What Species of Recruiter Are You?

I must have interviewed around 200 recruitment professionals over my career. I am also guessing that I have had 50+ recruiter direct reports over these years. These numbers seem exaggerated for sure, but maybe not considering that most of my career has been spent in large corporations building and managing large insourced recruitment teams. A good chunk of my time over the last year has been spent interviewing and evaluating recruiters, only logical given that Granite Consulting is in the business of recruiting recruitment professionals for their clients. I like to think that I have learned a thing or two about recruiters, and am as qualified as any to make some generalized comments about the types of recruiters I come across.

This is meant to be a humourous look at some of the recruiter stereotypes out there, don’t take me too seriously. I have worked with some high performing recruiters over the years, and can speak personally to some of the amazing talent that makes our chosen profession shine bright in the corporate ranks.

1. The I Want-To-Be In-HR Recruiter (HRr’Bust-Recruitus)

This recruiter is merely on a stop over on their way to long and happy career as an HR Generalist. Recruitment was a way in the door, so what the heck! The HR want-to-be recruiter is never really that interested in the recruitment side of HR, and spends most of their time tolling internal postings and job boards for their dream HR opportunity. Usually lasts under a year in recruitment, the unlucky ones are unable to make the transition easily and get trapped here for as long as they can take it.

2. The Counterfeit Contractor (Fak’us-Recruitus)

Most of us recruitment lifers will come across the counterfeit contractor sooner or later. He or she usually comes with a stacked resume, having recruited for some of the best companies out there. The counterfeit contractor usually makes double what everyone else makes, and works about half the hours. They talk a huge game and sound great in meetings, unfortunately they don’t always fill any jobs. They usually last about 6 months per employer, just long enough for the boss to figure out that they are an expensive waste of time. No worries, the counterfeit contractor never seems to have trouble finding their next gig!

3. The Job Board Genius (Harvest’us-Recruitus)

This recruiter has no idea how to actually proactively seek out talent. They get a new requisition, post it via a slick ATS to a few job boards, then wait and see what comes in. No thought is ever given to a sourcing strategy. Workopolis will solve all of our problems! More of a farmer than a hunter, loves the expression “post n’ pray”.

4. The Headhunter (Makin’mo’Money-Recruitus)

Usually the headhunter will make an Agency their home, but some headhunters can be found on the corporate side as well. This is a recruiter who actually likes to sell. The headhunter owns a Porche, but will take the Toyota to client meetings in an attempt to hide just how much money the make. The headhunter has no issue with asking for the business or making cold calls, and they know how to close a deal or candidate. The headhunter can usually be found at fancy restaurants downtown over lunch schmoozing with the Agency Amigo.

5. The Agency Amigo (Freelunchn’Golf-Recruitus)

The Agency Amigo’s best friends are the agencies they support and vendor manage. They are experts in handing requirements off to and managing vendors, but not so good at actually doing the work themselves. The agency amigo usually comes to new job with their trusted vendor partners, and sets them loose on all the tough to fill mandates. The Agency Amigo can frequently be found getting wined and dined by the headhunter types in fine restaurants around town. You can also spot them getting a Thursday or Friday afternoon round of golf in during the summer months.

6. The Trekkie Recruiter (Nerd’icus-Recruitus)

Otherwise known as the web 2.0 recruiter. The Trekkie swears that all great talent comes from the internet; Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Second Life. If the candidate’s not a heavy internet user, they simply just don’t exist. The Trekkie usually struggles with real life candidate interaction, and prefers to interview candidates in a web chatroom or through instant messenger. The Trekkie loves to role play, surf the net, go to Star Wars conventions, and play video games in their spare time.