Upskilling Your Resume Between Recruiting Jobs

This article about remaining active between recruiting jobs first appeared in August 2020. All copy and sources have been updated to reflect new information as of June 2022.

For everyone, recruiters included, being between jobs can be a very stressful experience. Aside from the obvious detriments of not being employed, you can also lose the sense of your role in the workforce and what you are inherently driven to do. 

Recruiters are often in high demand, and for good reason, as recruiters (in our slightly biased opinion) make the talent acquisition world go ‘round. If you find yourself in between recruiting jobs and are looking for steps to make sure you are adding value to your resume, keep reading to see some of our most valuable tips.

Find Opportunities to Reskill

If you find yourself in between recruiting jobs, take inventory of your skills and other marketable traits desired by hiring teams. In the wake of COVID-19, opportunities to gain skills virtually and from home have skyrocketed. Plus, the industry is ever-changing, so you probably need to brush up on the current landscape and forecasted trends. 

While nearly no one looks forward to a gap in their employment, you can capitalize on this time to take your career in recruiting to the next level. When looking for ways to add to your abilities, you must acknowledge your existing strengths and weaknesses.

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An excellent way to call attention to these is by looking at some of your recent accomplishments and even failures. It can definitely be uncomfortable to look at yourself through a critical employer lens, but through that discomfort comes valuable insights and actionable first steps.

Something to keep in mind as you assess your recent performance and pinpoint what you want to improve is the difference between hard skills and soft skills. Without a doubt, all of these skills are relevant, but the distinction is noteworthy.

Here are some popular skills for an average recruiter in 2022:

Soft skills:

• Relationship-building
• Teamwork
• Empathic communication
• Reliability
• Active listening

Hard skills: 

• Marketing and sales skills
• Technological savvy
• Social media
• Event networking
• Negotiation skills

Sharpen Your Focus

While you are in between recruiting jobs, it’s very likely you want to analyze the most recent industry you came from and if you want to keep pursuing a recruiting position in that market. 

For many, it’s an easy question to answer as they love the niche they’ve found in recruiting and want to stay there. However, being in-between positions lends you the unique opportunity to look very closely at your interests and what industry your ideal position is in. 

Figure out your recruiting passion! Are you an aviation enthusiast who wants to recruit for airlines and manufacturers? Could you see yourself spending hours buried in healthcare resumes without skipping a beat? The answers to these questions will be different for everyone, but how you answer can dictate the next step in your career. 

Once you’ve pinpointed an industry or market of interest, it’s time to speak to some talent acquisition professionals who have been in your shoes. Reach out to people in your chosen industry whose careers you admire and ask questions. Ask questions about how they got to where they are, what advice they would give to someone just starting out, or even just what they love about their job.

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Recruiters, as you probably well know, are social creatures. Don’t be afraid to reach out and build these relationships as you embark on your journey to secure your next recruiting position. Plus, you’ll never know what opportunities these TA leaders might have up their sleeves!

Finally, make a shortlist of positions or companies you are interested in. Even if it’s just a preliminary list, you can scour these organizations’ websites and social media to determine what common themes you are seeing in desirable places of work. Likely, you’ll be able to see overarching characteristics in either the job descriptions or companies that you want to take note of as “must-haves” in your job search.

Know Your Value, Then Add Tax

In your search, it might be easy to forget the current value of a recruiter. We’re here to remind you that the need for recruiters is skyrocketing. What you bring to the table is crucial and hard to replace – never lose sight of that!

While you are waiting for your next assignment or figuring out your next move, why not sign up as a Sourcer on Visage’s platform and keep your brain active by sourcing positions from Director of Cyber Security in San Fran to Senior Managers in Switzerland?

We know you will get a full-time position (it’s only a matter of time), but hiring managers will be looking for that “extra something” that will separate you from the competition. Being able to show that you stayed busy with a side hustle while looking for your new permanent position might be just enough to convince them that you’re the right person! 

Overall, be confident in your abilities as a recruiter and be proud of the work you’ve done to take your career to the next level. While competitors in similar positions might not have utilized time between jobs at all, you capitalized on this opportunity and made yourself stronger. 

No matter what circumstances brought you to a gap between recruiting jobs, what you do with the time you have is what matters most. After going through some action items you can implement, we know that there are ways to boost your resume and add to your already existing arsenal of skills while in between recruiting jobs.

Ready to change your sourcing game? See Visage’s platform in action and discover the difference it can make for your team. Schedule a demo today to figure out how we can help boost your recruiting strategies.