15 Fundamentals to Being a Great Recruiter

1. Keep motivated, maintain a positive attitude and never give up.

How do you stay positive?

 Every day, list all of the positive things you have done. Dwell on the positive and not the
negative.
 Try to only associate with positive people.
 Read inspirational books, quotes, articles and watch inspirational movies.
 Think of mistakes as learning experience.
 Keep track of your successes – a reminder when you feel down.
 Negative thoughts – mentor/friend that will motivate you.
 Learn how to accept and adapt to change. What we can’t control we have to accept.
 Do not take failure and criticism to heart. Move on from being a victim to a survivor.
 Focus on what you currently have.
 Visualize a positive future and all of the possibilities that are endless.

You owe it to yourself to never give up!

 Any negative situation that arises is just temporary.

2. Develop strong relationship with your hiring managers.

 Research your hiring manager
o having some pre-history will better prepare you to understand how to serve the needs
of that manager
o LinkedIn – overall background and work history
o ask other recruiters / hiring manager about him / her
o questions you should ask:

 Is that person easy to work with?

 Picky in his or her hiring decisions?
 Best form of communication with this manager?
 His/ her pet peeves?
 Interests such as sports, family and travelling? (you will use this information
later during your introduction)
 How responsive is this hiring manager when submitting candidates?
 Does he make quick offers?

o look up past requests – what roles he needed in the past (will tell you: what roles were
open, how long they were open etc.)
 How to introduce yourself
o recommended – first introduction by phone (more personable touch)
o briefly explain who you are and that you have been assigned to work with him or her
o tell him you look forward to building this relationship and would like to schedule a face-
to-face meeting as soon as you can (better understand the company’s staffing needs and
help fill their roles)
o your goal is not just to fill roles but to provide excellent customer service

 First meeting
o start the conversation positively (how much you look forward to helping with the
company’s staffing needs)
o give a brief bio of yourself
o exuding confidence through your speech and demeanor (the manager should feel at
ease)
o let the hiring manager do most of the talking (learn as much as possible about them and
the department)
o build rapport by bringing up the interests of the hiring manager (found during the
research)

 Developing trust with your hiring manager

o get hires
o submitting the right candidates (you listened and understood the company’s needs)
o do not delay contacting candidates (hiring managers hate when candidates are not
contacted quickly)
o make quick offers (do not lose a candidate at the offer stage by post pone it)
o be honest (don’t blow smoke about something you do no know or cannot do)
o provide exceptional customer service (if the hiring manager perceives you as not
providing good service, they will not trust you)
o always return your manager’s calls, texts and emails (managers want to feel important)
o always be available for your manager via many forms of communication
o go the extra mile for your hiring managers (example: market intelligence: information
relevant to a company’s markets, gathered and analyzed specifically for the purpose of
accurate and confident decision-making in determining strategy in areas such as market
opportunity, market penetration strategy, and market development)
o after making hires, send thank you emails (appreciation for their partnership)
o under-promise and over-deliver (never promise something you cannot deliver; instead –
overdeliver)

o Improve a shattered relationship with your hiring manager

 o Inheriting a hiring manager who has a tempestuous relationship with your colleague
 research – what caused the break in the relationship
 first call – make the hiring manager feel at ease (explain that you are a different
recruiter / you would like the opportunity to provide a level of service they did
not receive with the previous recruiter)

o Not being able to deliver a hire, or even a slate of candidates

 assure them that you will continue to deliver for them

 give them examples of past success (reminder of you consistently deliver)
 provide the realities of the market the reason why the role is unfillable (Wanted
Analytics)
 provide suggestions on alternative ways to fill the role (alterative profiles,
relocating candidates)

o Misconstrued ideas about your performance

 find the root cause of this misconception
 do everything you can to make him feel you are working in their best interest
 demonstrate by your actions that the misconception is not true

o Some relationships are not worth keeping

 it is recommended that you switch out and move on to another hiring manager

3. Always conduct detailed intake sessions.

* intake sessions - Recruiters hold intake meetings with hiring managers during the initial phase of a
recruiting process. During these meetings, recruiters and hiring managers clarify the job title and job
duties, set candidate qualification criteria and agree on the hiring stages.

