Industry Overview: The Recruiter's Survival Kit
Author: Glenna Laurie

With the increasing popularity and accessibility of the Internet, more and more hiring professionals are exploring the world of online recruitment. The explosive growth in Internet recruiting opportunities is evidenced by the abundance of online resume databases, job boards for employer/recruiter job postings, Internet recruiting seminars, and much more. So, why would companies and their hiring managers continue to depend on professional recruiters for their hiring needs instead of turning to the Internet?

In response to my concerns about the future of my profession, I have assembled a small survival kit, the contents of which allow recruiters not only to survive, but to succeed in spite of the rapid growth of Internet recruitment offerings. The contents are as follows:

Value-Added Service
Now more than ever, recruiters must provide their clients with added value. The value of a professional recruiter does not begin and end with the submission of a resume. Instead, professional recruiters must understand the needs of their clients and search, not for a list of available candidates who are seeking positions, but rather, for the best candidate whose skills, personality, salary requirements and career goals all fit in with the needs of the respective client. And, once the match between client and candidate is made, the recruiter continues to work with both parties, ensuring that their needs are being met. The recruiters who simply compile resumes and send them to every possible client in the nearby vicinity may find themselves threatened by the advent of Internet recruitment opportunities. But, for recruiters who truly provide added value to their clients, the Internet should pose no threat to their success.

~ True Recruitment
In the words of my boss and mentor: "A recruiter is someone who finds people who are happy with their jobs, shows them why they are unhappy, and then makes them happy again." Especially in today's job market, where unemployment is at an all-time low, the desired candidates are often those who are happily employed and have no thoughts at all of seeking a new position. It is the role of the professional recruiter to find these people and convince them that there is a better opportunity for them, or at least one that should be explored. Searching online resume databases and posting job openings on online job boards will allow hiring managers to locate many available candidates, but it may not allow them to locate the best candidates for the position, as those candidates may have to be recruited. Thus, the role of recruiters who truly "recruit" can never be replaced by the Internet.

Multiple Resources
The professional recruiter has many sources from which to find candidates, including files of resumes, databases, referrals, company contacts, newspaper/magazine advertisements, and now, the Internet. There is nothing wrong with recruiters using the Internet as a source of candidates. Recruiters can use the Internet to find candidates who are seeking new positions and have placed their resumes on employment sites. In addition, recruiters can find people whose names or resumes are hidden in company sites or other related websites. While these people may not be actively seeking new positions, they may be prime candidates for recruitment. The recruiter who will survive and flourish in the world of the Internet is one who makes use of the Internet as one element in his or her overall candidate sourcing strategy. The more resources a recruiter has, the more likely he or she is to find the "best" candidate for each opening. In this sense, the Internet should be seen not as the demise of the professional recruiter, but rather as a useful tool that should be a part of every recruiter's survival kit.

~ Ability to Screen
In order to arrive at the "best" candidate for a position, the professional recruiter must conduct a thorough screening process that involves speaking to, meeting with, and possibly checking references for the potential candidate for each position. Not only is this a huge time commitment, but it is also a very personal process that Internet recruiting cannot easily replace. No lengthy series of emails or inputting of the most detailed requirements into a resume database can take the place of a recruiter truly getting to know and understand the motives and desires of each candidate and how they will "fit" each respective opening.

Finding a group of potential candidates and narrowing that group down to the most suitable candidate for a position is the role that recruiters have been performing for clients for many years. The recruiters who take along this survival kit and review its contents from time to time will continue to perform this essential function for their clients for many years to come.

Glenna Laurie is an Account Executive at Irene Kane Personnel, Inc., in Huntington, NY, specializing in technical recruiting. She has a B.S. from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia University.