The word "recruiter" has French origins and originally referred to military service. At that time, recruiters were responsible for recruiting soldiers into the army and received decent compensation for their work. Meanwhile, slave traders in Ancient Rome, who recruited slaves for sale, were called recruiters. A modern recruiter is a professional who specializes in searching for and selecting personnel for a company's staff. An IT recruiter is involved in selecting specialists for IT companies. They can work either in-house for the company itself or in an IT recruiter agency.
Let's acquaint ourselves with the tasks that an IT recruiter tackles in their daily work:
- Analyzing the client's (company's) workforce needs. By communicating with the company's management and managers, the recruiter must paint a specific portrait of the candidate they will be seeking for. It's also essential to define the set of skills and abilities that should be inherent in the future employee.
- The search process. This involves not only posting vacancies on specialized websites and platforms but also utilizing a variety of tools in the recruiter's arsenal for swift and high-quality candidate searches.
- Candidate selection, conducting interviews, and assessments. At this stage, it's crucial to identify the best candidates from those who passed the initial screening. Both professional qualities and the ability to work within a team are evaluated.
- Communication with candidates. Continuous communication is a vital part of a recruiter's job. It's necessary to maintain trusting relationships with candidates, provide feedback, offer necessary information about the hiring process, and remain supportive even after employment.
How Companies Choose Recruiters Who Shape Their Future
Additionally, it's interesting to explore how IT recruitment agency and companies themselves select recruiters for their teams. After all, it's crucial not to make mistakes and find the specialist who will subsequently find all the others. This contributes to the company's success in the long run.
To better understand a recruiter, it's important to ask them a series of questions during the interview that will help in making a decision. These could include the following:
- Tell us about the methods you use to find candidates. For a good recruiter, actively sourcing candidates is important rather than solely relying on responses to job postings.
- How do you distinguish between a good and a bad candidate? In reality, there are no bad candidates. There are only candidates who are suitable or not suitable for a specific position.
- What methods do you use to assess candidates? A recruiter may employ standardized evaluation methods or utilize their own individual approach.
- How do you typically reject a candidate? It's important to decline a candidate in a manner that preserves their trust in the company and maintains a friendly relationship. After all, the candidate may be needed in the future to fill another vacancy.
Also, inquire about how the recruiter develops their professional skills. Understanding what literature they read, what they watch, and what interests them will help determine if their interests and methods align with the needs of your company.