Top 5 essential skills for a recruiter

Recruiters should embrace new skills to keep pace with the fast-changing workplace.

Recruiters have a crucial role to play in any organisation because they are responsible for getting the right talents that help in the growth of the organisation. The workplace scenario has seen a lot of changes in recent years. There is advancement in technology and companies are embracing it to stay relevant. Industries are moving towards automation, which is resulting in loss of jobs. More companies are now focused on adopting technological changes quickly to keep pace.

As a result, company executives are in the hunt for tech-savvy millennials for the workforce.  There is more focus and emphasis on talent analytics and artificial intelligence for recruitment of best candidates. It is therefore particularly important for recruiters to embrace new skills to keep pace with the fast-changing workplace.

Here are the five essential skills that make a great recruiter in today’s world –

Emotional Quotient (EQ)
EQ is a measurement of the emotional intelligence of a person. For overall development, EQ plays a more important role than the IQ. In today’s workplace, it is required that the recruiters are emotionally intelligent and stable, so that they can carry out their day-to-day tasks more efficiently. A high EQ is a basic requirement for leadership and negotiation skills. When a company adopts Artificial Intelligence (AI) the success of recruiters will depend on these skills.

Selling Skills
To be an effective recruiter, selling skills are also a must. Due to changes in almost all functions of business, there is a change in the job roles. An individual needs to possess extra skills to be hired for any given position. According to a survey done by consulting firm PwC, CEOs are having sleepless nights due to lack of skilled, relevant talent and high unemployment rate. This is only going to grow in the future. So, there will be a demand for recruiters having better selling skills.
 
Listening Skills
Listening is considered one of the crucial elements of communication skills. A recruiter is desired to be an excellent listener. An HR professional who has developed better listening skills can carefully listen to the client’s requirements and accordingly find a perfect candidate by asking the right questions. Today we have advanced technology like Machine learning which claims that its algorithm can find a suitable candidate. However, this technology cannot check the cultural compatibility and other non-technical aspects. Here, it’s the listening skill of the recruiter which comes into play to nail the right candidate.

Knowledge of data science
Unlike a few years ago, today a recruiter must have data crunching skills as companies are using analytics and software solutions for human resource management. Advanced analytics is in use everywhere, be it hiring, retaining, developing or managing of employees. Therefore, every recruiter needs to have data crunching skills to interoperate the data and find the suitable candidates. IoT is playing a big role in the hiring process. Many companies are adopting cloud solutions for their HRMS. So, it is required that a recruiter possesses data science skills to match up with automation and IoT in hiring.
 
Understanding of technology
A fine understanding of various technologies used in managing human capital is a prerequisite for any HR professional worth his salt. Here, knowledge refers to an in-depth knowledge of various software and hardware solutions which will enable them to recommend the best tool to do a job. Recruiters having a sound understanding of these tools can help the clients or companies in recommending when to use which tool and when to hire new employees.

Recruiters must also be familiar with social media and other digital technologies. Embracing these technologies will help them grow as brands and develop networks that help in growth.

The key to success is having a lifelong learning attitude and re-skilling. Modern recruiters must differentiate themselves by having these key skills and being updated with latest developments at the workplace. They can thrive and contribute to organizations only by embracing these developments.