Category: HR Story

Working in the recruiting industry isn’t a typical career path that most professionals initially decide to take. Many recruiters, like myself, fall into recruiting after starting their career in a much different field all together. In a LinkedIn study conducted it showed that out of 100,000 recruiters, the most common degrees were Psychology, Business, Marketing, Human Resources, and sociology (Talent IQ, n.d.).

And my story of how I got into recruitment goes just like that…

In May of 2018, I graduated from my Alma mater with a Bachelor of Science; specializing in Human Services/Addictions and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. I’ve always had a passion to help and care for children and young adults when they seek guidance in their times of need. So, after graduating, I started my career as an Outpatient Case Manager working primarily with children and young adults from the ages of 5-18 years old. However, after many ups and downs and emotional/mental stress, I ultimately decided to leave the mental health field all together to venture into something else. And that is where my journey into recruiting began.

So, you may ask, how do I get into recruiting with little to no experience? I have four tips that will help you get there!

1. LinkedIn is Your Best Friend

Having a strong LinkedIn profile to showcase yourself and your strengths is a great starting point. Whether you may have a lot of experience in recruiting or not, having a strong LinkedIn presence is a great way for other recruiters to find you. Being able to follow and connect with other fellow recruiters is also important by letting them see that you’re eager to learn.

2. Transferable Skills & Why are They Important?

If you really think about it, recruiting at its core is sales. Recruiting is all about selling an employer’s brand to candidates and in return selling your candidates skills/experience to the employers. Which is essentially like matchmaking. Having individuals that come to recruitment from other careers can be exceptionally talented at recruiting. So, whether you’re in software development, customer service, or sales, you will likely have some transferable skills related to recruitment (Talent IQ, n.d).

3. Network and More Network

Networking is one of the most important things when wanting to pivot career fields. But the key to networking is not asking your connections for a job, but to learn more about the industry through their eyes. Learning and networking with both agency/corporate recruiters and sourcers is super important as they will be able to share a lot of different viewpoints and knowledge. This way you can also be on their radar for the next time they’re searching for a new recruiter to add to their team.

4. Agency or Corporate Recruiting, Which One is Best for You?

When it comes to recruiting, there are many different avenues that one can start in. Agency or Corporate recruiting environments are both similar in ways, but there are also extreme differences between the two. In my personal experience, I have only known the agency life, starting my recruiting career in temp-staffing then transitioning into recruiting for tech related full-time roles. Knowing the differences between agency and corporate recruiting is important to determine which path is best for you (Talent IQ, n.d.).

Being in recruitment can have its difficulties, but it also comes with many perks – knowing that you are helping so many people reach those personal career goals is one of my favorite parts of being a recruiter!

If you want to learn more about this topic, you can click on this link! How to Get Into Recruitment With No Experience — HR Talent IQ 

Also, if you enjoyed this blog, then you might like another blog that we have talking about Sourcing and what that entails!  https://www.recruitingexperiences.com/talent-sourcer-or-junior-recruiter/

 

As I progressed through my academic career, I felt a bit lost. I didn’t really have a solid understanding of what I wanted to do or achieve. Let’s face it, it’s not easy deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life in the span of 4 years. I changed my major a few times and graduated with a degree in Health Sciences. I just recently started a full-time career in recruiting, and I love it. How? Believe it or not, a good number of individuals who end up in recruiting, never planned to get into recruiting at all. You’ll see a lot of recruiting professionals who ended up in recruiting, but didn’t necessarily plan for it. Is the degree necessary?

I can’t sit here and say that attending college didn’t teach me anything. Actually, it taught me a lot and I refuse to believe those four years spent in college were pointless. However, I will say that getting a degree is not necessary if you have any interest in getting into recruiting and HR. So, let’s break it down.

Here is a list of some of the most important characteristics of a Recruiting/HR professional:

Organization is extremely important – Get organized! Follow a schedule, use a calendar, color code, do whatever you feel is necessary to keep organized. There are endless ways to organize, and it will only be effective if you do something that you can stick with.

Communication is huge in this profession. Whether you’re collaborating with your team or communicating with candidates, communication is something you will do daily, so don’t slack on this one!

Problem Solving will definitely come in handy. You will see a lot of tasks that don’t play out the way that you had planned, or you may work in an environment that is quite ambiguous. So, being able to work through an issue is essential.

Kindness is HUGE, but this one should hopefully be an easy one!

Empathy and being an active listener while validating others’ feelings is crucial! Having an understanding that we are only human and being able to build relationships with others will get you far in this profession.

Confidence – I will be honest, it can be a bit scary sometimes, but having confidence will get you far. Believing in yourself, your team, and your ability to do big things will play a huge part in your growth.

One commonality between all these characteristics is that you can do all of them. You don’t need a degree to teach you how to practice or perform these skills. All you need is the determination. Now you might be reading this and think, “that seems a bit easier said than done”, which I’ll admit, that isn’t necessarily false, but that is where the determination comes into play. One of the many things I have learned while stepping into the HR profession is that utilizing the basic skills that you currently have can be applied in so many ways, which will then allow you to grow.

If you enjoyed this blog, you will probably like another blog that we have about how one of our Recruiters got into recruiting! https://www.recruitingexperiences.com/my-successful-career-shift-from-server-to-professional-recruiter/