Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dan Nuroo on June 22, 2009 at 9:46am

Hi Simon,

A topic close to my heart. Innovation and speed (you have to out Recruit the agencies), a thick skin (there is no one to blame but you, no one wants to hear the market sucks), flair, professionalism, a marketeer, delivery focussed, quality driven, a juggler, a communicator, an ambassador and yes still a sales person.

Simon this reads like corporate recruiting is just a process thing for you. Is that a fair assumption? (PS I'd disgree)

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Permalink Reply by Michael Bachand on June 22, 2009 at 11:42am

How about strong closing skills?
Expert on the service / product they represent and expert on their competitors
Strong image / presentation
Trusted with confidential information

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Frost on June 22, 2009 at 11:50am

Simon,

In addition to all the great suggestions Dan and Michael have made, I think a corporate recruiter needs to have a great deal of flexibility to deal with changing job requirements and budget changes, and a strong ability to partner with the Hiring Managers. Corporate recruiters may be called on to help provide a business justification to a Senior Manager about why a certain candidate should be hired if that candidate is over budget and the recruiters are often the only individuals who can provide critical market data to support the decision to hire the candidate.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Homula on June 22, 2009 at 11:57am

Not long ago I wrote a series of posts on How To Hire Great Recruiters in which I outlined the 8 competencies I have found, in 15 years in this business - most of them hiring and leading recruiters, will predict success in a recruiter. This applies to Corporate or Third Party. The list, with links to each post, are:

Interaction
Spoken Communication
Commitment To Task
Insight and Needs Analysis
Creativity
Tolerance of Ambiguity
Reading The System
Tenacity

This is a fascinating and important topic and I don't claim to have all the answers. That said, I can say that with some strong competency analysis and using p values to tie these competencies to real life recruiter performance these are the 8 I have found work the best.

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Permalink Reply by Harold Ensley on June 22, 2009 at 2:39pm

Here's my list

- Admin skills - very important, as corporate processes and systems are often not efficient or important
- Attention to detail - to ensure process is by the book, or according to corporate standards
- Able to deal with crushing workloads - in an agency, too much work = good profit = hire more recruiters; in a corporate environment recruiting = cost centre. I would venture that corproate recruiter shoulder 2x the burden of an average agency recruiter (yes, I've worked both sides of the desk)...
- Tenacity, can-do attitude; overcomes objections
- Strong Relationship builder - the fundamental of this is respect (HMs respect the recruiter & recruiters opinion) and trust. A "nice" relationship without respect is worthless. Also, if there is no trust, there will always be "sourcing" issues
- Flexible - able to deal with changing situations

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Permalink Reply by Simon Meth on June 22, 2009 at 9:57pm

Hi Dan,

No, corporate recruiting isn't just a process thing but process is very important. I've worked for defense contractors for 5+ years and everything we do is audited by the OFCCP and the EEOC. Without process those audits would not go well. Also, having a solid process is the only truly efficient way to recruit.

Cheers!

Simon

Dan Nuroo said:

Hi Simon,

A topic close to my heart. Innovation and speed (you have to out Recruit the agencies), a thick skin (there is no one to blame but you, no one wants to hear the market sucks), flair, professionalism, a marketeer, delivery focussed, quality driven, a juggler, a communicator, an ambassador and yes still a sales person.

Simon this reads like corporate recruiting is just a process thing for you. Is that a fair assumption? (PS I'd disgree)

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Permalink Reply by Simon Meth on June 22, 2009 at 9:58pm

Hi Michael,

All excellent points! I especially like your final point: "Trusted with confidential information."

Cheers!

Simon

Michael Bachand said:

How about strong closing skills?
Expert on the service / product they represent and expert on their competitors
Strong image / presentation
Trusted with confidential information

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Simon Meth on June 22, 2009 at 10:00pm

Hi Patrick,

Interesting! It's amazing how much real-world, current data we recruiters collect.

Cheers!

