Becoming a Successful IT Recruiter

 The trouble with recruiters is that the pool is quickly becoming diluted. We are now in a situation where the market is so vulnerable, as far as employment is concerned, that job seekers are oblivious to the fact that the IT recruiter that they are dealing with isn’t even an industry professional and may not have worked in the sector before.

What needs to happen is a trend back toward IT recruiters who are interested in educating themselves and quickly making themselves into the tech experts that are needed in order to be able to match the right talent with the right job.

Several things are required in order to succeed in an IT recruitment job, including either a post-secondary education in business management, human resources or even communications.  A combination of adequate experience in the field can also be considered a huge asset. Preference is given to those who have a background in IT, as they are more likely to have a better idea of what to look for.

Phenomenal recruiters, such as those that swim in the top 5 percent, have impeccable business ethics, corporate level relationships (CEOs) and will be able to assist their clients with interview prep.  Preparation for the all important interview will generally consist of coaching, mostly in order to ensure that when the candidate poses questions to the client, such as why the position is available and if the company is currently facing any difficulties, they can be answered correctly.

A solid IT recruiter will be direct with potential candidates and not beat around the bush.  What they want is to help you get your foot in the door and land you a fantastic offer that you can’t refuse. If a recruiter is really only interested in filling a void, you’ve got the wrong one.

Potentially the best way for an IT recruiter to stay afloat in the industry is to continue to make connections with other outstanding recruiters and keep networking.  Nowhere is networking more important than in IT and recruitment is no different.

Even with the downturn in the market, the IT field is growing at a rate of speed that no one could have assumed it would.  This makes the competition for the highly coveted IT jobs more fierce than ever, and if you’re going to make sure that you are meeting the needs of your client as well as your candidate, then you need to schmooze and educate yourself as if it were your full-time job.

Make new connections on LinkedIn and join IT events in your area for your best probability of success. In order to succeed in an IT recruitment job, you need to have a good handle on the field as a whole, which can include programming lingo, familiarity with platforms like OSX and Windows, as well as other information that is pertinent to your industry.

Recruiters are not salesmen and should not treat their clients as if they need to be sold. Stick to a positive, healthy work ethic, good deductive reasoning skills, and established relationships with industry leaders in order to succeed.