An executive recruiter has a mix of general business knowledge, sales savvy, customer service experience, and networking skills. Recruiters can work for a staffing firm that finds executives to fill positions for clients or as part of a human resources department for a large corporation tasked with staffing internal vacancies. To become an executive recruiter, you’ll need an undergraduate degree, at least three years of experience recruiting lower-level positions, and the skill set of a sales or marketing employee.
The basic educational requirement to become an executive recruiter is typically a college degree. A degree is preferred but not required in some cases. This emphasizes that, at the end of the day, recruiting is about the ability to get the job done. There is no industry-standard recruiting major or educational program, but if you choose to get a college degree to improve your chances of success, a business or communications major will usually suffice.
Recruiters assigned to executive-level positions typically have more industry experience than entry-level recruiters. Executive placements generate the highest commissions for staffing agencies, and the clients that trust an agency with executive positions are often clients of longstanding. While there is no hard and fast rule prohibiting an agency from hiring an entry-level executive recruiter, the position typically requires three to seven years of recruiting experience in lower-level roles.
Generally, employers prefer recruiters to have an entrepreneurial bent because of the way recruiters develop a portfolio that operates somewhat like a firm within a firm. Strong written and verbal skills, service experience, and salesmanship are typically required in job descriptions. Your credentials must demonstrate the ability to find and vet talent, cultivate new clients, and manage client relationships over time in order to become an executive recruiter. Recruiting executive talent, in particular, can be difficult because it frequently entails luring an employee away from his current employer, a practice known as head-hunting. Cold calling and networking are used in this type of recruiting, just as they are in sales.
You have the option of working as an executive recruiter for an independent staffing firm or for a company’s human resources department. A corporation’s executive recruiter fills internal vacancies and doesn’t have to worry about cultivating clients. Instead, he concentrates on cultivating the best talent sources and making quality matches for the company. Newly hired executive recruiters are frequently expected to have prior experience, typically at a staffing agency.