Recruiter Ways
Many people have his/her own opinions on how Recruiting is or how Recruiting should be done. In preparing for this article, I spent considerable time trying to find one of the best articles I’ve read on this subject. I read this article 5+ years ago and thought it provided accurate insight into defining the “Recruiter Ways”. Unfortunately, I could not find it (I wish I had known that on this particular social media platform that one cannot easily retrieve all past articles). This piece is an attempt to pay homage to that recruiting article that I have been mentally chasing forever AND MOST IMPORTANTLY to help provide insight to you on some of the ways in which Recruiters work. If you understand this, then it may help you communicate more effectively when speaking with a Recruiter and get you closer to the job you are seeking.
What does a Recruiter do? A Recruiter’s main goal is to contribute to the bottom line for a company through filling that company’s open positions. If I am recruiting for a Senior Java Developer and someone applies because he/she really wants the position but has mainly an intelligence analyst background then I am probably not going to select this person to further go through the process.
Isn’t that Recruiter supposed to find jobs for me? A Recruiter is not an individual’s “Personal Recruiter”. As much as everyone would love to have one, it is not a Recruiter’s responsibility to find the candidate a job. A Recruiter is responsible for finding candidates for the jobs. The Recruiter works on providing the best candidates within a given period to the Hiring Authority (usually some level of Management…maybe some type of Program Manager or Departmental Manager or possibly Executive Management). Furthermore, a Recruiter does not typically generate the jobs. Jobs are created through some form of immediate need OR forecasted need. An example of an immediate position need is backfilling someone who recently left a company. Forecasted needs may be developed by a Program Manager or someone with corporate workforce planning responsibilities. For instance, a company anticipates that they are going to be selling twice as many products 2 years from now then they might forecast that they need to increase a certain number of positions within their customer service department or within another department by next year to help meet their overall goals.
Can a Recruiter write my resume? Along with the last point, a Recruiter is not an expert or professional resume writer. I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to write or revise their resume. Usually, I never have enough time to do this. Recruiting takes up so much time and I don’t even like working on my own resume. Recruiters are not responsible for writing good resumes. Recruiters are responsible for identifying good resumes.
Writing/preparing/developing a resume is not easy and therefore, it is not quick. I recommend leaving this to your friends, colleagues, possibly your Career Counseling Center OR if you can ever spare the money in the future and once you have more experience, get a professional resume writer to write your resume. Again, there is always an exception to the rule…so as a by-product of recruiting for a long time, recruiters can point out some good tips OR there are recruiters who enjoy this and who do write very well or may have plenty of spare time to write or revise resumes. If a Recruiter is writing your resume, they are doing a favor to you. This is not an expected task for a Recruiter.
Does the Recruiter come up with that job? A Recruiter doesn’t usually create the requirements for a position. It is up to that Program Manager or Dept. Head or Business Owner to define their workforce. We support that hiring authority by providing the people to work within it. I will caveat this and say that a business might not have an official Recruiter to do their recruiting. This often depends upon the size of the company. Smaller companies, startups, and the like, will have employees who wear a lot of different hats and be “unofficial” recruiters until they are at a certain growth level. As an additional note, if a company has become large enough that that company decides to hire a Recruiter then this might be an indicator that they are becoming more successful.
Isn’t a Recruiter my Career Counselor OR Adviser? A Recruiter is not a Career Counselor. I believe this is a position that even requires a specialized degree. A Career Counselor is trained and fully prepared to assist someone as they develop their career or provide support as someone decides to change careers. (Students, I’ve seen so many people ask recruiters for advice that a Career Counselor would be better able to answer. Take advantage of any Career Counseling services offered by your University…especially while it is easily accessible to you at this time). There are also quite a bit of solid Career Coaches out there that you may want to consider speaking with as well. That said, the longer a Recruiter has been involved in recruiting, especially within a specific industry…that Recruiter could certainly offer a solid opinion that might help candidates as they search for jobs. I could probably offer some helpful tips for candidates who are looking for IT jobs because I am a Technical Recruiter but if you ask me for tips for getting a position in Nursing then I am probably not the most helpful person.
How does a Recruiter recruit? While they may exist, there are few jobs where a candidate may be hired based upon really wanting or needing a position or being exceptionally nice…Even if I really like you, I, as a Recruiter, cannot select someone based on these factors alone. Relevant Education and Experience are important too. (But I certainly try not to bring in mean people to the company I am recruiting for!)
Doesn’t the Recruiter Hire me? This can be a little confusing as the words “recruiting” and the word “hiring” are used so interchangeably. The Recruiter recruits and the Hiring Manager hires. The Recruiter does not usually make the final hiring decision. This means that the Hiring Authority or Hiring Manager (the Manager of a program or project or a division) is the one that usually makes the candidate selection. However, it is the Recruiter that oftentimes has the most communication with the candidate and therefore the recruiter often does provide input and can influence that decision making process.
If a Recruiter says I’m good, does that mean I’m in for sure? While a Recruiter is expected to have general knowledge of the company he/she recruits for, a recruiter (on the same recruiting team) is not going to know another Recruiter’s openings as well as the recruiter who “owns” those positions. We can pass the resume on to our recruiting colleagues. We can mention that you applied to a particular opening. We can make sure that your resume gets viewed or say that we feel you are a strong fit but a recruiter cannot force another recruiter to hire a particular candidate. Each Recruiter is responsible for going through their standard recruiting process to make sure that any and all candidates are considered fairly for an opening.
A Recruiter is a Recruiter. Who knows Recruiters better than a Recruiter? To tell you the truth, this is a question where even recruiters might disagree. There are times when a Recruiter is considered to be under the Human Resources umbrella. There are others who don’t think recruiting is a part of Human Resources (HR) and that recruiting is a part of Business Development or Operations or maybe something else. I heard someone once describe recruiting in this way and I think it is fitting…Recruiting is the marketing arm of HR. In past times, a Recruiter may have had other HR duties and these days this still might be true in smaller companies but I have always felt that Recruiting is a big responsibility on its own. Typically, don’t expect a recruiter to handle your payroll or help with exit interviews or be the benefits guru or conduct orientation or other corporate responsibilities.
Most Recruiters enjoy what they do. After all I just described, It IS intrinsically rewarding to fill a position with someone who fits a position but also wants the job and is appreciative for getting it. We want the positions we recruit for to be filled with smart, qualified people with proactive attitudes or who offer a lot of potential. We want to help make those meaningful matches. Recruiting is an art not a science. Therefore, I as a Recruiter, cannot make guarantees for you but I certainly hope I’ve provided some useful information for that job searching universe that you are about to enter.