The Ultimate Guide on How to Pursue a Recruiter Career

In June 2021, over 380,000 open recruiter positions  were posted on LinkedIn. The number keeps growing as recruiters become more in demand as companies try to grow post-pandemic.

The BLS  also anticipates that there will be a 9% increase in recruiting jobs from 2020 to 2030. 

Right now, with a competitive market, there’s never been a better time to switch careers or find your dream job.

If you’re interested in pursuing a highly sought-after career with all kinds of benefits, keep reading to figure out what steps to take next.

Benefits of Being a Recruiter

One of the main reasons people become interested in a recruiting career is to make a difference in job seekers’ lives. Helping people in their job search is very rewarding and fulfilling, and you’ll get to go to sleep each night knowing that you made a difference. 

You’ll help people find new economic opportunities and help hiring managers find the best talent they need to achieve their business goals. That way, you get to be the middle-man that benefits both the employer and the job seekers.

Recruiting is also an excellent job for people who love interacting with all kinds of people. You’ll get to talk to them and learn where they come from and also learn about their job history. 

On the flip side, you’ll also get to work with all kinds of different hiring companies. By doing this, you’ll better understand how companies work together and hire people. There’s always the option to learn something new to advance your recruiting career. 

You’ll also have the option to make a lot of money. In 2020, the average recruiter salary for a recruiter was around $121,000. 

But this will depend on what type of company you work for. For example, if you work with a recruitment agency, you’ll likely only need a bachelor’s degree. As an agency recruiter, you have the option to work on a salary base with a commission for every successful hire. 

This pay structure means that you’ll be able to profit from making good hiring decisions.

Earn a Degree

If all of these benefits describe your dream job, the first step you’ll need to take is to earn a degree. Most recruiters have at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. The focus might be business administration, psychology, or human resources. 

Whatever degree you choose, ensure that you’re learning about people and their behaviors. You may even want to take classes in sociology or communications. This education will give you the skills you need when working with people and understanding their behaviors. 

Some firms might not require you to have a bachelor’s degree, but it will help set you apart from other candidates and open the door for more opportunities.

In addition to earning your degree, you may also want to consider recruiting certificates. These might be required depending on the state that you’re working in or what recruiting agencies or jobs you want to work for. 

Gain Experience

Once you’ve gotten your certificates and degree, you’ll need to gain experience to sharpen your skills. 

Some recruiters don’t automatically start recruiting, but they take other positions that interact with people. 

For example, some will work in sales, operations, support, administrative, or HR roles to gain experience. All of these will work with people, and they’ll help you develop skills that will look great on your resume.

Develop Your Skill Set

To be desirable in the job market, you’ll have to have a good skill set for your recruiting career. Successful recruiters typically have a lot of similar personality traits and skills that they can use in any job.

For example, many recruiters are outgoing. You’ll have to spend a lot of your day talking with all kinds of people and making real connections with strangers. If you’re someone who gets exhausted talking to people all the time, this may not be the best job for you.

You’ll also need to be empathetic and learn how to understand the world from the candidate’s perspective. Understanding their struggle will help you match candidates with the right role when you know what they’re looking for or what they need. 

A professional recruiter will also need excellent communication skills. You’ll need to be able to communicate through text and verbally. While communicating is essential, you’ll also have to be good at listening. 

Ensure that you understand what they’re looking for.  If a job candidate doesn’t feel like you care about them, they’ll likely find a position with a recruiter who does show they care. 

Not every day in your career will be easy. There will be jobs you can’t fill, rejections to send to candidates, and hires that didn’t work out. That’s why you need a stubborn and persistent attitude to keep going and try again. When you have a good attitude about your job, you’ll likely be determined to make better hires and also make more money. 

Decide What Type of Recruiting Career to Pursue

Once you have these skill sets and some experience under your belt, you’ll need to figure out what type of recruiter job you want to apply for. There are many different options, but first, you’ll need to figure out if you want a more generalized or specialized role. 

You can work as a headhunter, executive recruiter, or internal recruiter if you want a generalized role. A headhunter (or staffing recruiter) will generally work with a recruiting agency and fill all kinds of different positions. 

An executive recruiter is someone who recruiters candidates for high-level roles. You’ll need to know how to identify candidates who have good leadership qualities, and you can do this in almost any industry. 

Internal recruiters will recruit only for that company rather than outsourcing to agency recruiters. You can work in almost any industry, and you’ll recruit for all kinds of roles that your business is hiring for. 

For specialized roles, you might want to work in these industries: 

• Legal
• Military
• Information technology
• Pharmacy
• Sales
• Sports
• Engineering

Interview for Recruiter Jobs

Now that you know which type of recruiting job you want to pursue, you’ll start applying for jobs and interviewing. 

You’ll have to go through the hiring process yourself unless you start your own business. You may want to look up some good interview questions to help you prepare. Do your research on the company, and take note of their current hiring process.

Sharing insights on your recruitment strategy and how it could better their business would be a great interview topic.

Even if you don’t get the first job, take every opportunity to grow your recruitment brand and figure out what your hiring process looks like to you. 

Keep in mind that the interviewer will likely evaluate how well you can lead a conversation and communicate in job interviews. You’ll need to reach out to many potential candidates, so you’ll need to be good at connecting with people. 

You’ll also need to demonstrate how you can use your skills to build these relationships with top candidates to fill the roles a company needs. 

Try viewing the interview as the recruitment process. You’re trying to recruit the interviewer and the hiring manager to like your brand enough to choose you. If you can do that, you may have a good chance of landing the job.

Start Your Recruiter Career Today

Once you find your dream job, you’ll need some tools to help you get started. Having the right tools will help you stand apart from the competition and take you further in your career.

One tool that can help you source qualified candidates for open positions is software that uses advanced technology to find a list of perfect candidates. Once it finds that list, it will send that list right to your email. 

If you’re interested in learning more about this tool, contact us today !

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