Chapter 5: All about recruiters!

There's been a surge in hiring for recruiters. Our department has gone from being treated like a cost center to being treated like a partner.

This has led to a lot more people wanting to enter this field but not knowing how to!

My entrance to this field was the biggest and best fluke of my life. In college I was interviewing for an Administrative Assistant role and what they really needed was a HR Specialist. I was hired to do the HR work, entering timesheet into the Payroll system, staffing of shifts, recruiting, etc.,

During my time there, I realized that I really enjoyed staffing and recruiting. When I moved to Arizona after my graduation, I put my resume on Indeed, CareerBuilder, and Monster. I received a call from RobertHalf within a day about coming in for an interview. I knew who Robert Half was and I had dealt with staffing agencies before.

While I was being interviewed, I saw various signs of Robert Half hiring internally. I asked about them hiring and they said that their team just filled their internal role but they had other roles with client site. I was like 'yeah, absolutely'!

Later that day, I received a call from the team lead saying they just got an opening since one of their team members was moving to a different team. It would be a contract staffing role with potential to go full-time. As I was only working as a server at P.F. Changs at that time, I took this opportunity. Within a month, I was being asked about converting within the OfficeTeam but also with the Tech team.

I have always loved technology so I interviewed with the tech team and moved over! I have been in recruiting, mainly in tech ever since!

There is more than one way to get into recruiting. You can start in an agency, you can start internally with a corporation that has systems and structure set up to help you succeed. If an organization doesn't have the set up to help entry-level recruiters succeed, it unfortunately will color your opinion about this field!

I was fortunate to have great mentors throughout my career. I made a post asking other recruiters what advice they'd give to a recruiter starting out or early in their career and I want to share this with all of you!

Daniel Smith: "Talk to someone when you're struggling. This is a very up and down line of work, but the vast majority of people I've worked with are very supportive when you need a pep talk!"

Smita Philip: "Don't let the metrics and stress get to you - it's a learning experience, competition is real so be prepared - read Money Makers by John Ruffini and other recruiting texts."

Joi :"recruiting is NOT for everyone. People have to have a passion for people. If someone wants to “get into HR”, they need to fully understand that recruiting and TA are adjacent, and aren’t one in the same. If someone wants to become a recruiter, they should work to constantly improve their skills, along with great follow up and communication with all of their customers (candidates and hiring managers/clients)."

E.B.Love : "Cannonball, baby! Feet first, hands in the air, jump and go - you'll never look backwards again. Be resilient, be YOU, and be curious - never ask, never get - so ask all the questions and seek to learn. Remember the HUMAN side - it is not about cost per hire or any institutionalized data approach - it's about PEOPLE. Treat them kindly, fairly, and "do no harm, but take no shit."

Jay Veniard: "Don't get into recruiting unless you can tolerate 90-120 days of getting your butt kicked daily. The first 90 is miserable and you will question yourself and want to quit every day."

Cameron MacNeil : "Googling the technology you are recruiting for and learning more about it can make a big difference. At the end of the day though, it's all about relationship building - building relationships with your candidates, building relationships with your peers, and building relationships with your hiring managers."

Dayna Ciarfalia : "asking really good questions when talking with candidates. I honestly learned that most by simply asking my candidates questions like "wow, that is so interesting - how does that work?!" and "why did you choose X technology over Y?"

My tip: Fail fast and learn faster. Find mentors who you can absorb knowledge from! This job isn't rocket science but it's also not easy!

Until next time,

Stay Caffeinated