A Recruitment Coordinator/Officer is responsible for the entire hiring process from the beginning to the end. Their main responsibility is to source and attract candidates for specific job roles within a company, ensuring that they meet the desired job criteria before hiring them.
Day-to-day activities and responsibilities
Writing job descriptions, advertisements and specifications
Advertising vacancies across various job portals and social media channels
Monitoring and adjusting posted vacancies where needed
Processing job applications and identifying the candidates who fulfil job requirements
Interviewing shortlisted candidates
Overseeing the write-up of successful or unsuccessful responses to candidates
Verifying references, identity documents and qualifications
Negotiating salaries
Writing HR reports and employment contracts for new employees
Maintaining all candidate records and information on the correct databases
Encouraging and supporting the candidates throughout the recruitment process
Working closely with staff in different departments
Performing general administrative duties in the HR department
Workplace and working hours
Recruitment Coordinators will be spending most of their time in an office, interviewing candidates and processing job applications on their computers.
This role is often full time and within the standard working hours of 9-5, Monday to Friday. Part-time hours may also be available, depending on the employer.
This role needs a degree of flexibility as overtime may be required.
Salary
The average salary for a Recruitment Officer in the UK is around £24,000 per year. Actual salary, however, will depend on the size of the employer, job location, relevant work experience and qualifications held.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
Entry requirements
To gain entry in the recruitment industry, a graduate level of education is advantageous, especially in subjects specifically related to the organisation, and more generally in business, marketing and management. Further desirable qualifications include CIPD accredited training courses.
It is entirely possible to enter this role without any degree or specific qualifications. Many employers highly value and prefer relevant work experience over qualifications as training can be provided on the job and courses are usually offered by the employer as part of their staff development programme.
Skills and personal attributes
Communication: The candidate must be a personable individual as the role requires an element of customer service, and the successful candidate will often be the first point of contact for HR enquiries.
Organisation: In this role, individuals are responsible for a variety of duties including administration, data handling and organising meetings. The successful candidate must be able to manage work demands in an effective and efficient manner.
Meticulousness: Recruitment Officers need to pay much attention to detail in every task to ensure that the most suitable candidates are selected from the pool of applicants. Overlooking certain details will result in the wrong candidate being selected for the job.
Teamwork: Often professionals in this role work as part of a team within a division, and as such need to have a team player mentality where group work facilitates each individual and does not hinder progress.
Problem-solving: Need to be able to manage any potential issues or problems that arise.
Job likes and benefits
Working with people: This job role is ideal for those who enjoy working with different people from various backgrounds and all walks of life. It enables one to build strong business relationships with the applicants, HR colleagues and external recruitment agencies.
Responsibility: Recruitment Coordinators hold much responsibility in relation to the selection and recruitment of staff for the organisation. Making the right decisions in the recruitment process will reflect back on the decision maker and directly benefit the organisation.
Job challenges and disadvantages
Data handling: An awareness and understanding of HR software used by the company is necessary, whilst initially it can also be challenging to learn company procedures in data handling.
Administration heavy: Need to maintain staff records, file appropriate paperwork and stay continually up to date with the latest systems utilised in the HR department. Besides conducting interviews, most of the work will be carried out on a computer.
Job progression and career prospects
Many Recruitment Officers progress upwards within their chosen company, often filling senior consultant recruitment roles. The degree of potential progression, however, is limited by the size of the company and individuals may have to branch out to attain progressive roles.
After gaining relevant work experience, there are also opportunities to work in various roles in the business, finance or legal industries.
According to government statistics, jobs in this role are projected to grow by 6.5% over the period to 2024 (Source: LMI for All).
Written by Sobhan Mohmand Sobhan is a qualified Careers Advisor and Professional CV Writer with over 10 years of experience in helping job seekers get a job. He is a Member of the Careers Development Institute (CDI) and is listed on the official UK Register of Career Development Professionals. He holds a Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development (QCF).
By using the site you agree to our privacy settings. Read MoreAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.