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10 key recruiter skills no-one mentions.
There is much banter and some hysteria about how ‘Generative AI‘ will change recruitment, and it’s true, it will.
Unfortunately, that loud noise drowns out the equally important conversation of how current and emerging recruiter skills that have nothing to do with technology are soaring in importance.
This blog will be worth reading again in three years, where it will be described either as spookily prescient or as a proven load of hogwash.
Let’s see.
But for now, these are the skills I believe recruiters need to have innately – or must develop, refine, and master. And the march of AI only makes them more crucial because the tech will absorb all the routine hackwork and a lot of the planning, preparation, screening and writing work that recruiters currently do.
These skills will become absolutely core because humans will still want to deal with humans when the interaction requires nuance, advice, or insights, that AI (currently) lacks.
Not everyone agrees, but I am increasingly convinced of it every day.
1: Empathy.
I have never seen the word in a recruiter’s job description, but it is crucial. Real empathy. Which is little to do with sympathy, by the way. I mean ‘seeing things from the other’s point of view‘. Feeling their pain, if you like. Especially candidates. And even that won’t be enough. What is required is ‘empathy with action‘—doing something to make the stakeholders’ interaction and journey to the required outcome more satisfying and less frustrating. This alone will put you in a small minority of agency recruiters. But what leverage it will give you!
2: Grit.
Resilience, if you prefer. It has always been crucial but now needs to be refined, honed, and defined how I explain it here. ‘Bouncebackability’ is the cornerstone for true resilience because it affects the other stakeholder’s experience, which is the value of a tenacious mindset.
3: Interpersonal influencing skills.
It amazes me how many people in our profession and life generally do not get how all-powerful this is. We hardly believe a single thing online. We know it’s mostly ‘fake’ or ‘spin’ or a scam. We recognise a “BS er’ in real life almost at once. ‘Interpersonal influencing skills’ in the context of recruitment means managing the ‘moments of truth‘ in recruitment to create outcomes for the greater good. It requires credibility and trust, and authenticity. It requires stature in the minds of clients and candidates to really be an advisor. Which is hard to build and harder to utilise in the way I describe. But great recruiters do this every day, most of the day. I do it for a living, just quietly. It took me 40 years to master, and I am not very good now. When AI can talk a candidate through a counteroffer and create the right outcome for all parties, then recruiters might be in trouble. That is not happening any time soon, no matter what you read about AI.
4: Advanced listening skills.
Skilled questioning. Not being too quick to jump in. Peeling the onion and understanding the real issues at play. Understanding that selling is listening and influencing (see above) is selling in the very best, most positive use of that word.
![Recruit The Savage Way by Greg Savage](https://www.gregsavage.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Recruit-The-SavageWay-199x300.png)
Recruit. The Savage Way. My new book. Here.
5: Authentic writing skills.
Imagine it because it will soon be upon you. AI will write every blog, LinkedIn update or newsletter you ever get. Because it is easy and looks pretty damn good to the (fake) author. You will know it is AI generated almost immediately, creating a sea of bland, insincere marketing drivel. It will be like a snake eating its tail. The same topics are being churned out and summarised from the same source of other people’s ideas. How can it be otherwise? They call it ‘Generative AI’, but you understand it cannot generate one single original thought or opinion, don’t you? It couldn’t write this blog that I have because it lacks the insight. It might be able to summarise my blog in time, but that’s still MY blog, my ideas. And by the time AI summarises my thoughts, I will have fresh ideas, based on new insights. And you need to have ideas, opinions and points of view and be able to express them. People will value your insights based on your experience and views written articulately and sincerely. Trust me. Think about this. Many of you read my blogs regularly. Thousands of people each week. I am grateful for that. I am not being smug. It’s a fact, and I need to mention it to make this key point. Would you read them if you knew a machine wrote them? Regurgitated from the morass of data on the internet? Or do you value the authors’ insights and point of view? Me, in this case, but many others, smarter and more articulate?
6: Advice and insights
The experience, credibility, authenticity, and gravitas to advise, consult, and point the way. As articulated in the point above and in more detail here
7: Coachability
A critical competency that has little to do with IQ or EQ. It is about realising you can improve and wanting to ensure that happens. It’s a heady brew of attitude, listening skills, courage, and determination, and I greatly value it in a good recruiter. How could you not be coachable – and last in a rapidly evolving work landscape?
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‘The Savage Truth‘. My first book. Over 10,000 copies sold
8: Initiative and proactivity
Follow processes that are proven to work but be smart enough to know when something different is needed. Break no ‘rules’, but focus on the outcome always.
9: Phone manner and etiquette.
Ever tried to get help on the phone from Qantas? Or your insurance company? If you ever get to speak to someone, that is. Finding a smart, capable, articulate person with the knowledge to ask the right questions and solve your problem is as beautiful as it is uplifting. The phone is not going away in recruitment. Or at least, the recruiters who thrive will continue to use it.
10: Humility
Or, at the very least, the opposite of ‘hubris‘. So many good recruiters allow their success to go to their heads and become FIGJAMS (Fuck, I’m good! Just ask me!). Remember, you are ‘good‘ because of your effort, sure, but also because of opportunity, training, support, resources, your team, and much more. We need recruiters who focus less on how ‘good’ they think they are and more on how much better they can be. And stakeholders can feel that!
There you have it. Ten recruiter skills that don’t get much airplay because “it is all about AI and tech”.
Except it is most definitely NOT all about AI and tech.
It’s a marriage of tech and human skills. And it will be for a long time to come.
Master the tech, for sure. You must.
But master these so-called ‘soft’ skills too. Your recruiting life depends on it.
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- Posted by Greg Savage
- On June 13, 2023
- 6 Comments
6 Comments