- probe the hiring manager during the session

- NO short session in order to save time

Questions to ask

o What is the true profile the hiring manager is seeking?

 you want to go beyond a JD – determine the exact person they are looking for
with all the qualifications
 ask for those key qualifications

o Is the he willing to look at alternative candidates?

  example: senior developer who has done enterprise design as software
architects

o Does the he has any internal or external candidates in mind?

 don’t waste your time sourcing for this position

o What salary is the hiring manager willing to offer?

o Is the salary on par with current market rates?
o How many years of experience in the domain do the candidate need? Would he
consider a candidate with less experience? How many years?
o What type of person fits into the department?
 find out about the people already working in the department
o What are the benefits of working for the department and organization?
o Other than salary, what are other tangible benefit of the job?
o What does the typical day look like?
o Are there promotional opportunities?
o What is his management style?
o Who are the competitors? (best place to recruit)
o Where have they found candidates in the past?
o What profiles or candidates from specific organisations have not been successful fits in
the past?
o How long have similar roles been open in the past?
o Why is the role open? What does the department currently look like?
o What are the nice-to-haves for the role?
o Would the company consider relocating a candidate?
o Would you sponsor a candidate from another country?
o What education and certifications do the candidates need? (any flexibility?)
o What individuals outside of their organization would a hiring manager recommend for
this role?
o If the role is at a management level, how many direct reports will the candidate have?
o Does the role need to be filled quickly?
o What does the interview process look like? How many interviews are required?
o Who will do the interviewing?
o What are the best days and time of day to schedule interviews?
o Can you schedule interviews directly on the hiring manager’s calendar?

- give the HM an estimation on how long you expect it will take

- what information will be included in that candidate delivery
- HM will move quickly on candidates if you present them the threat of a hard-to-fill role / market
4. Bulk up your domain knowledge, understand your industry know your organization or
client, and know the position you recruit for inside and out.
* domain knowledge: the business intelligence you need to know about the industry you recruit in, your
client or organization, and the role you recruit for.

* industry space: functional knowledge about the industry (the basics of your industry)

 research on your own

o Google: industry + terms
o Online encyclopedias and Wikipedia
o type a word you do not know
o reading books
 speak with you colleagues
 talk to candidates

* selling sheet: list of features that can sell the organization or client to candidates

 stability of the organization

 stability of the job
 salary of roles (if it is over market value)
 health care benefits
 sign-on bonuses (a sum of money paid to a new employee by a company as an incentive to join
that company)
 yearly bonus
 stock option and retirement
 relocation
 education reimbursement
 on-site daycare (childcare)
 career growth and advancement
 the culture of the organization
 location (does it has something to offer)
 awards (of the company)
 hiring manager
 innovations
 Fortune 500
 values (strong ethics and values)
 new department and start-up
 flexible work schedules
 virtual options
 maternity and paternity leave
 paid time off
  free catered food
 employee health and welfare

5. Employ cutting-edge recruitment marketing: create effective job postings; utilize search
engine optimization, branding, social media; post on paid job boards, free job postings and
aggregators.
* aggregator - a website or program that collects related items of content and displays them or links to
them

 create effective job postings

o need to have an effective job title
 must be the most common title that is recognizable to external candidates
 keep your title as short as possible but with as much searchable information as
you can
 be sure to use the word job in the job title
 words that are searched together should be placed together in the job title
 abbreviations should be listed if that is how candidates look up a role
 avoid symbols (are an SEO death sentence)
 secondary search words are a good idea to add to the job description

o JD should begin with points that sell the job (first paragraph, preferably with bullet
points)
 sign-on or relocation bonuses
 awards the org has won
 career growth and advancement potential
 new innovations
 stock options / retirement plans
 educational reimbursement
 on-site discounted daycare
 the culture of the organization
 flexible work life balance / virtual office
 other unique and appealing benefits
o JD that is actually about the job you are recruiting for
o long JD posting do not engage candidates’ attentions
o boring JD do not sell candidates
o placement of text and fonts should be visually appealing
o put EEO statements (an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy is an important
statement about an employer's commitment to minimise and eliminate all forms of
unlawful harassment, discrimination, and bullying in the workplace) and company
descriptions at the end of the JD
o SEO of word placement is a must

SEO
  Paid
o Google search (Google AdWords)
o Bing
o DuckDuckGo
o Yahoo
 Organic
o relevant job title that most people search for
o list the actual word job in the job title
o avoid symbols in job title
o list the job title multiple times in the job description (SEO increases with the number of
times key words)
o list locations multiple times in the JD as well as other nearby cities that candidates
many search
o in the skills section, list multiple keywords that candidates may use in a job search

Recruit’em – search on LinkedIn by doing an X-ray search for you to save time.

