By Rajiv Kandukuri (Published in PRWRA December 2005 issue)
Recruitment is a combination of art and science. It requires a great deal of enthusiasm, inquisitiveness and patience to thrive as a good recruiter. To all those people who want to become star recruiters overnight, this is my piece of advice – “There are no short cuts to success” in this field. Having said that I would also want to add that this game knows no boundaries both in terms of money and fame. Successful recruiters have mastered this game and make millions every year. Here are a few tips that may help you get better in this game.
Understanding the job description:
A good recruiter understands the job description very well - each time and every time. The last four words in the previous statement are the most critical. Consistency is the key. Recruitment is like a tailoring job. Without knowing the measurements, you just cannot expect to make a great suit that fits your customer perfectly. It is the same with recruitment except that you have to satisfy two customers here. One is the client and then the candidate. So in a way, it is a double challenge. It is imperative that a recruiter knows what the client is looking for. You need to understand the needs of your customer. Often a client is looking to balance the right amount of experience with the right kind of experience. Many a times job descriptions are not only confusing but also misleading. It is always a good practice for the recruiter to gather first hand information as to what the client actually needs and then to proceed to fulfill that request. Here is an interesting website about job descriptions.
Hunt for the right talent begins:
Once we have the so-called “qualified job description”, we now use our brains to come up with the best possible search within the shortest possible time. Remember, you need to be both fast and accurate. One without the other is a sure failure. This is like putting together the different pieces of the puzzle in the fastest way possible. Recruiters often come up with search strings, which are a part of their total search strategy to yield results. A search string basically comprises of key words and logic. An effective search string comprises of the right key words and the most appropriate Boolean logic. For more information on search strings. The Internet has revolutionized the way we look for jobs and candidates. A successful recruiter makes good use of job boards, Internet pages, search engines, and other Internet resources to gather information about potential candidates for the job. Once we come up with a good search strategy, we implement it and come up with a pool of potential candidates for the job. Our job is far from over at this point.
Evaluating & closing the right candidate
Once we have a list of potential candidates for the job, we now start fine-tuning our search –who is the best candidate for the job? Evaluation is one of the most important phases in a recruitment life cycle. Please understand that this is like a double-edged sword. While we aim to perceive the candidate’s background, interests, his or her past performance and their future expectations, the candidate is doing the same with our company, our clientele and us. Gathering all the facts about a potential candidate is a critical step to success in evaluating them. Asking them questions like “Why do you want to leave your current job?” “What is your dream job?” “Why did you take up your current assignment?” is important in understanding the short-term and long-term goals of a candidate. Remuneration, relocation, nature of the job, duration, availability and other details about the job need to be discussed elaborately with the candidate before making any conclusions. Terms need to be agreed upon by both the recruiter and the candidate verbally and if possible in writing. Having gathered information from all the candidates and after speaking to them at length, the best candidate for the job needs to be finalized. Once we are completely convinced that this is the best candidate for the job, we now proceed to the next step of fine-tuning his or her resume for a formal submission to our client.
Making a winning resume
Often the most important characteristics of a candidate are not mentioned in the resume. Their inherent strengths are only revealed upon exhaustive interviewing. This is also a good time for a recruiter to make a note of the candidate’s general interviewing habits. There is a thin line between enhancing a candidate’s resume and lying on it. The former is great and the latter is suicidal. In an attempt to make a winning resume candidates and recruiters often go overboard by exaggerating their responsibilities and overstating their titles. This kind of unreasonable embellishment of resume leads to disappointment sooner or later and often costs a candidate his or her job. I have personally seen cases where the selected candidate for the job was fired immediately because of his incompetence in performing the required tasks while on the job. Expectation management is so important in today’s world that you cannot afford to compromise on it. Resumes come in a variety of sizes, shapes and styles. Resumes for a full-time job look different as compared to the ones that are for consulting assignments. Industry authorized standards, best practices and norms need to be followed while making a candidates resume. Once this task is complete we present our resume to the customer and await a feedback.
Interviewing & Selection
Once our candidate is short listed for an interview, he or she is to be coached for the interview. This would be a good time for us to fall back on our notes about the candidate and to counsel him or her wherever required. Technical, behavioral and other kinds of interviews are very common in today’s job market. Interview logistics need to be carefully reviewed both by the candidate and the recruiter, and every effort should be made to succeed in this endeavor. Once the interviewing is done, thank you letters need to be mailed. At this stage, the candidate and the recruiter have played their turn. It is now that our efforts hopefully pay off. Following up with the client is absolutely a must but care should be taken that the customer is not annoyed. This is the most opportune time for me to say hope for the best but prepare for the worst. As I have mentioned earlier, there is no guaranteed success in the field of recruitment. However, by experience and practice we can get considerably better at it. Finally, when we hear the sweetest thing from our client- Great job, I want your candidate to start on - we get to the final stage i.e., employment documentation.
Employment Documentation
Employment related documentation is a vast subject. It spans across various departments of an organization, from HR to accounting to legal to recruitment. Make sure you abide by all the state and federal laws with regards to employment documentation. Each organization has a unique set of policies in place and it is imperative that recruiters follow these guidelines. Once we have all the required documentation in place, we are all set to have our candidate start on the job. A good recruiter always keeps contact with his candidates. This would enhance your people network and get you more leads both in terms of potential new candidates and job openings.
Recruitment is not for everyone. It is a tough job and only a few are made for it. If you will not take no for an answer and if your inner self is ready for "I will try again" you will be a great recruiter. Otherwise, it is not your cup of tea. Today, staffing is already a billion dollar industry and is further growing exponentially. A lot has been done and a lot needs to be done. For all those who are in the field of recruiting and/or related to it directly or indirectly, I salute you for your relentless efforts and wish you happy recruiting.
