Discover Important HR Recruiter Roles and Responsibilities for 2024

There are different types of HR recruiters - in-house, agency, and contingency. But the main HR recruiter roles and responsibilities include creating recruitment strategies, sourcing candidates, screening resumes, interviewing applicants, negotiating job offers, and tracking hiring metrics. Explore how you can become one. 

An HR recruiter fulfils the staffing function of management by creating job descriptions, sourcing talent through databases, developing recruitment strategies, and more. Explore the top recruiter roles and responsibilities below. 

Before that, you may want to read about the concept of recruitment. 

Who is a Recruiter?

A recruiter is a data-driven human resources personnel involved in the entire recruiting cycle. Their job description is to attract candidates who are suitable for an organisation. They must be aware of the recent company vacancies and the new roles that will help the company in the long run. 

As an HR recruiter, one must have great interpersonal skills and be able to analyse details. They also must know how to evaluate skills to suggest to the company why the candidate is fit for the role. 

Before moving on to HR recruiter roles and responsibilities, look into the types of this designation. 

Further Reading

Types of HR Recruiters

There are different types of HR recruiters to know about when you look for job openings for recruiters on many platforms. 

• In-House Recruiter – One who is part of the organisation’s HR department. They work on both finding candidates and promoting employees internally in the company. 
• Agency Recruiter -. An agency recruiter works for many different companies at the same time. They may be a part of different agencies across industries, including technology, software, healthcare, or similar. 
• Contingency Recruiter – These professionals are only paid when someone is successfully hired. 

HR Recruiter Roles and Responsibilities

These are the main roles and responsibilities of a recruiter. 

• Create recruitment strategies with hiring managers to determine the skills, qualifications, and experience needed for the role.
• Update job descriptions per the growing requirements of the job or a new role.
• Employ various methods to source and attract potential candidates. This is about posting job advertisements, searching job boards and databases, attending job fairs, utilising social media platforms, and networking.
• Screen candidates by reviewing resumes, cover letters, and applications to shortlist the potential employees
• Create and maintain a database of candidates and those who left the organisation
• Administer aptitude tests or similar to assess the candidate’s soft skills
• Conduct interviews in person or use video conferencing software
• Maintain clear communication with the potential candidates throughout the hiring process
• Negotiate terms and conditions such as compensation, benefits, and facilitate the onboarding process
• Provide reports to the HR management team after tracking metrics, including time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and quality of hire. 

What is Required to Become an HR Recruiter?

Academically, the recruiter needs to have an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in any field. Ideally, recruitment courses with certifications can be a quick career starter. 

Apart from problem-solving, analytical, and ethical knowledge, here are the top skills that companies look for when hiring recruiters. 

Communication Skills

The recruiter has to constantly and effectively interact with new candidates on a day-to-day basis. By understanding the candidate’s background, they must be able to negotiate and discuss terms. 

Sales Skills

A recruiter should be able to persuade the candidate to join the company once they know how suitable they are. They should be able to highlight the opportunities for growth. 

Time Management 

The candidate should be able to manage time while conducting interviews, sourcing candidates, coordinating the hiring process with candidates and managers. 

Software Skills

The recruiter is required to know about recruitment tools such as job aggregators, applicant tracking systems, recruitment CRMs, candidate management systems, and social media management tools. 

Parting Thoughts

So these are the main roles and responsibilities of an HR recruiter. You can also consider taking up HR management courses, and similar.