Simon

Patrick Frost said:

Simon,

In addition to all the great suggestions Dan and Michael have made, I think a corporate recruiter needs to have a great deal of flexibility to deal with changing job requirements and budget changes, and a strong ability to partner with the Hiring Managers. Corporate recruiters may be called on to help provide a business justification to a Senior Manager about why a certain candidate should be hired if that candidate is over budget and the recruiters are often the only individuals who can provide critical market data to support the decision to hire the candidate.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Meth on June 22, 2009 at 10:04pm

Hi Michael,

I haven't read all your posts, yet, but "Tolerance of Ambiguity" is a good one. It's a corollary of "Hiring managers don't know what they really want until they have interviewed some candidates." BTW, I think that is just fine and the way it usually is. It's the recruiters who usually think there is something wrong with that.

Cheers!

Simon

Michael Homula said:

Not long ago I wrote a series of posts on How To Hire Great Recruiters in which I outlined the 8 competencies I have found, in 15 years in this business - most of them hiring and leading recruiters, will predict success in a recruiter. This applies to Corporate or Third Party. The list, with links to each post, are:

Interaction
Spoken Communication
Commitment To Task
Insight and Needs Analysis
Creativity
Tolerance of Ambiguity
Reading The System
Tenacity

This is a fascinating and important topic and I don't claim to have all the answers. That said, I can say that with some strong competency analysis and using p values to tie these competencies to real life recruiter performance these are the 8 I have found work the best.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Meth on June 22, 2009 at 10:06pm

Hi Karen,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Can't say I agree with all your points.

Cheers!

Simon

KarenM said:

Several Years ago on another network I wrote the following, that the best recruiters must have adhd - found temporarily at this address - http://directhireavenue.com/viewpoint/43/111-the-best-recruiters-ha...

Currently there are no personality or assessment tests to determine the great qualities of a Recruiter/Sourcer, yet the question often is asked, what traits make up the ideal recruiter.

My personal Observation, is that a Super Star recruiter definitely has tendencies of ADD/HD


Why you ask? Well because we tend to be:

- Loners
- Farmers AND Hunters at the same time (mixed lot)
- Intense individuals Save
- Very Creative individual willing to think outside the box
- Highly insightful/intuitive - especially regarding the human psyche
- Hyper-thinkers
- Spontaneous problem solvers
- Impulsive
- Have a reputation for being daydreamers
- need for flexibility
- receptive to new ideas and experiences
- ADD/HD people are Very gifted
- Aptitude for small business entrepreneurship
- Easily Distracted yet at other times become intensely interested in what they do - one project at a time.. and can easily become so engrossed that they lose concept of time and surroundings, and then turn around and become just as easily bored soon after - diverted attention.
- Yet can still be the best in multitasking
- Great procrastinators
- Adapt to new concepts and get the gist of information easily

I see also really interesting parallels to job history (many have issues with job hoppers) - if a company requires unstimulated, repetitive, and a highly structured environment there can be issues of rebelling.. Maybe that is why there are so many independent recruiters or that recruiters do well working from home via telecommuting?

I see Recruiters as Mavericks in their own right - yet they also really do well in this environment, as this is a job that really does depend on intuition and an ability to adapt well to new situations consistently..

I am not a psychologist, never been one, this is just my personal perception over the years.. what do you guys think?

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Permalink Reply by Simon Meth on June 22, 2009 at 10:06pm

Hi Harold,

I can tell that we'd work great together!

Cheers!

Simon

Harold Ensley said:

Here's my list

- Admin skills - very important, as corporate processes and systems are often not efficient or important
- Attention to detail - to ensure process is by the book, or according to corporate standards
- Able to deal with crushing workloads - in an agency, too much work = good profit = hire more recruiters; in a corporate environment recruiting = cost centre. I would venture that corproate recruiter shoulder 2x the burden of an average agency recruiter (yes, I've worked both sides of the desk)...
- Tenacity, can-do attitude; overcomes objections
- Strong Relationship builder - the fundamental of this is respect (HMs respect the recruiter & recruiters opinion) and trust. A "nice" relationship without respect is worthless. Also, if there is no trust, there will always be "sourcing" issues
- Flexible - able to deal with changing situations

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Permalink Reply by Chernee Vitello on June 23, 2009 at 6:24am

I loved my time at being a Corporate Recruiter. To be success in this area you need to understand your business be able to sell your company and let candidates know why your organization is different. You have to be a sales person, understand time kills all deals, persistant, know how to find the right people for your organization, seek out the candidates, do not wait for them to come to you.

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