By Craig Rosen for InterviewFocus.com
Delving into the recruiting industry reveals a dynamic landscape shaped by expert insights. This article distills crucial knowledge from seasoned professionals to equip you with a competitive edge. Explore the multifaceted aspects of recruiting and learn what it takes to thrive in this evolving field.
- Consider Changes in Recruiting Industry
- Understand Recruiting Roles as Sales
- Build Strong Relationships and Communicate
- Recruiting Requires Mastery of Many Skills
- Recruiting Industry is Relationship-Driven
- Recruiting is Evolving Post-Digital Era
- Industry Specialization is Valuable in Recruiting
- Navigate Technology to Reach People
- Agency Recruitment Offers High Income Potential
- Recruiting is People-Driven and Performance-Oriented
- Recruiters Work for Employers, Not You
- Expect to Work Outside Set Hours
- Recruiting Influenced by Market Trends
- Career Change Requires Self-Awareness and Preparation
Consider Changes in Recruiting Industry
Candidates who are looking to change careers, whether they’re new grads or have years of experience, should consider the massive changes underway in the recruiting industry before they decide to enter that industry.
Over the past four years, the recruiting industry has been like a pendulum: it experienced massive layoffs in 2020 due to employers shedding staff early in COVID, then massive hiring in 2021-22 as employers couldn’t hire enough people quickly enough, then massive layoffs in 2023-24 as those same employers discovered that they had hired too many people and replacing the odd person who quits wasn’t nearly as difficult as it had been just a year before.
That said, certain roles within the recruiting industry are more susceptible to the massive layoffs and unemployment that we’re seeing. Both corporate and staffing agency recruiters are struggling as the barriers to entering that profession are quite low — no degree or experience is required — and the demand for that talent is also quite low as a lot of the work has been taken over by automated systems and there isn’t as much work to begin with, both because employers aren’t hiring as many people and because those people are easier to hire. But not all workers in the recruiting industry are recruiters: some work for job search sites like College Recruiter or for other organizations that support the recruiting industry. If you’re working for a technology company that has products that replace recruiters, chances are that your job is pretty secure and the health of your employer is pretty strong.
Steven Rothberg, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, College Recruiter
Understand Recruiting Roles as Sales
Recruiting roles are sales roles at their core. You are “selling the opportunity” to potential candidates and then “selling the candidate” to the hiring team. In order to do both “sales” well you have to employ active listening and be able to position the sale appropriately for the candidate or hiring team. Additionally, there are differences between internal corporate recruiter and outside agency recruiter roles – they have different pay structures and activity focuses. Corporate recruiters are salaried employees and agency recruiters are paid lower salaries + commission which can unlock higher earning potential if you do well. Corporate recruiters will evaluate inbound applications and interview top applicants whereas agency recruiters primarily search for top talent in the broader market, engage them to determine interest, and then interview them to determine if they should be presented to the hiring team for consideration.
Ben Wiant, Career Transition Consultant, The 3 Doors Job Search
Build Strong Relationships and Communicate
An important thing a new grad or jobseeker looking to become a recruiter should know is that strong relationship-building and communication skills are *essential* to success, because the role heavily relies on establishing connections with both candidates and hiring managers to effectively match talent to open positions. Recruiting is primarily about interacting with people, understanding their needs, being timely in your responses, and building rapport to facilitate a successful hiring process.
Another way that relationship building comes into play is that recruiters need to actively network with potential candidates and build their own strong professional network to consistently source qualified talent. Effective communication is required throughout all of those interactions to clearly convey job requirements to candidates, manage expectations with hiring managers, and navigate potential challenges during the recruitment process. If someone is looking to shift into recruiting and has a more introverted personality or isn’t excited about being highly networked, then they may want to consider other careers so they don’t become overly drained in such a people-focused role.
Amanda Fischer, CEO & Executive Career Coach, AMF Coaching & Consulting
Recruiting Requires Mastery of Many Skills
Recruiting is not for the faint of heart. It’s a great job but a challenging career because few understand the art behind it.
Like skilled hunters, recruiters must first track down their candidates, using various tools to capture candidates’ attention.
There is a lot of work required behind the scenes before recruiting starts:
- Compelling job posts
- An easily navigable career site
- An employee value proposition that resonates
- A straightforward application process
- Hiring managers with strong interviewing skills
- A timely process
- Consistent communication
But these tools are just the starting point. Successful organizations know sustainable talent acquisition requires building comprehensive strategies that give them an edge in the market.
