More and more companies are opening up their doors to a virtual recruiter job. This is, in fact, becoming a trend across all industries these days. But how do you become one?
Most remote workers especially the ones who do not have full-time jobs spend their days finding work from home gigs. The process never ends until you find a new one once your current gig runs out. There are lucky days when you get to find a big client who sticks with you for a long time, but at other times, it’s otherwise.
But of all the many remote works available online, there’s this one career path that has become more common and widespread over the last few years — and that is virtual recruiting.
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With the advent of digital technology and the internet, it is not surprising that even recruitment work can now be done right in the comfort of your home. Even so, that companies are opening up their doors to virtual recruiters – after all this setup allows them to save a lot of money.
Some would probably find this crazy, but hey, the world is changing and every industry needs to adapt to such change.
Here’s a fun fact, in an article published by Forbes, it says that back in 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 55 million people in the United States are actually “gig workers”. Gig workers are generally the ones working as freelancers, which include remote workers. The number is more than 35% of the total U.S. workforce. BLS even projected that by this year, it will jump by 43%. Imagine, that’s almost half of the total number of working people in the country!
Then again, it is not surprising because of the increasing demand for work from home workers today plus the growing number of companies providing remote jobs.
So, going back to virtual recruiting, if you have experience in this field or you are someone who would like to try out something new in this kind of job, then, this one’s for you. Because today, we are going to talk about how to become a virtual recruiter.
Specifically, we are going to tackle the following:
- What virtual recruiting is all about?
- What is a virtual recruiter?
- What are the responsibilities of a virtual recruiter?
- What are the requirements to be a virtual recruiter?
- How much does a virtual recruiter make?
- How to establish a virtual recruiting career?
- Where to find virtual recruiter jobs online?
WHAT VIRTUAL RECRUITING IS ALL ABOUT?
Virtual recruiting or also known as online recruiting is a process that is fone through the use of web-based applications as well as resources. Virtual recruiting comes with two elements — the client and the candidate or applicant.
The clients basically refer to the hiring companies. They are the ones looking for people to fill in empty posts in their companies or teas. Meanwhile, candidates refer to individuals who are looking for jobs.
Information about both clients and candidates can usually be found through specialized online databases and other virtual reference materials.
Virtual recruiting is matching the right people to the company through the use of online platforms. It’s just like how you do it in an actual office setup sans the actual in-person meet-up. So, everything — the processes that are involved in recruiting a new member of a team or company — is done online.
Over time virtual recruiting has become a thing among companies. Again, thanks to the digital technology for making this possible. For most companies, hiring a virtual recruiter instead of an in-house recruiter is a better choice as it helps them save time and money. More so, virtual recruiting take much time of the routine process and then streamlines it with the use of technology.
In the current job market, employers have more access to different candidates from all over the world — which means they are no longer restricted to hiring people within their areas or countries. Today, they can hire excellent professionals wherever they may be from in the world. Thanks to recruiting software, social media, and of course, major job boards.
If you are really serious about landing a virtual recruiter job, we thought this video by Tetyana Tania may help. Here she shares about some pros and cons of working in the recruitment industry. Hit the play button to watch the whole thing.
WHAT IS A VIRTUAL RECRUITER?
A virtual recruiter refers to the person who is responsible for recruiting qualified candidates to the company. Obviously, a virtual recruiter works virtually — meaning, wherever she wants to work or wherever she may be in the world.
Technology has played a very important role in why innovations such as this emerged — innovative solutions that made life and company operations simpler and so much easier.
As a virtual recruiter, instead of conducting face-to-face interviews, you use technological progress like social media, occupational portal sites, as well as recruitment software to find the right candidate for your employer or client.
They still do face-to-face interviews through video conferencing platforms like Google Hangouts, Face Time, Skype, and other online channels to be able to pre-screen candidates before handling the final shortlist to the employer.
