I love posts like this one over at our sister website ERE.net titled 8 Skills Recruiters Should Have.
What I love about it is that when you dig down into those eight crucial skills for recruiters, you’ll find that they are eight skills that are critical for a lot of positions in a lot of places — manager, leader, HR professional, whatever.
For example, skills like “ability to cultivate and build relationships,” or “big picture thinking” are relevant to just about any management position I’ve ever been hired for — yet I don’t consider myself a recruiter. And, “strong follow-up skills,” “listening,” and “personable and approachable” are just simply good people skills that just about anyone can use in just about any field of endeavor.
But, just because these “8 Skills” are obvious doesn’t mean they aren’t useful or worth reading. It’s like Khalil Gilbran put it: “The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.”
So, you might want to take a look at these obvious skills that are simply put. As Morgan Hoogvelt put it over at ERE:
When I attend career fairs, hiring conferences, recruiting events, or through conversations with prospective candidates, I keep learning that the wrong people are attending these events and working as recruiters. As I walked the room at a recent career fair, prior to the event starting, I sought to introduce myself to some of the other company representatives. I was surprised that many of them were unable to communicate at a level that would properly represent their company.
The behavior I witnessed at this event and many others is predictive of how these recruiters behave in the office and how they represent their company through other communication tools such as social media. Later as the candidates flowed into the fair to meet the companies, I witnessed these individuals sitting behind their tables, eating food, talking on cell phones, and displaying body language that suggested they didn’t want to be bothered.
Fortunately, I witnessed several individuals that did exhibit proper career fair behavior and strong recruiting traits. They were the ones that had long lines of candidates and also the ones whose companies are always recognized as recruiting industry leaders. The difference in success was clear.”