Many of us have experienced great change in the last few years and thousands of careers have been thrown into chaos. We’ve been talking to so many job hunters recently who have found themselves unemployed after decades of stable jobs. Of course, we’re looking for roles to suit them but also we’ve found candidates with real expertise in their sectors who would make fantastic recruiters. These are the qualities that make great recruiters and we’re always looking for experts to join our team.

Excellent people skills

Recruitment is all about making connections. We build relationships between clients and candidates. Recruiters build networks over time but if you can bring the network from your previous career you’re already ahead. Maintaining relationships isn’t always easy but making sure you check in via social media or indeed just occasional informal calls can make all the difference. If you like people and engage regularly you are a natural recruiter.

Self-motivation

Although recruiters do work as a team most of the client and candidate management will be an individual activity. Many of our consultants work from home and manage their own time and workload. The harder you work the more you’ll earn in the recruitment world. If you get bored or need to be highly managed perhaps it’s not for you but the excitement of getting a really good placement or returning from a great meeting is motivation enough for us!

Good sector knowledge

The better you know your sector, the better recruiter you will become. Having genuine understanding of the roles that you are recruiting for ensures you find the right people and make the right impression to clients and candidates. Lots of job titles can be really confusing but if you have that hands-on experience you can understand the skills the right person needs. When you are confident in your understanding of the subject you become a better recruiter, clients are impressed, candidates are content and you relax.

Skills to learn to become a recruiter

Once you have the skills above you can become a recruiter but there are a few other things to work on. Good solid mathematics is important to calculate fees, taxes, and margins. Obviously, you can use a calculator and various other tools but having a good grasp of maths is really useful. Secondly, you need knowledge of employment law. It’s not that tricky but understanding what you can and can’t ask of a candidate is essential. Personnel Today is a great source for HR and recruitment legislation news and provides a good overview of the main topics.

If you would like to become a recruiter and want to explore the options do get in touch. We’re always looking for people with industry experience to train in recruitment.