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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
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I'm considering trying to transition from my generalist role to that of recruiter. I do some interviewing now and I think that I would be effective in this role. What should I focus on to make me a st
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Forums » Topic Forums » HR Career Forum » Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 4/13/2011 12:53 AM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 4/13/2011 Last: 7/12/2011 |
I'm considering trying to transition from my generalist role to that of recruiter. I do some interviewing now and I think that I would be effective in this role. What should I focus on to make me a strong candidate for an internal position? |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 5/19/2011 5:43 AM EDT
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Posts: 46
First: 9/14/2005 Last: 5/23/2011 |
Understanding the total business and how the positions you are recruiting for support the business is key to recruiting. Also, have a clear picture on how to deal with difficult management who wants to search for the "perfect" candidate. They keep saying oh that person is great but I want to see one more. Also, think of creative ways on how you will fill those difficult positions.
Good Luck to you! |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 5/19/2011 5:45 AM EDT
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Posts: 46
First: 9/14/2005 Last: 5/23/2011 |
Understanding the total business and how the positions you are recruiting for support the business is key to recruiting. Also, have a clear picture on how to deal with difficult management who wants to search for the "perfect" candidate. They keep saying oh that person is great but I want to see one more. Also, think of creative ways on how you will fill those difficult positions.
Good Luck to you! |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 5/31/2011 4:53 PM EDT
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Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Ida makes a good point, although I'm proof that you can go from a strictly recruiting role to a generalist management role (admittedly through a generalist manager role with a big recruting component to it).
But think carefully about going into recruiting. Unlike any other HR discipline, recruiting is not primarily about administering a process. It's a sales job, and it can be a difficult one at that. You're selling a candidate to the client (or internal customer), and you're selling the client/company to the candidate. Unlike a product sale, in which the product doesn't have a say in the decision, either party in recruiting can say no at any point and for often the most illogical of reasons. But I have found in my 31 year career in HR that the most effective HR generalists are the ones who've done some time in recruiting. |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 7/28/2011 6:06 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 7/28/2011 Last: 7/28/2011 |
In my experience most generalists make very poor recruiters. There's nothing in generalist's skillset that prepares them to be a recruiter. Recruiting is a sales and marketing role. Despite all the technology we have you have to be willing to pick up the phone and call a lot of people, often at odd hours, evenings, and weekends, knowing that most of those calls will produce nothing of value. For a recruiter process is important but it's not all important, unlike other HR activities. Creativity in sourcing is what sets a good recruiter apart from others. Finally, in recruiting is all about results. No one cares how well the process was followed or how hard you're working if you're not getting hires. Frankly, as a generalist it's difficult to fail because it's not clear what it means to succeed. |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 7/28/2011 7:14 AM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 11/21/2008 Last: 7/28/2011 |
I somewhat agree with Raghavs - Recruiting is a sales position. You have to know how to sell the company to the candidate and how to sell the candidate to the Manager. I'm not sure I agree with the statement that Generalist make terrible Recruiters. I've done the flip side and went from being a Recruiter for 8 years to a Generalist and I can tell you that I much prefer the Generalist role. You can get burned out as a Recruiter very quickly if your company has a lot of turnover. It becomes a vicious cycle of vacancy, recruit, fill and the job can become mundane but each person has their own niche' and maybe this is yours. Just know going in it's a lot of sales, dealing with disgruntle Managers who needed the position filled yesterday to only sit on candidates for a week or more and then you're back to the drawing board because you lost a good candidate. I wish you the best of luck. |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 7/28/2011 8:03 AM EDT
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Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
I agree with the essence of the 2 posts above. It's been my experience that if you give most generalists recruiting responsibilities, they pay the least attention to recruiting because it's not something they like or feel comfortable with. It is a sales job, and that's not what most people going into HR want to do.
But the flip side is true as well. I like recruiting but I don't necessarily like employee relations. I'll happily do cold calls to prospects before I'll sit down with a manager about an employee problem. |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 7/28/2011 3:28 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 7/28/2011 Last: 7/28/2011 |
I came from Business Partner Role (assuming that is what you refer to "Generalist") to Recruiting. The management values my experiences as Business Partner to work with different specialist groups to look at the HR activities from Business perspectives, not just from Specialist perspective, so that will strength the ties and the collaborations among the HR functions to deliver valuable services.
If you like "clear, visible, agreed objectives," I think the recruting role is the best position compared to other roles since we can set KPIs and quantative measuaments for what you do. In this mean, this role is like a "sales job." If you don't prefer this kind of drive, I don't think you will enjoy the recruiting role. Good luck! |
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Moving from Generalist to Recruiter
posted at 7/29/2011 8:59 AM EDT
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Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
All the above is true. What the defining characteristic of a true recruiter really is, though, is the "win" feeling you get from successfully sourcing, selling and signing the great candidate for that hard to fill position.
Just like a salesperson landing the big contract 'cept you don't get the big bucks commission. |
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