8 Traits Of A Successful Recruitment Consultant

The Best Recruitment Consultant Has A Myriad Of Skills

The world of recruitment is tough – a recruitment consultant must possess myriad skills and talents in order to continually match candidates with employers.

Recruitment consultants are often the first point of contact for candidates and are seen as being the ‘face’ of the client. A successful recruiter needs to make a good impression on both sides of the employment equation in order to produce the perfect result.

So what do employers look for in an exceptional recruiter?

Here are eight skills that make the best recruiters stand out.

1. Attention to detail

The ability to understand client requirements is a fundamental skill for successful recruiters. They need exceptional listening skills, and to have developed an aptitude for finding the details in client discussions. Recruiters face the challenge of having to work with very limited information from clients. It takes a talented recruiter to ask the right questions, provide clarity to the client as to what sort of a person would match the position, and get it right the first time – avoiding the risk of an unsuccessful placement and the need to repeat the process.

2. An accomplished communicator

Recruiters spend a great deal of time communicating on the phone, face-to-face and via email. They have countless conversations with clients and candidates on a daily basis – interviewing, making follow up calls, discussing position details and skill requirements, ‘selling’ the job to the right candidates, presenting candidates to clients, conducting background verification checks – the list is endless. An ability to communicate with a range of people is a skill an extraordinary recruiter masters.

3. Superior negotiation skills

Top negotiation skills are essential. Recruiters need to be able to deal with client requirements and candidate needs, as well as sometimes unrealistic expectations from both sides, and negotiate a balance to create a win-win solution. They also need to have a persistent nature, without being overbearing or pushy – traits that can turn both candidates and clients away.

4. Outstanding at rapport building

Exceptional recruiters know how to build relationships with people and understand how important networks are. A recruiter’s network and the relationships they have with clients and candidates are vital in making connections and matching the right people to the right jobs.

They are approachable, positive, make themselves available to candidates and clients mostly at short notice and out of office hours, and keep in touch via phone or email with both parties whenever they can. Relationship building is a great way to keep candidates interested in a job if the process stalls, plus it helps to keep applicants fresh in their minds in case a suitable position needs filling quickly.

5. Possess an eye for talent

Talent acquisition in Sydney is a competitive game, so recruiters need to know how to spot exceptional professionals quickly to make the right match. They need to screen efficiently, sifting through information and have a knack for picking the right candidates to present a productive shortlist to the client. A good understanding of the industries in which they are recruiting is an additional value-add.

6. A thorough understanding of the recruitment cycle

If you’re seeking a top-quality recruitment agency in Sydney, look for recruiters who don’t take shortcuts just to get enough candidates in the selection pool. This results in high candidate turnover and a repetitive recruitment process that is a waste of time and resources. The best recruiters follow a systematic process, and are very thorough in their screening of candidates, helping to eliminate the risk of repeating the process and ensuring that clients get the right personnel they need the first time round.

7. Excellent time management and organisational skills

Having to juggle multiple tasks at once and prioritise them is all in a day’s work for a recruiter. Always having to think on their feet and be on top of their game requires an aptitude for organisation skills and efficient time management.

8. Have resilience

Recruiting can be a difficult job. Top agencies are generally extremely busy, there can be last-minute requests to fill roles, and then there’s the juggling of various competing tasks and relationships. Extraordinary recruiters are mentally prepared to deal with the rigours of working in the fast-paced industry day-to-day and are resilient when things go wrong.

Successful recruiters make the difference between a high-quality talent acquisition company and a mediocre one. Recruiters who understand client needs and can deliver the talent required the first time around are worth their weight in gold.