Congratulations! You decided to join one of the most fulfilling industries — recruiting. You have a big responsibility: helping your company achieve its hiring goals. While at times it can be daunting, with the right skills, you can achieve great success. Here are seven tips to help entry-level recruiters set the foundation for a successful career.
1. Make yourself invaluable
Make it a point to develop professional relationships, with the primary goal being, “what can I do for them?” Find out how you can make your recruiting colleagues’ jobs easier, and become an invaluable asset to the department. Build relationships around the office, and make it your personal mission to solve departmental hiring challenges, such as hiring faster or sourcing the best candidates.
2. Network with everyone
Dedicate time to engaging on professional social media sites daily, including posting relevant content and sourcing candidates. Make it a goal to add value to top candidates’ careers, without asking for anything in return. Join LinkedIn groups relative to your interests, education, and location, as well candidate specific groups to offer valuable job search advice.
3. Take notes
Take notes during every meeting, candidate call, or professional development activity you attend. If a candidate says something you do not understand, write it down and conduct research later. If you prefer to stay paperless, use an app like Evernote, which can also be used during meetings, and accessed on-the-go.
Recommended read: 6 Apps Every Recruiter Should Download
4. Stay transparent
Maintain transparent candidate communication, to ensure you provide the best interview experience possible. Even if the candidate didn’t get the position, they will be more likely to refer other candidates to your company and trust you, should your paths cross in the future. Provide them with post-interview feedback no later than 24-48 hours post-interview. Even if you haven’t received feedback from the interview team, let the candidate know they are still top of mind.
5. Understand departmental recruiting goals
Gain a strong understanding of the positions for which you are recruiting and what skill sets are required to succeed. Curate industry related news daily; speak with employees in every department and ask what characteristics they want to see in junior, mid-level, and senior positions; and research tips on best practices for how to reach those candidates.
6. Set a foundation for good habits
Develop time management strategies to stay focused. Set time blocks for new candidate calls, follow-up calls, interviews, sourcing and research. Understand what recruiting metrics matter the most for your role, department and company, and work with your manager to ensure you are on track to accomplish those goals.
7. Learn every day
Learn something new every day to help grow your career. Read at least four to five recruiting-focused blogs or websites every week, and engage with recruiting influencers online – the worst that can happen is they simply don’t respond. On your off-hours, learn about recruiting innovations that can help you become your company’s resident expert.
