Employers are looking for the best of the best when they review candidates for their open recruiting positions. After all, these are the people who will be responsible for bringing other people into their company. So, the bar is naturally set very high – and with good reason.
As you craft or update your resume, be sure to clearly articulate the unique value you would add as a recruiter, and position yourself to stand out among the competition. This means including the right balance of hard and soft skills. While the former can be learned on the job, the latter is more inherent. But the good news is, both can – and should – be developed throughout your career.
A Skills Checklist
Hard skills tied directly to recruiting include talent acquisition techniques, candidate screening and assessment, Knowledge of employment laws and practices, and depending on the position, specificity in a particular industry, function, or roles, such as healthcare, law, manufacturing, or executive recruitment.
Soft skills are generally more transferable from job to job. When working in recruiting, you strengthen your resume by focusing on:
Relationship building
Whether it is with a Hiring Manager or Candidate, relationship building is a key factor in having a fine-tuned recruiting department. Because relationship building is so important, it is ideal for recruiters to showcase their abilities to build effective relationships with people at all levels. However, documenting soft skills can become tricky; you may be proficient at building relationships, but that does not always translate on paper. We recommend using the STAR Method when writing a bullet on relationship building. Explaining the Situation, the Task, the Action, and the Result could give the hiring manager a general idea of how you deal with specific situations.
For example: Took on 25 aging requisitions, after analyzing previous tactics and refocusing via an updated approach, collaborated with the hiring manager and was able to find 25 solid candidates in a 3-day window, 20 were interviewed, and 5 were hired.
Verbal and written communication
In most cases, your first introduction to a hiring manager is through your resume. Your resume must be formatted correctly, and the content of the resume is a close match to the position you are applying for (i.e., if you have done what they are looking for, make sure that is highlighted on your resume). Always use spell check and ensure that the font and size are consistent throughout the resume. Having a properly formatted resume gives the hiring manager a glimpse of your written skills. Utilizing text boxes, margin notes, headers, footers, and stylistic formatting is discouraged. Most applicant tracking systems cannot recognize this formatting, and your once-neat resume will become reformatted beyond recognition by the time the Hiring Manager sees it. Maintain a plain text, neatly formatted Word version of your resume to apply with.
Key Achievements
Metrics are one of the best ways for managers to measure your productivity, as well as your ability to balance your workload. It is important to show potential employers how you were measured against the standard that your previous/current employer set for you. You should include your expected metrics compared to your actual metrics, how you stacked up (your ranking) with the rest of your team, number of placements per month, number of total requisitions (an average or a high/low range), and what your overall impact was to your team. This information will allow Hiring Managers to understand not only your ability to produce, but “how much” you can successfully handle on your plate at once, and how well you may fit in as a member of their team. It is important to note that metrics vary by your focus. For example, do not be shy about noting lower hiring goals and numbers if you were aligned with Executive Recruiting.
Sourcing Strategies
Hiring managers are typically aware of the usual Sourcing tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter and free Job Boards. We suggest that you include other, less common methods that you use to source candidates. Some examples could be using referrals, boolean searches, chrome or browser extensions, coding competitions, scraping attendee lists, industry groups, alumni groups, and other Social Media platforms to include YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.
Knowledge of Specific Job Titles and Skills
It is imperative to show a hiring manager what your industry experience is, especially if the position has a niche focus. While “technical recruiting” covers a wide variety of verticals, including the types of roles that you have experience recruiting for such as Machine Learning, Software Development Engineers, IT Infrastructure, Gaming, or Application Development could give them a better understanding on what your focus has been.
Networking
We recommend that you include a link to your LinkedIn profile on your resume. Whether you choose to include a link to your profile or not, your employment on your LinkedIn profile must match your resume. Hiring managers interested in your resume do look, and discrepancies are a flag. In addition, part of your appeal as a Recruiter is the network that you have built for yourself. Work towards showing that you have a robust network by building up your connections, specifically those that are relevant to your expertise. It helps to demonstrate that you have the potential to use your networking skills to perform at the highest level.
Work with Search Wizards
At Search Wizards, we specialize in finding and developing rock stars among current and prospective talent acquisition professionals. We are recruiters ourselves, and we’re passionate about helping other recruiters achieve their career dreams. Read our related posts or give us a shout today so that we can tell you more.
