How Do You Become an Employment Recruiter?
Becoming an employment recruiter is a straight forward process that requires a formal education, a proven skill set and an extroverted personality. Keep reading to learn how to become an employment recruiter.
Formal Education
Becoming an employment recruiter begins with graduating from an accredited bachelor’s degree program. Employment recruiters normally have a degree in human resources, but some also study business administration or a branch of psychology, such as industrial organizational (IO) psychology.
Alternatively, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that students can complete a different degree, but take many classes on human resource topics, such as labor relations and organizational development. Keep in mind that most industries prefer a candidate with background experience. Therefore, a student wishing to become a financial employment recruiter should take classes or work in the field of finance.
Target Coursework
As mentioned above, anyone who wants to become an employment recruiter must take human resource related classes. Basic classes will cover leadership, management, organizational and business law fundamentals. Students will learn how to develop business acumen and properly manage an organization’s human resource system. Advanced coursework will cover employee recruitment, retention and development. Employment recruiters may not be involved with employee training and development, but this knowledge is an important persuasion and negotiation tool.
Classes will also cover benefit and compensation management. This is very important for an employment recruiter to know because this information will also be used during the recruitment and negotiation process. Additionally, employment recruiters must understand common legal, labor relations and international HR issues. This is critical knowledge because an employment recruiter will be working with hundreds to thousands of candidates every month for specific industries. Thus, an employment recruiter working in the finance industry must understand SEC licensing regulations for investors. Similarly, an employment recruiter working for manufacturing facilities must be familiar with OSHA health and safety regulations.
Employment Recruiter Skill Set
Talent or employment recruiters must fully understand the complete recruitment cycle. This means they must be able to strategically attract, source, recruit and retain top talent for the organization. Thus, they must have excellent communication skills for working for job candidates and the HR department. Sharp analytical skills will enable them to quickly understand and be able to explain technical job descriptions and responsibilities. They must be comfortable working with deadlines and pressure. This is because recruitment demands may suddenly spike because of unexpected turnovers or business expansion.
Employment recruiters should have a working knowledge of HR and talent acquisition metrics. They should be familiar with standard programs, such as Microsoft Office, and Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) programs. Experience with innovative web-based applicant tracking systems is a plus. They must know applicable EEO, state and federal regulations regarding hiring practices. Employment recruiters often have a heavy workload so they must have the ability to multi-task, maintain confidentiality and work with a variety of personalities and work styles. Most companies prefer candidates with HR certification, such as the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification.
To wrap up, an employment recruiter is an HR specialist who focuses on attracting and recruiting the best talent. Many talent recruiters work in highly competitive fields, such as IT, finance and health care. Becoming an Employment Recruiter is entirely possible through the right education and skill set.
