The life of a Technical Recruiter

You hit the snooze button on your alarm clock for just few more minutes. You are not sure if you want to get out of bed and head to your office. It is cold outside and the commute is an hour and half by bus. After all, you know what's going to happen. You will search for candidates for chewed-out "requirements," submit couple of candidates and wait for a feedback. In between, you will email lots of candidates with no responses. You will leave so many voice mails and no call backs. You then start to feel guilty. I am getting paid for this?? Should I look for some other line of work?
Your salesperson walks over to your desk and says, "great news, they want to interview your candidate." Then, you get on cloud 9. You actually think you are getting underpaid because your company is going to make $25,000 for closing this deal. You wonder when will be the right time to ask for a raise.
The interview takes place and the client declines your candidate. Oh, they made a mistake, you say. How could they? You had such high hopes. Now, you are really thinking about leaving recruitment because you work so hard and get so many disappointments. You wonder if your "talents" are in some other line of work. You want to leave.
We all go through these emotions. However, solid recruiters build on disappointments. They make success a way of life. Yes, they have bad days, no resume submittals, candidates rejected, candidates turn down offer, client changes their mind, and so many more.. But the feeling of closing is addictive and we work harder and harder to get that feeling all the time. This is what makes a successful recruiter. Get up and fight back one more round!

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Comment by Slouch on September 30, 2008 at 11:16pm: great blog post.

Comment by Susan Kang Nam on October 1, 2008 at 7:02am: thanks for this "time-line" of a day as a technical recruiter .. I can visualize it.. it helps. look forward to reading more blog posts from you. best!~ Susan

Comment by Saleem Qureshi on August 6, 2009 at 11:11am: LOL, great post!
Ever tried using a Talent Assessment tool for screening?

Comment by Brad Hogenmiller on August 6, 2009 at 11:25am: From one technical recruiter to another- This is scary accurate. Well done sir. Technical recruiters are a messed up bunch, we have some sick addiction to rejection. :)

Comment by Will Branning on August 6, 2009 at 12:53pm: Its been a bit discouraging lately. Thanks for reminding me about the silver lining that lies ahead!

Comment by Dieter H. Lehnert on August 6, 2009 at 3:06pm: I too want to thank you for your upbeat message which reminds us all of the good times ahead!

Comment by Mat von Kroeker on August 6, 2009 at 4:19pm: Great post!! Good thing you haven't worked for city, county, state or federal IT contracts--- you would have hung yourself by now. I was "weaned" on gov't contracts that take months and months before the HM's even LOOK at the resumes!!

Me: "Um... candidate? Are you still available??"

Candidate: "Um... who is this?? Oh...ok? Sorry-- I took a position 3 months ago."

Me: "Great! Good luck with that position."

hang up phone.

Me: "#@!!*@"

Comment by Chandra Kant Sharma on August 6, 2009 at 7:06pm: Yes, you are rite. As Micky said to Balboa: "I din hear no bell".

Thanks for energizing.