#MyHRDiary: My Recruitment Journey (Part 2)

Welcome to another episode of my HR Diary. I started this series to take you through part of my HR Journey by sharing real life experiences and stories that would help you in your own career journey.

When I started my HR Career in a Consulting firm, I was more excited when it got to Recruitment Projects which my bosses took note of and put me more in Recruitment briefs.

One of the key traits of a Recruiter is the ability to build and penetrate through a network. Building a network is beyond knowing how to use LinkedIn, Relationship Building is an integral part of effective networking.

Back to my story, I was to recruit Mooring Masters for a Marine firm in Nigeria. That was the first time I’ve ever heard of that role and Profession. I was a relatively young graduate with less than a year experience and I was to recruit a HIGHLY technical role with decades of experience and the candidates were my father’s age mate.

At that time, I was confused. My boss already brought in an external highly Experienced technical Recruiter because they didn’t think I could handle such an Experienced role especially because I was new and didn’t have a network but they somewhat took a chance on me and put me on the project.

Guess what! I didn’t just pull it off, I even brought in more and qualified candidates than the external Recruiter. So, what helped me and how did I pull off that magic! I would partially call it luck.

I managed to lay my hands on just one Professional in that field and I built a superb relationship with him and that was IT.

This role is a scarce role and they practically all know themselves in Nigeria and most have moved abroad. I found a way to permeate their network and was exposed to the talent world of mooring Masters. Because I knew these people were senior people, the way I related with them made them fall in love with me and they ensured I got all the support I needed.

Even though I’ve grown beyond Talent Acquisition into a Business Partnering Role, I’m never scared of any Recruitment task I have to do because when I think of how I managed to pull of that project, I tell myself that there is no network I cannot find my way into. All I need is just one person

Never underestimate the power of building relationships because that may be your ticket to exceeding your next KPI.  Treat every talent well and don’t see yourself as a ‘god’. Finding ‘real talents’ is not easy. Most of them are not on job boards. When you intentionally build a network that can refer good people to you, then your job is easier

Finally, remember that you’re only 6 people away from anyone in the world.