May 30th is National Recruiter Day…

…and if you’re a hiring manager, what a great day to shine a light on some of the super heroes in your professional network who don’t always get the applause or recognition they deserve.  And yes, recruiters, whether they work for your company or a third party recruiting organization, have been on the hot seat for a while now.  Candidate tight markets and all those skills gaps that your recruiter didn’t create but has to deal with on a daily basis, have taken its toll.  Isn’t it about time we all said “we see you!”, “we appreciate what you do”!

And we think there’s a lot to see when you take a closer look at what your recruiter actually does to help you achieve hiring success….

Here’s SEVEN things recruiters do on a daily basis that is so important to HIRING SUCCESS – ultimately to the success of your business.

#1 They make sure you know WHO you’re looking for!  

Its called preferred candidate profiling and its not just looking over a job description – its asking YOU the right questions to make sure YOU have a clear vision of the type of candidate you want to hire – their skills, knowledge, and work experience; the type of work they enjoy doing, and are good at;  how they’re likely to interact with their boss and teammates;  what they can realistically hope to achieve by working for you;  and I could go on.  Smart and accurate “preferred candidate profiling” starts the process and is embedded in hiring success each step of the way. of

#2 They make sure WHO you’re looking for actually exists.

Yes, there are real shortages in available talent; the skills gap is not just a headline.  It’s the recruiters job to be in the market, use the data about that market to stay a step ahead of what you’re going to experience when its time to hire – who’s actually out there available for hire and what you are going to have to offer them to attract them to work for you.

How many times in your hiring manager life has a recruiter helped you par down your picture of the dream candidate to let you know whether or not they actually exist and if they do will they be attracted by what you have to offer – pay? benefits? professional visibility?     Your dream to hire someone with a college degree or ten years of work experience may end up wasting a lot of everyone’s time and your recruiter is going to provide you with the facts and figures to keep you on a realistic path to hiring success.

#3 They know where to look.

Knowing where to find the talent you need is not as easy as it looks, despite what advertisements for Indeed or Zip Recuiter are claiming.  While its easy to look for talent in the same places where everyone else is looking, a good recruiter knows when and how to move away from the known fishing holes to find places where really good fish hang out that nobody knows about.  The ability to uncover pockets of talent that isn’t visible to others, is often what makes a difference to hiring success!

#4 They know how to make you and our job look good!

Your recruiter is the candidate’s first point of contact to describe you, your job, and your company.  Recruiters are story tellers – finding ways to engage a candidate to today’s competitive marketplace.  Telling your story well is particularly important for small to medium sized employers who are not as well known as are larger employers.    Not only does your recruiter  write interesting, compelling job posts, but they tell the story about who you are, what you do, and what might be a win for them to work for you in just the right detail.  In some cases its nothing short of masterful, but it all starts with their ability to get to know people quickly, to find out what’s important to them, and communicate the link between what they’re looking for and the opportunity you provide.  Great recruiters earn trust by being both honest and transparent.   There are big pay offs for you in the hiring process for the candidates you are considering to trust their recruiter.

#5 They know how to herd cats

Recruiting is a game of constant communications and touch points  – with both you, the hiring manager, and the candidates you’ve decided you might want to interview and ultimately hire.  All of these players have their own agenda so getting all of you on the same page is,  well, like herding cats.  A good recruiter has the time management skills and the creativity to herd all kinds of cats – keeping everyone moving in the same direction even when timelines have to be adjusted.  And all this cat hearding means that when its time to make an offer of employment, the candidate is still there and motivated to accept.  No misfires.  No re-directs.

Its more art than science – maybe even a little magic – but it’s a big part of hiring success.

#6  They won’t let you get fooled.

And its all about the emotional and authentic connections they make with the candidates they’ve recruited.  They get to know the whole story – the good AND the bad and ugly, using the opportunities they have to interact with the candidate outside your presence, talking to the candidate’s former employers, bosses, and co workers, observing them during interview prep, watching how they deal with opportunities and obstacles in the hiring process.   If the candidate turns out to be someone different from who you think they are, whose skills are not quite as described,  or whose personal style is not a good match for your team or culture, you’ll know about that problem BEFORE you hire.

#7 They don’t stop until the job is done!    

Abandoning the goal in the middle of the mission is never an option.  No matter how many resumes they need to review, texts, e mails and phone calls they need to make or respond to, interviews arranged, they keep their eye on the end game – a successful hire.  Some recruits take just a few days, most take a few weeks, and a few take months.  A constant throughout every recruit, navigating all those follow ups and set backs,  is your recruiter.

May 30^th may be an important day if you’re a recruiter, but for us, a company that employees and works with a whole community of recruiters, our recruiters are the MVPs of our business 365 days a year.    Not only do our recruiters make finding and hiring the right candidates (for both temporary and direct hire roles) easy for our clients, but they also help candidates find or change jobs that ultimately change their lives. 

Ask any recruiter who has done it for a while and you’ll hear them tell you why its such a great way to make a difference!  

PACE Staffing Network is one of the Puget Sound’s premier staffing /recruiting agencies and has been helping Northwest employers find and hire employees based on the “right fit” for over 40 years.

A 5-time winner of the coveted “Best in Staffing” designation , PACE is ranked in the top 2% of staffing agencies nationwide based on annual surveys of customer satisfaction.

PACE services include temporary and contract staffing, temp to hire auditions, direct hire professional recruiting services, Employer of Record (payroll) services, and a large menu of candidate assessment services our clients can purchase a la carte.

If you’re a hiring manager looking for one of those recruiters who will “make a difference” to who and how you hire, contact us at 425-637-3312 or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!