You have to develop your own style and be an individual to stand out from the rest. Rather than following one path of advice, listen to many, and rather than trying to be someone else, be you. This will ultimately be the reason why your customers will use you. Take what ideas you find useful and dispose of or ignore the rest. Some techniques will work for some people but not for others. Some people will be comfortable working in a way that others will not. Whatever you learn, find your own unique style.
So what makes a great recruiter? First and foremost, it is a sales profession. What does that mean to you? It means that you must have a good understanding of sales to be great.
It sounds like common sense, but I speak with far too many recruiters who have absolutely no sales background or training. They work in a sales profession and yet they couldn't close a door. If you have found your way into this profession and have had no sales training, then get some before you do anything else.
If you can't get on training courses, there are many books out there that will give you all the help you need in selling. Build your own library of books for ongoing reference. In other words, don't borrow them or go to the public library; invest in your own.
I can hear many of you now saying, "I haven't got time to read books," but let me say that if you are serious about doing well in this profession, read like crazy. If you are not prepared to invest your own time and money into yourself, then why should someone else?
If you read a whole book and get one good idea, it is worth reading. Don't look for a sales book specifically related to recruiting because you probably won't find too many. Any good sales book will help, regardless of sector or product because we are not in the recruiting profession; we are in the sales profession by way of recruiting.
Corporate recruiters are in the recruiting profession. The corporate recruiter provides a function to their employer, whereas the third-party recruiter provides a service to their customers. Rather than compete with each other, both the corporate and the third-party recruiter could benefit from understanding this difference.
To be a great external or third-party recruiter, it must be instinctive for you to handle objections positively. You must know how to use good open questions and when to use a closed question. You must know how and when to close with a variety of different closing techniques for both candidates and clients. Most important, you have to know how to listen. How else will you understand what your clients or candidates really need?
