How To Become A Standout HR Recruiter

If you want to rise to the top of your field, it’s now more important than ever to display the traits of a standout HR recruiter. Knowledge, networks, versatility, and persistence are crucial to succeeding as a HR recruiter, and there are many tricks to the trade that you’ll need to learn on your way to the top.

Know your market.

You need to know the industry inside out, and you need to keep abreast of any current market trends, new technology, or volatility in recruitment patterns so that you are marked out as an expert in your field.

Research their business.

Before you even think about picking up the phone or sending that email, spend a good amount of time researching their business as thoroughly as you can.

This solid knowledge will give you ideas about how to tailor your pitch, as well as fill you (and the client) with confidence that you’re well-prepared.

When you’re pitching clients or approaching a top talent, you need to ascertain what’s important to them, what their goals and challenges are, and find a way to tailor your offering to suit their individual circumstances. Do this and you will be ahead of 80% of the other recruiters out there; trust me we know….

Go out of your way to ask what’s facing them and offer help. Make it clear that they are your priority, and create a human relationship based on your assistance.

When you’re approaching fresh leads, you should have multiple ways to contact them and don’t rely just on one way. If you’re being blocked on one avenue such as calling from your office phone, then try from your mobile to see if you have more success.

If you have an info@ or generic company email address as your contact, it’s your duty to dig further to find out direct email addresses.

If you possibly can, get a personal introduction or referral when approaching prospects, whether candidate or client. Think creatively- it doesn’t necessarily have to be a business acquaintance, so give real thought to where your spheres could overlap.

That might be a networking event, a golf or charity event, or a favourite club you both go to where a manager or mutual acquaintance could make the introductions.

It doesn’t even need to be an introduction if that’s not appropriate, as the fact that you share an interest or both favour a certain charity can be a great talking point when you call to pitch them. This is what top billers do ALL the time.

Encourage your target to complain so you can then solve their problem. Lily Tomlin the famous US comedian once said, ‘Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain’, and while it may have been in jest, people’s enjoyment of complaining opens up a real opportunity for the savvy recruiter.

Think about it: if you can put into conversation something like: ‘I placed a specialist (insert rare job here) recently and I had to really lean on my whole network to find qualified candidates- I see you’ve been looking for a while. How’s it going?’

That’s a perfect lead to open up a conversation about the difficulties they’re having, and why they might need your help (while also managing to plug your fantastic network.)

Be persistent. Never give up, and keep trying different paths to get the client to take your calls, grant a meeting, and seal the deal. Remember though, that if you’re going to keep calling someone who has said no to your offering in the past, you probably need to have something different to offer this time, or at least a different way of saying it!

A quote widely attributed to Einstein says that ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’- and while we’re not saying it’s insane to keep pitching the same client identically each time, it is almost certainly a waste of time.

When something doesn’t seem to be getting the result you want, you will probably need to modify your approach slightly, or even radically update it. Check out our recent blog post on why it’s time to revamp your sales pitch.

Make sure you take each and every opportunity to grow your network. Never let a prospect or talent slip by without asking to connect on LinkedIn. Even if they say no to your current offer, every update you make to your network will appear on their LinkedIn newsfeed to remind them of you, and you’ll easily be able to keep track of their career moves so you can know what they might look for in future so you can tailor your pitch accordingly.

Not to mention all their connections you can browse through to find fresh leads of your own! LinkedIn is a recruitment goldmine, and while all recruiters use it, not all of you necessarily use it well.

Becoming a top HR recruiter takes effort and know-how, but it’s definitely worth putting in the time to excel in your chosen profession.

Until next time,

Cheryl

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