Hiring Recruiters in the Modern Marketplace: A Revised Playbook

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Hiring Recruiters in the Modern Marketplace: A Revised Playbook

“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” – Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist

The demand for hiring recruiters and sourcing specialists who are top-tier has outgrown the supply. Over the years, RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) leaders are looking to improve the talent in this segment. Not only are they looking for a better quality of hires, but how they source these talented individuals as well. Sourcing is something that was a common factor across most, if not, all recruiters’ job descriptions at one point. These days, sourcing as a skill has grown to be more of a specialisation. It is the specialisation of finding and engaging passive talent that is not usually available through traditional means of recruitment. This is part of what makes today’s RPO firms so unique in their service offerings.

In this article, we will explore the difference between sourcing and recruitment, why it matters as a specialised skill as well as how you can go about sourcing these talented individuals. We also explore some ways in which you can optimise the finding and management of these talented recruiters to get the most out of every position you will.

Sourcing Vs. Recruitment

The way to differentiate between the two functions is quite simple. Think of the whole recruitment process as a pipeline that lays the path for the recruiter to reach the candidate. In this pipeline, the sourcing proactively searches for talent by anticipating needs in the market. The recruiter then uses the talent in the pipeline to fill the roles.

Now, why do we talk about sourcing when talking about hiring recruiters? Well, quite simply, even though sourcing has branched off as a specialisation, it still holds as a core KPI for top-tier recruiters within RPO firms. Before we address the problem, we need to understand the differences and significance of the roles in the modern context.

Traditional interview and hiring methods don't give you the talent you want in this modern set-up.

Why Does the Selection Process for Talented Recruiters Need to Change?

One of the major issues that many companies face today is hiring too quickly. This is even true for recruitment agencies themselves. Firms hiring recruiters have the interview one day and offer them a job the next. However, with that being the case, the recruiter who is being hired has many job offers in hand and takes the one most convenient for them. As a result, companies try to overcompensate by offering perks or salaries that are not conducive to their bottom line.

Fair to say that the selection process needs to be revamped. Hence, the writing of this particular article. Traditional interview questions and methods no longer work as they should in this modern environment.

“There’s always room for improvement.“ – Joey Logano, American motorsports racing driver

Optimizing the Interview Process for Better Results

Rather than focusing so much on past work experience, one should rather look for qualities that speak to the recruiter’s technical competencies. It should be set up in such a way that you can evaluate the candidate throughout the hiring process. For one, you could develop a scorecard of sorts. This would help you evaluate abstract skills and core competencies in a way that standard questions may not allow. You also need to test for sourcing skills as opposed to recruitment skills. Yes, you are hiring a recruiter, but remember we are trying to gain access to specialisation skills in the sourcing department.

Sourcing involves proactive work, it’s all about intuition, the ability to predict and execute the candidacy search. While you may have a clear definition of what to look for in a recruiter, the requirements of a sourcing specialist are more nuanced. It is ever-changing and evolving to suit the market needs. So, testing for the latter means that you get someone who is very adept at their tradecraft. Having said that you do need to ask questions as well. So, ask questions revolving around core competencies. Make it a targeted approach. You can ask questions that tell you more about their behaviour, business acumen, creative thinking, critical problem-solving skills and eagerness to adapt to changing situations.

Customizing your recruitment and training process is the key to succeeding in hiring the best talent.

Have Customized Training in Place

The hiring process should not be considered finished until the recruiter in question is fully and independently doing their job with little or no supervision. To ensure that they are able, you should have a training course in place. Companies tend to think of this as an expense rather than an investment.

To set up any sort of training, however, you need to have a baseline. We know first-hand how valuable a resource having a recruitment trainer in place is. These trainers set a standard of what is needed and based on the candidate’s needs, they customize the process to help them grow.

Use Assessments to Eliminate Any Skill Gap

Now, we come to the last item on the agenda, and that is assessments. Regardless of how skilled or eager recruiters might be to learn the job, there will always be some level of skill gaps. As a talent acquisition or RPO leader, you need to ask yourself how you can improve the existing talent. You also need to look into what obstacles might prevent you from attaining your goal. Doing this will help you identify what you are lacking and what you need to do to get to the finish line.

In short, hiring recruiters in the modern job market is a continuous process. It doesn’t stop once you have onboarded the recruiter. You need to keep the team one step ahead by asking the right questions, and investing in the right approaches.