UNDERSTANDING THE JOB ORDER
If you are new to recruiting or recruiting for a new vertical, understanding a technical job order can be challenging. In many cases, a recruiter not understanding the aspects of a role will lead to them avoiding those types of positions altogether. This can severely limit your earning potential.
If you are new to recruiting or recruiting for a new vertical, understanding a technical job order can be challenging. In many cases, a recruiter not understanding the aspects of a role will lead to them avoiding those types of positions altogether. This can severely limit your earning potential. The best strategy to understanding a job order and job description is to understand the functionality of the role and why there is a need for the role. Below are additional ways to learn more about how you can be successful with understanding the job order.
Ask the Account Manager – In theory, the Account Manager should have a pretty good understanding of their job orders. If there is something that you don’t understand about a position you can always try and get clarification from the Account Manager. While the Account Manager probably will not have time to explain every aspect of the responsibility to you, they will be happy to give you a quick synopsis of the opportunity. Just remember, that it is not the Account Managers job to teach you every technical aspect of an industry. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to continue to self-teach to improve your overall knowledge base and your career.
Ask a Team Member – The members of your team hold a wealth of knowledge that they will be happy to share with you. If there is an aspect of a job that you are struggling to grasp, you have resources sitting all around you that can help. Just remember that like you, your team members all have metrics to hit too. While they may not have time to explain every detail to you, they can at least point you in the right direction.
Do Your Own Research – You have a world of information available at your fingertips, initially not knowing something should never stop you from recruiting on a role. If you are struggling to understand a certain aspect of a job, it is perfectly ok to take a few minutes, open up Google and do some research, just don’t spend too much time. A great way to lose half your day is to over research everything. If you cannot find your answers after a few minutes, do the best you can with what you do know, and take some time in the evening or over a weekend to self-study.
Ask the Candidate – You do not need to know everything about a role to still effectively recruit for it. Even the most experienced recruiter will revert to letting the candidate teach them what they don’t know. In this situation, once you have identified a candidate that you think matches the requirements of the role, just call them. Once you get them on the phone, read the job description to them, and then admit that you don’t fully understand X,Y,Z and ask them if they can explain it to you. In addition to learning something new, this strategy can be highly effective for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a great screening tool. Odds are if a candidate is unable to explain an aspect of the job they are probably not qualified. Second, most people enjoy sharing their knowledge. Provided that you caught the candidate at a good time, asking them to explain something to you is a great way to put the candidate at ease and get them talking.