular salary, and consequently do not reap the benefits of such a large payment.

The goal of a recruiter is to network with as many ‘quality’ candidates as is possible during their work day.  They chat on the phone, attend luncheon meetings and forge relationship wherever they can, on the theory that one day these relationships will pay off handsomely. 
They learn all they can about various businesses and their needs so that when the time comes they have already positioned themselves as industry experts. Some recruiters even assist their candidates in writing and re-writing (or ‘tailoring’) their professional resumes as well as prepare for the interview ahead.

In addition to a stellar personality, an engaging manner and the ability to speak articulately, recruiters need to have a considerable amount of creativity so they can develop new and different ways to entice and attract candidates.

 

 

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