Another great article today from our Blog Carnival series by Helen Murdoch about being the best solo in-house recruiter.
Moving from a recruitment agency to an in-house role was the dream move for me. I was tired of the sales targets, rarely getting to meet my candidates and a general lack of job satisfaction. I now solely manage recruitment for a leading B2B media company. As many other solo recruiters out there know, it’s not an easy task being the only person responsible for talent acquisition so here’s my guide on how to make sure you provide the same service as a full recruitment team.
Own It
If the talent acquisition function rests on your shoulders then make it your own and be proud of the service you offer. It’s up to you to educate your colleagues who don’t have your specialist knowledge and to guide them through the recruitment lifecycle. Not sure if you should implement a new process? Worried that people won’t understand your point of view? Don’t’ be, you’re the specialist and the business have hired you for your advice.
Keep learning
It can be difficult when there’s no one with a similar skill set around you to bounce ideas off. To combat the trap of “doing what I’ve always done” I make sure that I’m subscribed to a load of recruitment blogs, I set aside time to research new recruitment tech and I attend networking events so my knowledge doesn’t get stale. This is the best way to make sure you’re keeping up with the ever changing talent landscape.
Accept that you can’t fix every problem
Imagine the scenario – there are 30 job opportunities open across your company, you’re also going to be out of the office for a day at a careers fair and you’re in back to back interviews another day. How are you going to cope and sort everything out? The simple answer is that you can’t fix everything at once. Prioritise as best as you can and manage the expectations of a hiring manager.
Plan, plan and plan again
Strategy is the key to being a successful solo recruiter. Think about your yearly goals for the recruitment function and what you want to achieve. What is the business planning to do? Is there a restructure happening anywhere that might lead to new roles or is there a new brand being launched and a whole new team to recruit? Be proactive, strategic and act as a business partner.
Sometimes being a solo recruiter can be overwhelming and you think about the luxury of having a team to work with. But on the flipside you own the process and you make the decisions about how talent is acquired for the business, own the process and make it the best experience for the business and the candidates as you can.
Helen Murdoch has 7 years experience in the recruitment industry, both agency and in-house. She believes in putting the candidate first and is always interested in finding out about new trends in the industry and is passionate about career guidance and advice.
Check out her blog Recruitment Matters UK – http://www.recruitmentmattersuk.com (which has recently started) and follow her on Twitter @Rec_MattersUK
