The Half Million Dollar Recruiter

Yesterday I listened to the Animal show and he had two guests. The first one was Bill Vick. Bill has been in the industry a long time and is very well respected in the recruiting industry. I learned a lot from listening to him and appreciated his insight. Recruiters who have been in the game a long time, and new recruiters all took away something positive from what he said. It is rare day when Animal and his audience are silenced and hanging on to the next word that comes out of the guest's mouth. To say it simply, I was impressed.

One thing Bill said that bothered me is he said "you know when a recruiter is great when you make $500,000 a year". I do not want to take away anything from Bill's inspiring and motivational guest appearance. Anyone could have said it. After all, you have obviously done something right if you are making a half million dollars a year. You are at the top of your game. But are there others who haven't and won't make 500k at the top of their game?

I don't know many recruiters (other than some on this website) that can make that claim. That is impressive. Kudos to the ones that have accomplished that feat.

Where does that leave the others who have not hit the 500k mark? What is your definition of success as a recruiter? 95% of the recruiters I know haven't achieved that goal and most of them will not. They are indeed great, if not excellent recruiters.

For a discussion, what makes a great recruiter? My opinion is not what your W2 says at the end of the year.

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Comment by Will Thomson on March 28, 2013 at 10:25pm: Lets stick to the "What is Success topic".

You know I am the richest man in the world. I live in the greatest city in the world. I have my entire family right here. I live in a nice house, have a beautiful wife, two awesome kids, and a job with a company that is changing the way the world buys things on the internet. I have incredible friends, health, and try my best to live a faith filled life. That is success to me. I know any of this could be taken from me at any moment, so try not to sweat making a half million. I am paid well, but I am salaried and OK with that.

If I can help someone along the way, or make a difference in someones life, then that is also success. I will need your help one day. I believe in Karma.

Comment by Marcus Edwardes on April 5, 2013 at 2:22pm: I suppose it depends from which side of the fence you are doing the judging.

From a candidate's perspective, a great recruiter is a person who earns their trust and works hard to help them achieve their career and financial goals.

From a Client's perspective, a great recruiter is a person who serves him/her with first class candidates in a timely fashion, consistently.

From an Agency's perspective, a great recruiter is a person who can be relied upon to generate in excess of $500k in fees every year.

From my perspective - it's a combination of all three of the above.
I'm here.