You've decided you want to be a Recruiter and now you must begin. Where do you start? In this article 'Recruiter' is defined as a contingency fee or full cycle Recruiter. Also known as Head Hunters, contingency fee Recruiters are paid when their candidate is hired by one of their employer clients.
Here are 5 tips to help you become a successful Recruiter quickly.

For nine years Jeff worked for company G as an engineer. Flying airplanes was his first love. His job came in a close second place. That changed when Jeff met Judy. Their relationship quickly turned serious and they married.

When Jeff and Judy sat down to do financial planning as a couple, Judy learned Jeff's salary was surprisingly low. With a human resource background, Judy knew the salary range for Jeff's type of work, and what his credentials were worth.

What do Great Recruiters do to make them so 'Great'? I'll start with my definition of 'Great' as it relates to recruiting. Great Recruiters, in my opinion, always: 1. Make placements efficiently and quickly using sound, proven, ethical methods. 2. Manage their time by focusing first on the activities that propel the candidate toward the job offer/acceptance.

Full cycle recruiting means a Recruiter knows how to obtain a search (ie; find a job order and evaluate the parameters of that job order), negotiate the fee, find an ideal candidate, manage the interview, offer, and acceptance process, close the deal, and get paid within 10 days after the candidate starts. Today there are thousands of people in the business world calling themselves Recruiters who, ironically, don't know the fundamentals of recruiting!

If a person wants to work as a Recruiter, in my opinion, the first thing they should do is get some training related to the recruiting process.

If you're becoming a Recruiter what qualities do you need to succeed?

What's needed is a consistent work ethic, (4 - 6 hours a day is great) the ability to follow a method, a professional demeanor, honesty, integrity, and enthusiasm. A recruiter should do a lot of listening to be effective vs. a lot of talking. They'll need to become an expert in asking questions as well.

There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to source for candidates. Often sourcing comes down to your budget and your personality. There are many helpful, industry specific websites. Independent contractor websites, networking websites, and topic specific chat rooms, are starting points. I always consider ROI and that includes my investment of time.

I know companies who spend wisely on traditional media print ads and utilize every scrap of information that's generated from those ads.

Lots of people toy with the idea of becoming a Recruiter, and then talk themselves out of taking the leap. Recruiting is about 'process' not personality when done properly. If you're considering becoming an Executive Recruiter, my advice is get some basic training related to the WHOLE process and decide where (and if) you'd fit into that process.

I prefer to discuss my contingency fee for delivering a great candidate when I've located the Decision Maker and am about two-thirds of the way through completing a job order form. My client has done 90% of the talking up until this point and provided the exact information I need before deciding what my fee will be for this search.

While my client has been talking I've been listening closely and taking notes.

These three common recruiting mistakes take big money out of the pockets of Recruiters. These common mistakes
slow down a Recruiter's productivity. Mistake #3 takes control out of a Recruiters' hands.

Mistakes:
#1. Recruiters who depend on Job Boards as their primary source to find candidates are losing out big-time.

#2. Recruiters who focus on finding the 'perfect resume' in their system are wasting valuable time.

Recruiting is a wonderful profession. If you have common sense and a desire to do what is right for the candidate and your client you will find recruiting to be rewarding emotionally, intellectually, and financially. Most importantly you can control your schedule and live a balanced life.

Contingency fee Recruiters (Head Hunters) work on commission.