Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
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Recruiting Coordinator
Recruiting coordinators: the superheroes of the talent acquisition world. Read on to understand the tremendous value recruiting coordinators bring to the hiring process.
What is a Recruiting Coordinator?
Who is the recruiting coordinator? Your best friend, your lifesaver, your impact maker, and game changer! A recruiting coordinator guides and supports both candidates and recruiters through the interview and onboarding process.
Responsibilities of a Recruiting Coordinator
Depending on the organization, the responsibilities of a recruiting coordinator may vary. Some recruiting coordinators help facilitate early in the process to get candidates into recruiting. Some recruiting coordinators may specifically focus on helping recruiters schedule candidates throughout the interview process. Other recruiting coordinators may specialize in helping onboard candidates once an offer of employment has been made. Recruiting coordinators may specialize in one part of the hiring process or may be involved throughout the entire process. A recruiting coordinator will probably not perform all of the responsibilities below because this list encompasses a broad spectrum of responsibilities that may be included.
Manage Job Postings
Recruiters will usually create the job requisitions to be posted and then the recruiting coordinator will post the jobs to the careers site and other job boards. Managing the job postings takes that responsibility off a recruiter’s plate which frees up their time to work with candidates.
Screen Resumes
Based on the qualifications, competencies, requirements, and parameters laid out by the recruiter from an intake meeting, a recruiting coordinator can initially screen applications for the right fit. Screening applications allows the recruiter to spend time working on the best fit applications and candidates.
Initial Screening
Most job requisitions contain basic information that can be screened to ensure candidates who meet the right qualifications are moving through the interview process and meeting with hiring managers. These initial screens typically act as a filtering process so the candidates who move through will be pre-qualified and the recruiter can spend their time focusing on more in-depth situations and behaviors.
Schedule Interviews
Scheduling interviews for candidates may be the most common responsibility of a recruiting coordinator. Scheduling interviews can be a time-consuming process. The time it takes to schedule interviews can be greatly decreased by giving someone responsibility to coordinate calendars.
Facilitate Onsite Interviews
The recruiting coordinator may not be the one conducting the onsite interviews but it is common for them to facilitate. They will likely be the one to initially greet the candidate when they arrive, check them in according to the specified check-in process, give them a tour of the building or facility, and make sure they get to the right place to interview. After the interview, they make sure the candidate finds their way to the exit.
Send Job Offers
Once a recruiter or hiring manager has extended a verbal job offer to a candidate, the recruiting coordinator is often in charge of sending the written job offer. This allows the recruiter to spend time working with candidates and filling more job openings.
Manage Onboarding Processes
Sometimes written job offers will be contingent upon successfully passing a drug screen and background check. Managing the administration of these onboarding processes that are administration heavy typically falls to a recruiting coordinator. The recruiter usually focuses on the high stakes or candidate-facing tasks, such as the actual offer of employment including compensation, start date, and whether or not an offer is accepted.
Additional Point of Contact for Questions
The recruiter is the primary point of contact for applicants and new hires, but since the recruiting coordinator is involved in processes by sending out offers and screening documents, it’s possible the candidate may reach out to the recruiting coordinator with questions. This role can support recruiting efforts by acting as a secondary point of contact.
Skills a Recruiting Coordinator Needs
The essential skills of a recruiting coordinator revolve around supporting the talent acquisition team. They provide value in their ability to support the overall hiring process.
Communication
This recruiting coordinator role communicates frequently both externally with job applicants and internally across teams and departments. The recruiting coordinator must successfully communicate in all these environments to ensure a smooth hiring process. It is just as important for a recruiting coordinator to communicate with candidates as it is to communicate internally within the organization.
Organization
As a supporting role, organization is one of the quintessential skills a recruiting coordinator needs. An organized recruiting process is one of the best ways to provide a top tier candidate experience to job applicants. Organization keeps everyone functioning at top capacity. Organization is one of the best areas where a recruiting coordinator can own their role, create impact and provide value in the form of innovation. No one in the talent acquisition organization is more closely involved in the process than the recruiting coordinator which uniquely positions them to innovate new and better processes.
Attention to Detail
A recruiting coordinator’s tasks are oriented around administrative work and have varying consequences. Even little things can make a large difference: entering personal information accurately, sending interview invites, explaining job requirements to a candidate, screening resumes, etc. All of these require great attention to detail. When details are missed, it can create a poor candidate experience or even potentially expose the organization to legal risk.
