Qualities for a great Recruiter

• Listening Skills: 

 For a Recruitment Consultant it is important to be a great listener. Only if you listen carefully and thoroughly to both, the job seeker and the client, you will be able to understand what their needs are. The more you listen to them, the more you will find out. The more you ask them, the more you will know. So, the better you know what the client and job seeker are looking for, the easier it will be to find the perfect match. This will allow you to make better decisions and find the perfect match over and over again.  

•  Confidence: 

You need to be confident not just about yourself but also about the services you offer to your clients, companies as well as job seekers. 

•  Marketing Skills: 

Knowing how to market and promote your services, expertise and knowledge effectively to clients and candidates is of utmost importance. If you have lots of candidates on your database but are not able to convince a company to hire any of them you will not close any deals. Your convincing, negotiation and selling skills are therefore crucial. No clients, no business - as simple as that.

•  Target-driven: 

The recruitment industry is particularly competitive and target-driven therefore it is essential that the recruiter can handle pressure very well, is target-oriented, ambitious and hungry for results. Recruitment agencies usually offer basic salaries and additional performance-related payments, also called OTE - on target earnings. If you are not a target driven person you should seriously reconsider whether this is the right job for you. 

• Relationship building skills: 

A recruiter works in the “people business” and deals with a variety of different people on a daily basis. This person has to be a good connector, who loves to meet new people and knows how to use every opportunity to network and  to turn it into business results. Having great relationship building skills with all people involved in the process is therefore crucial. It will allow you to build trust and attract clients as well as jobseekers more easily. Once you gained their trust and they notice that you work professionally, effectively and reliably, they will come back again and again without looking any further. It will also save you time because you can focus on your existing clients rather than having to chase constantly new ones. Also don’t underestimate the good relationship you have built with your jobseekers. If they are happy with the job you were able to find for them, they will recommend you to their friends and family too, should they ever need a job in the future. 

•  Communication Skills:

Working in the “human resource” business requires from a recruiter to be a great communicator, no matter whether face to face, on the phone or via email. If things don’t turn out positively for a job seeker than being straightforward is not always the right strategy in this case. You can’t tell a job seeker “Your background and experiences don’t match our needs right now” or “You are a great candidate but unfortunately you just came at the wrong time.” There are situations in which a recruiter needs to prove that s/he is tactful, considerate and gracious in order to maintain a good corporate  as well as personal reputation. 

• Multitasking: 

Since you deal with companies and candidates on a daily basis you will need to juggle multiple projects and tasks simultaneously. Keeping in mind the details of various jobs, companies and candidates is important in order to work efficiently as well as effectively. 

• Time Management Skills:

 Having great time management skills is essential because certain positions need to be filled urgently and getting your priorities right is paramount.  

•  Patience:

 Sometimes you will need to be very flexible and patient because candidates or clients might want to reschedule their interview dates in the last minute. 

• Speed:

 Companies and job seekers don’t just rely on one source for filling their positions or finding a job but multiple sources. Who acts quickly will therefore win in the end. The worst that can happen is that in the last minute a company might tell you that they already found a candidate or the candidate already found a job in another organisation. Thus, it’s not size that nowadays matters but speed. 

•  IT and Social Media Skills:

 Nowadays also being familiar with various social media recruitment strategies and IT technologies will give any recruiter an edge and proves that you are a professional who keeps up with current trends and technologies. 

•  Body Language Skills:

Being able to interpret other peoples’ body language can be very beneficial because you will understand quicker how people feel and what they think without them telling you. 

•  Problem solving skills: 

You need to be a good problem solver because you might face situations which you never thought would come along the way. For example, people not turning up to their interviews, companies telling you that they already found another candidate, not finding any candidates for a certain position for a long time, etc.

• Reliability: 

If you want to be perceived as a trustworthy professional you need to be reliable when it comes to punctuality, offering the services you promised within a certain time frame etc. If you can’t keep up with small things nobody will trust you and offer you bigger challenges in the future.  

• Team working Skills:

Sometimes you need to lead a team of other recruitment consultants or you need to work in a team in order to find the best candidate for a high caliber company. Knowing how to manage people in order to achieve a set goal is important; good communication between all team members will guarantee that misunderstandings and inefficiencies will be avoided.