It takes a lot to be a successful recruiter for a big company. It’s not enough to just interview potential job candidates and decide whether they are qualified. It’s an ongoing process that involves both hard and soft skills. As a recruiter, it’s your job responsibility to get to know a candidate well enough in a short amount of time to see their strong points and weaknesses and then apply that knowledge to determine whether they will be a good fit for a department.
No doubt, a lot can go wrong in the recruiting process. That’s why many successful recruiters follow strict guidelines to optimize the process and make sure that they do the best they can. This article will discuss some of the most effective habits of good recruiters, explaining what makes these habits so effective.
1. Understand people’s motivations and goals
Every person has their own dreams and hopes for the future; these motivations drive us to look for better jobs and learn new things. Good recruiters understand that every job applicant is a unique person with a life of their own. Treating a candidate as their own person makes the recruiting process less anxious, giving a friendly and family feel.
To train yourself to understand a candidate’s motives and goals better, try to put yourself in their shoes. Would you like to be treated in a certain way? Does the whole process make you feel afraid or uncomfortable? Seeing both sides of the field will allow you to develop empathy towards future candidates and instinctively see them as more than just another application on a piece of paper.
2. Be open-minded and responsive
Don’t just nod and absentmindedly agree with whatever a candidate is saying but actually listen. Active listening is a soft skill that allows one person to engross themselves in a conversation with another and soak as much information as possible. People who can actively listen to others can observe a lot of information that slips through someone’s speech. After all, not everyone can portray their emotions well through speech. But being an active listener allows you to catch hooks in the conversation that could lead you to break a person’s mental guard and understand them a little better.
Besides listening, try to also respond in a well-meaning manner. Don’t just repeat learned phrases but actually connect with someone. Recruiters who develop the skill to Listen and Respond are valuable assets to any department since they can establish a sort of pseudo friendship with job candidates.
3. Try to stay organized
There is nothing worse than not knowing when or where a meeting will take place. Becoming better organized is a process that requires small changes to our daily lives. When you receive an email from a candidate, don’t just put off the reply till later – the chances are, you will forget. Do it immediately or, at least, as soon as possible. When someone mentions that you need to do something later, don’t just rely on a mental ‘note’ but actually write it down. Whether you use a physical journal or an application doesn’t matter. If you write things down, your brain will eventually become conditioned to remember key things.
Do the following organization exercise: write out a daily plan that includes several important things you need to do and a few unimportant daily activities. Then, every time you complete one of these activities, put a check next to it. Not only does this exercise reminds you of your goals and obligations, but it also releases a wave of dopamine in your brain every time that you complete something.
4. Expand your recruiting campaign
Relying on the good old tricks of the trade might work sometimes, but in an ever-expanding digital world, it’s either evolve or get left behind. The recruiting process follows the same principle. A successful recruiter can’t just rely on old-fashioned cold outreach campaigns and hope to attract top-quality candidates. You need to use new and modern approaches in order to stay in tune with the changing times. We suggest reading through this article on the talent pipeline, explaining what it is and how it can benefit the recruiting process.
5. Don’t give up when you struggle
Everyone hits a rough patch eventually. It’s important not to give up and throw in the towel so easily. If you find your work as a recruiter exhausting and draining, take a step back. Perhaps, ask for some time off where you can take a breath of fresh air and assess your own priorities. Many companies offer free mental health care programs that deal with employee burnout. There are also online courses that teach people how to manage their work stress better. Mental health is a vital but often overlooked aspect of everyday life; make sure you take care of yourself before attempting to help anybody else.
6. Don’t judge a book by its cover
As every successful recruiter knows, jumping to quick conclusions regarding a job applicant doesn’t necessarily benefit the company. A candidate may seem disheveled or tired, or even wearing old and crinkled clothes, but the same person may also have a brilliant mind. Don’t be quick to judge someone on their appearance alone. Remember: we all live our lives at different speeds and under different circumstances. Keep an open mind.
7. Use social media
Besides spending hours on Twitter or Facebook for entertainment purposes, recruiters can use the power of social media to locate and recruit top-rated job applicants. LinkedIn remains one of the best social media networks for recruiting since it features experienced professionals from all sorts of fields.
Our advice is to spend at least an hour every day connecting with relevant users on LinkedIn to expand your network of professional connections. Not only is it free, but it also helps ease the pressure on your existing talent pipeline by offering an alternative method of recruiting.
Conclusion
To build good work ethics and effective recruiting habits, you need to do as you preach. This implies practicing what you’ve learned on a daily basis. Implementing small changes to your daily routine will create a habit, thus increasing your productivity and satisfaction from the job.
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