What makes a Recruiter Great!!!

In the hope of sharing and helping all recruiters on the site lets share what makes a great recruiter. Is it an innate ability to identify talent? Is it an ability to locate talent? To identify the proper fit for a particular role? A massive rolodex? Persistence? Relationship building?

What do you think makes a great recruiter?

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Comyn on November 3, 2011 at 10:04am

"Nothing sells like stock". The ability to attract great candidates who will only work with you is certainly one of the things that will differentiate from the pack.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on November 3, 2011 at 1:47pm

If you fill the job your client or internal hiring manager lists with you, you are a great recruiter. If you don't you aren't wufashit. That is all.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wendy on November 3, 2011 at 2:13pm

1. Thinking outside the box - candidates who might not otherwise get a shot but end up being a perfect fit!

2. Resilience. Falling down 7 times and getting up 8.

3. A twisted sense of humour.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Elise Reynolds on January 11, 2012 at 2:57pm

All those things you mentioned are important. What I think is very important is respect and caring. You are intimately involved in people making tremendous life changes. These changing can have far-reaching consequences both positive and negative. This is true on the candidate side for obvious reasons, but it is also true on the hiring manager side. Making a poor hiring decision can wound a hiring manager longer term and not finding the right people can cripple a project or a department.

So a great recruiter has respect for this situation and truly cares that both the client and the candidate are sucessfull. Also a recruiter cares about the time involved, both candidates and clients are very busy people. I advocate complete transparency from the very beginning to uncover any deal killers or potential problems.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Francois Guay on January 11, 2012 at 3:01pm

Hi Elise,

Good comments, your absolutely right on identifying the impacts of poor hiring on the hiring manager and how identifying deal killers ahead of time is key. Cheers.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Valentino Martinez on January 29, 2012 at 2:48pm

"What makes a Recruiter Great!!!", you ask? Well, they are the same things that make a great recruiter.

Experience, smarts (formal, informal & street), skill, tenacity, hunger, creativity, endurance, great timing, resourcefulness, attitude, family, friends, enemies, strangers, grit, daring, accidents, some luck, focus and opportunities to follow-through on ALL can PAY-OFF in converting opportunities into desired results. Know this all ye who enter here—onto the path of the professional recruiter...where GREATNESS may reside.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paul Alfred on January 30, 2012 at 9:52am

Lots of great answers ... Mine are:

Establishing major Trust with the Client that means sometimes telling a client you are not going to make a submission if you can't find the right candidate and if that means losing out on a fee so be it. Establishing trust also allows the Client to value your opinion on making a hiring decision. To establish Trust also requires you to build a long term relationship.

Tenacity - don't just hang the phone up and agree with the the client if you know they made the wrong decision - get the back up references to prove your case and defend your position on a great candidate- great for high end roles. This also helps when trying to land a new client.

Ability to sell/close the Candidate why they should not take the other job - why they should take yours why they need to take a lateral - why they should not take a counter. and, of course, the ability to sell the Client why Johnny can make a difference- Why if you give Johnny some ESL Training he could make manager in 6 months "I am willing to take 5% off the next placement to prove it". It's even better when you're not even power selling but consultative - If mastered could go along way in establishing longevity in this game...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by bill josephson on January 30, 2012 at 9:58am

In this economy, a great recruiter is filling a position mired with enough problems making it "unfillable" from corporate's standpoint. Finding that "two-headed astronaut" or "Purple Squirrel."

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by bill josephson on January 30, 2012 at 10:24am

In this economy, a great recruiter is filling a position mired with enough problems making it "unfillable" from corporate's standpoint. Finding that "two-headed astronaut" or "Purple Squirrel."