How to be a good recruiter

To be a good recruiter you need to form good relationships, execute future planning, and bond with hiring managers. For details on these steps and others you can take to be a good recruiter, use this guide:

• Form good relationships

  Recruiting is a profession where you are going to be rejecting more job candidates than you hire. It's important to handle this situation delicately and tactfully and to attempt to transition these rejections into relationships.

  Many of the candidates you reject will be qualified and have a lot to offer. That's why it is important to build relationships with your rejected candidates as you might be able to call on them for another job opening in the future.

  Send a personalized rejection letter or email to the job candidates you reject. Try to include their strengths and impressive qualities, you might even recommend a different job opening that you think they would be better suited for.

• Execute future planning

  It is a good idea to start looking for candidates before you announce a job opening. You might want to contact some of your past candidates in your network or do a preliminary search for qualified candidates. Staying ahead of the game is a great way to become a qualified and sought-after recruiter.

  You should also make sure you completely understand the job opening and the role's responsibilities before seeking out experienced candidates.

  Make sure to use various recruiting and search methods, not only your network but also utilizing methods like social media recruiting. You can also attend human resources events and conferences to keep you up to speed on the most current recruitment trends.

• Bond with hiring managers

  Sometimes recruiting sees recruiters and hiring managers having disagreements or conflicts of interest. You need to be able to tactfully handle these situations and keep their objectives or demands in mind.

  Hiring managers have different ways of executing their jobs, so you need to remain flexible. Some might quickly review resumes and interview the candidates themselves, making your job only to find qualified candidates. While others might select a few of the best job candidates and conduct intense screening interviews on their own.

  Knowing how different hiring managers operate can help you to better do your job as a recruiter.

• Remain open-minded

  When you review each job candidate's resume you should try to be open-minded. Oddly enough, sometimes a candidate that presents a really impressive resume, and cover letter, isn't the best fit for a specific role.

  Instead of making a hasty judgment, look for skills that align with the role of the job opening. If you interview the candidate, be sure to ask them behavioral and observational questions to get the best sense of their abilities.

• Be versatile

  While the main focus of your job is to find qualified talent for an organization, you need to remember that your role has other responsibilities as well.

  For instance, you need to use marketing strategies when posting job openings, to make the role and company sound enticing. You also need to utilize principles associated with psychology to gauge and comprehend a job candidate's reactions.

  Public relations is another vital area for recruiters. This helps you attract top-tier talent at conferences, job fairs, and other industry-related events.

• Utilize a calendar

  To be a good recruiter you need to stay organized. This means using a calendar for managing phone calls, interviews, and important meetings.

  This also helps because you can check off specific tasks and events after you complete them. A well-organized calendar will keep your objectives clear and increase your productivity.

• Develop strong communication skills

  Communication skills are essential to your job. You need to be able to professionally update job candidates on their status during the recruitment phase, and serve as a point person between them and the company to which they have applied.

  You should also be well-versed and comfortable communicating via phone, email, video conference, or in-person.