How to Be a Successful Recruiter

It can be fun to work as a recruiter in a consultant firm or for the corporate agency. In a consultant firm, recruiters are required to handle multiple tasks, clients and source a larger number of resumes, candidates and arrange for interviews. So, what are the required skills to be a staffing agent or a recruiter? What is the actual job role of a recruiter? A few details can help you know if you are fit to work as a human resource recruitment specialist.

Firstly, it is good to have a graduate degree. Having an MBA can be useful in case you are interested in a Human resource generalist role. This would include recruitment, payroll, and offer letter generation, background checking and completing joining formalities for the new candidates. In some smaller organizations, the HR generalist also needs to train the new candidates by briefing them about the company, their job role and the hierarchy of the organization.

Apart from educational qualifications, what else can make you a successful recruiter? During the interview, they usually check your communication skills, convincing skills and confidence. If you have a prior job experience, it would be a good idea to make a flowchart of the organization and your job role. During the interview, it could be shown to the hiring manager when you are asked about your work experience. You can explain the chart in detail and it will definitely give you an edge over the others in line.

A recruiter should demonstrate self-confidence and have a commanding voice. You should be capable of handling 5 to 10 clients and recruit for multiple positions in a day. These would range from trainee level to general manager or even a CEO. You would need to work on multiple level positions to reach the given revenue target for the month.

It is important to have a good knowledge of resume sourcing portals, social networking websites like www.linkedin.com, www.orkut.com,www.facebook.com, www.spoke.com and so on. Usually, every consultant firm looks for candidates on portals like monster.com or similar areas. In order to have an edge, it is important to source for potential candidates on blogging sites and networking sites. This can also prove to be a prospective area for headhunting and making cold calls.

As a recruiter, it is important to look at every resume that comes into your mailbox. At times, you can use it to contact more candidates by asking for references. A sales executive would provide the reference of his manager. Hence, if you have an opening for a sales manager, this could get you one candidate without much delay.

Another important thing that I noted while working at an HR consulting firm was to plan ahead. You need to have a list of candidates joining by the 1^st to the 3^rd week of each month to complete your target. Usually, the recruiter's target depends on his salary and some firms also provide a bonus if you exceed the given target. Therefore, plan in such a way that you have a combination of executive, manager and senior managers joining each month. This ensures that you never remain behind schedule.

Maintain an excel sheet with the number of candidates sourced, interviewed and a list of job offers given to your candidates. It is also important to maintain good relations with your clients by responding to them regularly, checking for assignments and renewing the contract on time. Always keep a print out or a back up of the mails and correspondence from your clients and candidates. This can be helpful during any hiring issues. It is fun to work as a recruiter and these simple tips can help you be a successful one.