Hello there!
I woke up today to 100+ messages with people looking to transition into tech, work remotely, and start a career as a recruiter, which is why I am writing to you today.
So before you continue reading this, if you’re only here for general career tips and updates on my standup comedy shows, please reply back and I’ll make sure I get you off of this newsletter for the next 30 days as that’s all we’re going to be talking about for the next month over here on The Daily D -- which is the name of my newsletter and upcoming podcast now :)
Today’s letter is about some of the FAQs I received on Facebook yesterday after sharing how I transitioned into recruiting and made $125,000 my first year without a college degree.
Buckle up, because this email is longer than any other email that I’ve sent.
What does it take to become a recruiter?
Recruiting is more than just speaking to candidates about a potential job. The most important part of recruiting is understanding the role that you’re hiring for. In order to become a successful recruiter, one must learn:
How to recruit
How to understand the needs of the team and company you’re hiring for
How to identify red flags
How to fight your own internal biases
How to sell a role to a candidate
How to sell a candidate to a hiring manager
How to negotiate with a candidate
It also requires the technical understanding of how to use the tools required to complete your tasks.
How did I become involved in recruiting?
My professional background is in sales and marketing. I considered going back to college for computer science or joining a coding boot camp when they were first becoming popular. I found success in sales and marketing so I never went back to college. I wanted to transition out of marketing in the wellness space and wanted to work in tech again. I started recruiting for a startup in Silicon Valley. At first, I was recruiting software sales reps and transitioned into technical recruiting software engineers and executives. After learning how to be a good recruiter and finding success in the role, I built trust which led to referrals which is how I started my own agency. I’ve hired 100+ people, made almost $500k working as a recruiter, and at this point, I am not going back to college 🤣
What’s the difference between being an internal and external recruiter?
An internal recruiter is a company employee who is in charge of hiring people to work within the company. An external recruiter is a third party that specializes in recruiting qualified candidates for open positions and who are not employed by the company they are working with which is usually called an agency.
You may have heard some of these terms thrown around, and recruiters do work in these capacities:
How do recruiters get paid?
Before we continue….. I 100% will never tell you to quit your job and start an agency as a recruiter. There are thousands of high-paying full-time recruiting jobs that offer you consistent pay, benefits, and training. Too many people want to blow their load at this point and jump into the business of recruiting vs simply becoming a high-paid, well-respected, solid recruiter.
A contingency recruiter is an external recruiter that is employed on a contingency basis. This means they are paid only for the placements they make, and this is usually negotiated as a percentage of the first-year salary. Contingency recruiters are typically independent contractors that will charge about 25% over and above what they would have charged had the position been filled through their company.
Salaried and hourly recruiters are individuals who are hired by a company as an employee to fill positions. These recruiters work in-house with other employees.
What are the different types of jobs in the recruiting industry?
These job titles hold different job duties depending on the company. Become more familiar with the differences within industries and where the roles start to split. However, generally speaking, here are a few of the main roles in recruiting.
Sourcers are people who specialize in finding candidates that meet the qualifications of the job posting.
Recruiting Coordinators keep recruiters and hiring managers organized. They do a lot of scheduling.
A Recruiter is a person who has been given the responsibility to interview people to fill jobs within an organization.
Recruiting Managers oversee all aspects of hiring within an organization from promoting open positions to interviewing and managing relationships with hiring managers.
Lead recruiters and Consultants may work with one or more recruiters on various assignments and often have management responsibilities as well. They may manage the Applicant Tracking Software that the company uses.
Is recruiting remote-friendly?
Yes, if you’re seeking remote work, it’s your responsibility to exclusively apply to remote roles.
If you apply for jobs that are explicitly not 100% remote and you waste recruiters’ time, you will not build good faith and trust within the industry you’re trying to join. You will look flakey.
Should you get an HR certification to become a recruiter?
No. HR is a separate function that works adjacent to recruiting but they focus on the post-hire work. Nothing in any HR certification will teach you about recruiting.
Anyways, these are just some rough thoughts at the top of my head this morning. If you need clarity or have any questions about recruiting, please let me know.
And if you’re interested in learning more about recruiting, I’d love to get a group of 10 people to teach them everything I learned in 4 years in four weeks. Let me know if you want more details on this!
Thanks,
Destiny
