The recruiter acts as
Being behind on tech
Recruiters need to have a keen understanding of people and how to cultivate relationships within a robust network. But today, if your recruiter is not utilizing tech in their leads, they may be losing talent to more tech-savvy teams. The great recruiter will have better strategies backed by data and talent pool metrics and be able to communicate the data’s meaning to the HR department and principles involved. With all the data available to HR teams, not developing a data-based recruitment strategy is probably the biggest mistake.
Sending emails at all hours of the day
While you want a hard-working and ambitious recruiter, this particular group of go-getters needs to temper their work habits to reflect the culture of your organization. While the recruiter’s job is surely different than any candidate they match to your company, their work habits may send the wrong message to prospective candidates. Does the boss expect employees to be emailing people at midnight? If your recruiter’s work ethic gets the jobs filled, that’s great—but as the liaison between the organization and prospective employees, the recruiter’s habits will provide a window into your workplace culture for your next hire.
Acting too overeager
Sometimes there’s a fine line between pursuing a candidate and pestering a candidate. An overzealous recruiter may send a candidate too many text messages in a row. They may call, email, and text all at once. Reaching out to candidates should not be excessive because the inundation of messages may appear unprofessional. If an organization appears desperate to fill a position, candidates may have second thoughts as to why.
Expressing the wrong brand
Oftentimes the recruiter makes the first impression of your organization to prospective hires. Your recruiter, therefore, must not only understand your brand but embody it—and have a keen understanding of how prospective hires may connect with the brand. Above all, they must be a good communicator, able to articulate the brand and workplace culture to the candidates who will make a good match. This is vital for finding the right match between your organization and a future employee, and an important aspect of retention rates.
Forcing a bad fit
Sometimes a candidate may appear great on paper, but not in an interview. When it’s clear that a candidate just won’t work out for one reason or another, the recruiter needs to be able to detect this and know when it’s time to move on. The ability to let a good prospect go, rather than trying to “make it work” by shoehorning a candidate into a particular position, is a key quality you need in your recruiter that will save a lot of time and frustration in the hiring process.
Shutting the door
Prospective hires could be landing their next dream job, or just falling short. When you’re in the position of making or breaking dreams, professionalism and courtesy go a long way to navigate the high stakes and high emotions of being on the job market. You never want to burn a bridge or develop a reputation for ruthlessness. A good recruiter will effectively and courteously communicate to prospective hires. A great recruiter will cultivate the “near misses” as new sources of hire for future prospects.
Sticking only with what works
While it may sound good to go with the tried and true, a great recruiter will go beyond the status quo and get creative. From finding new sources of hire to testing new recruitment marketing strategies, to engaging talent in clever ways, the great recruiter has the willingness to let something fail while continually striving to make things better. Creativity and a willingness to take risks is a key to success in any aspect of business—and this goes for recruiting as well.