We've had the privilege to speak with all manner of recruiting pros, themselves at various stages of the career ladder -- Heads of Talent, Sourcers, Senior Tech Recruiters, you name it. And while they each have unique challenges and responsibilities, there is routinely one center overlapping area on the venn diagram that is their daily grind. No matter what roles they are hiring for, the size of their company, or how senior they are, every talent acquisition pro will sing the praises of their Recruiting Coordinators.
In various episodes of our podcast, we've heard things like:
"They made my life 10 times easier"
"Candidate experience was noticeably better"
"They freed up hours of my time"
These quotes join the litany of testimonies showering praise on Recruiting Coordinators everywhere. If you don't have yourself one of these, it's time to go out and find one. Let's dig in to what they can do for you, and what you should look for.
Take Your Week Back
The most noticeable impact a Recruiting Coordinator will have is just how much of your day they'll free up. Even just as far as interview scheduling goes, this can add up to untold hours. Comparing blocks of time across several different coworker's calendars and cross referencing that with available conference rooms is a time consuming challenge, and one that you can happily have the Coordinator take off your plate.
Related to interview scheduling is the communication with the candidate that needs to take place before they come on site. Logistics such as finding and accessing the office, interview expectations around dress code, as well as questions the candidate might have, all need to be addressed in a timely fashion. This also bleeds in to candidate experience, which is another area Recruiting Coordinators can be expected to own.
Candidate Experience
Your Recruiting Coordinator can make sure you never have to worry about a candidate standing awkwardly in your office's reception area again. The first in-person impression a candidate gets of your organization is crucial, and if they're made to feel clueless as they wander looking for someone to help them, they're going to be uncomfortable and probably have a bad taste in their mouth right off the bat.
If you have to get up and cater to candidates throughout their entire on site, you can forget about putting your head down and getting any longer projects done that day, as you'll be interrupted every 30 minutes. Your Coordinator can make sure people feel welcomed, comfortable, and assured that you're all happy they've come in.
What to Look For
Now that your eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Coordinator, it's time to figure out what kind of person will succeed in the role so you can go out and begin sourcing.
Organizational Skills: This person needs to be intensely organized. They'll be scanning across dozens of people's calendars and juggling many candidates at once, so dig in to organizational tools they've used or strategies they've found successful when you begin evaluating.
Personal Communication: Similarly to Sales, the soft skills necessary for giving a good interview are synonymous with the skills necessary to do the job. This candidate should be easy to talk with, warm, and natural. They'll be having that first impression conversation over and over again, and they need to consistently be delightful every time.
Adaptability: As noted above in no small detail, a huge advantage of having a someone in this role is freeing up your own time. If you have to hold this person's hand, you're limiting the amount of time you'll get back. You need someone who is going to be coachable and pick things up quickly and let you get down to your other recruiting projects.
Professional Maturity: There's a tendency for people to look for a more junior candidate for this role, but the general sense of workplace etiquette is something you can't overlook, and it's absolutely compulsory for someone in this role.
You'll note that none of these areas necessitate specific experience in the recruiting realm. While previous time in recruiting related roles would be the cherry on top, you can find a successful candidate outside the talent acquisition world, meaning you can fish from a much bigger candidate pool.
What do you look for in a Recruiting Coordinator? How have they helped you in your own role? Leave a comment or tweet at @EnteloRob!
