If you’re considering a career in recruiting, then you probably know that it’s a fast-paced industry focused on matching talented candidates with relevant job opportunities. The best way to ensure that you’re setting yourself up for success is by knowing what to expect from the role and what you can do to land a great job.
Here are the steps to take if you want to become a recruiter.
1. Earn an undergraduate degree
The first step toward becoming a recruiter is earning your bachelor’s degree. This will help you develop skills such as project management and communication, both of which are necessary for this type of career. Although there’s no specific major for recruiting, many Bauer students choose a Management degree with a Human Resource track with recruiting as their goal career. In addition, for more technical recruiting, other students choose majors that are familiar with these technical qualifications.
2. Develop your skills and experience
Another important step in becoming a recruiter is developing your skills in a professional context. The best way to do this is by finding an internship that focuses on recruitment, human resources management or people operations. This type of internship will give you exposure to the day-to-day tasks associated with recruiting, while also helping you see the bigger picture of what’s involved in running a business.
Pro Tip: While not all the representatives attending career fairs and mixers at Bauer are corporate recruiters, these events are a great opportunity to talk to professionals that are doing the job that you want to do.
3. Identify the type of recruiting you want to do
Once you have some internship experience under your belt, it’s time to identify what type of recruiting you want to do. For example, if you’re passionate about technology, you could become a technology recruiter and help tech companies hire talented MIS majors, product managers and data scientists. If you’re interested in finance, you could work as a recruiter for an investment bank, hiring across a range of positions including financial analysts and associates.
4. Apply for recruiting roles that match your interests
After you’ve identified what type of recruiting you want to do, the next step is to find and apply for roles that match your interests. This could mean working for a large recruiting firm, a corporation, or a smaller company such as a tech startup. In order to give yourself the best chance of success, it’s important to apply for several different positions and to leverage your professional contacts to help get your foot in the door for an interview.
Pro Tip: Be flexible. Although may have a dream role in mind, it’s important to be open to other opportunities and to cast a wide net during your job search. This will give you the best chance of success while also helping to learn more about recruiting in general.
Recruiting is an exciting career path that will give you the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people and make a real impact on the company you work for. The best way to find out if being a recruiter is right for you is by doing an internship and getting a feel for what the industry is all about.
