Karen Rants: The best recruiters have Add/HD
Unfortunately there are no personality or assessment tests to determine the great qualities of a Recruiter/Sourcer, yet the question often is asked, what traits make up the ideal recruiter. My personal Observation, is that a Super Star recruiter definitely has tendencies of ADD/HD
Why you ask? Well because we tend to be:
- Loners
- Farmers AND Hunters at the same time (mixed lot)
- Intense individuals
- Very Creative individual willing to think outside the box
- Highly insightful/intuitive - especially regarding the human psyche
- Hyper-thinkers
- Spontaneous problem solvers
- Impulsive
- Have a reputation for being daydreamers
- need for flexibility
- receptive to new ideas and experiences
- ADD/HD people are Very gifted
- Aptitude for small business entrepreneurship
- Easily Distracted yet at other times become intensely interested in what they do - one project at a time.. and can easily become so engrossed that they lose concept of time and surroundings, and then turn around and become just as easily bored soon after - diverted attention.
- Yet can still be the best in multi tasking
- Great procastinators
- Adapt to new concepts and get the gist of information easily
I see also really interesting parallels to job history (many have issues with job hoppers) - if a company requires unstimulated, repetitive, and a highly structured environment there can be issues of rebelling.. Maybe that is why there are so many independent recruiters or that recruiters do well working from home via telecommuting?
I see Recruiters as Mavericks in their own right - yet they also really do well in this environment, as this is a job that really does depend on intuition and an ability to adapt well to new situations consistently..
I am not a psychologist, never been one, this is just my personal perception over the years.. what do you guys think?
Karen M.
***
ABOUT KAREN MATTONEN, CAC, CSP
Karen is an experienced, successful recruiter who operates her own business and is actively involved in many industry organizations and activities. Her recruiting career began with Snelling Corporation. In 1998, after a successful tenure as a recruiter with Snelling, Karen struck out on her own, founding Advanced Career Solutions (ACS). ACS focuses on recruiting for the HVAC Industry. Karen has achieved accreditation as a California Accredited Consultant (CAC) through California Staffing Professionals. She has also gained her Certified Staffing Professional Certificate (CSP) through American Staffing Professionals. (www.americanstaffing.net)
Karen has a new and future-oriented vision of what recruiting can and should become: a profession we can be proud of for its ethical standing, professional conduct and ability to build great organizations. Her doing-well-by-doing-right philosophy is shaking up the status quo in an industry that needs to be shaken. She does this with conviction, leadership, and a distinctive voice that cries out for change.
Karen was a co-creator of the landmark webinar event – “EEOC Discrimination Debate.” This event featured senior members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and staffing industry experts discussing and debating difficult issues about discrimination in today’s workplace environment. Company executives, hiring managers, recruiters, and human resource professionals from across the United States were invited to participate in the free Webinar and live panel discussion. Karen also served as one of the panelists on the discussion team in the March, 2006 event.
As co-host of the popular podcast “The Recruiters Lounge,”Karen discusses her frank opinions on the recruitment industry with her co-host, Jim Stroud
.
Nothing says "Thanks for posting this Jim!" like Starbucks Coffee. Click here to buy me a cup (or two).If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Absolutely, Right on the button.
My immediate supervisor and I made this comment about a year ago and we are both proud to claim being a members of this club.
The hardest part about working with people like me is making sure we stay excited about the work and appreciated for our efforts. If a manager fails to do this the recruiter will lose focus and interest.
I am a Virtual Technical Recruiter. I have never been as happy as I am now. Working from home, doing what I love and making my client extremely happy with my work.
Thank you Karen for this great article.
Bill Gallop
JOB HUNTER, LLC.
Hi Jeremy,
thanks for bringing Rob’s excellent article to our attention. It is quite a coincidence. Great minds 
I orginally wrote this piece on ERE in two of their groups back in 2006. The orginal was a post, and the second time was a response.
Unfortunately I am unable to provide a link as ERE has been blocking me access to my own articles,
(I would of course hope that according to DMCA that they are not editing my articles)
but thankfully I had saved this one in particular and wanted to share
Thanks again for leading us to Rob’s post. It was VERY good!
Karen Mattonen
Wow, the wonders of the internet. I received the following link in my email today
http://www.ere.net/erenetwork/groups/posting.asp?LISTINGID={B289794E-F88B-4E2F-8F6A-0C69796C36DC} this is the location of the orginal post
RE: Criteria for promotion to recruiter
posted 10/9/2006 at 7:45 p.m. PT (Recruiter Leadership Forum Group)
It is a VERY Interesting string…
Yes! yes! yes! Love it. I am sure I am only echoing the thousands of recruiters and account managers who are shouting this (while eating lunch, while sourcing online, while checking their voicemail)as they read your post. At the risk of sounding like a prude, it’s pretty important to ensure that people understand that ADD and ADHD are actual impairments that make sufferers very unhappy if left untreated.
While I’m talking, if the pharm companies are listening, why would you give an ADHD person a medication that must be taken daily? What a pain! I never remember.
Wow, The mighty power of the internet..lol! Glad you were able to get your own work back to you via an email with link.
Anyhow, I definately fit your description. I find myself currently struggling because I do have a great current employer, but the challenge isnt here at the moment. (I filled too many reqs darn it!) For a person with these qualities (and annoyances depending which side of HR you are on) it is a struggle at times when you dont feel challenged and the need for it is beyond intense. (and only those with the same issue can understand.)At some point I think what each of us with this drive has to recon with, and I am currently, is when is it worth staying at a company for the money (which is good) and when is it ok to leave because the challenge isnt there (and maybe not make as much someplace else)?
Anyhow, Great topic to discuss!
Amie Ernst
Karen,
Great observations. I think that “multi-tasking” is just another way of saying “Attention Deficit Disorder”. The key to being successful with an ADD mind in Recruiting/Sourcing is that the really GREAT folks know how to compartmentalize the data and refer back to it and call it up when needed, as well as having a “high touch/high tech” personality, utilizing old school relationship building techniques with all the tech tools that we have at our disposal today.
Philise Conein, CEO
TECHEAD