Season 4, Episode 5:

MYTH: Anybody Can Be A Recruiter

This week on Recruiter Fuel, Steve sits down with Recruiter, Hanna Root, to debunk another recruiting myth, “anybody can be a recruiter.” A phrase commonly heard from anyone who isn’t a recruiter….

What does Hanna think? “Absolutely not.” She said there is a reason the turnover rate is so high in the recruiting industry. Recruiting is not meant for everyone. Not many end up being THAT successful with it and it does take specific skills to be good at it.

What makes a good recruiter, a good recruiter?

Hanna replied, “I think two things, you have to be knowledgeable about the subject you’re recruiting on, and you have to be authentic.” “But what does ‘be authentic’ mean to a recruiter?” asked Steve. Hanna continued, “It’s creating a brand for yourself, showing that you care more about people’s careers and their livelihood, rather than just placing people in seats to get a commission check.”

How can you be authentic and balance compensation at the same time?

“It’s tricky,” Hanna said, “But at the end of the day if you’re just transparent with your candidates about all the good things and the bad things about the opportunity, they’re going to have a lot more respect for you. Maybe they didn’t take the job, but they had a good experience with you, and that’s what really matters. Everyone knows someone.”

Where do you think the attitude of “anybody can be a recruiter” comes from?

Hanna thinks it stems from the fact that there are so many recruiters out there, especially outsourced companies overseas that treat the process of recruiting as solely transactional and not based on building a relationship. To be successful in recruiting, you have to understand that it’s all about relationship building.

What does a relationship really mean in the recruiter world?

“Offer candidates more than just jobs. We’re supposed to be experts in hiring and staffing, so we should be able to provide the candidates with tips and tools on how to be better with their resume, or during interviews.” Hanna said. Be a resource for them. Provide value through giving direction.

We’ve covered three important traits that a recruiter should have; being authentic, transparent, and a relationship builder. Are there any other characteristics that make up a good recruiter?

Without hesitation, Hanna claimed that being organized is extremely important. Recruiters communicate with tons of people on a daily basis. It’s imperative to come up with a good system so that you are always staying in contact and maintaining a good relationship with everyone you reach out to and work with.

Really great recruiters could be considered really great salespeople.

The best ones understand the difference between a “used car sales pitch” and “professional selling”.

Professional selling is identifying a specific person’s interests and motivations and then targeting your sales pitch towards those things. You as the recruiter have to be the one that uncovers what’s important to the candidate to make a good sell.

Selling is easy if you know what the person’s needs you’re selling to are. You can’t start your conversation with a potential candidate by saying you have a great job for them if you don’t know what their needs are. This is why the same people who say “anybody can be a recruiter” are the same people who say “recruiters suck.”

It’s clear that not everyone has the skill set to be a successful recruiter. The recruiters that do “suck” are the ones that aren’t meant for the job or have never been trained properly. There’s more to being a recruiter than reaching out to as many people as possible to fill a role.

Steve loves the recruiting business. He said, “I think there’s those of us who do it really well, and for the right reasons, and we need to make sure everyone else gets on board with us as well.”