Here’s Why Everything You Think You Know About Recruiters Is Wrong

When you hear the word “Recruiter,” you probably think of those people on your college campus who stand behind tables holding clipboards and flyers. You might envision people who come to networking events and ask for your information. Or it could conjure an image of someone who does a lot of travelling and canvassing.

But here’s the deal: Recruiting is none of those things. It’s a well-paid, competitive, and technology-driven role. And it gives you the opportunity to become a high-skill, well-compensated employee right out of college.

Myth #1: The only type of Recruiter is the Campus Recruiter.

There’s a big difference between having the job of a Campus Recruiter and a career as a professional Recruiter.

Recruiters are not canvassers. You won’t see them standing on corners, handing out printed materials to any living person. Plenty of Recruiters have never even stepped on a college campus since they graduated.

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Many Recruiters work for agencies or Staffing and Recruiting firms like Apex and match qualified candidates with jobs that fit their skillset. They work out of an office, leveraging data and their acquired expertise to assess candidates. And—because of this modern approach—they usually get a lot more done in a day.

Myth #2: Recruiters don’t make a lot of money.

As most recruiters will tell you, one of the best parts of the job—apart from helping people find their dream jobs—is the competitive pay.

On top of your base salary, you’ll be making commission for the roles that you do fill. That means the better you become and the more you hustle, the more money you’re going to make. In this role, working smarter and harder means getting more money.

This doesn’t just apply to Recruiting, either. The skills you build and sharpen over time will easily transfer into other lucrative fields, like Consulting and sales.

Myth #3: Recruiters aren’t skilled.

As a Recruiter, you’ll obviously be sharpening your sales skills. But you’ll also be acquiring Consulting experience.

In fact, being a Recruiter is a lot like being a sales-focused Consultant. You have a client—usually a company that is looking to fill a certain role—and you need to find the perfect candidate that meets all their qualifications.

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To be effective, you first need to perform a lot of research and identify top candidates. From there, you need to convince those people that they should consider applying for the role you’re trying to fill. Once you’ve done that, you need to help guide them along the interview process.

Doing this well requires a certain set of skills. That’s why the best Recruiters are great communicators, detail-oriented, results-oriented, resilient, analytical, and self-motivated. But while embodying these characteristics will give you a great start, you still need help learning the ins and outs of the industry.

The great news is, that’s not hard to find. At Apex, you’ll receive weeks of training in sales and client interaction from your very first day. Apex continues this training for its employees throughout their tenure to help them stay current and prepare them for promotions and changes in the industry.

Myth #4: Recruiters can’t move up.

Because of the skills you build as a recruiter, you have a solid chance of moving up in your firm. According to Apex Recruiting expert Casey Weickgenannt, the average promotion takes only six months at Apex.

There’s more than one way to advance, too. If you truly have the gift, then you probably won’t want to step away from the major commission you’ll make as a Recruiter. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll get stagnant. The better you are and the more training you have, the more likely it is that you can move into a Senior Recruiter and Team Leader roles. That means you’ll be managing other recruiters and taking on major assignments. (That means even larger potential commissions!)

If you’re interested in a more managerial/consulting role, you can take a different path. Senior Account Managers and Executives go deeper into the business-advising side, landing clients and helping them design and accomplish their Recruiting goals. These skills transfer well to a variety of industries and will keep you in the high-skill, well-paid category.

Where Do The Myths Come From?

There are a number of reasons why these myths continue to endure, including old ideas and a lack of visibility into the field.

But the one thing you should remember is, if you want to combine sales and Consulting skills to make a lot of money, boost your resume, and grow a real career, then Recruiting could be the field for you.

Interested in learning more? Apex is hiring on WayUp now, so check out their open positions and apply!