What do you need to do to become a world-class 360 recruiter? | Part 1 of 3

It’s been an interesting year so far, hasn’t it?

For some of us, we may have seen little to no change in our desks, whereas for some of us it’s been the definition of “crunch time”.

It’s no secret that the market has been very different to what we’ve been used to in the past 18 months, and even going back as far as 2020 (which now feels like a distant memory) was only three years ago when things truly changed for a lot of us.

We’re now officially just over halfway through the year, and I wanted to take the time and use this edition to do a bit of a check-in with you all.

A lot of the time, this newsletter is packed with tips and actionable advice which you can take away to your desk.

I’m not saying that this edition won’t have those things, but it’s more of an open dialogue I want to have with you as a loyal subscriber at this point in the year.

Your mental health is important.

I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about mental health or mindset - whether that’s on my personal profile or here in a newsletter edition, but your mental health really does control a lot of other things in your life.

At this point in the year, do a check-in with yourself mentally.

How do you feel? How do you really feel? In all aspects of your life. What mentally is going well for you, and what is holding you back?

Cultivate some self-awareness around how you feel at this point in the year.

Especially in busy or stressful periods (interpret that however you wish depending on your situation) we naturally don’t have enough time to process our thoughts.

Make sure you sit with yours and evaluate them. You cannot perform to the best of your ability if you’re coasting or ignoring things that bother you.

Your mental health really does dictate a lot of other things in your life, so in this “check-in” - do that first!

Some ways you can do this:

1. Give yourself a mental health morning - go on a walk, write down how you feel, do an evaluation of yourself and look back on the last six months.

2. Talk to a friend, partner, or colleague who you trust and who knows you well enough to listen and give good advice.

3. Take a couple of days off to reset and recharge. When was the last time you took some time for yourself?

You can only do your best.

Nothing more needs to be said here.

If you’re being particularly hard on yourself at this point in the year, please remember that you can only do your best - and if that’s what you’re doing, allow that to be enough.

Make sure that you are still doing the basics.

The basics of recruitment are KEY for your success. Be honest with yourself - have you been utilising your basics to the best of your ability or not?

Check in not just on the basics that every recruiter needs to do, but also on the personalised basics/methods of organisation that you’ve set for yourself.

Think of it as a spring-clean but for the tools and methods that you’re using - are you utilising them to the best of your ability and are they still serving you like they should be?

Evaluate what you’ve done so far and remember we still have 6 months of the year left.

In terms of your performance and progress, sit down and look at what you’ve done so far and be realistic with what you want to achieve (and what you think you’ll achieve) by the end of the year.

Additionally, do a similar evaluation with your clients, too.

Who have you placed with the most? Who do you have the best relationships with? Who do you see as a great contender for business development for the second half of the year?

A lot of companies will be releasing their Q3 budgets soon, so now is the time to get your “ducks in a row” and create a plan for how you want the second half of the year to go.

You can change your whole desk in a matter of weeks, so if you’ve had a difficult Q1 and Q2, you’ve still got a lot of time to turn it around.

If it’s been a bad year so far, remember how many good years you’ve had in previous years.

Even the most experienced recruiters have those moments of doubt and imposter syndrome creeping in. It’s human nature and we will all experience it at some point in our lives.

If you’ve had a bad year - like a lot of recruiters out there have - you need to remind yourself that this is just a rough patch.

Just like we had in the pandemic - and in other times of economic strain - the best recruiters will come out on top.

Sure, your performance may not be as great and you may feel demotivated, but if this job was easy everybody would be doing it.

Remind yourself of good years and what made those years good because it wasn’t just the market being easier - it was your mindset and work ethic too.

Sometimes you have to remind yourself of previous achievements as a (gentle) slap in the face to get you motivated for the second half of the year!

Has this been the best year for Recruitment Mentors?

No. Has it been the worst year ever? No.

It’s just not gone exactly how we would have planned, but that doesn’t mean that the business is failing and that we won’t ever get back to where we were.

It’s just the ebbs and flow of a market.

Ask for help and know that you’re not the only person in this situation.

We have all experienced this market together, it’s not just been you and it isn’t a reflection of you or your talents as a recruiter.

Something I’ve worked really hard to build is a community, something that we didn’t really have in this industry when I first entered it.

It was almost seen as a victory if someone else failed, especially if they were a competitor. What a sad, narrow-minded view to have!

We are so lucky to have a community in places such as LinkedIn but also on the recruitment mentors platform.

There’s plenty of opportunity out there for all of us, but the only way that we can improve and grow is through community and learning.

If you’re struggling, ask for help and know that you’re not alone in this situation.

Here are some useful prompts to kick you into that half year check in mindset.

Performance prompts:

• What strategies have been most effective in generating clients so far?

• What strategies have been most effective in generating client meetings so far?

• Are there any specific areas where I'm struggling or need improvement?

• What positive feedback have I received from customers or colleagues in the past six months, and how have I implemented it?

• What is the one thing that I can do each day moving forward that would positively impact the experience I give candidates and clients?

Mindset prompts:

• Am I effectively managing my time and priorities to maximise productivity?

• How do I handle rejection and setbacks? Can I improve my resilience?

• Am I consistently seeking self-improvement and learning opportunities?

• What strategies have I used over the last six months to stay motivated and focused on my goals?

• What one habit could I commit to implementing daily that would give me the best chance to perform my best consistently?