Human Resource Management

To increase the positive influence recruiters have on the job choice of employees, what recruiter characteristics and behaviors would you look for in your recruiters?

To increase the positive influence they have upon the recruiting process, HR recruiters themselves must have a clear sense of the company's mission and what type of employees are a good fit for the organization. Recruiters should be enthusiastic and articulate enough to convey the company's vision and message to prospective employees. They must be strong and extroverted communicators. Ideally, they should possess the same interpersonal qualities the organization wishes to attract in its own new employees, and to be able to project those qualities quickly, in an effective manner. They are the first face of the organization many recruits will encounter, and the recruiters must be warm, open, and professional, never cool, brusque, or overly familiar.

Recruiters should be able to make a connection with individuals quickly, given the necessarily brief nature of most initial interviews. They must be a quick study of human nature, but also know how to probe beneath the surface, and look beyond canned responses to get a real feel for the prospective employee's personality. They must be able to take the interviewee slightly off-guard with a probing question, yet still put him or her at ease so the prospective employee will be relaxed and open enough to be candid and not 'freeze up.'

Recruiters must be well-versed in a variety of subjects, if they are to recruit for a number of departments, spanning from it to advertising. Their knowledge of the organization should be thorough, but they should also know how to make 'small talk' and use humor to put the prospective employee at east. Finally, they should also have a good idea of what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate conduct during an interview, regarding such legal issues as the candidate's desire to have children or issues of racial or ethnic sensitivity.