Call Yourself A Recruiter?

So. Call yourself a recruiter?

I don’t mean that in a sneering or belligerent way, no suggestion that I’m looking down my nose at your recruitment expertise (or lack thereof).

No. I’m just rephrasing a question that caught my attention on LinkedIn earlier this week, a question posed by a “Senior Recruiter” in California who was clearly undergoing a period of existential angst over her moniker within her chosen profession.

Clearly my eye was not the only one caught, as the comments approach the 1,000 mark at time of writing.

It reminded me of a time earlier in my career, when I was perhaps less confidently bombastic about my title of Recruiter, and my nascent position within the recruitment industry. I’d suffered a few tuts and eye-rolls at various backyard BBQ gatherings when declaring what I did when asked by others. So much so that when, after a business networking event in Auckland, one of the event’s speakers, a well-known voice in the media and marketing industry, asked me the dreaded question, I responded “I’m a recruiter…” but accompanied the declaration with what I considered to be the appropriate level of self-deprecating embarrassment, as if steeling myself for his scorn.

His response surprised me. He perked up and asked why I said it like that? Why act all ashamed of it? Being a recruiter is great and you should be proud of it.

I later found out that he was married to an in-house recruitment manager, which probably influenced his response somewhat, but it also probably helped educate his response too. We all know how easy it is to lambast recruiters. We sit in the middle of two emotional humans and unless perfect unity and harmony is engineered between those two parties then it’s the recruiter who gets the stick.

We’re easy targets, and because more often than not that perfect unity and harmony is not actually achieved then we suffer plenty of stick. Little wonder, then, that there are those who choose to deal with this by attempting to distance themselves from their recruiter title.  Some of the suggestions in the comments above are pretty standard and expected, but some swing much more towards the preposterous (or genius?) that I have to give mention to some here:

• Resource Procurement Specialist
• Labour Pimp
• Head Collector
• Talent acquisitions engineer
• Career Broker
• Vocation Enabler
• Happiness Enabler
• Talent Prospector
• Possibilities Coach
• Professional Engagement Aquisiter
• Executive Conscriptor
• Dreammaker

Laugh / Cry / Vomit [delete as appropriate].

Seriously though, make sure to remind yourself of the awesome work you are capable of doing as a recruiter, and be proud to display that job title. Ever since that interaction with the event speaker many years ago, I’ve never shied away from proudly declaring myself as a recruiter since.

One of the best ways to remind yourself of the awesome people within the recruitment industry, and to discover ways to make you an even better recruiter, is at the annual Recruiter Hub conferences RHUBNZ.  The next one is fast approaching on 21st November here in Auckland and some tickets still remain.  Check out the awesome line up of speakers and get yourself a discount by entering the code:

RHUBRICE

Despite sounding like a dodgy massage parlour, that code will in fact get you 10% off!  Hopefully see you there.