7 habits of a highly effective recruiter

There is more to a recruiter’s role than just filling jobs.  A recruiter needs to build relationships, make connections and stay on top of their game. 

In a highly competitive industry a recruiter needs to develop and practice habits which will contribute to their success. What separates an average performing recruiter from a highly successful one? We asked our top performing consultants to find out.

EDUCATION

The highly effective recruiter will be in constant pursuit of self-development. They have a “can-do” attitude and are always looking to progress.  This recruiter will not wait to be informed of training courses, they will proactively look for learning opportunities.  They will self-manage their development through on-line learning such as webinars and e-learning.  Researching and understanding the market they recruit into is another key habit that gives this recruiter the edge over others. Keeping informed, up to date and knowledgeable builds confidence in their ability to deliver. The REC have developed a range of qualifications valuable to the learning development of a recruiter and our staff use this to further their development:

“By doing recruitment qualifications whether you are new to the industry or an experienced recruiter, you will enhance your knowledge which will help you stand out from the crowd”  Kelly Laine, Head of Recruitment Delivery, BPS World.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Consistently share useful and relevant content on social media sites.  A good recruiter will regularly read and write blogs on topics current in their industry, they will share their knowledge and establish themselves as the “expert” in their field. Using sites like BuzzSumo provides the most up to date and relevant content in any given industry sector and information on what content is performing well. Through creating good content, clients and candidates will refer to the them for their expertise, strengthening their reputation as a skilled and reliable recruiter.

GET TO KNOW YOUR CLIENT

Successful recruiting relies on building and maintaining relationships with clients and candidates. This means regular office visits to understand the business needs and culture of that organisation.  Understanding the environment allows the recruiter to find not only the best match for the role but the best match to the company’s values and working culture.

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH COMPLIANCE

For recruiters who want to be experts in the field, then compliance plays a very important part.  Being able to understand, recognise and articulate compliance and regulations that arise during a recruitment process builds instant credibility for the professional recruiter.  Candidates and clients may not always see the benefit themselves, but they will know that they are dealing with a reputable, reliable service provider who works and respects standards.  It’s not just what is said and done that’s important but what that represents to the customer that will make a recruiter highly effective. BPS World understand the significance of good compliance practice and have established an in-house compliance team to provide support for recruiters.

TECHNOLOGY

The use of forward thinking, market leading technology makes a recruiter stand out.  Using video conferencing or the relevant mobile applications to communicate keeps a recruiter connected at all times and to different locations.  They key is find out which form of communication you need to use; do your candidates use Whatsapp or WhatChat? Do your clients use Skype? A recruiter needs to be up to date and proficient in using different type of communications.

BPS World use RingCentral, a consolidation of telephony and video conferencing platforms, to improve the quality of communication.  We have removed telephony handsets on desks and every individual within the organisation has a softphone on their notebook combined with a visual conferencing application.    

REGULARLY MEASURE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

An effective recruiter will constantly challenge themselves to do better and achieve more.  They will use Business Intelligence to review and compare their performance against themselves and their peers. Tracking their current recruitment and phone activity regularly, they can ensure they are on track to meet and exceed their targets. They will also look at their past achievements and aim to push themselves consistently to improve on them in the future. The BPS World Business Intelligence team work very closely with the recruiters to ensure top level performances.

ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU SAY

What you do matters more than what you say you are going to do so don’t be unrealistic in your commitment unless you are 100% you can deliver it. Don’t try and impress your client by saying a project will take a week to complete when you know it will take a month to. A successful recruiter will always assess the situation, put in place schedules to work to and own the task through to completion. Communicating with the client is essential, be honest about any setbacks and don’t make excuses this will gain respect and trust from the client.

Are you a recruiter? Do you have any effective "habits" to share?

For further information please contact Joanne Lea on joanne.lea@bps-world.com