A day in the life of a recruiter starts pretty early and runs with a full head of steam all the way through to the 5 o'clock whistle. Though not your typical desk job, it is still definitely a 9-5 and make no mistake about it, there will be some times where you will have to have client meetings outside of these hours.
A recruiter is a matchmaker or sorts, a person who tries to find the best fit for both their clients (potential employers) and candidates (potential employees). They create business relationships with a multitude of companies in their area and are always looking for competent individuals to fill those roles. Recruiters are constantly talking to candidates in order to figure out what jobs would be the best fit for both them and the clients trying to fill positions.
As a recruiter, e-mail will be your best friend and your greatest enemy. Expect to weed through and respond to a countless amount of e-mails each day, as the successful recruiter will be in constant communication with many people at all times. Your phone will also be quite busy throughout the day, and that is a good thing. You only get paid when you are able to place a person with a company, so any lull in communication equals a lack of pay as well.
Recruiters are typically paid anywhere between 10-40% of a placed candidate's salary. There is also usually an amount of time (3-6 months) that must elapse before that payment is locked in. Companies want to make sure they have gotten their money's worth and if the candidate decides to leave his job, it is the recruiter that will suffer the most. For this reason, recruiters often keep in contact with their candidates for some time after they've gotten the job to make sure that everything is going smoothly and that they will stick around for awhile.
This job also entails a large amount of face-to-face time with prospective employees. The recruiter has to spend some time getting to know the individual's strengths and weaknesses. Though not a career coach, the successful recruiter will have to do some amount of prep work with their candidates to give them the best shot at landing the job with a company the recruiter represents. It is therefore important to have strong interpersonal skills as a recruiter.
Becoming a recruiter is certainly not for everybody, but it can be an exciting, fast-paced job for those who are up to the challenge. It takes a lot of dedication and drive to make a match happen but when it does, all the effort becomes worth it. It's a great feeling when you are able to find a candidate and a client who fit together just like a puzzle, and the check that comes with it is pretty nice too!
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