Get your hiring manager to recruit on LinkedIn – they are most likely connected to a LinkedIn network of
professionals like themselves

Glassdoor – top employee review website – ask employees to give a positive feedback to raise your
score

Indeed – it works more like a search engine (pay-per-click)

6. Create your own personal recruitment brand.

* personal recruitment brand: the way recruiters create awareness and information about
themselves as a recruiter.
 recruiter should be your title
 specialty in your job title
 keywords in your job description about your specialty area
 write your company name as people would search for
 post relevant content not just postings

7. SOURCING - Use innovative techniques to source your candidates: improve ROT, search
using social media, Boolean searches, ATS/CRMs, paid resume database, open web sourcing;
connect using advanced networking.

 Return on time (ROT)

 o how many hours it takes to get a submission (sourcing hours divided by the
submissions you had that month)
o 10 ways to improve:
 The order in which you search:
 Pre-existing candidates
 people who apply to your post
 recent applicants in your CRM
 recent applicants to job boards
 past applicants in your CRM
 old applicants on job boards
 LinkedIn In-Mail
 Networking
 Boolean search
 Cold calling competitors

 Learn to read resumes and information faster:

 learn to work faster (taking your time will only result in your
competitors contacting candidates before you do)
 do resume and information reading search drills (each day try to
do it faster than the day before)
 focus on scanning key words
 get better at understanding that information you are looking for
 lower distractions

 Cut out Boolean strings that do not produce

 Do not spend excessive hours experimenting on new tools
 Text candidates
 Get better at recycling candidates (knowing who is in their recent
pipeline; remembering and keeping track of these candidates that are not
fit for one job but are great for another)
 Do accurate intakes
 Use better engagement techniques (how many candidates respond to
your solicitations – it needs to be 25%)
 Use CRMs or Email campaign software

 Research
o ATS/CRM Systems
o Job Boards
o LinkedIn
o Social Media
 o Free industry association online directories
o Hard copy directory books
o Paid online directories
o Talen mapping (call into an organization to map out the key people you are
looking to recruit)
o Conference attendee lists
o Open web Boolean searches

 Boolean - eight main basic operators:

 AND – links two things together (C++ and capital market)
 OR – things are searched two ways (RN or Registered Nurse)
 NOT – exclude a specific word when doing a search (engineer not
engineering)
 NEAR – want words to appear near each other; things that go together
that might not have been written together (ICU Near Nurse)
 BRACKETS () – focus on whatever word is placed in your brackets ( (J2EE)
– focus of the search will be on J2EE)
 QUOTATIONS “ “ – finds the exact phrases together
 SITE – limits your search to one domain such as site: LinkedIn
 INURL – limits your search to words found in a URL (such as the word
resume)

 Tips for searching in your ATS (applicant tracking system)

o look up jobs similar to the one you are working on (short list)
o look at candidate folders
o look up old reqs for junior roles – they are senior now

 Tips for searching in your CRM (customer relationship management system)

o Lists
o Tags
o Folders
o Old Jobs (short list)
o Old junior profiles

 Ways to network
 o always ask candidates for referrals (if the approached candidates are not interested in
your job)
o network at professional social groups
o network with professional ethnic associations
o ask the hiring manager for referrals
o network with other recruiters
o network at professional conferences
o incentivize your jobs (something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort,
as a reward offered for increased productivity)
o do networking on social media
o build your personal recruitment brand
o be a recruiter 24/7

8. Become a master in the art of cold calling.

*cold calling - Cold calling is the solicitation of business from potential customers who have had no prior
contact with the salesperson conducting the call. It is an attempt to convince potential customers to
purchase either the salesperson's product or service.

Tips to overcome your cold calling fears:

 It’s just people – they eat, sleep and make mistakes just like you, so do not be afraid of them
 Always think we are doing the potential candidate a favor – you are going to be presenting a
good career opportunity to the potential candidate and doing them a favor.
 Overcome rejection – 90% of candidates will not be interested so do not take it personally
 Practice makes perfect
 Don’t procrastinate – this type of behavior will set you up for failure, as you will be more and
more hesitant to call as time goes on
 Positive motivation – reason: to be successful at your job + potential remuneration
 Avoid negative thoughts – relax and try not to worry
 Role play – try practicing
 Have realistic expectations – 10 % of people contacted via cold call are interested in jobs
 Hands-on coaching

