While reading Greg Savage’s book there was a statement made which really stood out to me which said that the best recruiters are obsessed with making the perfect match. They are not concerned primarily about the money that they will make nor are they totally concerned about closing the job as quickly as possible but they are obsessed about getting the right candidate for the client and helping the candidate to choose the best path for their career.

When I read this it really resonated with me as this is my primary approach to all recruitment activities that I do. I realized that I am indeed obsessed with finding this match. Why you may ask? For this you need to delve deeper into the psyche of the recruiter; in this instance it’s me.

Truthfully speaking I have several traits of a narcissist. Luckily these traits are not dominated in the negative aspect the first trait I have is:

1.   The need for control

I want to be the best. I want to be right. I want to be the most competent. I want to do everything the correct way. I want to own the process and I want to have a sense of control in the recruitment process. Actually, I want total control of the process. Why? I believe that if I have full control of the process I can make sure that the process is completed in a correct manner.

2.   The need for perfection

The second trait that I have is that I want everything to be perfect! I want the events to happen as I expect them to and I want the situation to play out precisely as I envision. To make sure that this happens it is imperative that I complete my work correctly which includes research, market mapping, candidate approach, candidate introduction, candidate behavior based interviews and really analyzing the candidates motivations and the motivation to accept an opportunity. 

3.     Being afraid of being ridiculed

The third trait that I have is I'm afraid of being ridiculed, rejected, being wrong or somebody betraying me. This is one of the other reasons why I'm so meticulous in the work that I do. 

4.     Self importance

When I do a good job and the client is happy with what I've done plus making the candidate very happy in their career choice this gives me an overall feeling of self-importance. I know this sounds really negative but it makes me feel good and this is what really gives me the motivation to keep on recruiting. It's almost like a drug and it's one that I always enjoy taking. 

5.   Disconnect emotionally

The final trait that I have as a narcissist is the ability to disconnect emotionally with the work that I do. For example, if things go wrong I'm able to see the logic in it not the emotion in it and move on quickly to find the next win. I can analyse where it went wrong and I care about correcting any mistakes. 

Are these the traits of a top billing recruiter? How many out there in recruitment can identify with these? Who thinks these are negative? 

For more follow me on Linkedin and the JacksonGrant website at https://www.jacksongrant.io/.