About Recruiters
Recruiting is a good career choice for outgoing people who have a knack for finding strong job applicants. While you may not make a large salary as a beginning recruiter, there are ample opportunities to advance if you are good at what you do. Recruiters work in almost every industry, allowing you to choose the type of recruiting that best suits you.
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Function
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Recruiters try to find employees to fill job openings. Recruiters may work for the company actually hiring the new employees or they may be employed by an independent firm hired by the company. Recruiters are sometimes called "headhunters." Recruiters may specialize in recruiting for a certain industry or geographical area.
Types
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Recruiters employed by recruiting firms work with a variety of clients and companies. They work from a database of job applicants and try to find good matches for companies in need of employees. Part of a recruiter's job is cold calling professionals working in a particular field and advising them of open positions in an attempt to fill the client's opening. Recruiting companies often specialize, handling only information technology positions, accounting jobs or management level positions.
In-house recruiters handle a broader range of positions, but may be responsible for locating candidates for more than one office. In-house recruiters are usually more involved in the hiring process and conduct interviews and make recommendations to their supervisors regarding candidates.
In-house recruiters may receive a salary plus commission or a salary alone. Recruiting firm employees generally receive a percentage of the new hire's salary as a fee, with the fee ranging from 10-30 percent of the salary.
Military recruiters work to convince young people to join one of the branches of the armed services and receive a military salary.
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Features
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Recruiters must have outgoing personalities and be persuasive. Selling is a large part of the job, as they need to convince companies that they can find just the right person for the opening and to convince applicants that the opening is the perfect fit for them.
Recruiters may work long hours, often contacting new prospects on evenings and weekends when they can be reached at home. Because clients are counting on recruiters to deliver viable job applicants, there is a great deal of pressure to find strong applicants. In addition to finding and screening applicants, recruiters may prepare applicants for interviews, coaching them on how to best answer questions and explaining exactly what attributes the company values in candidates.
Considerations
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Although some companies require a four-year degree and a background in such areas as business, human resources or psychology, those qualifications are not always necessary for success as a recruiter. Understanding the client's needs, whether the client is in-house or external, and being able to quickly find people who closely match those needs, are the most important qualities a recruiter can possess.
Benefits
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Recruiters can make a healthy salary, particularly if recruiting for executive level positions. Depending on the company, a recruiting job may have certain perks, such as an expense account for wining and dining clients and applicants; a company car and bonuses. Like many jobs, recruiting is affected by the economy, but top recruiters will always be in demand even in lean financial times.
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