You can’t go to college and earn a degree in recruiting. It just doesn’t work that way. Usually, what happens is that a person works in a particular industry and /or discipline for a certain amount of time. (Say, between 15 or 20 years or so). Then one day, they decided that instead of being recruited, they want to be the one who does the recruiting.
What’s interesting is that sometimes, a recruiters recruits that person to BE a recruiter. Isn’t it funny how the world works?
Usually, a recruitment agency will hire the person and then provide them with training and education in the form of online courses. These recruitment agency training courses are designed to take the person through every aspect of the profession. The goal, of course, is to help the person become a productive recruiters. And when I say “productive recruiter,” I mean “recruiter who makes a lot of placements and a lot of money for the agency.”
However, recruitment agency training courses can and do take many different forms and serve different functions.
Recruitment courses and certifications
As we’ve mentioned before in the Top Echelon Blog, there are recruitment courses tied to certain certifications. The National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) offers these types of courses. NAPS has been the staffing industry educator since 1961 and enjoys a reputation as the oldest industry association. NAPS offers three main certifications to recruiters:
#1 – Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC)
The CPC was created more than 50 years ago to focus on the work of the direct hire recruiter and consultant and the laws that govern these types of employment transitions.
#2 – Certified Temporary Staffing Specialist (CTS)
The CTS designation followed the CPC to address the emerging work in temporary staffing and the laws that impacted such work. Many individuals in blended practices seek both the CPC and CTS credentials.
#3 – Certified Employee Retention Specialist (CERS)
NAPS created the CERS certification in 2006. The association did so to educate search and staffing professionals in the exemplary employee engagement and retention practices that would allow them to serve in a consulting capacity on matters of this nature with their clients.
Recruiters can earn these certifications through rigorous study and the taking of the appropriate NAPS exams. Please note that these recruiting training courses are voluntary and not mandatory. You do not need a certification to become an agency recruiter. However, becoming certified could conceivably help you to become a more successful agency recruiter. Which leads me seamlessly to my next point . . .
Recruitment training courses: their value
Recruitment agency training courses provide a lot of value. They provide value both for the individual recruiter and also the agency itself. (It’s a win-win!)
In fact, we’ve just discussed some of that value with NAPS and their recruitment courses for certification. When you have a CPC or a CTS or a CERS after your name, it brings you more validity, respectability, and credibility. Does that mean if you don’t have those letters after your name, then you don’t have any of those things? No, that’s not what I’m saying.
No, what I’m saying is that if the hiring manager doesn’t know you from Adam (or Eve), then it might take you longer to create that credibility. Since you don’t have any certifications helping you, that is. You’ll have to build your credibility through results, and fast results, at that.
Below are three other forms of value that recruiting agency training courses offer:
#1—They keep you up to date with current trends and practices.
Recruiting, like everything else in business and in life, is constantly changing. It’s always evolving. This is especially true in the area of technology, which has dramatically altered the recruiting landscape during the past 20 years.
The problem, of course, is that you’re too busy being a recruiter and making placements to notice how being a recruiter is changing. Then one day, you look up and say, “Hey . . . what happened?” Recruitment training courses help you to deal with this. They allow you to tackle the ever-changing nature of the profession without falling behind. Or falling too far behind, anyway.
#2—They help you to focus on the basics and fundamentals of the profession.
Even though the recruiting profession is constantly evolving, especially in terms of technology, it does not mean you can ignore the basics. In fact, the reality is quite the contrary. You should focus even more on the fundamentals in the face of an ever-changing landscape. That’s because all the new, fancy tools and toys might tempt you to “take your eye off the ball.” And when you do that, you stop making placements. Which means you stop making money. Which means you stop making your mortgage payment.
See how quickly this all can spiral out of control?
#3—They help you to streamline and maximize your recruiting desk.
As a recruiter, you want to do things better. You also want to do them more quickly. So in essence, you want to do everything better and more quickly. (But only if doing them better also means doing them more quickly.) That’s because the only thing better than making more placements is making more placements more quickly. It’s like the best of both worlds.
Improving your recruiting desk is literally a never-ending process. You’re never done. You never stand up in the middle of the office and say, “That’s it, everybody! I have finally reached the apex of recruiting knowledge and wisdom. There is no more left for me to learn. You may approach my desk and shower me with praise. No pushing . . . no pushing!”
Recruitment training courses online
It probably goes without saying—but I’m going to say it, anyway—that recruitment training courses are primarily online. Sure, recruiter training does exist offline in various forms, and a lot of that training offers significant value. However, in terms of reaching the maximum amount of people in the shortest amount of time, online recruitment training courses are the way to go.
Online recruitment courses offer the ultimate in terms of flexibility and also preference. This is especially the case if the courses are not live webinars, but recorded videos. Heck, they could be the recorded versions of live webinars. In that scenario, you can watch these online recruitment courses any time you want, wherever you want. (Granted that you have an Internet connection. Of course.)
Here’s the good news: Top Echelon offers online recruitment training courses. In fact, we offer a TON of them by some of the most popular trainers and speakers in the recruiting and staffing profession. They include:
- Greg Doersching
- Barb Bruno
- Jon Bartos
- Shally Steckerl
- Bob Marshall
- Doug Beabout
- Scott Love
- Jordan Rayboy
- Gary Stauble
- Scott Wintrip
These are just 10 of the many trainers who have contributed to our library of online recruitment agency training courses. There are others, as well.
Recruitment agency training courses at your fingertips
Here’s the even better news: these online recruitment courses are literally at your fingertips. That’s because with a few keystrokes, you could start watching them and benefitting from the value they provide right now!
And not only that, but you can also sign up to receive emails for our Recruiter Coaching Series of live webinars. After the webinars are over, we post the recorded version of the webinars on our website. These webinars touch upon a variety of recruiter-related topics dealing with both candidates and clients. So you can visit our online library and:
- Browse our catalog of online recruitment agency training courses.
- Sign up to receive emails about future recruiter training webinars.
Click the link below to visit our online library of recruiter training courses:
Visit our library!
In addition to training and webinars, Top Echelon offers other recruitment solutions. These solutions include the following:
- Big Biller recruitment agency software
- Top Echelon split network
- Top Echelon contract staffing back office
For more information about Top Echelon and the products and services that it offers, visit the Top Echelon website by clicking here.