A freelance recruiter is an independent recruitment consultant or head hunter who locates qualified candidates for open employment positions.
A freelance recruiter offers similar services as a full-scale recruitment agency does but as an individual worker. A freelance recruiter may sell their services and skills as a recruitment consultant to a company that has recruitment needs.
What does a Freelance Recruiter do?
The job description or responsibilities of a freelance recruiter are to create job postings, locate candidates, headhunt, and perform preliminary interviews to filter the best talent. A freelance recruiter must possess the skills and capability to understand what are the requirements of a recruitment company for its candidates.
Advantages of working as Freelance Recruiter
As a freelance recruiter
- You can be your own boss and work on your own schedule.
- You can work from anywhere you want whether you are at home, in mountains, or on the beach.
- As your own boss, you can choose how much workload is manageable for you.
- You can decide how many clients you want to work with at a time as well as a specific industry you want to focus on.
- You can be an independent recruiter in your free time to generate additional income for you and your family. This means you can continue your 9-to-5 job and still assist companies to find the most qualified candidates for their open positions.
Qualities of a Freelance Recruiter
A large number of Human Resources professionals are considering working as independent recruiters, headhunters, or independent HR consultants. However, is not as easy as it appears. There are many qualities you should possess to become a successful freelance recruiter.
- Skills like empathy and the ability to communicate effectively are vital to be a successful freelance recruiter.
- The ability to adapt to various situations, Negotiation, and analytical skills are very necessary.
- The ability to make connections with others
- The ability to meet the deadlines set forth by clients
- Punctuality and time management.
- Commitment and dedication
- Professionalism, adaptability, and, above all, discipline.
How to Become a Freelance Recruiter?
After knowing about what is a freelance recruiter and the top qualities one must possess in order to be a successful recruiter, you might probably be curious to know how to become one. This guide will provide you with some useful tips on how to become a successful Recruiter.
Relevant Education or Expertise
To begin your freelance recruiter career, first, make sure you have the required education and expertise. Usually, companies want recruiters who have a background in human resources or something similar. Although some companies may prefer your previous experience and capability to locate suitable candidates and overlook the qualification. If you don’t have the relevant degree, you still can become a successful independent recruiter with only a high school diploma.
Gain Experience
It will take longer to attract and engage clients if you have never dealt with recruitment before. It is recommended that you should gain some experience before beginning a job as a freelance recruiter.
Consider looking for job opportunities at a local staffing agency or the Human Resources department of any company to gain as much exposure as possible. This will provide you with experience and first-hand knowledge of how to locate clients and source candidates. Building your network side by side is also very important.
Make connections on LinkedIn
Many potential clients and HR recruiters are successful in their careers because of their huge network on social media platforms. Be Social and expand your LinkedIn and connections. LinkedIn is the largest networking website specifically for professionals and business-oriented people. A professionally written LinkedIn profile allows you to create and establish a professional brand online. This opens doors to opportunities and networks in your field. LinkedIn allows you to showcase your profile, expertise, recommendations, and connections. Make posts and engage your connections with conversations. This will help establish your worth among your Linkedin community. Demonstrate your leadership expertise knowledge and credibility.
Related: Social Media Recruitment
Choose a specific niche
As with any career, trying to be a jack of all trades can lead you to nowhere. It is preferable to provide quality instead of quantity as an independent recruiter. It is always better to pick a particular industry or job type.
Get expertise in a particular niche that differentiates you from other recruiters. enable It will enable you to pave the way for you in the recruiting industry. By focusing on a specific niche, you will become an expert in that industry. People will know you as a specialist in one specific niche. You will have a thorough understanding of the specific industry.
The clients consider recruiters who are specialized in a particular field experienced and professional who provide quality service. For example, if you’ve previously worked in a marketing and advertising company, it is better that you recruit specifically for marketing agencies. Freelance recruiter rates are comparatively higher for specialists.
Find clients and applicants
Finding clients and looking for prospects are the most essential responsibilities of freelance recruiters while recruiting.
There are various methods of locating customers. It can be achieved by looking for companies that are aggressively hiring on job sites like Indeed. Contact them to offer your services. Use the social media presence that you might have built by now. Create a post and announce that you have started working as a freelance recruiter
Once a company decides to hire you as a freelance recruiter, take help from a lawyer to draft a contract with the company.
Related: Top Recruitment Trends
Sourcing talented Candidates
The key to being a successful freelancer is locating the best talent for the company.
By locating the desired candidate with all the skill sets required for a position, your client will be benefitted and be satisfied with your performance. However, if you hire the wrong candidate for a position, it may not only impact your client business but your position as well.
In order to source qualified candidates, you must have knowledge about the job qualifications and requirements for every job opening. Having this knowledge up your sleeves, you can definitely fetch an ideal candidate.
For this purpose, the internet is your best friend. Around 80 percent of Americans are using online resources while seeking a job. create social media ads, Post on online job boards, join relevant Facebook groups, request referrals, and attend career fairs.
Invest in technology
Investing in technology will make your job quicker and easier. It will also make the job less time-consuming. Purchasing a new laptop, or subscribing to a new platform can all help you save time. Installing new software also helps increase the overall efficiency of the task. Once a client sends you a job order, you just need to enter certain keywords into the software, and resultantly, it will bring up the most qualified candidates associated with those keywords.
Keep Yourself Up to Date
When you are a freelance recruiter you don’t have someone else to keep an eye on your paperwork, access your records, evaluate the accounting, etc. Instead, all the responsibility falls on your shoulders.
Keeping yourself up to date is imperative to be successful. From getting a business bank account and hiring an accountant to manage your finances. Getting the latest software and updating your website and online profiles, everything should be maintained properly.
Keep improving your LinkedIn profile and expanding your network side by side. This network will stay with you and people will recognize you even if you switch jobs or start working as a freelancer.
Time management
Since freelancers have no time constraints to follow, they either tend to work too much or get lazy. As they know that there is nobody to access their working hours. It is critical to follow a work schedule if you are a freelancer similar to that of an office worker. Otherwise, you could find yourself working from dawn to dusk, or you may end up wasting hours. It is also not advisable to work too long hours as it can lead to exhaustion.
Every career has its ups and downs and its own challenges. Being a freelance recruiter is also not a piece of cake but this career path can help you develop new skills and hone existing ones. It can be a financially rewarding side hustle for some or a full-time business for many. With dedication, commitment, and the implementation of the right strategies, you can definitely flourish in your career as a freelance recruiter.
