Recruiter Job Description: How to attract the best recruitment specialist

How do you write a job description for a recruiter? A recruitment specialist would have normally taken care of this for you. But what do you do when, as a start-up founder, you yourself are looking for a recruitment specialist? 

You certainly don’t have to worry that’s for sure!! Click here to download a free template for this job description

In this blog, I have covered everything you need to know about a recruitment specialist. I have written about the following points.

• Who is a recruiter?
• What does a recruiter do?
• Is a recruiter the same as an HR?
• What should you include in a Recruiter Job description?
• Best channels to post a recruitment specialist job description
• Things to keep in mind while writing a job description
• Summary
• FAQs

Click here to download a template of a recruiter job description (Recruitment specialist)

Who is a recruiter?

WAIT, why do we keep saying, specialist?

A lot of sub-departments exist within HR. So, you could either have a general HR role or the role of an HR specialist who focuses on specific sub-functions. Some of these sub-functions are:

• Recruiting and hiring
• Employee engagement
• Performance management
• Employee training and development
• Payroll management

So a recruitment specialist focuses only on the recruitment and hiring of employees and non of the other HR functions.

He or she is a person who is in charge of the hiring aspects of human resources. They post job descriptions on various portals. A recruiter is also in charge of scanning through applications and forming an efficient and thorough recruitment process. They ensure that the quality of candidates entering your organization is up to the standards of the company.

What to include in a recruiter job description? – What does a recruiter do?

A recruiter or a recruitment specialist… well… recruits!

But what exactly do they really do on a daily basis, how do they recruit? What is their major focus on?

(Note: I have given a mere summary of the daily tasks here since responsibilities are mentioned in-depth in the template which you can download from here).

• Writing job descriptions
• Posting job openings on different portals
• Scanning through applications (or using an ATS)
• Recruiting quality employees
• A recruiter is also responsible for managing the entire recruitment process of the company from start to finish!

Is a recruiter the same as an HR?

This is a mistake made by a lot of people, they confuse HR for recruiters. There’s a very common joke among business professionals that the H in HR stands for Hiring. But obviously, we know better!

While recruiter and HR are not the same thing, recruiters are a part of the overall HR domain. And so, a recruiter’s job description must also be very different from that of an HR manager.

The best way to describe the relationship between a recruiter and an HR manager is that a recruiter works under the HR manager and reports to him or her. An HR Manager manages all HR related jobs in their department or even company. Whereas, a recruiter only focuses on recruiting people. So, a recruiter job description must include the company’s regular recruitment practices.

What to include in a Recruiter job description?

This job description can be particularly tricky, especially if it’s the first time you’re hiring an HR recruitment specialist or Recruiter, or even an HR person in general! 

Why?

Because usually, a recruiter is a person who would have taken care of writing a job description, posting on the correct channels to get the best of applicants and then selecting and hiring the right candidates. But, here, since this is the first recruiter you’re hiring for your startup, as a founder, you’ll have to do all this on your own.

So, what should you include in your recruiter job description?

Here’s a list of what a job description for a recruiter should include. Blindly follow the list and you’ll be all set to go! You could alternatively also download a ready-made sample Job description for a recruiter by clicking on the link below or scrolling to the top of this blog!!!

To download the sample of a recruiter job description (for FREE) click here now!!!

• Job title

Some of the more common titles for a Recruiter also include

1. 1. Recruitment specialist
   2. Hiring specialist
   3. Recruitment manager
   4. HR Sourcing expert

• Job summary

This is an overview of the requirements and qualifications needed as well as what is expected after the person is hired

• List of job requirements

Mention the applicant’s minimum qualifications, soft skill requirements and other factors which could also be if the job requires a lot of travelling etc.

• Job responsibilities

Add day-to-day tasks, major projects and other duties

• Salary

Salary, CTC, stipend or compensation 

Best channels to post a recruiter job description

While posting this job description for a recruiter you need to be able to figure out where these hr specialists look when they are looking for jobs. Are they looking at 3rd party job posting portals such as Linkedin or Naukri.com. Are they looking at company career pages?

A little research goes a long long way here.

There’s no point in posting a JD where potential applicants aren’t even looking. That just ends up becoming a waste of time. Here are some options to consider. 

1. Glassdoor
2. Career page of your own company
3. LinkedIn
4. If you’re looking for someone within your company for the role or for employee referrals, share the job description with your employees as well.

Things to keep in mind while writing a recruiter job description

So here are a few things to keep in mind while writing a job description for a recruiter

• Check for grammatical typos as well as spelling errors
• Consider your employer brand. You know how when you join a new company you look at their overall brand in the market? Here, since your hiring a recruitment specialist, your employer brand will play a huge role in how they perceive your company and make a difference in whether they apply for the role or not. Focus on small things like adding a link in the JD to employee reviews on 3rd party websites or showcasing your team on your own website.
• Research industry standards for the role of a recruitment specialist. Look at the role being offered, the average package (compensation) and so on
• Do not go overboard with the qualifications and job requirements. If you are too ambitious about the candidate you want, then you will discourage candidates who are actually good fits from applying. For example, you e=need someone with 4 years of work experience, but get ambitious and mention 7 years in the JD. This will result in overly qualified people applying.

Recruiter job description – Summary

So, focus on the following points and you’ll be able to write an awesome recruitment specialist job description

1. Research industry standards for the role you are recruiting for
2. Make a rough overview of the job description you have in mind
3. Add details to the overall summary and focus on daily tasks, job responsibilities
4. Make a list of the qualifications you expect the candidate to have when they apply for the job
5. Form the job description in whichever format you require
6. Post it or relevant portals to start getting applicants

OR you could instead

1. Download our well researched and comprehensive template by clicking here and customize it as you see fit
2. Post it or relevant portals to start getting applicants

Recruiter job description – FAQs

Not to be considered as tax, legal, financial or HR advice. Regulations change over time so please consult a lawyer, accountant  or Labour Law  expert for specific guidance.