There’s no doubt that the recruitment industry has undergone huge changes in the last decade. The influence of business intelligence, social media, advancement in technology and a candidate driven market, it is no surprise that the skill set required to succeed as a modern recruiter consultant has expanded somewhat.
With daily conversations with recruitment agencies across the UK and internationally, we hear a lot about what it takes for their recruitment consultants to succeed in the 21st century. So we’ve narrowed it down to 9 skills that are essential for the modern recruitment consultant.
1. Candidate-Centric Mindset
In traditional recruitment, you could construct a compelling job advert which became inundated with applications, which you could sift through to find the most capable candidates – simple enough.
Although this is still a worthwhile tactic, the process has become much more focused on the candidate experience. On top of producing job adverts, today’s successful recruiters are nurturing top talent on multiple platforms and expected to assist their clients in providing a seamless process that caters to the needs of the candidate. The more you can think from a candidate’s perspective, the more trust they will put in you as a recruiter.
2. Company Brand Ambassador
With the rise in popularity of social media, particularly LinkedIn, the personal brand of the individual recruiter has become even more important. What you publish and share online will be seen by candidates, clients and colleagues and must reflect your company values. In effect, as the recruiter, you become a brand ambassador both online and offline.
On the other hand, if you are capable of harnessing the power of social media to create an authentic online profile, aligned with your agencies content and brand strategy, you can position yourself, and your agency, as thought leaders. This personal brand can be used to attract a wider range of candidates and clients within your sector.
3. Social Media Savvy
Since LinkedIn Recruiter launched in 2008, there has been a seismic shift in how recruiters use social media – and it keeps on evolving. Instead of using LinkedIn purely for trawling through candidate profiles, the top, modern recruiters are targeting separate demographics on different channels and even running webinars or creating specific groups to increase brand awareness and publishing meaningful content.
They are also using social media for social listening; monitoring clients, candidates and competitors, tracking conversations around specific phrases, words or brands, and then leveraging them to discover opportunities or create content for those audiences.
4. Networking Machine (online and offline)
Attending events sounds like an old school skill, but it’s still as crucial as ever. These might be the traditional, like a black tie award ceremonies or online, facilitating a Twitter Q&A session, discussing changes in the market. Being authentic, determined and visible in the market by engaging with “real life” people will help build the connections that might secure that elusive client meeting.
5. Data Strategist
On its own, data is simply information or numbers. What separates good recruiters from great recruiters is the ability to analyse and convert data into actionable outcomes. By maximising your own recruitment software and the abundance of data now available online, top recruiters are able to identify trends in their sectors, and the market, and implement proactive recruitment strategy to stay ahead of the curve.
6. Technological Tester
With the influx of various technological tools, a modern recruitment consultant needs to recognise which tools will survive and add value to their daily routine and which are temporary fads. If you take Buffer and Hootsuite, for example, they are very similar marketing tools on the face of it but, in reality, they can be used for very different things. Where Buffer is arguably a superior tool for scheduling social media posts and tweets, Hootsuite streams is great for social listening. Being able to distinguish value in different technology is a skill that can separate you from your colleagues and competitors.
7. Consultative Approach
As a recruiter, aspiring to have a consultative approach with clients is not a modern phenomenon, but it has become a bigger part of the required skill set. By keeping on top of trends in the recruitment industry, top recruiters aim to become trusted partners to clients rather than just a provider of candidates. By being involved in the hiring conversation, top recruiters become indispensable to their client’s talent strategy.
A consultative approach also applies to managing candidates. The best recruiters guide candidates through the application and interview process, providing tips and advice specific to their clients or industry sector.
8. Content Marketer
In a 2016 survey, 86% of recruiters agreed that recruitment is becoming more like marketing and there is no reason to think that this has dropped significantly. To attract passive candidates and nurture client leads, top recruiters are beginning to produce effective content strategies, including blogs, social ads and video marketing. The modern recruiter knows how to write content that resonates with their target audience and how important this is as an aspect of their recruitment strategy.
9. Master of Influence
Some things don’t change. The ability to influence people, on the candidate and client side, is the bedrock of a successful recruitment consultant. No matter how many technological gadgets arise within the recruitment industry, the human connection will always remain a key facet to recruiting and should not be underestimated. Building from that strong foundation, a modern recruiter can use their influence to communicate across multiple platforms and channels to reach more diverse candidates and engineer profitable relationships.
Finding exceptional recruiters is just one component of building a top recruitment team. Want to know what else is essential? Download our free guide today.