Virtual recruiters have become really in demand over the years. As mentioned, by hiring work from home or telecommuting recruiters, companies get to save a lot of time and money and their overall company resources.
WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A VIRTUAL RECRUITER?
There is totally nothing different from what a virtual recruiter does compare to a traditional or in-house recruiter apart from doing online interviews.
As a virtual recruiter, your main objective is the same as any other recruiters out there — that is to help your employer fill vacancies with talented job seekers or candidates. You basically act as a liaison between the potential candidate and the employer, helping the employer to narrow down the field of applicants or candidates to the most qualified, and in return, help individuals find the right company for them.
Since technically, you are not in the office, your job requires you to give regular updates on the status of your search to your employer via emails, phone calls, or online portals.
To be more specific, here are some of the common responsibilities of a virtual recruiter:
- Communicating with your client or employer as well as reviewing job descriptions to ensure that you shortlist the right candidates
- Writing detailed and clear job descriptions, and posting them across online job boards to attract job seekers
- Following up as soon as possible with potential hires
- Fostering solid professional relationships with potential applicants
- Screening candidates, as well as scheduling online interviews
- Developing new recruitment strategies for your employer along with the Recruitment Manager (if available)
- Writing guide questions for interviews
- Responding to inquiries about the available post in an efficient and polite manner
- Assisting with onboarding duties to ensure a smooth transition process
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO BE A VIRTUAL RECRUITER?
When aiming to become a virtual recruiter, you have to make sure that you qualify for the post. This helps you have an advantage among other candidates. Basically, you have to read thoroughly the job skills requirements of a job post, and with all honesty, assess yourself if you think you are a perfect fit for the position. This helps you save time and energy, too!
Now, to give you an idea, some of the common requirements for a virtual recruiter job includes:
- Excellent communication skills
- Excellent listening skills
- Excellent writing skills
- Data-driven focus
- Confident
- Educational attainment (most companies prefer a degree holder in HR or communications)
- Industry specialization and training a plus factor
- Professional and Ethical
- Has excellent time management skills
- Self-motivated
- Computer literate
- Internet savvy with knowledge on the latest trends in recruitment, as well as social networking and other passive recruiting techniques
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Ability to handle different tasks simultaneously
In addition to the above list, some companies prefer hiring virtual recruiters who have previous recruitment experience.
Furthermore, as a virtual recruiter, you must:
- Always stay in learning mode, particularly, paying attention to industry or job trends to act as a reliable and true consultant to your clients
- Understand that job listing sites candidates only represent 20% of the possible workforce, and that most candidates are either currently employed or are not visible on the online job boards
- Understand what we call as baby boomer generation, as well as the looming labor shortages
- Know your metrics and must be able to adjust them to achieve the best result possible
- Keep up to date on industry trends and innovative recruiting techniques
- Always be involved in training and workshops to be better at what you do and acquire new industry knowledge
Since we are talking about online work, as a prerequisite, you will have to have the following technical requirements:
- A high-speed internet connection
- A reliable laptop computer
- An excellent headphone for interview purposes
- Recruitment software
So, if you have all these (or most of these), then, it only means you are ready to compete in the virtual recruiting industry.
HOW MUCH DOES A VIRTUAL RECRUITER MAKE?
To be honest, a virtual recruiter job is one of the many competitive online jobs, which is very evident with how much one makes annually.
According to ZipRecruiter, as of January 2020, the annual average virtual recruiter salary in the United States is $81,102. It can be as low as $23,000 per year mostly for beginners, and can go up to $259,500 a year! That’s pretty huge!
You see, it is no wonder why more and more people are becoming interested in starting up a career in virtual recruitment. There is so much to expect in this industry – salary-wise.
HOW TO ESTABLISH A VIRTUAL RECRUITING CAREER?
Having said that, let’s move on to how one establishes a virtual recruiting career.
– Study.
