What Does a Virtual Recruiter Do?

A virtual recruiter, also known as a headhunter, is a human resource professional who finds candidates for open positions. Virtual recruiters conduct business using the telephone, Internet resources, and fax machines rather than working from an office and conducting face-to-face interviews. Contacting clients to determine hiring needs, advertising for candidates, reviewing resumes to determine the best candidates for a position, performing background checks as needed, and arranging telephone interviews between the candidate and the hiring manager are all typical responsibilities for this position. Virtual recruiters can handle many of the more time-consuming human resource tasks.

Many companies have discovered that using virtual recruiters allows them to reduce the size of their human resource departments. Other businesses may be too small to justify the cost of establishing a department or hiring an individual to handle infrequent job openings. The majority of these positions are commission-only, which means that only the recruiter who successfully places a candidate is paid.

One of the disadvantages of virtual recruiter jobs is the lack of a guaranteed income. The ability to work from a remote location and flexible hours are two of the benefits enjoyed those in the profession. Because of these liberties, self-motivation is one of the most important qualities a person in this field must possess. Virtual recruiters must be able to motivate themselves to perform similar tasks in their specialty, just as a salesperson will get few orders without laying the groundwork, building relationships, and calling on customers.

According to the job description, this position necessitates a lot of interaction with others. Clients frequently reward recruiters with exclusive contracts or advance notice of their needs in exchange for previous performance. Using emails and phone calls to establish a rapport with a client is an important part of the job. A virtual recruiter’s busy day usually includes maintaining a database of current and potential clients.

Recruiters spend the majority of their time looking for candidates to fill open positions. Candidates can be found posting ads online, researching sites that allow workers to bid on jobs, or calling previous applicants to see if they are still looking for work. However, before referring an applicant to a client, the recruiter must review the candidate’s resume to ensure that he or she has the training or skills the employer requires, verify previous employment, and, if necessary, arrange for the applicant to complete an online skills assessment. The applicant will also be interviewed over the phone the virtual recruiter. If the applicant and the position are a good match, the recruiter arranges for the candidate to be interviewed the employer.