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What a recruiter does
A recruiter connects organisations with people who can fill their roles. The work covers understanding what a role needs, sourcing candidates, screening applications, coordinating interviews and supporting both sides through to an offer.
Recruiters may work in-house, within a staffing agency, or as part of a talent team. The role balances the employer’s requirements with a positive, fair experience for candidates, and relies on clear communication throughout.
Core responsibilities
- Clarifying role requirements with hiring managers.
- Writing adverts and sourcing candidates through various channels.
- Screening applications and conducting initial conversations.
- Coordinating interviews and gathering feedback.
- Keeping candidates informed throughout the process.
- Supporting offers, references and the move to onboarding.
- Maintaining accurate, compliant candidate records.
Skills and qualities
- Strong communication and relationship-building.
- Active listening to understand roles and candidates.
- Organisation and the ability to manage many tasks at once.
- Fair, unbiased assessment and good judgement.
- Comfort with applicant-tracking and sourcing tools.
- Resilience and persistence in a fast-moving role.
- Discretion when handling personal data.
Typical employers and settings
- In-house talent and HR teams.
- Staffing and recruitment agencies.
- Recruitment process outsourcing providers.
- Search and selection firms.
- Workforce matching and hiring-support platforms.
How the role is recruited
- Roles are advertised directly or filled through recruiters and agencies.
- Screening reviews a CV, recruitment experience and tooling familiarity, plus right to work.
- Interviews explore communication, judgement and candidate handling.
- Some processes include a role-play or practice screening call.
- Onboarding covers systems, hiring policies and the roles being filled.
Documents involved
- A job description outlining the recruiter’s scope and channels.
- A CV showing relevant recruitment experience.
- An employment contract including confidentiality and data-handling terms.
- An offer letter confirming role, level and start date.
- Right-to-work and identity checks as required.
- An onboarding checklist for systems and policies.
Create a professional CV
Where this work touches candidates or career moves, a clean, current resume helps. People can build and update one with the HELPERG CV Builder.
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