Top 5 in-demand recruiter skills

When recruiting new team members, a lot of the emphasis we place on the hiring process usually centers around the quality of the job seeker.

Reasonably so, since they are the one that’s being assessed for team-fit!

But what if we look through the other side of the mirror? How do our teams’ recruiters measure up? Are they doing their due-diligence as expert communicators, relationship mavens, and goal smashers? Are they “talking the talk” and “walking the walk”?

After some in-depth research and collaboration with our seasoned recruiters at Star Staffing, we have put together a list of the top five skills your recruiters should have to stay competitive in today’s recruiting world.

1. Relationship-building expertise

Recruiters work with many different company stakeholders with different needs - who care about timelines and productivity.

They also need to manage relationships with job seekers who care about culture, job expectations, and benefits. A recruiter must be strategic and nuanced in how they build and maintain each one of these relationships.

Recruiters must be able to strategize with a hiring manager and interview and assess candidates and work cross-functionally with HR teams to understand hiring capacity and priorities.

Finally, they must also be able to work with marketing and other creative teams to tell compelling stories.

2. Strong communication and follow up

High-performing recruiters are expert communicators in-person and remotely. Both hiring managers and job seekers have an expectation to be updated throughout the interview process.

Asking the right questions, taking diligent notes, and listening powers recruiters’ success. Pair attention to detail with the ability to remain genuine during interactions and you have a recruiter who not only understands the internal hiring needs, but job seekers’ goals as well.

It is important to remember to never underestimate the impact of a real human connection - it just might get you that next stellar new hire.

3. Dedication to self-improvement

Recruiters need to understand HR and employment laws to avoid risk.

Along that same topic, it is imperative that high-performing recruiters are curious and eager to stay up to date. Recruiters ought to seek out always-changing best practices and technology trends to stay knowledgeable, current, and competitive.

Recruiters should be adaptable: things don’t always go as planned in recruiting, so one has to be able to creatively problem solve the ebbs and flows without frustration at inevitable setbacks. Resilience and an intention for self-improvement is key.

4. Master at time management

Time management may be one of the most critical skills to seek out in a recruiter! Recruiters typically work on multiple open positions and manage multiple candidate pipelines all at once.

Top recruiters know how to balance building relationships, interviewing, internal communications, hiring deadlines, and more.

5. Results-driven mindset

Recruiting is, by nature, a numbers game. In this competitive field, recruiters must be able to work under pressure!

If a recruiter is in a commission-based role, being driven to hit targets is key to achieving those goals.

Your hiring team is typically a job seeker’s first point-of-contact into your company’s work-life and operational reality.

How do your recruiters shape up as strong relationship-builders and strategic opportunists?