1. Recruiting is a sales job
Jobs like Sales and Recruiting that require you to hit the phones, email, LinkedIn, etc. and do outbound prospecting are awesome at developing a grinding, persistent work ethic. Competitive markets where the number of available jobs far out-number available candidates require the recruiter to sell the candidates on specific opportunities at companies they represent.
2. Hearing “No”…often
There are 1000 clichés and sayings about the importance of failure and rejection in developing a winning mindset. Nothing teaches us the right way to win more than persisting through daily rejection and more importantly, what to listen for in the “No’s”, that help us improve and craft a value proposition that ultimately becomes a Yes.
3. Learning to evaluate talent
We are in a world where the fight for talent is critical and intellectual capital rules. Learning how to assess and evaluate talent across a range of job roles and skillsets prepares you for the ultimate task of building your own team to compete.
4. Learning what people and companies are looking for
As a recruiter, you will talk to a wide spectrum of employers and hiring managers. Gaining insight into what key skills and what key characteristics compose winning hires is invaluable. Listening to hiring managers and gaining an understanding of their intent and what is behind what they say when looking for key hires is also a golden development opportunity.
5. Learning what key metrics apply to a variety of jobs and how success is measured
Job roles and key performance metrics vary by industry and by company size. Being a recruiter gives you visibility into how and what people measure performance across a range of industries and job types.
6. You develop listening skills
There are two sides of the listening coin when it comes to being a high-performing recruiter…, listening to hiring managers and employers on what key people they are looking for, what skill sets are must-haves and most importantly, what the right cultural fit for their organization looks like. The second side is listening to candidates when you talk through the potential opportunity, their fit and ultimately interest as well.
7. You develop interviewing skills
As part of the listening process mentioned above, you have to filter through the conversation for the right explanations of their core skill set, the right performance within applicable roles, how their personality may or may not align to the prospective employer, frankly, whether they are “BS’ing” you or know what they are talking about, and what questions they ask that show they want to understand the opportunity in play.
8. How to assess culture fit in candidates
One of, if not the most, challenging aspects of an interview/evaluation process is determining whether or not someone is a cultural fit for the prospective job. Cultures can be hard to quantify and measure and so many of the aspects of determining culture fit are hard to discern during a formal interview loop. That being said, spotting conversational aspects of someone’s personality and seeking ways to vet their potential fit are invaluable skillsets and ultimately play an important part of reference checking for those very personality pieces.
9. Finally, getting comfortable with the entire job-seeking and interviewing process
Searching for a job can be a very stressful experience. Advising job-seekers on finding employment, as well as working with hiring companies and individuals to find talent is an invaluable experience when working to find your future dream job.