Introduction

The importance of habits is much more than what we pretend. Habits are directly linked with our approach, and work methodology, and thus, the ultimate outcome of any task.

Good habits can not only help us thrive in our personal life but can help us to achieve excellence in our profession as well. Developing good habits can be tricky, but with the right approach and mindset, it is possible to set up good professional habits that can help you in the long run!

When it comes to recruiters, the importance of good habits becomes even more crucial as they directly engage with prospective employees. 

People who work in recruitment know how important a first impression is. A positive first impression helps you to convince your candidate to consider your offer, and a negative first impression makes it much more difficult to convince that person to join your team.

That’s why Eklavvya, decided to create this blog post for you, our readers so that you can learn how to become a highly effective recruiter, who makes a great first impression.

This blog can help you, as a recruiter, to adapt to the new habits to be your best self and a highly effective recruiter.

Here are 7 habits of highly effective recruiters along with tips on how you can be the one-

1. They are dynamic!

Humans are the most intelligent creatures ever with time, in our profession, we adopt a thinking pattern and try to resemble the situation. It is very common to draw conclusions about certain situations on the basis of past experience. 

But, it is one of the key traits of exceptionally successful recruiters that believe that each and every situation is different and should be handled with a dynamic approach. 

Past experiences provide insights on making the decision but the past experiences do not drive their decision, and that makes the difference!

2. They focus on thought, action, and intention and not on the person, character, and past interactions

This trait becomes especially important when the recruiter is interviewing or interacting with the existing employee for a different position within the same organization. Highly effective recruiters emphasize the thought, actions, and intentions of the person which is a comparatively better way of decision-making.

They understand that the decisions made on the basis of personal assumptions, character, and past interactions are nothing more than obstacles in visualizing the traits that really matter for achieving the job deliverables.

3. They utilize tools wherever possible!

It is rightly said that “When skill meets tool, miracles happen”, tools not only make the action easier but also faster, more efficient, and more accurate. Highly effective recruiters understand the importance of tools in reaching their fullest potential. They adapt new technology tools and leverage them at their best.

For example, say, Joe and Samuel work together in an IT firm as recruiters, Joe is curious about new tools and keeps himself updated with the latest recruitment technology while Samuel believes that there is no need to implement any tool while recruiting and limits the technology adoption.

 A new project required Joe and Samuel to hire more than 100 candidates within a span of 15 days; while Samuel struggled and couldn’t make it, Joe could easily recruit the perfect match candidates. The success of Joe is not only attributed to the latest recruitment technology but is linked greatly to his open mindset and technology curiosity of Joe.

Technology has enabled various aspects of our life. It has made our world a global village. People rely on technology for almost everything right from making purchases, taking payments, and buying various stuff to getting updates on important events or making appointments.

It has changed the way we look at our life. With the advancement in technology, companies have also started using technology in their day-to-day business operations. Recruitment is one area where technology is used.

Recruitment can be improved with effective use of tools and softwares

1.AI Based Resume Screening

2. Online Aptitude or Skill Based Assessments

3. Online Audio Interviewing

4. Online Video interviewing

5. Coding Skill Assessment

4. They communicate effectively

As a recruiter, communicating the right thing at the right time to the right person is a key to success. An effective recruiter is necessarily a good communicator.

While many of us focus just on improving the way we speak, react and behave; the key ingredient of good communication is the thought that we convey.

Highly effective and successful recruiters focus on the content and not only on the way it is communicated. Communication skill is crucial throughout the recruitment process, right from the interview to the induction of the onboarding of the employee.

5. They own the task they do

When we work in a team, it is important to coordinate with each of the team members effectively. It is common that the tasks get assigned to a team and not to an individual. The exceptional recruiters own and lead the end-to-end task, right from the resume screening to the candidate onboarding. It is a really important trait as it largely eliminates the dependency on certain people for a task and in turn, helps the team to meet the timelines.

6. They know how to handle their unconscious bias

It is scientifically proven that each of us prefers certain people, and situations placed on the basis of our past experiences, this phenomenon of “inherent and unconscious biases” negatively impacts the decision-making capacity of a person. 

Many of us may not agree, but unconscious bias largely contributes to our decision-making, the highly effective recruiters understand and eliminate any bias in their decision. You too can avoid unconscious bias by implementing certain techniques, for example, making decisions on the basis of decision charts, decision trees, and consultation of decisions with colleagues.

7. They revisit their decisions

It is human nature that we do not revisit the decision once those are made. One wrong decision may trigger the domino effect and make the ultimate decision wrong. It is a must for the recruiters to revisit the decisions made at any part of the recruitment process. While most of us focus on learning from our mistakes and avoiding them in the future, successful recruiters with great recruitment records often revisit their decisions and correct them.

Bonus Tip: Build Your Personal Brand!

While you, as a recruiter, work hard to build the best possible workforce for your organization, be sure to expand your presence and grow as an individual. Highly effective recruiters are perceived as a great asset for any organization, and not only for an organization.

While you are an asset to an organization, make sure to build your brand which would in turn help you to have an identity beyond your current organization, and trust me, it is more important than you pretend!

Here are certain tips for developing your personal brand-

1. Expand your presence:

Not only online presence but offline presence as well. Look out for opportunities to connect with like-minded people and professionals, for example, you may join HR organizations, forums, workshops, or communities.

2. Online presence is underrated:

Most of us binge LinkedIn to see what’s happening around us, you should get it to work by posting engaging content from time to time, asking questions on Reddit, and replying to the relevant questions, this helps you connect with the right people

3. Organize events:

Club the people you would like to network with, an even winner may be forgotten but the organizer won’t; well, there is a reason behind big brands organizing events, why not do that at your own level?

4. Use your skills to build an employer brand:

Employer branding is one of the trending topics nowadays. With changing employee perspectives, it is important to keep employees motivated and build pride in themselves and the organization. 

Conclusion

Being a highly effective recruiter can be tricky, it needs the right mindset, right thought process, and approach. Achieving excellence in recruitment may not be as easy as one might think, but also, on the positive side, it is not difficult as it seems, following the right tips can really help you in your progress to excellence. We encourage you to be your best self through the adoption of the right habits and tools.