4 Qualities That Make Recruiters of College Students Great

By Tamiera Vandegrift on September 22, 2017

What makes recruiters great? Is it the color of their blazer or the number of connections they have on LinkedIn? Are they defined by their marketing experience or by their commission rates? Before we get into what makes a recruiter great, let’s talk about what a recruiter is.

Recruiters are responsible for (you guessed it!) reaching out to and recruiting individuals to fill a certain job description. A recruiter searches for, researches, and interviews potential job candidates before placing them in contact with the organization that they are recruiting for. There are many different types of recruiters out there, all equally and tremendously important, and they have one great thing in common: they are wonderful at what they do.

To be an effective recruiter of college students, you need to embody a certain set of skills and traits. Without further ado, keep reading to learn what makes the difference between a decent recruiter and a great recruiter.

Image via: www.pexels.com

1. A great recruiter is knowledgeable

To be a great recruiter, you need to know everything and if you don’t know everything, you will need to figure it out fast. Companies and organizations are counting on you to supply them with groups of skilled and efficient potential new employees. You must be familiar with every potential employee’s resume and experience level. You must have looked over their social media to weed out any questionable individuals. You must have exercised all of your Sherlock Holmes skills to find out whether or not a potential college student employee would be an asset or a liability to your company.

On the flip side, these potential new employees are looking to you as a figure of guidance during the hiring process. You must know every inch and facet of the job in question. You must know the time commitment of the position, the pay levels, whether or not there is an opportunity for advancement, what benefits the job offers, etc. You must be ready to share this information with a client at a moment’s notice; otherwise, you might risk losing a valuable asset for your organization.

As a recruiter, you need to know your stuff to keep the gears of professional recruitment going, one interview or LinkedIn search at a time.

Image via: www.pexels.com

2. A great recruiter can communicate well

When it comes to being an excellent recruiter of college students, having communication skills goes way beyond answering emails and phone calls. First, a great recruiter knows how to be friendly and approachable. It’s important to build a strong relationship with your clients as well as with potential student candidates. You want the people you are working with to feel comfortable and confident in their decision to work with you, so reward that decision with kindness, respect, and patience. Positive vibes could also eventually equal excellent recommendations and higher commission rates.

Second, a great recruiter can hold a conversation, but they also know when to listen. Recruiters are often compared to car salesmen because they are seen as charismatic fast-talkers. While having this level of confidence is important for this job, it’s just as important to take a back seat and listen to what your client or potential student employees have to say as well. By doing so, you will be able to discover the needs of both parties and how those needs could be fulfilled exponentially faster and simpler.

Third, a great recruiter is quick on their feet, but not necessarily in an athletic sense. If a client or job candidate does not hear back from a potential job quickly enough, they will be forced to move on. As the middleman between organizations and job candidates, you cannot let this happen. You must have your email inbox open at all times and your fingers ready to answer your phone as often as possible. A great recruiter will keep both parties up to date throughout the entire interviewing and hiring process. If you keep your parties waiting, you risk losing interest on either side, which spells trouble for everyone.

Image via: www.pexels.com

3. A great recruiter is tech savvy

The best part of being a recruiter in the 21st century is all of the gizmos and gadgets that you have at your disposal. With social media and professional platforms, recruiters can discover and keep track of ideal employee candidates and reach out to them easily. With the addition of technology, the recruitment process has the potential to be a lot faster and a lot easier.

For instance, thanks to websites like LinkedIn and Facebook, recruiters will be able to find matching candidates for a position with a couple quick taps of a keyboard. To utilize these features, a good recruiter must be familiar with modern day smart technology and social media platforms. Using these resources at one’s disposal will turn a good recruiter into a great one!

4. A great recruiter is patient

While having an excellent background in sales and marketing is definitely helpful, it is just as important for a recruiter to be patient. Sometimes a potential job candidate will just up and ghost you halfway through the hiring process. Sometimes a client will lose interest in a candidate that you thought would be perfect for the position. Sometimes your career as a recruiter will throw you some sort of curveball and knock you off track.

As a recruiter, the important thing is remembering to adapt and remain patient. No matter what happens, the path will realign and you’ll find yourself right back where you were: on the way to being an excellent recruiter.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get College Recruiting News Monthly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format