Working with recruiters day-in day-out has exposed me to all elements encircling all things recruitment. It has also given me an outside perspective on how people view recruiters. From my interactions with others outside of the recruitment industry, the first misconception that I hear about recruiters is:
“They don’t care really about the candidates, don’t they just find a person and placed them into a role?”
By observing how committed Recruiters are to their job, by constantly giving updates and advice to the candidate about the recruitment process, how they go above and beyond to cater for their candidates, and how much they care about finding the right ‘home’ for their candidates. I believe the team at Kennedy Reid easily debunk this myth.
1. Recruiters just want to make placements and earn their commission.
Recruiters main goal is to provide a service to the candidates and clients by understanding what they want for their future careers and businesses.
So, it’s not just about placing people into a job, it’s about investing in a relationship with open communication and trust, to ensure that they will be happier in their new role. This is where the satisfaction lies when Recruiters found a new ‘home’ for their candidates.
2. Recruiters work standard 9 - 5 hours, just like any other office jobs.
The majority of job seekers are working 9 to 5, so how can recruiters contact them if they’re working? Answer: They don’t.
Actual truth:Recruiters need to be flexible with their hours to call or meet candidates outside of their work hours. This means a Recruiter would try to catch candidates before work, during lunch where candidates can sneak in a call for an interview, otherwise,after work is usually best suited for many candidates.
3. Recruiters are the same as the Human Resource team, just different titles.
Recruiting is the art of selling the benefits of the role to a candidate and selling the values and the skills of a candidate to the client – and hopefully, they would choose each other and work happily ever after. Human Resource is overseeing staff within a company or an organisation for optimal functioning of the business e.g. resolving disputes, compliance with law and regulations, employee’s benefits and hiring for internal staff.
4. There’s really no career progression for recruiters.
Career progression in recruitment is highly achievable, take Kennedy Reid for example, we have our trainee or graduates as the ‘Resourcer’, then after 6 months they can progress into an Account Managing role, and with further experience, they can progress into a Practice Leader to lead their own team within their specialised market.
5. Recruiters have an easy job, anyone can do well in it.
We all know that any job comes with their own set of challenges. Recruitment is not any different. Recruiters need to be good at both negotiating and maintaining great relationships with candidates and clients. It takes discipline and sales skills such as cold calling, reverse marketing, and earning exclusivity (these are just some of the great skills) in which recruiters will need to learn and become an expert in to do well in recruitment.
Are you someone who enjoys talking to people and is driven to get results and be rewarded for your hard work? If so,
I highly encourage you to have a conversation with our HR team (See, the HR people do internal recruitment within the organisation).
There are a lot of growth and skill development opportunities within recruitment, and the best part? It’s a lot of fun. It is rewarding and if you’re lucky, you will be working in a culture that drives on each other’s support and celebration.
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