Ah, newbies! Everyone in recruitment has been one. Whatever company you work for now, we all went through the feeling of being the fresh meat that just waited to be cooked.
Because I am part of Gen Z, I am closer to the experience newbies go through. Therefore, I want to share some wisdom with you.
When I started this recruiting job I came into a new company with the confidence to move mountains. I had no experience in recruitment and was full of hopes and expectations. However, I did not know what recruiting was all about.
After the training, when I started to do the actual work, I felt discouraged and afraid. Why? Because I pushed myself to do everything perfectly, even though no one else pressured me.
This has also been the case for my fellow newbie colleagues.
However, now I got a hang of how things work so I decided to see how other people’s experiences were. I asked my colleagues and other recruiters on forums to give me some insight on how their experience was as newbie recruiters.
The purpose was to help new people that just start their recruiting career to understand a few things.
We all shake and feel nervous in our first call.
We all do, trust me. From all the people I spoke with, none of them said it went as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Almost all of them felt anxious, afraid and pressured.
Some of them were afraid they would bore the candidate and not present the job interestingly enough.
And others felt nervous and excited at the same time.
This proves we are all human, despite what the outside opinion is. We do not only chase commissions. We want to make things right for the candidates and our clients. And we put pressure on ourselves because we want to do it perfectly.
The first deal is the best feeling you get after all the work.
This applied to all my respondents. According to them, it was not even about the deal or the commission. They felt incredible and happy for the client and candidate, but also for themselves. They made a huge accomplishment and were right to be proud.
The struggle is real when you make your first pitch to the client.
I will not sugar coat it for you, new recruiters. It is hard writing your first pitch to the client.
However, your colleagues are here for you, so is your team leader and manager. Ask for help. They have been in this position as well so you won’t be judged.
Most of the people I talked with said that their first pitch to the client made them overall anxious because of the fear of overselling or underselling the candidate. Others declared that it was an easy job.
Depending on you and how your selling skills are in this situation, it will be either a struggle or an easy task. Either way, we love it!
The first three months are a real adventure.
Depending on where you work, where you live and so on, the training period varies. However, the first three months are a very beneficial period for you to absorb as much information as possible.
I based my questioning on the three months training period.
Here are some insights:
- It is a lot of information to process and learns.
- You can feel a little overwhelmed.
- You might feel like a baby in the woods.
- Even after the training, you will feel like a newbie because of all the experienced recruiters out there.
- There is a very big excitement when you see your work is paying off.
- If you recruit internationally you get to speak with people from all around the world!
- You can make deals in the first months.
Finally, here are some wishes from my colleagues who just finished the training and some that are experienced. I will let you guess which one wrote what:
“Learn, implement, find the thing that works for you in your position, adapt it to who is your audience.”
“Welcome to the exhausting world of recruitment, you are going to LOVE IT! “
“Don’t lose your hope, you will make a deal!”
“It will get easier.”
So on our behalf, this is a warm welcome to the recruitment world and lifestyle!
