Let’s be honest, recruiting comes in many forms, from contingency to search to contract and retained. It is a rewarding job where no 2 days are the same but it can also be challenging, frustrating and downright difficult. Remember we are dealing with human beings here and humans can and will change their mind and sometimes let you down. It is always hard work and you will be expected to work long hours.
Recruitment is a sales job and to excel, high performing recruiters know they must work hard, be resilient and tough enough to deal with the daily challenges thrown at them.
After Covid-19, it will be essential to dig that little bit deeper and use all your reserves to get you through the days. When conversations you will be having aren’t always leading to positive results or those positive results are taking a lot longer than they used to, then you will need to find that extra motivation to grit your teeth and keep going.
Communication skills
Recruitment is a relationship business. High performing recruiters are great flexible communicators – from connecting with candidates who call to influencing clients. It isn’t about how fast you can call, text or email but about human to human connection and a star recruiter will stand out because of the relationships they build.
After Covid-19 you will find it necessary to rebuild relationships with your clients as well as your candidate base. It will be important to re-engage with clients and candidates as though you are communicating with them for the first time. Take nothing for granted. So much will have changed and you will need to go back to basics.
Most importantly however is to show empathy – it seems to us at GSR2R that support and advice is what is most important right now. Does your candidate really want to change job/do they have the support of their partner/peer group/family – you will need to question and really listen to what they’re saying and advise accordingly.
The best recruiters are gold mines of information about their sectors and their clients. Think you know your clients? Think again! They’ll have been subject to a lot of change after Covid-19 and you will need to get to know them all over again. What changes have they seen, how will it affect their company, their growth plans, what is their strategy for exiting lockdown, how will it affect their hiring plans. What can you help them with right now? How can you help them reach their goals? You will need to re-engage to be able to give them the best support.
And truly, you can’t take anything for granted.
Understand recruiting trends & keep ahead of the market
A lot is happening in the employment space. Remember you are a consultant after all and both your clients and candidates are looking for your best advice so set aside some extra time to research what is happening in your market and be ahead of your competitors.
Do you like and share your companies’ content? Do you post on social media and engage?
In today’s marketplace clients have so much choice so keep one step ahead of your competitors.
Both clients and candidates will work with recruiters they know, like and trust. Therefore, you need to be ‘present’ online as well as in regular telephone contact.
That is the way you can stand out from the crowd.
Know yourself
This is a good time to do an audit of your own performance. What are your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest with yourself, are those weaknesses costing you deals/money. What learning, skills updates can you do now to improve yourself? Finding out your flaw gives you power. There is no time like the present to upskill and self-improve. What have you learned about yourself in Covid-19?
If you’d like to hear more advice/tips you can contact GSR2R, London’s recruitment to recruitment specialists on 020 3889 1670 or at hello@gsr2r.com
Until next time, Cheryl
