If you’re thinking about or actively exploring a career as a talent recruiter, you might be interested in knowing some real-world pros and cons of the profession. You might also be interested in the life-changing impacts that talent recruiting is known to have on professionals who choose and thrive in this career.  

Every role has its ups and downs and it’s no different for talent recruiters, whether you’re with a recruiting agency or a company’s in-house talent acquisition team. But what really matters are the results you get for your investment in our industry. And in the world of recruiting, these are many and substantial.  

Is recruiting a good career choice for you? Let us help you decide. Here are some of the pros, cons, and life-changing powers in the exciting and rewarding field as an agency recruiter. 

 

The Pros   

1. Your earning potential can be unlimited  

For recruiters who are good at identifying the right candidates for the right clients, the financial rewards can be substantial. Here are some examples from our recruiting team at Goodwin Recruiting. The average earnings of recruiters who have been with our recruiting firm for 1+ years were $105k per year. The average earnings of our top 25 recruiters in 2022 were $204k. Again, those are averages, representing some impressive numbers!  

Whether you’re motivated to grow your income, or you find the most satisfaction in making great talent matches – or both – the work you put in directly correlates to the amount of money you can earn. In talent recruiting, you have open-ended opportunities to build your desired earnings. 

2. You can create a flexible work schedule 

This is an excellent career for professionals wanting greater work-life balance. Recruiting often allows for a flexible schedule, which opens the door for you to be there for your kids’ events, family holidays, and celebrations. Many recruiters can work remotely and establish their preferred mix of working from home, in the office, and traveling to meet clients and job candidates face-to-face. 

3. You spend your days helping people  

If you enjoy interacting with others and making a positive impact on their lives, you’ll be in your element in your career as a recruiter. This is a people-centric business and you’re the link in bringing clients and job candidates together. In sourcing top talent for employers, you get to help people every day in fulfilling their needs and aspirations. This includes guiding job seekers to the next step in their careers, and helping clients meet staffing needs by finding potential candidates who are great matches for their teams, or simply helping colleagues with questions or issues. 

This is a career in which work, life purpose, and personal happiness coalesce around the spirit of helping and giving. Countless studies have shown that helping others can have a positive impact on overall happiness. This is what recruiting is all about. 

Giving is also good for your health! When you help someone, your brain secretes feel-good chemicals such as these:   

• Serotonin regulates your mood.  

• Dopamine gives you a sense of pleasure.  

• Oxytocin creates a sense of connection with others.  

4. You gain insights into many markets and industries

Talent recruiters often work with a range of clients and job candidates across different industries, gaining in-depth knowledge of specific job markets, industry trends, salary benchmarks, and in-demand skills. This aspect of the profession keeps day-to-day and year-to-year work very interesting, helping you build a broad understanding of different sectors of our economy. In time, you may choose to specialize in specific sectors in which you excel and become known for your insights and expertise. 

 

The Cons

1. You may have no-shows for job interviews

We’ve all heard the term ‘ghosting’ – abruptly ceasing communication with someone. Unfortunately, ghosting has been on the rise in the hiring process among both job applicants and employers during the hiring process. According to a December 2023 report from Indeed, about 78% of job seekers said they had ghosted a prospective employer, up from 68% in 2022 – and 40% of job seekers said an employer had ghosted them after a second- or third-round interview, up from 30% in 2022. This growth is attributed to multiple factors, such as historically low unemployment rates and an abundance of job openings.  

Candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters all want to be treated with respect. It can be very upsetting when ghosting happens, given that you invest a lot of time in coordinating interviews between your clients and job candidates – not to mention the embarrassment when somebody doesn’t show up.  

At Goodwin Recruiting, we assist clients and our recruiters in how to decrease interview ghosting by using technology to their advantage (calendar sharing and reminder notifications), maintaining strong communications, simplifying the interview process, and treating others with respect. 

2. You need to tell candidates when they don’t get the job 

This is easily one of the most difficult parts of recruiting. No compassionate recruiter wants to tell a candidate they didn’t get their dream job. It’s a tough conversation to have with someone you believe in and with whom you have built a relationship. But being there for our candidates is a big part of what we do. We work hard to keep those candidates top of mind when new opportunities arise that are a great match for their skill set.  

In anticipation of times like this, it’s smart to have alternate opportunities in mind for candidates during the recruitment process, no matter how promising a particular job opening may seem, because decisions in a company’s hiring process can turn on a dime. 

3. Competition can be fierce  

There’s a lot of competition out here in the field of talent acquisition. You may find other recruiters trying to woo clients and candidates with whom you work or are trying to build a relationship. However, remember that recruiting is a people-centric business – and it’s built on trust. Both clients and candidates develop loyalties to recruiters who invest in their best interests and go the extra mile in helping them achieve their goals.  

You will see competition diminish when you focus on building a strong recruiting network and talent pool, and a history of recruiting success with your clients and candidates.

 

The life-changing outcomes of talent recruiting  

Now that we’ve run through the pros and cons of being a recruiter, let’s review the most important piece…the life-changing aspects of talent recruiting as a career path. 

1. You will meet wonderful people along the way  

Recruiters have meaningful, in-depth conversations with clients and job candidates every day. By getting to meet them face-to-face and learn about their goals, aspirations, and dreams, you’ll create an amazing network, have rewarding experiences, and build potentially lifelong relationships along the way.   

2. You will positively impact countless lives   

Through your interactions with hiring managers and other human resources professionals, they’ll come to rely on you for help in the recruitment process and in staffing critical roles. And when you help them win, you win. They’ll keep coming back to you for your recruiting expertise and pool of top talent.

Your job candidates will benefit from your expertise as well. They will look to you for career guidance, coaching, and job opportunities that you know are right for their experience and skills. You will become their trusted advocate for making lifelong moves along their career path. 

3. You will be able to make a difference in the world of DEI  

Just like hiring managers, talent recruiters are on the front lines in helping to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workforce. We have conversations with clients about this because we know that talent diversity fuels creativity, innovation, problem-solving, and profitability. We also talk about DEI with job seekers as many want to join companies with diverse, fair, and welcoming work environments. For these job seekers, DEI initiatives are must-haves in a potential employer.  

This initiative is so important at Goodwin Recruiting and our talent recruiters. DEI is one of our company’s core values. We also created Workplace Resources – A Guide to Equity to help employers create environments in which everyone, regardless of their background, can perform at their best and help their organizations succeed. 

4. You will help your clients succeed and grow 

Skilled talent recruiters serve as partners in their clients’ success, helping them find and hire the best candidates who are great fits for their company culture and positively impact the bottom line. Every talent search conducted by a recruiting agency has unique requirements. Many require creative solutions and strategic thinking. This aspect of recruiting is intellectually stimulating and rewarding!  

When you help clients build the right teams during the hiring process, you create success for them immediately and for years to come. It’s gratifying to see clients we’ve worked with for years find continued success due to the excellent teams they built with our help in sourcing top talent. This kind of gratification is in store for you, too. 

 

Create financial success and personal happiness in recruiting  

The recruiting world allows you to focus on helping others, and in helping others, you find a sense of purpose, meaning, and happiness. Talent recruiting can truly be one of the most fulfilling careers you will ever have. 

If you’re interested in exploring the opportunity of becoming a recruiter, or if you’re already one but looking for a change of scenery, reach out to our team today. Goodwin Recruiting is a Forbes Best Recruiting Company with recruiting partners located nationwide. 

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” — Booker T. Washington