Training Day
“Hi! How was traffic today? Good? Excellent! Here is your new desk, your computer, and the phone. Open up the database, search for “mech assem” and dial and smile!”
That’s pretty much how my recruiting career began. They gave me a phone and a database and told me to start calling everyone. And I did. I had not the foggiest idea of how to approach candidates other then “Hi, I’m calling from so-and-so I have an opportunity for you”. In essence, this is all there is to a recruiting call.
The opportunity. You as a recruiter have to believe that the opportunity you have is really going to benefit the candidate. This makes the sale of the opportunity that much easier. Believing in what you are presenting makes you more confident and allows you put up better resistance when you hit roadblocks.
So back to my first day. If you thought I was going to sit there and make calls all day, you are mistaken. About a year before, I discovered a nifty little site called Craigslist. At that time it was still free to post ads and I had been posting employment ads long before I became a recruiter. My company had no idea Craiglsist existed. Thus, knowing little more then the basic idea of what recruiting is, I posted my first official job ad for a Chemical Technician for Gillette. The candidate who responded would become my first placement two weeks later.
In the end, recruiting is all about connecting to candidates and building relationships with them. It doesn’t matter if you have the best experts training you or if you are thrown off the deep end the first day. What will determine your success is your tenacious work ethic and desire to network with people.
