What Makes a Good Recruiter?
Before we even get to talking about what makes a good recruiter, we must talk about the different kinds of recruiters, since there are many. There are internal, contingent, retained, recruiters who focus on certain industries, and staffing agency recruiters. Here at Germer, we are contingent recruiters who focus on permanent positions in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries. If you are interested in the difference between contained and retained recruiting firms, please look at this blog post.
As a contingent recruiter, you must be willing to work on the position until the job is filled or the client tells you to stop working on the opening since you will not get paid out until the job is filled with a qualified candidate.
This means that a recruiter must be persistent, patient, and receptive to feedback.
A good recruiter must be persistent. Persistence is key in recruiting. There are times where a client may not see why a candidate is a good fit. If you are persistent you can follow up with the client and candidate to show why they are a good fit. You may also need to be persistent in finding the right candidate. If the client is still actively looking to fill a position, you will be able to find the right candidate with persistence.
A good recruiter must be patient. Although you may have worked on a search for what feels like a long time, some positions take longer to fill than others. You must continue to work on a search until the client tells you to stop. Patience will beat out other recruiters who have given up on a tough search and will allow you to continue to find new candidates. A candidate you reached out to at the beginning of your search may have started looking while you are in the middle of your search. Since you were patient and stuck with the search, you will now be able to connect with this candidate and send his/her information over to the client.
Finally, a good recruiter must be receptive to feedback. No matter how long you work with a client or work on a search you will continue to learn more about the opening. A client may continue to give you feedback on each candidate you send over. You can take this feedback and then use it to find a better fitting candidate for your client.