6 Traits That Make A Great Recruiter
There are an endless amount of career paths out there, and due to the constant evolution of technology, the list of potential jobs is almost never-ending. For a lot of people, it can be overwhelming trying to pick just one to pursue, and this can be especially daunting if you’re fresh out of university – to help you, we’ve compiled a list of some of the characteristics that make a great recruiter, and hopefully it will help you come to a decision about your future!
A great recruiter is:
Money motivated
Money is great, money buys nice things and humans inherently like to have nice things. Some people, however, are more motivated by these items, experiences and other purchasable things more than others. If you are someone who sets goals based on the things you want to buy – whether that may be a holiday, a car or a house – then you’ve already got the foundations of a great recruiter right there.
Recruitment is a sales-based role and, therefore, recruiters get rewarded for the deals they make in the form of commission, which is, more often than not, uncapped. The industry allows you to earn thousands of pounds on top of your basic salary every year, meaning that the average earnings for an entry level position in central London are around the £35,000 mark. Depending on the company, recruiters also work towards monthly, quarterly and yearly team targets which get you rewards like nights out, holidays, lunches at top restaurants and more! Really, if you are driven by rewards, a sales-orientated industry like recruitment is for you.
A social butterfly
Could you talk for England? Did your school reports always read “talks too much”? Well no longer is that a bad thing! In recruitment, your job is to talk to clients and candidates all day long, and engage in proper conversation, so it’s the perfect career for a chatterbox. Good recruiters build relationships with both clients and candidates; you’re not reading off a script like a call centre, but rather you have real conversations with real people. It’s your job to find out what your clients hiring needs are, as well as finding out about your candidates interests, motivations and goals (among other things).
Competitive
Are you spurred on by the successes of others, because you want to be a high achiever and not just average? Perhaps you have been a part of a football team throughout your life, or maybe you have participated in business enterprise competitions; these are often exhibited by driven individuals who have a real desire to succeed. More often than not, competitive people end up making excellent sales-people, so if you thrive under pressure, and find competition energising rather than exhausting, recruitment is the perfect avenue to make a living out of it.
Always looking for a challenge
This is not a job for those who want to take a back seat in their career, that’s for sure. You’ve got to be proactive and you have to be happy being out of your comfort zone, because, great things never come from comfort zones! If you’re not interested in a mundane job where you won’t ever face challenges, working in a people-orientated sales role is an excellent route. No two days are the same in Recruitment, and working with people as your product can mean that the job is very unpredictable, but for some, that’s what keeps them going back to work every day!
Solution orientated
Recruitment is not a predictable role to be in, so if you’re after predictability and certainty, then perhaps look elsewhere. Some deals are similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle; that may be because you’ve got a great candidate, but have no idea where to send them based on their credentials, or it could be that you had a candidate perfect for a role but they then drop off the radar hours before an interview. There are many things that can be a spanner in the works, but a good recruiter will try their best to find a home for that pesky spanner!
Positive
When the going gets tough, you need to be able to stay positive. Your patience will be tested from time to time, due to the nature of the industry, so resilience and positivity are a necessity. You’re going to hear a lot on ‘no’s’ from both candidates and clients, sometimes you hear nothing at all, and sometimes you get blatantly lied to. The ability to take unexpected turns in stride, and remembering that there is a golden ‘yes’ out there somewhere, is key!
People with these traits generally make great recruiters, and sales people in general – if you are looking to make a move, or are making your first steps into the world of work after university, get in touch with us to find out what roles we’re recruiting for!
If you don’t know much about the world of recruitment, but are interested to find out more, get in touch with one of our expert consultants here at 5Q Consultancy – we connect graduates, sales-people and recruiting professionals with top tier enterprises in London and across England. Give us a call on 0203 7008483, or email caitlin@5-q.co.uk.