How to close the deal:

 Start with quick introduction – first name / company’s name / have a very interesting job
opportunity / throw out a selling feature: sign-on, new product, advancement
 If you see interest and don’t have time to speak – ask when is a good time to speak and an email
address where you can send them a JD
 If you see interest and they have time to speak – give them more selling points (job and
company)
 If they are not interested – why? what would interest them?
 If they reject – ask for reference
9. Know you candidate and keep up to date on trending candidate habits.
CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT
Engaging candidates – Email / In-mail

 Create an eye-catching subject line

o Example: Pharmacy Manager Job with leading retailer – Interesting Job Opportunity
 First section
o explain who you are and include a call to action
o why the candidate’s profile enticed you to email them
o tell them the next step of replying to learn about the process
o Example:

Hi Jane, My name is Raluca Diaconescu, a recruiter with Health Hospital. I saw you resume on Indeed,
and it intrigued me for an ICU RN role we have open. If you are open to learning about an interesting
ICU RN role with a great organization offering a 10,000 $ sign-on, please read the job below. If you are
interested, we could set up a time to speak in more detail.

 Second Section
o title, company and location
 Example:
Position: ICU Registered Nurse
Company: Health Hospital
Location: Tarpon Springs, Florida
 Third Section
o selling the candidate on the job/company
o first few sentences
 The reason why you want to work for health hospital as ICU RN: ……
 Fourth Section
o a detailed but brief job description
o list the actual duties about the job
 Other tips
o use standard job title
o do not have candidates directly apply to the online job application (most applicants
prefer to speak to a recruiter before applying)
o placement of text & font size – large enough, easy to read, text placement should be
centered
o do not spam candidates
o if possible, use email skins – attractive backgrounds (company’s logo)

Engaging candidates – texting

 use a text-based app or a CRM

 limit you characters to under 135
  include opt-out language (Opting out of a list means a subscriber has asked not to be added to
your list or has asked to be removed from your list. When a subscriber leaves the list, they have
"opted out", and cannot be re-added to your list)
 spell words correctly
 under 45 likely to be receptive to texting
 do not text candidates after working hours
 not to sound too aggressive in your messaging
 include your name, title, and company
 do not sound like an autogenerated robot
 use professional language

Engaging candidates – voice messages

- leave a voice message if the candidate does not answer

 introduction / sell them on the role / call to action

 keep the voice mess short
 sound professional
 speak slowly, ensure that your words are clear
 be clear who you are
 do not sound like a used car salesman

CANDIDATE HABITS

 Short Application Process

 Mobile Application

10. Interview & select candidates

 Objective of a candidate interview
o if the candidate meets the qualifications for the roles you are working on
o make sure the candidate is a culture fit for the hiring organization

 Tips
o Unless you are a domain expert don’t do a technical interview
o Ask basic qualifying questions – how many years of experience the candidate has in the
major skill sets needed for the role
o Do not treat the candidate like a police suspect – do not be stern
o Use standard interview questions for the same roles you work on – makes comparing
candidates easier for both you and your hiring managers
o Ask questions related to fit
o Look for any discrepancies between a candidate’s resume and what they say
 o Do not be formal with candidates – give the impression you work for a professional
organization
o Close them on salary
o Confirm interest after the interview
o Find out here they are in their job search (in other job opportunity)

 List of Standard Interview Questions

o Is the candidate eligible to work in the country?
o Has the candidate ever interviewed or worked at the company you are representing?
o What is the reason the candidate is looking for a new position?
o Why they want to work for your company?
o How many years of domain experience does the candidate have?
o How many years of experience in each of the major skills sets needed for the role?
o Education and certification
o Weeks of notice
o Current salary (+ benefits) + Salary expectation (+benefits)
o Ask them to summarize their resume – look for discrepancies + short stints at
companies
o Ask them a teamwork question (a time they had to work with an uncooperative
colleague. How did you work with that person, and what was the outcome)?
o Ask them about a past angry client (the scenario and what they did to turn that
relationship around)
o Managers: how many years they have managed people, the size of the team, fire
someone or put someone on a performance plan
o Short- and long-term career objectives
o Where they are in their job search>?

