what is a recruiter?

A recruiter is a person who works in or with an organisation to identify the ideal candidates for hire. Part of your role involves determining the organisation's needs and establishing what traits will best meet those needs. A recruiter's role is often considered an HR role but is closer to sales in operation. However, a background in HR is often required.

Establishing the organisation's needs and finding the candidates to meet those needs is only part of the puzzle. Once your criteria are determined, you put your people skills and technical know-how to use in finding the right people for the job and convincing them to come and work for your organisation.

You use your excellent people skills in all areas of your job, from working with your colleagues to recruiting promising candidates. You are also fully competent in the different methods of finding candidates, such as social media. Depending on the organisation's size, you may also be responsible for designing and implementing an overall recruitment strategy from which other recruiters will work.

Would work as a recruiter suit your personable nature and ability to see potential in others? If you think this career might be for you, keep reading to find out what qualifications and competencies you need to get into this field.

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average salary of a recruiter

According to Payscale, the average salary for a recruiter in India is around ₹307,000 per year. The average is closer to the lower end of the scale, with entry-level positions earning around ₹219,000 per year and the highest-paid recruiters earning ₹880,000. These amounts may include bonuses, commissions, and profit-sharing agreements, but your basic salary comprises the majority.

factors that affect recruiter's pay

The most significant factor in how much you earn as a recruiter is your experience. As mentioned above, the difference in pay between a recruiter with less than a year's experience and one with over ten years of experience can be as much as ₹660,000 per year. Qualifications are also important, though they make a bigger difference when first getting into the profession. Once you have recruiting experience under your belt, the amount of experience starts to take over as the most significant factor.

The region your employer is based in can also make a difference. Recruiters are not exclusive to any industry but are more prevalent in tech-based businesses, which are often located in big cities. That means higher-paying recruiter jobs tend to be located in big cities.

 

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types of recruiter

The role of a recruiter is essentially the same regardless of the type of company you work for. However, different types of recruiters are largely determined by how they are employed. Below are some of the most common types of recruiters:

  • internal/in-house recruiter: as the name suggests, an internal or in-house recruiter is a recruiter that works full-time for one organisation. In this role, you can build strong relationships with the departments you recruit for, as you will be working with them for the duration of your time there. You are paid a salary and benefits like any other full-time employee.
  • retained recruiter: as a retained recruiter, you work full-time recruiting for an organisation that provides recruiting services, but you are not an employee of the hiring company and, as a result, are not paid a salary. Instead, you are paid a fixed fee for your services and the agreed remainder once a candidate has been successfully hired.
  • outplacement recruiter: outplacement providers offer job-seeking help for employees facing unemployment. In these cases, a company that is letting go of some of its workforce may engage an outplacement provider to help those displaced employees find new jobs.
  • staffing agency recruiter: as a staffing agency recruiter, you find temporary staff for an organisation. The staff hired in this situation are paid by the staffing agency, and the company they are staffing compensates the agency. Organisations use this type of recruitment for various reasons, such as temporarily increasing capacity for a large project.
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working as a recruiter

Recruiters determine the skills and traits needed to meet a company's needs and then use the tools and resources available to them to find suitable candidates. Fulfilling this duty involves several smaller responsibilities that can be clearly defined. Below are some of those responsibilities.

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education and skills

The following educational qualifications will help you get started as a recruiter: 

  • degree: a bachelor's degree should be considered necessary to move into a career as a recruiter. Human resource management, marketing and business courses are all relevant to the role. However, a master's degree may help to set you apart from other recruiters when getting started. 
  • postgraduate qualifications: a postgraduate degree will increase your potential starting salary. Your employer may also be looking for someone with appropriate certifications in areas like human resource management or hiring and onboarding. Some employers may also offer to put you through such certifications during your employment.

skills and competencies

Some of the qualities of a recruiter include:

  • communication skills: as with many HR roles, being a recruiter involves dealing with people regularly, from your colleagues to potential candidates. Excellent communication skills are necessary to ensure this aspect of the job goes smoothly.
  • salesmanship: while technically a human resource role, recruitment has much in common with sales. You use your skills as a salesperson to sell the roles you are trying to fill to suitable candidates.
  • computer skills: much of your work as a recruiter is done on a computer, such as writing job descriptions, using social media, screening job applications, and more. Competency with computers and various common office applications is essential for this aspect of your job.
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FAQs about working as a recruiter

FAQs about working as an recruiter:

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