A long-term career in recruitment and mental health

By GSR2R Admin | 12th May 2023

Enjoying a long-term career in recruitment means looking after your mental wellbeing.

Recruiting is a great career, and us pro-active recruiters love how busy we are and how many things we have going on at once. The more the better! But a there’s a link between a long-term career in recruitment and mental health.

An average day in recruitment can be having a to do list that is longer than your pad and that’s just for your morning! Flipping between meetings and calls is what we thrive on We are proactive do-ers – we get stuff done all the time.

Being consultative, a sounding board, empathic with candidates is all part of our day, and we do this with the most upbeat attitude. After all, no one wants their recruiter to be miserable.

However, recruiters are humans and not actually superhuman. So how do we continue to give this level of service to everyone, and look after ourselves?

As we recognise Mental Health Awareness Week, GSR2R is focusing our attention on the topic of recruiting and mental health, and how they’re intrinsically linked.

In this blog, we will explore the link between recruitment and mental health and offer some practical solutions to help mitigate the negative impact to enjoy that long-term career in our wonderful industry.

Recruitment and mental health

Typical challenges facing recruiters are the fact we juggle the demands of hiring managers and executives, candidates, targets, goals, competition in the market and wanting to please our bosses! It can be mentally exhausting.

The pressure to do everything to a high standard all the time with little breaks can lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress, while compassion fatigue is a type of burnout specifically related to the demands of caregiving roles.

It’s important to understand what burnout is. It’s often been seen as not wanting to be a recruiter anymore, but it is far more than that. It can be the fact you can’t do the role short term.

Symptoms can be:

1. Physical symptoms – such as headaches, muscle tension, and insomnia.
2. Emotional symptoms – such as irritability, anxiety, and depression.
3. Behavioural symptoms – such as increased use of alcohol or drugs, and poor work performance.

Mitigating the impact mental health on recruiters

I cannot convey enough the importance of positive mental health in our industry.

If you’ve noticed that you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s time to take a minute and a break.

Sometimes you must slow down to speed up. Taking a small amount of time to yourself daily can really help.

So, how can you take steps to stop this happening?

Here are a few ideas to get your started.

1. Communicate

Sounds obvious, I know, but if you’re feeling a certain way, you need to communicate this to your managers and speak openly and freely about your concerns and stressors. Not only is it great to simply talk about it, but they might also have some practical solutions that they can offer to support you, that you’re not even aware that your company offers.

The earlier you talk about it, the quicker you can get on top of it.

2. Prioritise a healthy work-life balance

Set yourself realistic expectations for your workload and create flexibility where possible. Often, we’re hard on ourselves when we don’t need to be. So many recruitment organisations have adapted brilliantly to flexible and hybrid working.

Make sure that you’re leveraging what’s on offer to support your mental wellbeing.

3. Practice self-care

Self-care is crucial in today’s hectic world. Sometimes just trying to keep up can be a challenge in itself. By prioritising self-care, you can educate yourself on how to manage stress. The more you do it, the more it becomes habit. This can include strategies such as mindfulness, physical exercise, breathing exercises and time management.

Be kind to yourself

At the end of the day, it’s different strokes for different folks. If you’re not sure where to start, there are a wide range of channels for you to explore to help you manage your mental health.

There are also some incredible apps to suit everyone’s needs. Here are some of the best apps out there.

It’s not news that life has been a little stressful lately. But it is important to recognise when you’re struggling. It’s the first step to regaining control and living your best life.

You work in a great industry that is moving forward and understanding that well-being is why their teams stay and are committed so make sure your well-being is a priority to you and your company.

Take care, recruiters and be kind to yourself.

Cheryl