Six Tips for Recruitment Newbies

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The world of Recruitment from the outside may seem a fairly simple one; however scratching below the surface reveals many layers. One key factory tying everything together is the art of relationship building.

Unfortunately recruitment as an industry is not without its rotten eggs giving the industry a bad rep for the rest of us. This is no new challenge for me, drawing from my car sales background I see it as an opportunity to carve out a niche as a straight talking, genuine and honest person. Finding the right company to work for is always key, as it was for me, I was not willing to sacrifice my morals and am now proving it is possible to be a recruiter with dignity still intact. As corny as it sounds I believe in treating others how you would like to be treated, and that is certainly is a mentality shared at Touchpoint Resource.

Learning a new skill is never easy and at the beginning seems daunting. In my first week or so the seemingly complex structure of the digital tech space was a landscape that was unfamiliar. With guidance from my mentor’s and comparing similarities with my eCommerce background blurred lines soon sharpened and I was able to get stuck in.

If I was able to offer any nuggets of advice for new recruitment starters it would be as follows:

1. Listen to what you are told and follow best practices – I know this sounds obvious but it is very easy to overthink things and try to reinvent the wheel. The art of recruitment has been around for 50 or so years and as such has evolved into a very productive machine, so whilst it’s always good to have an innovative approach, there are also some good tried and tested methodologies that should be followed.
   
2. If it scares you, just do it! – Depending on your career so far it is likely you will encounter situations that are new to you. Do not overthink things and certainly do not put them off to come back to later. The best way is to tackle it head on, be brave and learn from any mistakes you make. Remember, a mistake is never a mistake if you learn from it!
3. Your client is King (or Queen!) – There are many aspects of recruitment but it is fair to say your job gets harder without any vacancies to fill. Treat your clients with respect and take the time to truly understand their business and their requirements. There are many recruitment companies around very keen to take your business so if you create an opportunity with a new client do not waste it by sending over either poor quality or irrelevant candidates.
   
4. Think fast and act quickly – In recruitment time is your enemy. It is very likely you will not have exclusivity on the vacancy’s you are working so the longer you take the more chance the position may get filled elsewhere. There is also a finite amount of great quality candidates suitable for each role and you want to be the first recruiter contacting them.
5. Candidates are people too – From my experience in interviewing with a few recruitment companies, candidates don’t seem to be at the top of the list in terms of priorities. Many recruitment companies play the numbers game thinking if they send enough candidates to enough vacancies then they will get lucky somewhere along the line. Although this could work I believe it is very short sighted. Firstly you risk repeat business with Clients by saturating their inboxes with irrelevant CV’s and essentially turning them into the recruiter by having to sift through profiles and doing the screening that you should be doing. Secondly this method is extremely impersonal to candidates making it very difficult to build relationships. Be honest, take the time to get to know your candidates and find out what they really want moving forward.  Do not try to manipulate a candidate into a role that may not be suitable, they will not be likely to stay very long and you will lose both Client and candidate moving forward.
   
6. Have fun! – Although it can be stressful (let’s be honest, work is work!) you are able to have fun. The recruitment environment is one that lends itself to a bit of fun where socialising with colleagues can be common place. Get stuck in and remember if you settle in and enjoy your place of work is certainly comes across on the phone!