We are coming down the home stretch of our discussion on the eight behavioral competencies necessary to be a great recruiter. You can check out our previous five posts in this series by clicking on any of these links - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
We are receiving a good number of emails offline on this series and many of the emails are really interested in the data behind these competencies and understanding how we know they predict actual performance in the job. Additionally, we have received a number of emails asking for the behavioral interview questions, scorecard and scoring methodology we use to hire great recruiting talent.
Regarding the data, we will share some of the data in a concluding and summary post on this series so hang in there and you will get the information. As far as the actual behavioral interview questions and scorecard we employ to hire great recruiters. Well, I am afraid that is proprietary and only for use by our clients and those organizations who hire us to help them hire great recruiting talent. If you are interested in learning about this tool just send me an email. The link is over there to the right.
With housekeeping items out of the way, let's move on to competency number 6, Tolerance of Ambiguity.
Tolerance of Ambiguity: The ideal recruiter is able to withhold actions or speech when important information is absent or lacking. He or she can deal with unresolved situations as well as frequent changes, delays, or unexpected events.
Let's face it, things change very rapidly in the world of recruiting. Client hiring managers change their mind, candidates change their mind, expectations change, job requirements change and even candidate’s decision-making criteria can sometimes changes. But great recruiters are flexible and capable of changing with the business, the economy, the labor market, or any other changes that might occur.
Often, recruiters get limited information and have to resist the urge to react and make a decision in absence of this information. When in the presence of limited information they probe for more information, conduct thorough needs analysis and prep work that will enable a recruiter to get past the ambiguity and move into an environment where there is more certainty. Great recruiters don't get lured into presenting candidates to client hiring managers before they have the right information for a send out. They don't present the position to a talented passive prospect until the expectations are clearly defined and the success profile is complete.
The highest performing recruiters employ tactics (which we teach in our recruiter training programs by the way) that minimize the amount of ambiguity in the candidate/talent relationship and the hiring leader relationship. Even using these tactics the business landscape, economic conditions and labor market are completely out the control of even the finest recruiter on the planet so a tolerance of ambiguity is a critical behavioral competency for success.
One final thought, tolerance of ambiguity does not mean acceptance of ambiguity. As stated above, great recruiters employ tactics to minimize ambiguity and create certainty in recruiting. Those recruiters that accept ambiguity will often stagnate and never become high performers because they can't push the process enough to actually get results.
In part 7 of this series we will take a look at the behavioral competency called reading the system.
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