Attention to Process
As a supporting role, the recruiting coordinator needs to understand processes and follow them to the T. The value this role adds is in saving time and resources for the recruiter, hiring managers and team as a whole. This can only be provided if the recruiting coordinator is following the correct process.
How To Become a Recruiting Coordinator
Recruiting coordinator jobs are in high demand and have high career advancement potential. A recruiting coordinator can start out as an entry-level position which means that no advanced technical requirements are usually needed. Here are a few tips for those who are interested in becoming a recruiting coordinator:
Step 1: Reach Out to Your Talent Acquisition Team
There may already be a recruiting coordinator role within your current organization. Due to the high hiring demand within many organizations, it’s possible there is an opening just waiting for an internal candidate to fill it. Being an internal candidate gives you an advantage and helps you transition into that role because you already know the culture and may already have working relationships with some of the hiring managers.
Step 2: Reach Out to a Recruiter
If you are struggling to find an “in,” try reaching out to a recruiter. Recruiters are constantly looking to fill roles just like recruiting coordinators and may have an open role available. If they don’t have an open role they are actively trying to fill, they may know someone who does.
Step 3: Develop and Demonstrate the Skillsets of a Coordinator
One of the most surefire ways to land a job as a recruiting coordinator is to showcase the skills needed to be successful in that role. Even if you do not possess the background experience in that type of role, you can demonstrate the skills they are looking for from the transferable experience.
Step 4: Apply Broadly
Sometimes the opportunity that is right for you is something you had not thought of before. There is a lot of opportunities out there in a lot of different industries, so apply broadly and see where opportunity takes you. The broader you apply, the more likely you are to find something that will be a fit for your unique experiences and skillsets.
Topics
Tyler Fisher, PHR
Tyler empowers Talent Acquisition professionals, HR business leaders, and key stake holders to develop and execute talent management strategies. He is igniting the talent acquisition process through: team building, accurate time to fill forecasting, driving creative talent sourcing, and fine-tuning recruiting team effectiveness.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
Recruiting Coordinator
Recruiting coordinators: the superheroes of the talent acquisition world. Read on to understand the tremendous value recruiting coordinators bring to the hiring process.
What is a Recruiting Coordinator?
Who is the recruiting coordinator? Your best friend, your lifesaver, your impact maker, and game changer! A recruiting coordinator guides and supports both candidates and recruiters through the interview and onboarding process.
Responsibilities of a Recruiting Coordinator
Depending on the organization, the responsibilities of a recruiting coordinator may vary. Some recruiting coordinators help facilitate early in the process to get candidates into recruiting. Some recruiting coordinators may specifically focus on helping recruiters schedule candidates throughout the interview process. Other recruiting coordinators may specialize in helping onboard candidates once an offer of employment has been made. Recruiting coordinators may specialize in one part of the hiring process or may be involved throughout the entire process. A recruiting coordinator will probably not perform all of the responsibilities below because this list encompasses a broad spectrum of responsibilities that may be included.
Manage Job Postings
Recruiters will usually create the job requisitions to be posted and then the recruiting coordinator will post the jobs to the careers site and other job boards. Managing the job postings takes that responsibility off a recruiter’s plate which frees up their time to work with candidates.
Screen Resumes
Based on the qualifications, competencies, requirements, and parameters laid out by the recruiter from an intake meeting, a recruiting coordinator can initially screen applications for the right fit. Screening applications allows the recruiter to spend time working on the best fit applications and candidates.
Initial Screening
Most job requisitions contain basic information that can be screened to ensure candidates who meet the right qualifications are moving through the interview process and meeting with hiring managers. These initial screens typically act as a filtering process so the candidates who move through will be pre-qualified and the recruiter can spend their time focusing on more in-depth situations and behaviors.
Schedule Interviews
Scheduling interviews for candidates may be the most common responsibility of a recruiting coordinator. Scheduling interviews can be a time-consuming process. The time it takes to schedule interviews can be greatly decreased by giving someone responsibility to coordinate calendars.
