November 10, 2020
Recruiters are selfless. They’re constantly looking out for their clients – trying to find the best jobs for candidates, the best candidates for companies, and offering career advice in between. It’s a lot! For all the recruiters out there, we know you are constantly searching for the best-of-the-best talent, but when was the last time you focused on you and your own skill set? It may feel counterintuitive to pause from helping others to focus on your own career development, but it’s necessary to continue to learn and grow. There are certain habits and qualities that differentiate the good recruiters from the great recruiters, and whether you’re new to recruiting or looking to take the next step in your career, the following tips and tricks will ensure you are setting yourself up for long-term success.
1. Know the big picture.
What’s your company’s goal in terms of how they want to grow? Does your hiring plan align with their greater goal? When you understand your company’s strategy, you’ll search for, and find, candidates that will benefit your organization’s growth. This is how you become an essential strategic partner at the firm you’re hiring for, and it will also set you up for leadership positions down the line.
2. Forecast departments’ hiring needs.
Once you understand the big picture, you’re able to be a step ahead of hiring managers by anticipating which roles will soon be open or created. Start building pipelines by engaging with passive candidates so you’ll have a pool of qualified prospects to pick from when positions become available. Automated sourcing tools like Fetcher allow you to maximize your sourcing efforts with their 1-click web extension & applicant sorting tool, saving you time to focus on hiring strategy and candidate engagement.
3. Build job descriptions with the hiring manager.
It’s likely that the hiring manager is handing you a JD that was copied and pasted from that last time the position was open, which could have been many years ago. Oftentimes it’s better to start from scratch. This may not be an easy conversation to have with your hiring manager, but it separates the great recruiters from the good ones. Learning how to have uncomfortable conversations is a key trait of strong recruiters. There will be times when you need to have tough conversations with hiring managers about unprofessional interviewing, or with candidates about not getting their dream job. Building confidence in these situations is essential for a successful recruiting career.
4. Track metrics so you know which recruiting methods are working and which aren’t.
If you’re not measuring your efforts, you can’t expect to see improvements. Figure out which channels are bringing in the best candidates. Don’t waste time sourcing from a platform that isn’t delivering. Yes, candidate metrics can be really hard to quantify. Fetcher’s robust analytics dashboard can help! From team performance to outreach to engagement, Fetcher allows you to monitor key metrics most pertinent to your hiring goals.
5. Never “ghost” a candidate.
If a candidate isn’t the right fit for a job, have a conversation with them. Explain why they didn’t land the role so that they can learn and grow from the experience. Turn rejections into relationships. If you liked the candidate, and feel they have potential, stay in touch for future job openings. Overall, be empathetic. No one likes to be left in the dark, especially in these uncertain times. Aim to be as transparent as possible when letting candidates know they didn’t get the job.
6. Attend virtual HR events.
There are dozens of quality webinars and online conferences being offered these days. Attending these events is a great way to learn more about your industry, gain new skills, and also network with other recruiters.
You can find events on sites like…
LinkedIn Talent Solutions
Lever
Human Resources Today
7. Harness a strong command of technology.
The right technology can give you a huge competitive advantage by streamlining your process and automating monotonous tasks. If you’re not leveraging technology to help with sourcing, outreach, and candidate tracking you’re going to lose top talent and fall behind other modern recruiters. Embrace automation so you’ll have more time to focus on more important tasks. Check out Fetcher.ai to learn more!
8. Find a great mentor.
While it’s important to stay ahead of the competition by staying up to date on the latest trends and technologies, it’s also helpful to learn from the past. Having a mentor who has years of experience with recruiting can help guide you through professional issues that arise throughout your career.
9. Study up on marketing, sales, and PR techniques.
As a recruiter, you need to be a jack-of-all-trades. You must be able to market job postings, sell candidates on your company, and hone your personal brand as a recruiter. If you feel weak in any of these departments, it’s worth investing time in an online course or seminar to strengthen these skills.
10. Use social media.
Today, 15% of job hunters use social media to find their next job. Go beyond LinkedIn and source from Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram. You can also use social media to advertise open positions and to showcase why your company is a great place to work. Post photos of (virtual) work parties and employee testimonials explaining why they love their job. A strong positive social media presence generates more inbound.
11. Collaborate with hiring managers.
Help hiring managers understand the nuances of the process. Remember, you’re the expert. Each hiring manager is different and will have a different approach to the hiring process. Some may want to review many candidates while others will want you to pick the top three for them to interview. Be adaptable but don’t let best practices slip. If you’re a technical recruiter, work with your hiring manager to learn the technical lingo necessary to understand the open positions’ responsibilities. Are you hiring for a front-end software engineer or a CRM marketing manager? There’s a slew of vocabulary you’ll need to know for varying positions especially if you’re early on in your career.
12. Be a candidate advocate.
Especially in our totally virtual world, candidate experience is paramount. Keep things personal, ensuring that candidates don’t feel like just a cog in the system. Be empathetic. Life is extra stressful these days. Don’t contribute to the stress with a disjointed hiring process. Clearly communicate the next steps with candidates so they’re never left in the dark.
And most importantly, passion and perseverance are paramount when it comes to recruiting. If you have these two qualities, which we bet you do, you have the foundation needed to build an impressive career as a recruiter! Today, you have countless resources that are just a click away, ready to help you with sourcing, outreach, and tracking. Figure out which tools work best for you and hone your processes. We know you are always helping others, but please take some time to help yourself, too. Happy recruiting!
At Fetcher, our mission is to introduce companies to the people who will help them change the world. Our full-service, recruting automation platform automates those repetitive, top-of-funnel tasks, so you can focus more on candidate engagement & team collaboration. Simplify Sourcing. Optimize Outreach. Hire Top Talent. Learn more at fetcher.ai.
Recruiting Life, Recruiting Strategies
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