“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” -Confucius
Truly said by Confucius, if you love your job then you will feel like working better towards it.
Today’s blog is a brief insight of the daily life of a recruiter. In a nutshell, a recruiter’s job involves matching job seekers (candidates) to vacancies with employers (clients) for a fee paid by the client. But there’s much more to it than that – it is a very consultative environment where attributes such as sales ability, people skills, and problem solving & customer service are absolutely key. Today’s clients and candidates are looking for consultancies who can become trusted advisers – not just matchmakers!
The role of a recruiter and is very diverse in nature and that’s what we love about it. One day I could be looking for an English Teacher for a training organization and the next I could be searching for highly qualified software specialist to design a complex program.
It’s all about finding the person with the right skills which can be a great challenge. We also have to deal with a vast array of clients and candidates which makes the job really interesting. Software engineers are in high demand and our clients are always commenting on there being a lack of good quality candidates in the market. Some days the recruiters are accompanying the business development team for meetings and advising clients on their recruitment strategies. This involves getting to know their business, their culture and their needs and building relationships in order to better service their requirements. An enquiring and probing mind is essential – as is the ability to be able to liaise at all levels of management.
A lot of the recruiter’s and Recruitment Companies time is spent on the telephone. Sorting of CV’s Received, meet and interview candidates not only to ascertain their suitability for a role, but also to give objective career advice. A recruiter also have to write copy for recruitment advertisement & keep the recruitment database updated
It is important to appreciate recruiters as they are playing many roles in the organization. They are the face of the company as well as the clients to the Candidates and vice versa, A Recruiter culture is commercially driven and can be pressured. Recruiters would be rewarded for the achievement of sales targets & also on competencies such as problem solving, teamwork, customer service and organizational skills. It’s a true meritocracy environment and an individual’s promotion is limited only by their own performance and ambition. The company offers each recruiter with its own specific promotion criteria as well as clear career paths designed to offer variety and to meet individual preferences. Commission schemes vary from company to company but on target earnings at the end of your first year which will accelerate as your career develops. A career in recruitment does not suit everyone, however it helps attain early responsibility, high earnings potential – and the satisfaction of helping to shape peoples careers – and in my point of view you can’t get better than that!”
A Typical Day IN THE LIFE OF A RECRUITER
9:10am – I walk in to the office, I work for a Fixed Low Cost Recruitment Company and I love it!
9:20am – First things first I get the computer on while the sip on my coffee , noticing I already have 45 E-Mails flashing at me on my Computer. A quick check tells me I have a 5 candidate on offer, 10 for a second round of interview to set up and 30 prospective candidates to call back… Looks set to be a busy day.
9:45am – The Recruitment team manager and the team, all gather together so we can go over our activity for the day. We discuss the latest candidates who came in the day before, including the business development candidates from client. This is our best time to match candidates to the roles we have on and make sure we’re on target for the week.
10:00am – Once the Morning meeting is over I settle back down at my desk, faced with 30 applications from eager candidates applying for a role , clients interview slots scheduled , and a to-do list longer than I can remember. I get my yellow Post It notes and jot down a checklist so nothing will get forgotten.
10:15am – My First offer has been made and my client has gone in above the salary expectation, I can’t wait to tell the candidate that he has got the job! 3 days, 10 interviews, an online test and now they can finally celebrate their win.
10:30am – With 10 second interviews and 30 Prospective interviews running today I spend most of my morning calling all the candidates to make sure they are feeling comfortable and ready to take the interviews with their potential employers. Everyone seems to be running on time and as yet no disasters. I wish them all good luck and cross my fingers that they clear the interview rounds.
11:00 am – I can literally hear my candidate jumping for joy as I tell him he’s been offered the job. He tries to hide it by muffling the phone but I smile as he calls out ‘I’ve got the job, I’ve got the job!’ This is one if the most satisfying parts of my day, my client is happy they’ve found the person they were looking for and my candidate is over the moon to have gotten the job he has been after. I send him through the official acceptance form so we can get the references and details back in time for the start date.
11:30am – I receive an email from a candidates who is an excellent fit for my clients interview so I quickly call her number to discuss her CV. We talk in depth about her experience, her education, what she is looking for now and I can soon see that she is a great candidate, driven, motivated and backing up all of her statements with solid examples. We could line her up for several interviews by the end of the week!
11:45am – Another day, another new Job Requirement, I take the job description from the client & spend some time making sure I understand what they need before posting an advert on the big job boards and short listing candidates who I’ve already have in my database.
1:00pm – It’s a Friday, it’s one o’clock and it’s my turn to run Facebook page with the Social media image! These happen on a daily basis, today I have 8 to 10 groups added and we need to post the job description on to these social media groups.
1:30pm- Lunch Time – Team Lunch – Catch up with my colleagues, peers, subordinates and the boss for some offline social interaction.
3:00pm –.Back to my desk and I would go through my work load and dedicate an hour to more job postings. Job applications are our company’s bread & butter, I must get as many applications possible for my jobs and although it’s a time consuming exercise the CVs are our greatest source for candidates. Every CV is screened and anyone who is saying the right things and looks good on paper I call to telephone interview. I shortlist 5 candidates.
5:00pm – Feedback time. All of my interviews have now done and now so I’m eager to hear from both clients and candidates how it all went. I start with the candidates, they are normally pretty good at calling me straight after so I chat with them about how they feel they did. I probe for what kind of questions they were asked, how they answered them, what vibe they got from the offices and from the client – Interviews are not all about the client assessing the candidate but just as much about the candidate getting a feel for the role, the atmosphere and how well they could see themselves fitting in.
5:30pm –Well, so far so good, all of my candidates are talking positively. My ever busy clients however are a little trickier to get hold of, I send a few reminder emails and settle for hearing tomorrow morning instead when I’ll catch them before the hectic day takes them away from their desks.
6:05pm – As the last step I shut down my computer, get ready to leave for the day. It’s been a hectic day in most people’s eyes but to me it’s my job and I love the energy, challenge and problems I face hour by hour, day by day. It’s what makes recruitment so fun and my painful rush hour commute home worthwhile.