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/
