As a profession, we’re often looking at what skills candidates need in order to get the job they want. But here at Recruiting Talent, we have the unique opportunity to not only look at what recruitment skills candidates need but what skills we need to effectively select candidates for employment in recruitment.
So, whether you’re looking for work in recruitment or looking to hire a recruiting agent, these are the recruitment skills you should be looking for.
Time management and multitasking
The thing about recruitment is that you will be likely to be managing several clients and several companies looking for recruits. How many that will be will depend on a number of factors, but you will definitely need to know how to manage your time and theirs. That’s a lot of plates to spin, being the go-between from employer to employee. Not only are you managing your own time, but you will have to be prompt in answering the questions of employers and employees.
Critical thinking
The process when you’re first looking at a candidate is to look at all the information given, get rid of what isn’t relevant, pull out the essentials, and present the candidate to the employer as an unbiased option. Therefore, arguably the most important recruitment skill is critical thinking, which forces the recruiter to use their logic rather than their instinct.
Communication
Another contender for the most important recruitment skills is strong communication skills. There is a lot of fluff around recruiting due to CVs and job descriptions both trying to sound good, but also you will need to know how to cut through it and communicate clearly what the candidate has and what the client wants.
Additionally, a recruiter should have listening and body language among their recruitment skills. Over half of what we communicate is non-verbal and you should be naturally curious about your candidates and be able to find more than what their CV is portraying to make sure they’re suitable for the job.
Sales skills
A lot of recruitment is marketing. You’re selling a company to a candidate, you’re selling a candidate to the company, you’re posting job descriptions like they’re advertising billboards, etc. And like sales, a lot of it is bound to be reflected in your KPIs.
But it goes even further than simply being able to talk your way to what you want. You’ll need recruitment skills in writing, web analytics and other skills that aid in social media marketing, for example. That last one might surprise you, but according to Job Description Library, 79% of job seekers have used social media in their job search in 2022 and the most active demographic on social media is Millennials.
Reliability
A recruiter is the primary point of contact between the employee and the employer, which means it should be easy to get a hold of you for whatever reason either party has. You should be offering steady updates, even if there isn’t anything to say, or even if what you have to say is bad news, so as to not waste anyone’s time. Both the client and the candidate are dealing with high stakes and won’t appreciate having to run around to get a hold of you.
Data-driven head
Recruitment has become a lot more data-driven lately with a rise in HR technologies, so it’s an important skill to be able to look at the facts and the numbers and come to a logical conclusion. Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and recruitment metrics, is vital to staying efficient and keeping both employer and employee happy with what you present them.
Empathy
Job hunting is stressful. It often takes a long time and it can cause candidates to panic. All of this you should be able to take on board and empathise with. The most forgotten of recruitment skills, empathy will make you a more reliable recruiter and should be expressed with good communication skills.