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It’s crunch time. Your team is down a person and you need to hire quickly.
You decide to add a recruiter into the mix, but aren’t sure how to identify a good one.
Since time and money are of the essence it pays to know if a recruiter will be able to deliver for you. Here are three signs that you’ve connected with an exceptional one.
Honest
A quality recruiter will be honest with you about their ability to fill the role. Ask questions like: Have you filled roles like this before? How often do you fill positions like this? If the recruiter’s answers are vague, then this is a red flag.
The recruiter should also be honest about market expectations. He or she should tell you if the list of requirements you’ve crafted is unreasonable. After all, if the hire you’re looking for is as scarce as a striped unicorn, odds are you might need to re-work your expectations to get successful results.
Responsive
A high level HR consultant once said to us, “The recruitment industry is a service industry that forgot it was a service industry.” A good recruiter, therefore, will be highly responsive. They’ll connect with you right away, arrange a face to face and take the time to sit down with you and understand the role. During the process they will commit to specific timelines and offer feedback on a regular basis.
Knowledgeable
If you’re hiring finance and accounting people then it makes sense to work with recruiters who specialize in this area. They’ll have a deeper understanding of the role and what it takes to be successful. More importantly, they’ll have a large network of industry specific talent they can access. While a generalist might have a larger network overall, it will span across several professions.
Identifying a great recruiter means looking for someone who is honest, knowledgeable about the industry and highly responsive during the process. These three qualities can be difference makers as to whether or not the hiring process is a successful one.