Recruiters are a very important part of a company’s hiring process as they help to select the best candidates out of numerous applicants. However, becoming a recruiter requires possessing some specific recruitment and interpersonal skills.
In this article, we discuss types of recruitment skills, how to improve your recruitment skills and how to showcase your recruitment skills on your resume to improve your chances of employment.
What are recruitment skills?
Recruitment skills are the collective abilities a recruiter needs to be successful and efficient at their job. These skills help them in sourcing, evaluating, negotiating and hiring the best candidates during an interview process.
Below are some of the top ten recruitment skills:
Attention to detail: Paying attention to little details is an important skill for any job role, however, it is more important for recruiters as they have to attend to a large number of applicants, each of them with different qualifications and details. It is therefore important to remember every detail as they influence the selection process. A slip, in this case, can cause serious damage to the reputation of the hiring company.
Marketing skills: Putting out job adverts that attract the right talent in the right places is one of the difficult aspects of being a recruiter. This is why professional recruiters should have certain marketing skills to know how to project the image of the company using the latest digital marketing strategies. The marketing skill of a recruiter helps them find the best job channels, write convincing job adverts and use digital tools to increase the reach of the adverts.
Communication skills: The role of a recruiter in companies in all industries is to serve as the bridge between prospective employees and the senior management team. The communication skills and first impression a recruiter leaves on the prospective employees can either facilitate or frustrate the hiring process. This means recruiters must have excellent communication skills that attract qualified candidates
and at the same time make the interview seamless.
Time management: Asides from communication, time management is also very important for recruiters. They perform different duties that include writing job ads, interviewing applicants, and completing the hiring process all at the same time. Interviews can only take place at certain hours of the day and to fill up vacant positions very quickly, recruiters need to be able to work efficiently during these hours.
IT and Social Media Skills: We are in the 21st century and this means certain processes have moved from the normal physical to online. With technology, certain interviews can be carried out through video conferencing software and this reduces the expenses such processes would normally cost the company. Also, the knowledge of social media helps recruiters look for the right talents in the right places. Several job sites help recruiters connect with the right candidate.
Relationship building skills: The aim of a recruitment process is not only to hire candidates, but also a means of forming the right relationship with the right candidates that can help the company’s goals and missions. The relationship-building skills of recruiters help to build a good relationship between the company and the candidate right from the recruitment process.
Active listening skills: Asides from obtaining the company’s interview specifications and job descriptions, the listening skills of recruiters helps them listen to applicants with great attention through the interview process. By listening attentively to your candidates and the company, you can understand what each party wants and this information helps your recruitment negotiation process.
Organisational skills: Organizational skills are the abilities that help you stay focused on different tasks. The job of a recruiter involves performing several hiring activities simultaneously and to do this efficiently, organizational skills are important. Good organizational skills simply turn you into an efficient and effective employee. Becoming a top-notch recruiter involves a combination of hard skills and soft skills, one of which includes organizational skills.
Negotiation: The goal of a hiring process is to find the right candidate by negotiating your company’s terms with your applicants. The ability to ensure candidates are comfortable during the interview helps your decision-making process as they can answer your questions confidently. Negotiating is a very important part of any business transaction as it leads to making a final decision and recruiting is no exception.
Networking: Recruitment involves picking the right candidates from a list of other candidates. Getting suitable candidates for a position depends on your ability to connect with qualified professionals that may either be interested in the role or have other qualified friends for the role. Networking is an invaluable skill for a list of industry roles and a recruiter is no exception. It helps build connections with other industry players and professionals
