Shortlist reported last week that the demand for agency recruiters is at a level not seen since before the GFC. A scramble is on for securing the best talent! And we should expect good recruiters to be like hens teeth for the next 2-5 years.

But what else is new?

I once sat in the boardroom of a recruitment agency during the visit of the company CEO. At the conclusion of the meeting she asked the team “So what is it that I can do for you?”

Like many agencies at the time, and still now, finding good recruiters to fill seats was a tough gig. One of the team members jokingly retorted “Find us some staff!”

The CEO smiled and her eyes glinted like a magician asked to perform a favourite trick. I could see she had the answer to this long standing problem and her wand was at the ready, her magic coin balanced on her fingers.

She turned to her captivated audience (a group of particularly talented recruiters I might add) and asked; “What is it that you were doing before you became a recruiter?”
“I was a school teacher” one replied.
“I was in finance” said another.
“I was an athlete”
“I owned a pub”
… and so on, around the table.

At the conclusion of this questioning, the CEO smiled once again, sat back in her chair, opened out her arms and announced “THAT is where you will find your next consultant”.

Like a masterful magician, she had revealed that the coin was behind my ear all along!

With a shortage of good recruiters an ongoing issue in our industry, we need to assess if we are in fact looking in the wrong place, and for the wrong qualities.

Let’s stop looking at years of recruitment experience and proven sales records, and start looking for the qualities that we know will make a truly great recruiter, if they are simply shown the way.

Think about it, what were YOU doing before you became a recruiter?

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