5 Traits of a Productive Recruiter

Recruiting is tougher than ever.

Busy recruiters never seem to have enough time or qualified candidates at their disposal.

So how are successful recruiters getting by? What are they doing differently?

Here are five key traits which make them more productive. You’ll see that none of this is new: everything below has been analyzed in much more detail on ere.net. This is merely a brief summation of what I think are the top five. (Another couple posts to check out: 8 skills recruiters should have and the skills a recruiter should have, part 2.)

Productive recruiters use data

Productive recruiters work smarter, not harder.

They use data to make better and more informed decisions, which improves their productivity and success.

They measure every step of their recruiting process and track the most important recruiting metrics. They analyze these metrics in order to evaluate the results and efficiency of their recruiting efforts. That way they can recognize which of their recruiting strategies work best, and which have room for improvement. They can find bottlenecks in their recruiting process and make necessary corrections and adjustments.

For example, if they track the source of their applicants, they can discover which job board, social media platform, or referral program brings them most qualified applicants.

Based on that insight, they can focus on the sources that bring them best results and plan their future recruiting tactics accordingly.

Productive recruiters think about candidates (a lot)

Productive recruiters operate within a candidate-centric paradigm.

They put candidates first.

They take time to research candidates’ wants and needs. They want to understand their candidates’ motivations. They try to find out what makes their candidates feel happy and appreciated at work.

They want to deliver the best possible candidate experience. They strive to provide timely communication with their candidates and to respect their time and effort.

They do all that in order to find the right person for their open positions. Their goal is not just to fill the position, but to find the most qualified candidate who makes the perfect fit for the position and the company.

Because of that, candidates trust them. This trust is the basis for the long-term relationship between candidates and recruiters.

Productive recruiters invest a lot of time and effort into candidate engagement, even when there are no immediate positions to be filled. That way, when the position opens, they already have a pool of top talent at their disposal.

Productive recruiters use the right tools

Productive recruiters use technology to simplify and fasten their recruiting process.

HR software executes a variety of crucial tasks quickly and easily, sometimes even automatically, saving recruiter hours of work.

These tools also offer features which help recruiters tackle some of the most pressing recruiting challenges. With modern recruiting tools, recruiters can easily find high-quality candidates and execute employer branding strategies in order to attract candidates and turn them into applicants.

In order to choose the right recruiting tool, productive recruiters first identify their recruiting goals and challenges.

Productive recruiters think like marketers

Productive recruiters know that the current job market is candidate driven, which means that top talent has many potential employers to choose from. Candidates now act as customers.

Productive recruiters are well aware of this situation. By using recruitment marketing strategies, productive recruiters are able to differentiate their company form competitors and attract candidates. They do that by building an attractive employer brand and presenting a compelling employee value proposition.

Productive recruiters are employee-referral lovers

Employee referrals are structured programs that companies and organizations use to find talented people by asking their existing employees to recommend candidates from their existing networks.

In return, companies offer their employees different types of employee referral rewards.

Productive recruiters love referrals.

This is because referred employees are the best employees in many different ways: they take shortest to hire, they are more affordable to hire, and they stay longest with companies.