 Candidate selection
o Do not block good candidates from moving forward – as long as they meet the minimum
qualifications and meet the competencies of the job you should move forward
o Do not submit someone who is too much of a stretch
o Never submit someone who has red flags
o If you are on the fence let the hiring manager decide

11. Sell your organization and hiring managers on the fast hiring process.
*Your hiring life cycle should be only five days

Steps

 Day 1 – Interview and submit your candidate to the hiring manager (schedule the second
interview)
  Day 2 (optional stage) – Hiring Manager reviews resume (24 h then schedule the interview)
 Day 2-4 Hiring Manager interviews the candidate and makes an offer
 Day 2-5 – Make offer to the candidate the same day the hiring manager decides to make an
offer

*Get Buy-in on a fast hiring process

 Educate stakeholders on the advantages of a fast-hiring process

o Educate whoever has representation with your executive suite
 set up a meeting and create a presentation (analytical information – how many
days it takes to move a candidate through the process + how many candidates
you are losing)
o Educate executives

 Educate hiring managers on new fast hiring process SLA

o will help ensure they receive the talent they need to run their business
o they hire the candidates before their competitors have a chance to do so

12. Improve your closing techniques.

Tips
o Always pre-close candidates – at the first interview understand his current salary package and
what the candidate is looking for
o Besides salary, you should know other benefits the candidates want
o Sell them on what they want – during the offer, bring up things they want like the particular role
location, or other benefits
o Many candidates always ask for more
o In situations where an offer is less than what a candidate expects, you can sell candidate on
things like bonuses, hourly differentials, promotional potential, location, and company culture
o Do not be afraid to negotiate (with the candidate or the organization)
o Provide extra customer service to your candidates

Tips – improve closing stumbling blocks

o The salary is way below market value

 show the hiring manager data that supports your claim
 show them how many offers were lost due to compensation being low
 stats about salary levels in the industry
 research your competitors to prove you have low salaries

o The hiring manager did not do a good selling the job to the candidate
 educate the hiring manager to do a better job
 o Recent negative publicity about the organizations you represent
 sell the candidate on the current positives (example: recent management changes –
good time to come in and grow and advance as the company rebuilds)

o Better counteroffer
 if they accept the offer, they will not be trusted anymore for having tested the job
market

o Better offers somewhere else

 offer something to the candidate that other offer does not have

Stay in touch with the candidate all the way to their start date. You can also confirm that they
gave in their notice.

13. Give your clients and candidates exceptional customer service.

Tips for the clients

 Be reliable
 Get hires
 Do not delay contacting candidates
 Make quick offers
 Be honest
 Always return the calls, texts, and emails of your managers
 Go the extra mile for your hiring manager
 After hires are made, send thank you emails
 Under-promise and over-deliver

Tips for the candidates

 Always return the calls, texts, and emails of candidates

 Never brush anyone off
 Always provide feedback right away after an interview or submission
 Give offers right away
 Be honest
 Give them career advice and resume tips
 Send thank you emails, phone calls or texts

14. Use data analytics to improve results.

 Recruitment life cycle metrics
o Days to contact applying candidates -24 h
o Days to submit after screen stage -24 h
 o Days for Hiring Manager to Review -24 h
o Days for Hiring Manager to Interview -72 h
o Days to make offer after interview – 24 h
o Time to Fill – 30 day for easy and 60 days for hard
 Sourcing metrics
o Contact to submission ration – 25%
o Hours to submission ration – 8 h
o Submission to interview ration – 75%
o Interview to offer ration – 3 interview candidates
o Offer to acceptance ration – 90%
o Source of Hire – (tools)
o Cost per Hire

15. Never stop learning.

 ERE Media
 Recruiting Headlines

New words:

 amount to anything: to turn out to be (something or someone important, impressive, etc.)

I don't think he'll ever amount to anything.

 deem: regard or consider in a specified way, regard as, consider, judge

 downtrodden: asuprit

 upbeat: increzator

 fortitude: curaj, tarie

 peeve: a cause of annoying

 pet peeves: something that a particular person finds especially annoying

 demeanor: comportament

 tempestuous: furtunoasa

 feel at ease: if you are at ease, you are feeling confident and relaxed, and are able to talk to
people without feeling nervous or anxious
 paramount: more important than anything else; supreme.

 slate: a list of candidates for election to a post or office

 misconstrued: interpreta gresit, rastalmaci

 acrimony: dusmanie, asprime

 ill-suited: unsuitable or inappropriate

 probe: seek to uncover information about someone or something

 vernacular: the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or
region
 procrastinate: delay or postpone action; put off doing something.
 stint: restrictie, limitare, obligatie