I Was Born To Be A Matchmaker, I Mean A Recruiter…

We got in touch with a recruiter from Wales named Paula who told us how she always knew it from the beginning that matchmaking (or, recruitment) was her only forte.

When our team at Recruit CRM first asked Paula (staffing agency undisclosed), why are you exactly trying to compare recruiting with matchmaking? She answered — “Here’s something I guess every recruiter must know, we’re all matchmakers! You have to match a candidate with the position in such a way that you make both the parties happy — the applicants and your clients. If you fail to do this, then you’re not really fulfilling the job, right?

Just like matchmaking, you’re sealing two arrangements at the same time. Due to any specific reason, if the candidate doesn’t make it to your client’s company, you still will be needing him/her. So it’s essential with equal grace, dignity and intelligence you provide valuable feedback and a smooth candidate experience to retain them in your candidate pool. I am specifically a person who is a big fan of hanging out and making great friends out of strangers, so I knew it absolutely from the beginning how I was carved for this role.”

3 Underrated Skills That Every Recruiter Must Have (And Something Paula Definitely Had)

We asked her to provide our readers and recruiters with any 3 crucial skills that she thinks is significant for anyone doing this matchmaking. So, here it goes —

1. Great Leadership Skills

Leadership is one term which you find relevant in all corporate sectors. It’s usually right. It applies everywhere, especially in the staffing sector where you’ll need to supervise people. Again, bringing in an instance of matchmaking, you’re the senior matchmaker of a marriage bureau and your job is to make sure that everyone coming to your bureau leaves with a perfect match. This can be challenging at times but here’s where effective leadership comes into play. If a recruiter is a good leader, he/she will be able to drive more candidates and fill open job roles faster.

2. A Quick Thinking Ability

There’s a lot that a recruiter needs to deal with on a day-to-day basis. This includes setting up interviews with prospective applicants, meetings with colleagues, hiring managers, sourcing candidates and so on. But do you really have what it takes? Among all the other essential skills, the ability to come to a quick decision is highly sought after in good recruiters.

3. A Great Financial Motivation

There it goes! Paula told us how a successful recruiter can’t exist if they are not even partly motivated by the pay they’re currently receiving. The job of a recruiter is lucrative and nowadays every single person wants the benefits associated with a high paying job. She said, “We are matchmakers in literal terms…And I can say this a thousand times. We work with people every single day and understand what it takes to match a top applicant with a respected client. The work, at times, can be really challenging so it’s important the financial reward received at the end is engaging enough.”

What do you think are the other qualities a recruiter must have? Also, don’t forget to check out our article on 6 underrated qualities of a successful recruiter on our official blog.