In Recruitment: What are the biggest challenges of recruiters at any level?
I work as a Researcher in the Recruitment Industry, and would soon like to be promoted into a full Recruitment Consultant. Prior to that though, I'd like to know what the greatest challenges faced by recruiters are and how they respond to these. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Many thanks
Marija
Good Answers (6)
Nikhil P
Research Associate / Executive Search
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (2), Labor Relations (1), Ethics (1)
Hi Marija,
Well the challenges actually vary from region to region based on the type of economy and the growth of any specific industry in that region.
Challenge 1:
Giving you an example, is that of a vibrant economy which is growing faster and that is India.....several candidates get offered with several jobs and their aspirations vary based on the Brand and the Job Profile of the company taking into consideration the monetary benefits as well as other benefits. In such a scenario, it has been observed that the candidate has already accepted 2-3 offers and is negotiating on the 4th one, which keeps recruiters like us in an ambivalent situation. So recruiter has to be very careful, observant and analytical while dealing with the candidate.
Challenge 2:
The other real challenge is how well you sell the job to the candidate - which includes matching his career aspirations with the job offer you have for him, showing him is career growth chart in brief and crisp format (or detailed if required), the benefits which he/she is entitled for (the benefits may start from short term to long term)
Challenge 3:
Sometimes it is also a challenge for the recruiter to sell an unknown brand and the respective job profile to the candidate. for eg. why would a candidate from Unilever move to a unknown XYZ brand? there has to be a valid and strong reason for that too.
Challenge 4:
Once you have developed a rapport with the candidate through initial phone calls, it is essential to stay in touch with candidate for sometime, cuz there are chances that he/she may lose interest in the job offer, incase the procedures are taking time.
Challenge 5:
Above all managing time with the client, the candidate and your team players is highly imperative.
These are the challenges which I feel are faced by recruiters quite often.
Warm regards,
Nikhil.
Jim S
CEO at Business Powerpack Limited
Best Answers in: Blogging (2), Direct Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Starting Up (1)
Hi Marija
I've worked to recruit IT staff and salespeople for blue chip and SME companies. There are any number of challenges and those that I think are the most important are:
(1) Wording adverts so you gain the interest of the best prospects for the job
(2) Ensuring that the people you choose to interview really do appear from their CV or phone interview to be right for the job
(3) Interviewing in such a way that the prospect is less likely to embellish, or plain lie, about their career to-date.
(4) Making sure that the candidate can really do all that is expected of them, before you send their CVs to your client
As to how you respond to the challenges, that's an interesting question, because we all have our own ways of doing things.
I write ads that frighten off people who shouldn't even be applying in the first place. I also make sure I do a phone interview first to cut out another chunk of people who really couldn't do the job. Finally I check that they have the abilities they claim to have, using case studies I've worked out with the client before hand.
Jim
Hi Marija,
In my opinion, I find that maintaining a high level of motivation in current employees is the most difficult task. I find that it is easy to attract new talent but most people forget about keeping those employees challenged and motivated. You can respond to this by creating time slots during the day where employees come to you and talk about their ideas - anything they want to work on or could be done a better way. Make your employees feel like they are making a change in the organization and they will feel more inclined to stick with the firm because it becomes a "part of who they are."
Good luck!
Justin Wang
Business Analyst
The Veridical Group
www.theveridicalgroup.com
Hi Marija
understanding the Need and wants of the candidate or client and providing them right resource is recruitment.
Challenge would be making the candidate understand or accept that you are the career advisior for him and making him secure for the opening you are offering him.
bottom line: candidate refer you as his career advisior to his friends or to anyone.
Make it happen and build your Career advisior network . this would be great and biggest challenges at any level.
Natasha B
HR Manager at Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (4), Certification and Licenses (1), Personnel Policies (1)
Hi Marija,
Most of the organizations these days have access to job portal database which leaves very less room for tapping the potential resource through this medium. So the next best option to thrive on in is strong networking skills which reduce the chances of losing the given mandate and this is where the challenge sets in. Most of the recruiters shy away from meeting people randomly. Honestly speaking very few consultants look at attending conferences/summits or anyother medium as an option for tapping resource.Again, once the candidate has been identified the next tough thing is to convince him/her for interview and possibly a meeting. It is also important to figure out the willingness of the candidate to take up the opportunity and other options which he/she is exploring. The reference check and background check too play a critical role. Most of the recruiters hire people just for the heck of filling up the position because of the turn around time of the assignment. The idea is to give quality and not just quantity. Constant follow-ups during pre-hiring cycle and post-hiring cycle are essential. Offlate there are industries which are opening their doors to talent from outside industries due to dearth of talent in their own kind of business.The challenge here for the recruiter is to match the new/alien talent to the business integrity and values along with the best compensation possible. Stability of the candidate is also another major task which recruiter faces. It happens so many times that a candidate joins an organization and due to unfulfilled needs or mismatch of information decides to move on immediately. This leaves a bad taste in the organization for the candidate and the recruiter. So as a recruiter it is also important to keep a tab on this factor. And last but not the least, the challenge of meeting the turn around time/ time line assigned to a recruitment assignment. Most of the recruiters stop servicing the organization after few days due to the inability of finding the right talent. What they do not try is voice their concerns or feedback, instead prefer a quiet retreat from the assignment which again leave the organizations wonder do we ever trust these recruitment agencies or not.
Regards,
Natasha
[The views posted above are real-time challenges faced by recruiters and not just mere judgement or thoughts]
From my personal experience, I would say that gaining the buy in from the Client is the foremost challenge for most recruiters.
