What makes a smart recruiter?

I haven't blogged for a week now, and the pressure has been mounting: a la the slog overs in the cricket-every dot ball increases the strike rate and induces a sense of panic:-)!

I borrow the headline from a recent contest that was conducted by recruitingblogs.com -where in at least 75 recruiters have waxed eloquent about their bit.

I am not sure if the origins of this post was seeded in my mind for a while now:

-pre-empted by a blog post written by Gautam Ghosh earlier this week about leveraging social technologies to build talent communities.

-courtesy the discussion I had with yesterday with an aspirant(A premier institute MBA with about 3 yrs HR experience in a large software firm, wanting to get her teeth into a recruitment role) wanting to join Options. .

-deliberations with a prospective client in a sunrise industry-looking to attract professionals from 'old economy' companies who wish to transplant their experience!

-deliberating on a proposed write up I had promised to make last month, for a local MBA college-to convince their students to intern with our firm for a few months-as against their penchant for some dummy projects in the big branded employers in a bid to decorate their resume!!

So, here I go-trying to attempt to articulate some of my thoughts today about a good recruiter:

1.Has to be a people's person.

No one is indifferent to a recruiter!It is amazing that you can touch the lives of every person you can possibly meet -every day! For either one is a potential job seeker-or a potential hiring manager. The social connotation is so high that almost everyone would know of someone who 'might need a job'-if not a better job and would like to know how to go about it.

Abilities required: ability to listen, empathise, understand, communicate, share, network,...

2. Has to be hungry for knowledge.

Adjectives taken for granted here are general awareness, curiosity, research, update. Whether one is a generalist or a specialist, there is a constant need to be abreast of what's happening around the world!

It's not just what you know that matters- its who you know that helps one stay ahead! At least one must know someone else who might put you on to someone who knows!

3.As a result one gets into a position when one can potentially advice, those who seek your counsel-be it job seeker or a client .

However, if I were to single out any quality-it is the temperament!!

For recruitment isn't really rocket science. Its all about the right matches, simple -right? In real life however, it boils down to taking those 'chances'!!

As a recruiter, while every single job aspirant is place-able, only 10% of them would be so-within the kind of clients/assignments you handle-and maybe one ends up placing one on ten. So the crux is that in 99 out of 100 cases, you are mostly either setting expectations, or passing on 'no, not yet, nothing now' messages to candidates. And 9 out of 10 times handling a client, one is parroting ' am working on it, shall get back to you asap' kind of assurances!!

One therefore has to be a constant bundle of positive energy through out the day...with good stamina and the alertness to capitalise on every chance possible. Like a football player-who has to be active all through the 90 minutes of game, running up and down, and be mentally alert to convert even the slightest of opportunities-even if it is passing on to another member who is better suited to score.

It helps if one has a sportsman spirit! If one enjoys playing, you accept that you are bound to encounter some better players on any particular given day. Like the famous quote Confucius quote "Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising every time we fail"!!

I am sure you have your thoughts, opinions...Please feel free to share them here.