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What makes a great recruiter?
Is it strong sales techniques? Great charisma? Or is it more about tenacity, being a machine on the phones calling candidate after candidate?
In our view, it’s a bit of all the above…but also so much more. We outlined 3 key traits that separate a truly great recruiter from the rest.
A Focus on Quality Over Quantity
The recruiting industry is sadly flooded with the misconception that more is better when it comes to candidates.
But if you’ve worked with an experienced recruiter focused on real value, you know that a high candidate volume is actually more of a liability.
If you’re hiring one individual, why interview more than a handful of high-quality submittals? Why review more than five or ten resumes?
In other words, why waste your time on anything but the best candidates in the talent pool?
A recruiter that truly knows their talent market and has put in the time to surface some high-quality candidates will present the best candidates available.
Novice recruiters may submit more candidates to present more options, but a great recruiter already knows exactly what you want and what will fit your team.
They deliver a highly targeted shortlist of candidates so you don’t have to waste time sifting through anything but the best.
They Are Truly Transparent
Transparency is a crucial part of making great hires. Unfortunately, even good recruiters may withhold key details.
Many good recruiters are still paid by commission, which means their take-home pay is tied to how fast they can make a placement.
Other companies will put pressure on their recruiters to speed up the process.
We all want to make a great hire in a timely fashion. But one of the key differences between a good recruiter and a great one is the emphasis on sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly about your slate of candidates.
The best recruiters seek to build strong relationships with candidates and clients long-term. They’re focused on finding a candidate that thrives on your team for the long haul.
It’s not just altruism, it’s good business. If you find value in our candidate not only today but 18 months from now, you’ll probably want to use our services again.
Most anyone can make a hire. The real value is in making hires that deliver results on your team for years to come.
They Offer Expertise on YOUR Talent Market
A great recruiter brings a wealth of expertise on your particular talent market. Be it healthcare, finance, or tech, they know what skill sets, level of experience, and candidate profiles will be accessible or not in your talent pool.
The best recruiters pair this expertise with the confidence and self-assurance to check your assumptions. In other words, they’re not afraid to tell you “no” if your expectations aren’t feasible.
Oftentimes, hiring managers only hire for a specific position every few years or longer. In these cases, it’s easy to assume it will be just as easy to hire a certain candidate as it was five years ago.
A recruiter who’s been working very closely in this talent market will be able to check your assumptions. They’ll offer guidance on whether you’re looking for a “unicorn” candidate that can’t be found or whether your salary band is too high or low.
Finally, by asking you open-ended questions about your goals and needs, they might have smart suggestions for the candidate profile that would best serve your team.
By referencing how other companies and organizations have built teams and recruited candidates, they may have ideas on how you could achieve the same results with a type of candidate you never thought of before.
For example, they may have advice on overcoming a talent shortage by recruiting candidates with a highly similar skillset from a different industry than yours.
The more knowledgeable someone is about your talent market, the greater the chance they can offer creative solutions to your hiring challenges.
Recruiting is the Future of Your Business – Don’t Settle
With every new hire, you’re bringing on someone who might be tomorrow’s top-performer or your next great leader. The future of your organization quite literally hinges on your ability to make awesome hires and build teams that deliver results. As a result, you shouldn’t settle for any less than the best when it comes to your recruiting support.
If you’d like to get more practical advice on how to make great hires, subscribe to our YouTube channel today.