Here’s what most people miss: great candidates don’t just materialize out of thin air. The best talent may be happily employed elsewhere, making them cautious about entering a complicated interview process. Recruiters need different approaches for active versus passive candidates. Active candidates may be in the process of interviewing with other companies, making speed essential. Passive candidates may be more skeptical, and you need time to build trust. The trick is to balance the needs of everyone in the process.
More critically, recruiters bridge the gap between hiring managers and candidates. The best ones become trusted advisers, managing hiring manager expectations while guiding candidates through understanding the role, company, and potential boss. It’s a delicate dance-hiring managers want options but feel pressure to decide quickly. Rush a candidate, and you lose them. Move too slowly, and you still lose them.
Why consider recruiting? It opens doors. You could manage recruitment technology, employer branding, or the entire function, along with other options in HR, project management, and operations.
If you’re diving in, look for companies that genuinely value recruiting – ones that see it as a specialized function. Too many organizations still treat recruiting as disposable, cutting recruiters when hiring slows. The best employers see recruiting as strategic, keeping their talent pipeline flowing year-round. Until you’ve got solid experience, avoid companies known for treating recruiters as expendable.
This profession demands mastery of relationships, timing, strategy, and strong organizational skills. It’s challenging, but for those who get it right, it’s incredibly rewarding.
Susan Collins, Executive Career Coach, The Network Concierge
Recruiting Industry is Relationship-Driven
One important thing a new grad or job seeker looking to change careers should know about the recruiting industry is that it’s highly relationship-driven. Success in recruiting often depends on your ability to connect with people, build trust, and maintain strong networks. This industry values communication skills and emotional intelligence because recruiters need to effectively assess candidates and understand the needs of both the applicants and the companies they work for. Additionally, it’s essential to be adaptable and responsive, as the recruiting landscape can change quickly with new technologies and shifting job market trends. Knowing this can help you tailor your approach and expectations when entering this field, emphasizing your interpersonal skills and adaptability in your applications and interviews.
Theresa White, Career Clarity Coach, Career Bloom Coaching
Recruiting is Evolving Post-Digital Era
Recruiting is going through its first post-digital evolution. The standard thinking around, “write the job to sound attractive, maximize the number of applications and show effort over outcomes” is changing. What matters most in recruiting is thinking creatively about the role, who would love it and why, then communicating that idea to the people most excited to hear about it. This means focusing on fewer but better applications and presenting yourself as a type of talent marketplace consultant to your hiring manager. A modern approach such as this will set you apart and prime you for success.
James Ellis, Owner & Chief Brander, Employer Brand Labs
Industry Specialization is Valuable in Recruiting
I see recruiting as one of the best industries for career changers to switch into because having hands-on knowledge of another field can be incredibly valuable when you’re recruiting for roles within it. This is especially true for recruiters in fields like technology, construction, finance, or health care—fields that are highly technical or skilled and/or use a lot of niche terminology or jargon. No matter how skilled you are in other aspects of recruiting, you’ll struggle to succeed if you don’t fully grasp the roles you’re hiring for or speak the same “language” as the professionals you’re trying to recruit.
Put another way, aspiring recruiters should know that industry specialization is highly sought after in recruiting, and it’s much easier to build a career if you have a niche where you’re an expert. If you’re a career switcher, you can leverage that hands-on experience to your advantage. Use it to establish a niche in a familiar or adjacent industry. For new graduates, it’s helpful to choose a niche early in your career and focus on developing a deep understanding of its roles, trends, and challenges. You can start by researching industries that interest you, networking with professionals in those fields, or even pursuing entry-level roles in the sector before transitioning fully into recruiting. This foundation will help you stand out as a knowledgeable and credible recruiter.
David Case, President, Advastar
Navigate Technology to Reach People
The biggest thing every new grad or jobseeker making a career change should know is this: You have to navigate the technology, first, to get to the people.
You have to create the resume, LinkedIn profile, and cover letter for the job that you want, not the job that you just had. In a time when recruiters are using hiring tech tools to source talent, searching with words and filters, if you are not using the right words and filters, the recruiter will never find you.
And even if they do find you, they will look at your information and think that you’re trying to communicate the job you want; information which does not match the job posting.
Get ready to be creative and embellish a bit. You’re not being dishonest. You’re navigating the technology.
Steven Lowell, Sr. Reverse Recruiter & Career Coach, Find My Profession
Agency Recruitment Offers High Income Potential
In order to successfully make the transition into the agency recruitment industry (which is a sales job to be absolutely clear), new grads and/or jobseekers changing careers have to know this ONE thing:
The agency recruitment career AND industry is a serious profession with insane income potential for those who truly dedicate themselves to it.
