How to Be a Good Recruiter: Advice from a (wannabe) Good Recruiter.

"Recruiter" might be the only job title that can rival "Lawyer" when it comes to inspiring vitriol, scorn, and confusion about what that person in that job actually even does anyways...

There are entire online communities dedicated to the horrors, mistakes, and sometimes downright lies committed by those I have the displeasure of sharing a job title with. There's good reason for some of this hate, but as with most things in today's world, there are many professionals and recruiters that have become so polarized towards each other, that many times this relationship can seem (or even play out as) adversarial....

My goal is to speak to my fellow recruiters and offer my advice: Be honest, be true, and be bold.

That's the what, but the why or my thesis here is this: short-term success can be achieved through zero-sum thinking, but long-term success that can withstand turbulent markets and unforeseen events is only achieved through an honest approach to building community and trust.

Be Honest: With your candidates and your clients.

Don't kid yourself, you're not that good of a salesman.

Maybe you can "Trick" your candidate into thinking a role is a good opportunity for them, but for how long?

Similarly, I might be able to sell my client on a candidate if I over-state their experience and feed the candidate interview tips, but I can't trick the client about the work produced.

Trust and reputation is huge in this industry and the best way to appear trustworthy is to be trustworthy.

• Try this: the next time you pitch a role to a potential candidate, tell them honestly why they shouldn't take the role and be really honest - like pretend you're advising your partner or sibling about a job offer, would you tell them to take it? I bet you'll be surprised the respect and trust you earn with your candidate and if they don't work with you for this contract, when you tell them about the next one, they'll know they're getting honest information.

Be True: To Yourself.

Know yourself and your style and don't pretend to be something you're not.

Professionalism should be the "font" we speak in, not the "language."

What I mean by that is this: your network and your clients are people. Just like you get annoyed, tired, bored, frustrated, ect. so do the people you're talking to. We can get lost in the weeds of task-oriented communication and forget the in's and out's of communication. You'll find that you have more effective communication when you're true to yourself and even achieve better results.

• Consider the difference in understanding you would have of a clients needs between spending 15 minutes getting information about the professional specs of the role vs 15 minutes getting information about the style of leadership in the organization, the organizations long-term goals beyond just this one placemen, and the issues they're currently facing. Consider how different your ability would be to screen and find the right candidate after these two conversations.

Now with all that said, if you are a process-oriented, goal-achieving, system-maker, let those traits shine so your clients and network can appreciate what you have to offer, but the most important thing to remember is that EVERYONE can smell B.S. so its better to be yourself and make it known when people work with you, they get a truthful person.

Be Bold: Enough to Admit when you're Wrong.

This is the most important advice because if you can't be bold you can't be honest or True.

Every issue you can name about recruiters as a group or recruiting as an industry can be traced back to a lack of boldness, because its the timid recruiter that lies, misleads, or exploits out of a fear that they couldn't actually succeed in an honest environment.

• When you become bold enough to tell a candidate: "I really don't think I will be able to meet your needs as a Recruiter" you set yourself free to focus on who you really can help. You free yourself from the stress of trying to meet a need you can't meet.

You have to be bold enough to know that your honesty and truth is your strength because if you take my advice, you're betting on yourself. You have to be bold enough to know that no single loss can break you, and bold enough to keep moving forward with a focus on truth.

TL;DR: Just be a good person

This is a service industry when it gets down to it...