Well, it seems we have finally come to the end of our series on How to Hire Great Recruiters. Today we will look at the 8th competency in our series - Tenacity.
Before we do, I hope you have enjoyed the series and perhaps have been able to use it in selecting recruiting talent for your organization. If you have questions on how I have used this in selecting recruiters in the past or how we use it today at Bearing Fruit Consulting, please feel free to give me a call.
We have had several phone calls and emails on the series asking us for interview question we use when selecting recruiters or for presenting recruiters to our clients. I am happy to make those available to you if you email me at mhomula@bearingfruitconsulting.com.
So, let's move on to the final competency we have identified.
Tenacity: The ideal recruiter is dedicated to customers, client hiring managers, prospects. and candidates. He or she is willing to maintain long-term relationships, to take commitments seriously, and to follow through on promises.
A commitment to the people that matter most and a desire to do everything it takes to meet the needs of those people separates the great recruiters from the merely good. Great recruiters act more like a career coach or consultant to the candidate and as a subject matter expert with the client hiring manager. They extend themselves past the boundary where average recruiters stop. They meet passive candidates on their terms and under conditions that are optimal for the candidate rather than what is convenient for them. This sometimes means doing the things that are less than glamorous, but these kinds of actions can be the difference maker in these critical relationships.
We have used checking account analogy before on this site but it is worth mentioning again here. You can't withdraw more money from your checking account than what you have deposited. That is fundamentally the same when it comes to relationships in recruiting. You have to be willing to deposit much in order to withdraw anything. This is often the hardest part of recruiting but it also yields the greatest ROI.
I have talked much about relationships and the ability to maintain them for long periods of time. The best in the recruiting profession do that and more. They know that every interaction could lead to a talent referral, a new networking source, or center of influence. Great recruiters exhibit a dogged pursuit of excellence with candidates and clients that is reflected in their recruiting results.
The eight competencies we have talked about over the last couple of months certainly sets the bar high for excellence in recruiting. I have always said that great recruiting isn't rocket science, it is just hard. Using these key skills and behaviors to identify and select your next recruiter will give you an advantage over many in the recruiting industry. Trying to model these behaviors in your own daily recruiting activity will separate you from your peers. But failing to do either will only make you less valuable to your corporation or clients, and ultimately lead you into recruiting mediocrity — if not recruiting obscurity.
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