The best skill a recruiter needs to have?

My vote is for salesmanship...

Anyone else.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Raoul Q on May 19, 2008 at 9:42pm

A sense of total professionalism in your approach language.

In doing so you’ll develop the ability to establish immediate impact thereby creating trust and demonstrating knowledge of their specific industry.

So you may be wondering how?

Research! Pure and simple. know the company, its products, services line and standing within their industry. A good place to start? Hoovers.com will list out a variety of SIC codes that identify industry specifics (also target recruiting list) along with public or private company, key execs, upcoming merger/acquisition deals and so much more.

Happy Hunting!

Raoul Q

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Permalink Reply by Ravelli on May 20, 2008 at 10:14am

I find I do well with a balance of Professionalism meets Easy Going.
My clients often complement me for not being a pushy salesman and still providing all the relevant information they need to make a decision.
They are often tired of headhunters telling them who to hire.
I make it clear to my clients that I'm not going to cry if they pass on my Packaging Engineer and I don't get to buy a new waverunner this month.

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Permalink Reply by Jolie den Boer on May 20, 2008 at 10:17am

Get motivation from the things he/ she does

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Permalink Reply by Carole on May 20, 2008 at 10:23am

There are so many skills needed as noted before. I'll just add a few:

Follow through=consistant communication with all parties.
Assessment=intense listening on the initial recruiting call (and all through the process) to hear and understand what the candidate is really saying, not just the normal platitudes.

cj

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Permalink Reply by cary tobolka on May 20, 2008 at 12:45pm

Strongly agree w/ Amanda Papp--LISTENING---Too many recruiters spend too much time talking. We are in the business of collecting information, analysing it and dispersing it accurately.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Detoy on May 20, 2008 at 5:24pm

If I had to select only one I'd say the ability to develop rapport quickly. There is such a limited amount of time to build trust and credibility and if those two things are not in play instantly then there isn't the time to listen, or sell or any of the other essential tools one must have in the toolbox.

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Permalink Reply by Diva Milani on May 21, 2008 at 10:05am

The comments added here are great. It's also important to really care about the candidate as well as the client, and making a good match. If the hiring company is happy and the job seeker / new employee is happy, and you've made a good long-term fit, your retention ratio is high and you get repeat business and great referrals!

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Permalink Reply by Mellissa on May 21, 2008 at 11:56am

In the world of corporate recruiting, thick skin.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Dsouza on May 21, 2008 at 12:03pm

Good Listener---which will help in identifying the need---And thats just the right place where we have to strike....

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Permalink Reply by Mike Avillion on May 21, 2008 at 1:52pm

Listening Ability........a lot of recruiters spend too much time worrying about selling an already sold candidate.

Sit back and let them talk about themselves!!!