What Recruitment Agencies Look for in Potential Candidates
It can be difficult to catch an employer’s attention. In today’s job market, you often need to show more than just the required qualifications to get noticed and hired. But what do recruiters actually look for in potential employees? What are the skills and qualities that stick out to them? These questions arise when candidates appear for interviews.
When looking for potential candidates, recruitment agencies often have a particular set of criteria that they look for each time. While some may be more technical, such as carrying out background checks or assessing specific skills and experience, others relate more to personality traits and qualities. It also depends on the job they are recruiting for or even the company as the job or company might be looking for specific skills, qualifications or personal traits.
One of the skills that HR personnel use daily is the ability to read between the lines. Job seekers can be pretty honest in some parts of their application, but few are always reliable. Spotting the relevant details can help fill out the rest of the unsaid information and determine whether the applicant deserves an interview.
Here’s a quick tip before we dive deeper into the details of this article. Don’t forget to highlight your advancement and progression throughout your working career.
Recruiters also want to see your career story and progression from one company/role to the next. They’ll look at each company you worked for and how long you spent there. Ideally, they want to see growth and upward movement/advancement in the long-term career trend.
Always show promotions and upward moves on your resume when possible. If you were promoted within an organisation, separate your roles on your resume so recruiters can see the different job titles and responsibilities for each position.
Separate these roles on your LinkedIn profile, too. A recruiter may look to your LinkedIn profile or other social media to gather more info about you, even if you only sent a resume.
On the back of this tip, here are some of the critical qualities that recruitment agencies often look for:
1. Passion
One of the most essential qualities that a recruiter finds in a candidate is the passion for the work. Recruiters want to hire employees who are passionate about their work, the company they work for, and the product or service they are champion.
All employee qualities are undoubtedly important, but not as important as being passionate about the work. Passion is the trait that makes the most difference in employee output and their commitment to your company. While a dispassionate employee may do their work for a while and get the job done, if they lack passion for the work, they’re missing the key ingredient for sustained, long-term performance.
A passionate employee is more likely to attract customers and do that job better, so if you are passionate about the job you are applying for, the recruiter can sense it.
2. High EQ
Another factor that affects whether a company will hire you is your EQ level. Companies want to hire employees that have high EQ or high emotional quotient. Candidates with low EQ tend to damage the work environment as they demotivate themselves and the other employees. Then the management has to spend a lot of time rectifying this by converting the negative work environment into a positive and zealous environment.
3. Communication
Communication is of utmost importance in any job place, and a candidate with good communication skills is more likely to be hired by the recruiters.
The candidate should be bright and know their way around verbal and nonverbal communication mediums like social media emails, telephonic communication, face to face conversations, and others. This quality helps build good business relations and deal with other functions in an organisation. Even if a candidate gets rejected in the interview, good communication can help them stay connected with the employer for any opportunities in the future.
4. Teamwork
A single person does not run a company, and teamwork is essential, from startups to multinational corporations. No employer likes to hire a candidate who does not do well in working in a team and gets more efficient and faster results. The candidate should be a team player and bring positivity to the work environment.
Candidates often think that their years of experience are the only thing that matters, but they must also remember that having a good track record and experience is what matters.
5. Track record
It was mentioned briefly above but having a good track record where a candidate has outperformed the job and has positive reviews from previous employers always boosts the chances of a candidate being hired for good job positions in the best companies.
So a candidate must always highlight the work they did in the previous companies, what obstacles they faced and what decisions they took to overcome that and all their achievements. This shows the candidates’ capabilities and their credibility.
The bottom line
These qualities will help you make an impression and score more points than your peers as the recruiters want to hire the best candidate in the market for the company.
Suppose you are actively seeking a job or already have a job but may look for a better job position in the future. These are some of the qualities you must develop to land your desired position in a well-reputed company.
Of course, the exact criteria used by recruitment agencies can vary depending on the specific sector or industry they are recruiting for. However, these are some of the main qualities that they will be looking for in general. So if you are hoping to impress a recruitment agency, make sure you highlight these qualities in your application!
Also, if you are a candidate looking for job placement or an employer looking to hire new temporary/permanent staff, head to the Greys website. You can contact us today to learn more about recruiting the most optimal staff for your organisation, as and when needed!
