Great Habits of Effective Recruiters

If you are able to find great candidates for your company CONGRATULATIONS! But how would you feel if 50 % of them quit within the first month or are being fired before their probationary period is over? Imagine … the whole process would have to start all over again, investing more time and more money. You and others might even start questioning your real hiring skills. Have you ever asked yourself what habits would allow you to work more effectively and efficiently as a recruiter? Keep reading.

• Consider RECRUITMENT as a 24/12 job. What do I mean by that? Keep your eyes and ears open at all times, also once you leave your office! Let’s say it’s time for lunch and you decide to go to McDonalds. Are you going to sit quietly in a corner and enjoy your food or do you try to approach people by finding out more about their jobs or by overhearing other peoples’ conversations? If you are going to your doctor or dentist are you indulging in reading a magazine or trying to engage in a conversation with other patients sitting in the waiting room? If in the weekend you are going to a party are your ears wide open when you hear someone expressing their dissatisfaction about their jobs or tell others that they are in search of a new challenge? What is the lesson to be learnt? Recruit anywhere, anytime. You never know in what situation you might be in when spotting your next great talent.
• Recruiting is half selling and half buying. You will be given certain targets to meet within a certain period of time (e.g. number of calls per day, number of candidates to be interviewed per day over the phone or in person, number of hired candidates, number of new acquired clients, number of new vacancies etc.). Your Branch Manager will expect you to report these results on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. For you it’s therefore important to know exactly in what stage you are in and how much turnover you can make in the given timeframe. Do you have lots of open vacancies but don’t find suitable candidates? Or do you have great talents but no matching jobs for them? Take immediate action steps so that you will be able to meet your targets on time. Great time and organisational skills are crucial in this position. If you are struggling in a particular area then approach your manager and ask for advice before you are getting fired for underperforming on a consistent basis.
• Being thoroughly prepared to interview candidates pays off. Know exactly what you need to know about the candidate and how to ask. Remember that most of the talking should be done by the candidate (80%) while you should keep it to the remaining 20 % of the conversation.
• Set the right priorities when tackling certain assignments. Focus on the tasks that really matter, the urgent and important things first. The not urgent and unimportant tasks can wait for later. Don’t waste your time by sorting out weak candidates, instead focus on attracting the really good ones.
• After reading this I think you will get the point of taking background checks more seriously. Hire Right, a company that specializes in employee background checks, has revealed the following: 80 % of CVs are misleading, 29 % state fraudulent degrees, 30 % show altered employment dates, 40 % have inflated salary claims, 30 % have inaccurate job descriptions and 27 % give falsified references.
• Always have a Plan B. It would save you time and money if you would always have some backup candidates on your list with their names and contact details at hand. This would allow you to replace easily and quickly candidates who either did not turn up at the interview, unexpectedly changed their mind when starting the job or who quit the job or got fired before the probationary period was over. All these scenarios could happen to you at any time. Being prepared and well equipped for these events would be therefore highly beneficial.

Effective recruiters are always trying to improve their own performance by reviewing their approaches and strategies when dealing with current and new clients as well as candidates. Asking yourself on a daily basis: “What can I do differently, better, quicker or more efficiently in the future?” will help you to achieve that goal more effectively.