Recruiter burnout is a growing concern in the talent acquisition industry. The constant pressure to fill positions quickly, coupled with high expectations and repetitive tasks, can lead to severe burnout among recruiters.
With millions of Americans experiencing mental health challenges each year, it's crucial to address the impact of stress and find effective ways to support mental well-being in the workplace. This article focuses on the realities of recruiter burnout and offers impactful strategies to help TA professionals prioritize their mental health.
While stress is a part of life, distinguishing between positive stress that motivates and negative stress that harms is essential. Let's dive into the unique challenges recruiters face and explore practical solutions to mitigate burnout.
What stresses recruiters out 😰
Recruiting is an incredibly demanding and competitive profession that often requires long hours. Recruiters are accountable to many different groups, including hiring managers, executives, and candidates. There is a lot of pressure to hit KPIs like signing new business contracts, reaching financial goals, or hiring a target number of new employees.
Internal competition amongst TA teams can also be a stressor. While some competition can be healthy, it’s important to recognize whether your team encourages one another to succeed or whether they put others down if they’re not performing at their best. Collaboration and a supportive environment are much more conducive to a positive work environment and less stress than internal competition.
Working with hiring managers is one of recruiters’ biggest pain points. Whether they don’t know what they’re looking for, take forever to provide feedback, or are overly critical of candidates, hiring managers can make the recruiting process longer and less efficient. Recruiters can only work as fast as the manager they are working with. As a recruiter, it can be very stressful to feel like someone else is adding a roadblock as you try to progress towards your goals.
Candidates are another factor that affects your mindset as a recruiter. They can flake or fail an interview just by not doing their homework. Like with hiring managers, candidates are human, and their actions, while they impact your business, are out of your control. No one likes to feel powerless when it comes to solving their problems, and that alone can cause extra stress.
Signs and symptoms of stress 🤯
Stress can impact your behavior and manifest in physical ways that can negatively impact your health. If you are experiencing some of the below symptoms, it may be time to talk to your manager, reassess your workload, or just give yourself a break.
- Muscle tension or headaches
- Feeling irritable, anxious, or depressed
- Loss of interest in work
- Trouble focusing
- Problems sleeping
- Fatigue
- Stomach issues
- Social withdrawal
- Coping with drugs and/or alcohol
What exactly is burnout? 🤔
Burnout is now a part of most discussions about today’s workplaces, especially post-pandemic. Burnout is a state of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. Along with exhaustion, you may feel especially frustrated, angry, and have a diminished sense of accomplishment. Most people don’t know they’re burning out until it’s too late. Recognizing burnout is the first step to tackling your stress.
Stress management tips 👍
Here are some measures you can take to prevent recruiter burnout and feelings of anxiety from escalating:
Educate Yourself About Mental Health:
Knowing the signs and symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental struggles will help prevent issues from escalating and alert you that changes need to be made.
Take Time for Yourself:
Don’t judge yourself or others for taking a break and other measures needed to stay healthy. Our “go go go” culture that encourages people to “hustle” and always be on the clock is ultimately unsustainable and unhealthy.
Plan Ahead:
Set goals, lay out concrete plans, and realistic timelines to reach those goals. This will help manage your expectations and make the amount of work you need to get done more digestible and less overwhelming. Break down larger tasks into manageable chunks.
Manage Your Time:
Find organizational and time management tools that work for you. Different tools work for different people. For some, a simple checklist is all that’s needed. We’ll share a few of the tools available to help you organize and get tasks done more efficiently later in this article.
Prioritize Yourself and Set Boundaries:
Schedule time to take breaks. Honor this time as you would any other meeting. It might not feel like you’re being productive during a break, but stepping back and recharging your batteries will help you be more productive later.
Communicate with Your Team:
Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you are underwater or struggling with something. Others can’t support you if they aren’t aware of what you need.
Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance:
Constantly working and being “on” is a sure way to burnout. Find hobbies that bring you joy, disconnect from your phone after work hours, and use your vacation days.
Recognize and Celebrate Your Accomplishments:
Instead of focusing on what you didn’t get done, make a list of everything you accomplished. You’ll be amazed at how many tasks you complete each day.
Accept that You’ll Make Mistakes:
Everyone does; it’s part of being human. Look at mistakes as a learning opportunity. Ultimately, making mistakes and learning from them will make you a better recruiter.
Use Technology to Help:
Utilize recruiting software and AI tools to automate routine, repetitive tasks. This will give you more time for the more rewarding parts of your job and help reduce stress.
Tips for decompressing when you're feeling overwhelmed 🧖♀️
Taking proactive measures above will help prevent recruiter burnout. However, stress can still get to us sometimes. Below are a few reminders of ways to take care of yourself when anxiety creeps in:
Learn Your Personal Warning Signs:
Each individual will have their unique warning signs. Maybe you’ve been snapping at loved ones, suffering from tension headaches, or having trouble sleeping. Take note, and rethink your plan to de-stress.
Put Things in Perspective:
Will the world stop turning if you respond to that email tomorrow instead of immediately? Absolutely not. Take a breath and realize that work will still be there for you tomorrow.
Talk to a Mental Health Professional:
Sometimes just talking about your stressors and what’s troubling you can lift some of the weight off your shoulders.
Let Go of What is Beyond Your Control:
Candidates flake, and your boss may throw something on your plate that makes you rearrange your day. Fixating on the negative won’t change what’s happened. Give yourself time to breathe and regroup so that you can keep moving forward.
Accept that Not Every Day Will Be Smooth Sailing:
Everyone is bound to run into bad days. Give yourself grace and do some extra self-care in the evening. Tomorrow is a new day.
Do Something Physical:
Take a quick walk. Even 5 minutes around the block can clear your head and improve your mood. Try simple desk stretches to combat physical issues that come with desk jobs like neck and shoulder pain.
Remember the Basics:
Taking care of yourself is as simple as eating regularly and getting a good night’s rest. Take time for lunch and try not to eat at your desk. Sleep is critical to your overall health.
Take a Day Off:
If you are feeling sick, overwhelmed, or low, use your sick days. They’re there for a reason. If this doesn’t feel like an option, set aside a day over the weekend that’s just for you.
Ways that tech can help📱
In our fast-paced and digital world, stress, anxiety, and depression are becoming more common. Fortunately, mental health has become a public priority, and there are many tools to help us proactively take care of our mental health.
Meditation and Therapy Apps:
The benefits of meditation are backed by science. It can help reduce stress and anxiety, help you sleep, and boost your self-esteem. Many meditation apps offer pre-recorded sessions of different lengths.
Organizational Tools:
Note-taking apps, meeting scheduling tools, and collaboration tools can help you and your team prioritize and stay on task.
Recruiting Software:
Let tech handle routine, repetitive tasks. With Fetcher, you can have batches of highly qualified candidates sourced for you. Automate your outreach and nurture campaigns while keeping emails unique and personalized. Fetcher’s analytics also take the mystery out of your recruiting processes, showing you where you need to make improvements and how your team is performing.
Give yourself more time for the more rewarding parts of your job, by letting tech handle routine, repetitive tasks. Check out our blog post breaking down the recruiting tech stack and see all the tools that can help reduce manual work and reduce stress.
In Closing
Remember that you’re human, and every human experiences stress and mental health struggles. Taking preventative measures to reduce and relieve stress will help fortify you against recruiter burnout, anxiety, and other negative symptoms. Prioritize yourself and your own health, and it will become easier to recognize when you need extra support and advocate for yourself. There are practices, people, and tools out there to help you be the best version of yourself.
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