Facilitate Onsite Interviews
The recruiting coordinator may not be the one conducting the onsite interviews but it is common for them to facilitate. They will likely be the one to initially greet the candidate when they arrive, check them in according to the specified check-in process, give them a tour of the building or facility, and make sure they get to the right place to interview. After the interview, they make sure the candidate finds their way to the exit.
Send Job Offers
Once a recruiter or hiring manager has extended a verbal job offer to a candidate, the recruiting coordinator is often in charge of sending the written job offer. This allows the recruiter to spend time working with candidates and filling more job openings.
Manage Onboarding Processes
Sometimes written job offers will be contingent upon successfully passing a drug screen and background check. Managing the administration of these onboarding processes that are administration heavy typically falls to a recruiting coordinator. The recruiter usually focuses on the high stakes or candidate-facing tasks, such as the actual offer of employment including compensation, start date, and whether or not an offer is accepted.
Additional Point of Contact for Questions
The recruiter is the primary point of contact for applicants and new hires, but since the recruiting coordinator is involved in processes by sending out offers and screening documents, it’s possible the candidate may reach out to the recruiting coordinator with questions. This role can support recruiting efforts by acting as a secondary point of contact.
Skills a Recruiting Coordinator Needs
The essential skills of a recruiting coordinator revolve around supporting the talent acquisition team. They provide value in their ability to support the overall hiring process.
Communication
This recruiting coordinator role communicates frequently both externally with job applicants and internally across teams and departments. The recruiting coordinator must successfully communicate in all these environments to ensure a smooth hiring process. It is just as important for a recruiting coordinator to communicate with candidates as it is to communicate internally within the organization.
Organization
As a supporting role, organization is one of the quintessential skills a recruiting coordinator needs. An organized recruiting process is one of the best ways to provide a top tier candidate experience to job applicants. Organization keeps everyone functioning at top capacity. Organization is one of the best areas where a recruiting coordinator can own their role, create impact and provide value in the form of innovation. No one in the talent acquisition organization is more closely involved in the process than the recruiting coordinator which uniquely positions them to innovate new and better processes.
Attention to Detail
A recruiting coordinator’s tasks are oriented around administrative work and have varying consequences. Even little things can make a large difference: entering personal information accurately, sending interview invites, explaining job requirements to a candidate, screening resumes, etc. All of these require great attention to detail. When details are missed, it can create a poor candidate experience or even potentially expose the organization to legal risk.
Attention to Process
As a supporting role, the recruiting coordinator needs to understand processes and follow them to the T. The value this role adds is in saving time and resources for the recruiter, hiring managers and team as a whole. This can only be provided if the recruiting coordinator is following the correct process.
How To Become a Recruiting Coordinator
Recruiting coordinator jobs are in high demand and have high career advancement potential. A recruiting coordinator can start out as an entry-level position which means that no advanced technical requirements are usually needed. Here are a few tips for those who are interested in becoming a recruiting coordinator:
Step 1: Reach Out to Your Talent Acquisition Team
There may already be a recruiting coordinator role within your current organization. Due to the high hiring demand within many organizations, it’s possible there is an opening just waiting for an internal candidate to fill it. Being an internal candidate gives you an advantage and helps you transition into that role because you already know the culture and may already have working relationships with some of the hiring managers.
Step 2: Reach Out to a Recruiter
If you are struggling to find an “in,” try reaching out to a recruiter. Recruiters are constantly looking to fill roles just like recruiting coordinators and may have an open role available. If they don’t have an open role they are actively trying to fill, they may know someone who does.
Step 3: Develop and Demonstrate the Skillsets of a Coordinator
One of the most surefire ways to land a job as a recruiting coordinator is to showcase the skills needed to be successful in that role. Even if you do not possess the background experience in that type of role, you can demonstrate the skills they are looking for from the transferable experience.
Step 4: Apply Broadly
Sometimes the opportunity that is right for you is something you had not thought of before. There is a lot of opportunities out there in a lot of different industries, so apply broadly and see where opportunity takes you. The broader you apply, the more likely you are to find something that will be a fit for your unique experiences and skillsets.
Topics
Tyler Fisher, PHR
Tyler empowers Talent Acquisition professionals, HR business leaders, and key stake holders to develop and execute talent management strategies. He is igniting the talent acquisition process through: team building, accurate time to fill forecasting, driving creative talent sourcing, and fine-tuning recruiting team effectiveness.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
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