An agency recruiter is an individual who performs job recruitment tasks on behalf of a recruitment agency for filling jobs in any type of organization. Agency recruiters generally work in the human resources department of an organization or as independent agents working in agencies to whom companies outsource their hiring and training processes. An agency recruiter's responsibilities consist of interviewing, selecting and grooming appropriate candidates for a particular job profile. With the huge number of people moving from traditional business models to this form of recruiting methodology, the role of an agency recruiter in any industry is invaluable and essential to its overall success.
Job Responsibilities of an Agency Recruiter
Hiring new candidates for a firm or company is the chief job function of any agency recruiter. In order to carry out this function, they have to perform various tasks which are given below:
Skills Needed
An agency recruiter needs to possess a wide variety of skills in order to succeed in his job functions. While calling candidates in order to gain their interest in appearing for the interviews, they need to show good convincing skills and confidence in talking about the salient features of the organization and how it will help the candidates in achieving their career goals. While conducting the interview rounds, they should display good interpersonal and communication skills. They should have a distinct ability to be able to judge people on the basis of the questions answered as well as the way they carry themselves. Having good computing skills in programs such as MS Excel and Outlook in order to carry out various tasks such as sending and receiving mails and preparing reports is a must.
Educational Requirements
A bachelor's degree in business administration along with specialization in Human resources is generally the most sought after educational qualification for aspiring agency recruiters. Graduation degrees in similar fields such as sociology, industrial relations and economics may also be accepted depending upon other factors. Past work experience in the field of recruitment gives an edge over other applicants for the job.
Work Conditions
Agency recruiters mainly have an office based job where they carry out their daily work activities in a comfortable working environment. They may have to constantly move from one place to another while conducting interviews rounds and coordinating with executives of other departments. Those who mainly seek ideal prospective candidates in colleges and universities have to often travel long distances in order to perform these tasks. During certain periods where recruitment drives are in full flow, they have to work overtime or on weekends in order to compensate for the added amount of work. During normal periods, they work for around 40 hours in a week.
Career Advancement Options
Upon displaying good performance and dedication towards their work, agency recruiters may get promoted to higher level positions in the human resources department such as that of an HR executive or even a manager. Educational qualifications also play a major role in these advancement opportunities. Some of them may proceed to starting their own private recruiting agency due to the experience and various contacts gained while working as a recruiter.
Thus, an agency recruiter's responsibilities consist of interviewing candidates for a job position and recruiting them on the basis of their performance during the interview rounds.