When I say buy in, I mean total commitment. Rates are agreed, Terms are signed and you are given a role to work that ideally, is exclusive.
THEN, you move on to the resourcing of a candidate.
As some have mentioned above, many companies already use the Job Boards, especially the likes of Monster, as the companies who are recruiting annually, in a large capacity, are also bringing on board recruiters into the HR division, to remove their need for agencies. Now, we all know this is unlikely to happen with the larger companies for 100% of all roles, but for many it will reduce the need for a recruitment company.
On the flip side, the smaller companies tend to argue they have not budgeted for their single candidate hire at 20k p/a and pay the agency fee of xx% (typically 4k - 20%).
Rgds
Matt
More Answers (10)
Rajesh M
Director- Marketing, South & South east Asia at Western Union,Global Leader in Money Transfer Services
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (1), Advertising (1), Viral Marketing (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Hi Marija...
According to me the biggest challenge would be to `Balance'... organisation you represent, your client and the candidate's aspirations...
What you will trade off will determine how successful and satisfied you will be in the long term..
hope this helps... :)
David T
International Executive Search, Talent Management and Human Capital Advisor.
Time management, application and adherance to the process, tenacity, a positive mental attitude in the face of adversity, also have the courage to admit to clients & candidates you have tried your best and move on.
Total integrity, honesty and never get hung up on the fee!
Recruitment is fundamentally a process, if you follow its steps and believe in yourself you wont go far wrong!
Jane P
Health Care Project Manager at VRC, Management, Inc.
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (3), Job Search (1), Personnel Policies (1)
Letting what your intuition and discernment win over numbers, appearances, and the perception that the goal is reached. A recruiters goal is not reached on the first day an applicant starts work, it is a year after that date.
Recruitment is not a complicated thing, and the greatest challenge of them all is simply making yourself stand out from the many, many, many other consultants who are out there.
You do that by demonstrating integrity and honesty when speaking with clients and candidates, knowing how and where to find the candidates that others can't, showing genuine industry knowledge, and by being friendly and professional through-out the process.
If you do all of the above, you will build a fantastic reputation for yourself, build long-term relationships with clients and candidates, and enjoy continual repeat business because of those relationships.
Hello Marija: Focus, focus, and focus on the essentials! Plan your day the day before; work the plan as you planned it; don't be distracted by anyone or anything else; stay on the phone for the phone is your direct life line to gaining job orders, gaining send-outs and closing deals Don't be afraid to ask the tough questions of both the client and the candidates. Assume nothing. Ask questions until clarity. Don't marry yourself to a job or a candidate because you must daily prioritize where your time will bring the best results and quickest payoff. Brief and debrief both your candidates and your clients. Debriefing will eliminate surprises and provide insight as to their motivation. Finally realize that candidates as well as managers are always going to do what is in their best interest. Therefore make sure that you are thorough in following your basic training and make sure that you are not wanting the deal more than the candidate or the manager. If you do these things, you will be viewed as an "added value" to your client and your candidate(s) and you will win more of the deals than you lose.
Best wishes to you! Roger Manning
Hi,
Rather than the identifying challenges i think you should look at the abilities that you need to build to overcome the challenges,ive tried to list a couple of them below:
Ability to closely map and match the requirement of the client and the aspirations/expectations of the candidate.
Ability to develop a strong network that helps identify the latent profiles that are not activley looking at the job market.
Domain Knowledge,Tools used for assessment/evalaution are among the others you need to understand and learn.
All the best for the new role.
Here are my top three:
1. Develop clear and practical job description; determine your expectations BEFORE the interviewing process is started.
2. Set up an effective and truthful dialog between candidates and the recruiter without playing by “interview” rules. It is important to make the candidates to say what they really think and NOT what they assume you want to hear.
3. Make sure that the candidate fully understands and qualified to perform his/her future role and duties.
And one more: Never compromise. Always hire the best for the position or do not hire at all. If you have any small doubts or tiny concerns – keep looking.
Hi Marije,
I like that promoted from Research to Consultant... I think a good researcher is of more value then a consultant. Oepsss hope I didn't stand on any toes... Anyway its beside the point here.
The biggest chalenge in our field is to stay cheerfull and professional when 3 or 4 of your most promising traject went sour in an afternoon and nothing you can do...
Like all commercial activity you will hear a lot of no's in our field (depending on the agencie your working for) you will hear more.. and coming from client and candidate.
Its all in the game, but to stay open, communative and see if there is something you yourself have to change, after a big dissapointment is "the chalenge"
Hans
Sara F
Pre-Nursing Student at University of Washington
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (11), Professional Networking (2), Job Search (1), Accounting (1), Corporate Taxes (1)
I think the biggest challenge in recruiting is the same as in many other professions, and that is Organization. In order to fully set yourself up for success, you have to find your own organization. You have to set up a rhythm that works best for you, setting your own pace and schedule so that you build a routine. Not a rut, but a nice, flowing routine that best fits your life and patterns. In building the key foundation for good organization it will help to build a solid recruitment house. Sometimes in this business it can get so chaotic as you have many clients coming to you with different needs, and they all seem to need that person tomorrow. Then you have to manage the other side of that coin with the candidates who are equally invested in the process. Finding the balance between those and managing your time is the key to success.
Finding a right fit i.e. ability to see through a right person for a right job at a right time irrespective of what a curriculum vitae shouts or disguise :-)
How in my opinion a right fit helps a recruiter-
1. Right performer for right job
2. Control over Attritions
3. Professional satisfaction