Not to be confused with HR or internal recruitment, agency recruitment is a high-powered sales job. Many people who excel within this unique career can earn insane amounts of commission/total income, with the top folks earning more than $100k, $200k, $300k, $400k, $500k, and some rare few cracking 7 figures. In other words, the sky’s the limit in this lucrative profession.
As long as you fully understand how deal cycles, client acquisition, and candidate delivery/req fulfillment works, you can be a top producer at a recruitment firm or heck, open up your own firm with relatively little upfront costs (direct hire certainly, temp businesses are a slightly different story). With this being said, nothing great comes at a cheap cost.
In order to be one of these rainmakers making these insane amounts of income, hard work, consistency, taking risks, and nothing SHORT OF FULL-ON DEDICATION is required to reach those types of results.
Any level of mediocrity or indifference by treating agency recruitment as just an obligation that you clock in and clock out of, will lead to abysmal outcomes. Top billers are created through sacrifice, intensity, and dedication to the art of sales, under which agency recruitment falls.
Dandan Zhu, Founder, CEO, DG Recruit
Recruiting is People-Driven and Performance-Oriented
One key thing for new grads or career changers to know about the recruiting industry is that it’s a people-driven, performance-oriented field requiring exceptional interpersonal skills and resilience. Success in recruiting hinges on building strong relationships with candidates and clients while meeting performance metrics like placements or hires.
What to Expect:
- Fast-paced, target-driven environments that demand excellent communication, multitasking, and adaptability.
- A focus on understanding diverse industries and job roles to match the right candidates with the right opportunities.
- Regular use of tools like LinkedIn, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and networking events to source talent effectively.
Highlight transferable skills like negotiation, problem-solving, or sales in your application.
Be prepared to thrive in a results-oriented culture where persistence and relationship-building are key to success.
Stay open to learning; the field evolves quickly with new tools and techniques.
Approach recruiting with enthusiasm and a genuine interest in helping others succeed.
Patrick Regan, Senior Recruitment Consultant, Enlighten Supply Pool
Recruiters Work for Employers, Not You
Recruiters don’t work for you. They don’t “place you” in jobs. Recruiters work for an employer who pays them to find people with particular skills, experiences, and backgrounds that will help that firm solve a problem they have. In doing so, they may be friendly, argumentative, and, in general, manipulative in subtle and not-so-subtle ways to get what they want–someone with the right skills and experiences to fill that job they are paid.
Jeff Altman, Global Job Search Coach, The Big Game Hunter, Inc.
Expect to Work Outside Set Hours
Something a new grad or job seeker should know about the recruiting industry is that there is an expectation to work outside of set hours. While you shouldn’t be working 24/7, some of your busiest hours may be before 9am and after 5pm as those are times when candidates are out of work and available to take calls. Only working 9-5 may limit your chances of engaging great candidates.
Nicholas Hopkins, Director, VIQU IT Recruitment
Recruiting Influenced by Market Trends
Those looking to work in the recruiting industry should know that it’s an industry heavily influenced by changing conditions and shifting market trends. The most challenging part for me, at least, is that every economic shift, every trend, or even cultural change actually impacts how recruiters work. Jobs can whiz by one year and then go by the next, so flexibility is not a luxury – it’s mandatory.
I think everyone considering this career needs to be ready to constantly learn to make this work. Knowing your industry’s hiring patterns, how to predict demand change, and how to talk to different audiences are skills that you will master over time. It’s a profession that requires toughness and an interest in people, as you’ll often be the intermediary between recruiters and candidates.
Matthew Goulart, Founder, Ignite Digital
Career Change Requires Self-Awareness and Preparation
A career change is a significant decision that requires self-awareness, preparation, and clear communication of the job seeker’s value. The key to success lies in identifying transferable skills, articulating motivations, and demonstrating how the job seeker is prepared to contribute to a new role. Start by understanding current competencies. It is imperative to have the ability to explain the “Why” behind a career change, identifying and communicating transferable skills, understanding of the new industry, and what the job seeker can bring with their background and experience. Making a successful career change is about demonstrating skills, motivation, and preparation and to align with the needs of the new role and industry. Focus on what the job seeker can offer rather than what is lacking, show how the job seeker can transition the benefits of hiring them to the employer, and finally, be ready to illustrate proactive efforts to ensure a seamless shift.
Julie MacFarland, Talent Acquisition Consultant, HireReach
