It is tough times for locked-down recruiters across Australia and NZ.

Plenty of recruiters across the world are burned and bruised by the past 18 months.

STAY STRONG!

Truthfully, I almost wish I was a 25-year-old recruiter again, right now, because our medium-term future had never been brighter (I said ‘almost’)

You must see through the curtain of covid-shit and realise that you are in an excellent job.

I love being in recruitment.

Seriously, I think it’s the best job in the world.

Yet 80% of people who enter this industry fail in the first two years, leave, and are never sighted again.

And it’s true; it is tough being a recruiter. And I believe in the modern era, it’s getting even more challenging. During the downturn, it got even worse. We all worked harder and harder and earned less and less.

But the tide is turning. Skills shortages mean we have never been more relevant. Clients and candidates alike are sick and tired of the transactional recruiting model and want to engage again with professional, credible advisors. Hiring will surge across the world as we recover. The labour market is fragmented, and people are seeking change, and we will be there to facilitate.

If you can master the influencing skills of a great recruiter, this job will be intensely satisfying and rewarding in years to come.

I know many are having doubts. I know plenty of recruiters are feeling slammed. I speak to them every day.

But the wheel is turning. Mark my words.

It won’t be easy. But tell me anything genuinely worthwhile, that is.

But it will be worth it!

Here’s why:

• Recruiting is a win/win/win. Unlike most commercial transactions, recruiting is not a win/lose scenario. If I sell you a car I aim for the highest price, you push for the lowest. One of us will feel we ‘won’, the other a bit despondent that we ‘lost’.  But in the perfect recruitment scenario everybody wins. Happy client, happy candidate, happy you. This is not as trivial as it seems. There is something intensely rewarding about doing a job where everyone is grateful, everyone is excited with the outcome… and then you get paid as well.

• You create great outcomes. Maybe the coolest thing about being a recruiter is that this is a job where you actually make good things happen. The candidate is reluctant to go on an interview, but through your influencing skills they reluctantly go along, do fantastically well, love the job, and get hired! The client won’t see your top talent because of something they spotted in the resume, but you persist, explaining the person is better than the paper, the client relents and your talent gets the job, gets promoted and in time becomes your client!  For me, when I recruited, this was the real buzz. Making things happen. Controlling the process. I would crack open a beer on Friday and reflect. That would NOT have happened if I had not seen the opportunity and influenced the outcome. Beyond cool.

• And of course that leads us to another reason why recruiting rocks. What we do actually matters. I mean it really matters. Recruiters get a horrific rap sometimes, and often it’s deserved but hey, at the end of the day, we find people jobs! And that’s a good thing right? Something to be proud of. It makes an impact. We change people’s lives. We solve companies staffing issues. We help people further their career ambitions. Fantastic!

• One of the beautiful things about our business is that it is so measurable. This does not suit everybody I know, but in recruiting there is nowhere to hide, and I like that. If you have the right temperament, you will thrive in this competitive environment, love the fact that you can measure yourself against your competitors and colleagues, and revel in the transparency of fee-tables and pay-by-results. Truly in our business, you eat what you kill.

• You can own your market. If you have longevity, if you maintain integrity, if you deliver service and outcomes that your customers want… you can elevate yourself to a true trusted advisor, and then recruitment becomes a beautiful, beautiful thing.  All your work is exclusive, all your candidates come via referrals and commendations, clients treat you with respect, seek your advice, bring you into the tent . You actually ‘own’ your patch and that is a wonderful place to be!

Yes, it’s true. Recruiting Rocks. When it all boils down, what all of us want from a great job is just two things. Fun & Money. And if you’re a great recruiter you’ll get lots of both. The fun of winning, the fun of finding people jobs, the fun of working in a job that actually counts. And money? I don’t mean how much you earn, although of course that is important. I mean working in a job where you get a great return on your efforts. That is where it is at!

So if you are having a down day. Never forget. Fun and money.

Recruitment rocks!

For regular recruiting brain food, please subscribe to The Savage Recruitment Academy.