Of course, the first step in this career field is to study. As mentioned earlier, most companies prefer virtual recruiters who have earned a degree either in Human Resource or Communication.
However, the industry is not limited to just having a degree. Some companies may consider individuals who earned other degrees but have gone through a crash or short course on Human Resource.
You see, at the end of the day, what matters to employers is your capability and your knowledge about the job. Of course, your skills are highly taken into account as well.
We highly recommend though, if you say, for instance, you have not earned a degree in HR or Communication, but you wanted to pursue this kind of career, to put up your own virtual recruitment business, which we can tackle in a different post.
– Choose the path you want to take.
As a virtual recruiter, you have two career path choices — either you work independently or you work for an agency. If you choose, for instance, the latter, this means you will be solely responsible for building up the business structure from the accounting system to the company name.
For such a career path, you will need a stable internet connection, subscriptions, as well as recruitment software, which are all going to be really helpful in the whole process. Also, consider researching online for you to get more ideas. The internet has so many references for you to read and learn from.
– Build up your virtual recruiting career.
To be a successful virtual recruiter, you have to have the right tools with you. Apart from recruitment software, which we earlier mentioned, you may also consider subscribing to job boards, and investing on a website. If you opt to work independently, you will have to purchase all the tools you need before you even start your virtual recruitment career. Otherwise, if you are working for an agency, everything will be provided to you.
Some of the common job boards in the US are Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, ZoomInfo, as well as RocketRecruiting. These sites will help you keep track of all potential candidates, job orders, clients, hiring managers, as well as marketing activities.
– Set your price.
Just like in any job or profession, whether it be online or offline, you have to come up with your salary rate. Of course, the rate varies depending on your career path choice.
Some tips that can help you when it comes to business pricing are — in direct hiring, you may charge a certain percentage of your candidate’s first salary. Usually, this ranges from 15 to 35% of the candidate’s salary.
Meanwhile, if you decide to work for an agency, the chances are high that your monthly pay rate will be set for yours. But don’t worry, you can always negotiate anyway, which is why it is important that you yourself know how much your work is worth.
– Never stop learning.
The industry is competitive – we’ve said that a couple of times already. And because it is competitive, you have to ensure you are always ahead of everyone else. And you do that? Continuously learn.
Know the latest industry trends and techniques by always being on a lookout for training or workshops or short online courses related to human resources, and specifically virtual recruitment.
Subscriptions are one way to always stay up to date as well.
Again, never stop learning. Always seek for new learnings. This is the key to become successful and be able to become a well-established virtual recruiter.
WHERE TO FIND VIRTUAL RECRUITER JOBS ONLINE?
Now that you already know what virtual recruiting is, and some of the basic information about becoming a virtual recruiter, let’s move on to the most exciting part — knowing where exactly to look for a virtual recruiter job online.
Some sites where you can find virtual recruiter jobs online are:
Indeed – Indeed is one of the major online job boards that provide a variety of online job opportunities including virtual recruitment jobs. It is an American worldwide employment-related job listing site that was launched back in 2004.
LinkedIn – LinkedIn is one of the most popular social networking sites among companies and professionals. Primarily serves as a platform to network with people of your field, LinkedIn also provides job opportunities from different companies worldwide.
ZipRecruiter – ZipRecruiter is an American employment marketplace, which caters to both employers and job seekers. The company’s main office is based in Santa Monica, California, but it also has offices in other countries like the United Kingdom and Israel.
Simply Hired – The company is another search engine platform that provides job opportunities like a virtual recruiter. The company, which was launched in 2003 is based in Sunnyvale, California.
Again, these are just some of the many other online sites where you can find virtual recruiter job opportunities.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON VIRTUAL RECRUITER
It’s amazing how technology has changed today’s recruitment process. Today, recruitment has definitely become more convenient not just for the recruiter itself but also for job seekers. It’s safe to say that, with the current recruitment trend, it allows both the company and the job seeker to save time and money.
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