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The mantra of any recruiter worth their salt is that people matter above all else — and that the key to building a lasting organization is continually hiring best-in-class talent.

It makes perfect sense then that recruiting leaders really, really care about the people they hire to fill out their talent acquisition team. And they should, because hiring a great recruiter can provide a significant boost to any business.

So, how do you know if someone will make a top recruiter? To help you make this determination, we put together a list of a dozen outstanding interview questions you should ask when hiring a recruiter.

1. What was your relationship like with your last hiring manager?

The single biggest factor in being a successful recruiter is consistently building strong relationships with hiring managers. And that means the recruiter acting as a partner, not just an order taker, in the hiring process.

By asking a candidate to walk through their relationship with their last hiring manager — or better yet, their last two or three — you’ll get an inside look at how they handle that relationship.

Do they describe authoritarian situations, where the hiring manager led the charge and the recruiter was reactive to their demands? Or do they discuss how they took control of the relationship early on, managing the hiring process as equals? Ideally, look for a candidate who has a strong philosophy on how to handle that relationship — as opposed to someone who’ll let each individual hiring manager act as a dictator.

2. As a recruiter, how do you treat candidates who don’t get the job?

Recruiters are often incentivized based on how many reqs they close and the time in which they close them. As a result, some short-sighted recruiters often forgo providing a good candidate experience to the candidates they reject, focusing solely on the people who have moved on in the hiring process.

This approach to hiring recruiters can hurt your company’s employer brand — and potentially your consumer brand too.

Instead, the best recruiters should make it clear they provide a strong experience to all candidates. This might include responding to every candidate who applies, even if they don’t make it to the next stage, and personally phoning every interviewee who doesn’t get the job. Listen for answers that show the recruiter is committed to consistently updating candidates throughout the process, so no one is left wondering where they stand.

3. Tell me about the last two times you used data to help you recruit.

Data is becoming an increasingly integral part of recruiting jobs. It’s also a way for recruiters to “swim upstream” and become more strategic partners with their hiring managers, providing them with strong talent pool data on where to recruit and what to expect.

A top-tier candidate should have no trouble listing off the last two times they used data to recruit, like leveraging a Talent Pool Report from LinkedIn Talent Insights. Conversely, candidates who have a tough time citing examples of how they use data to recruit are the ones who are not using all the tools necessary to be successful.

4. Describe a time in which you hired someone who wasn’t right for the role. What went wrong, and what did you learn from the experience?

Not every hire is a home run. Bad hires are a part of the job recruitment business — and an expensive part at that. 

Having a candidate acknowledge their recruiting mistakes can give you important insight into what kind of employee they’ll be. Do they own up to their missteps or pawn them off on others? What lessons did they learn from the experience, and how did they apply them to similar scenarios in the future? The answers to these questions can offer you a glimpse into how a candidate might leverage failure. 

5. Tell me how you’re building your personal brand as a recruiter — and why that’s important.

These days, it isn’t enough to simply post jobs or to InMail qualified candidates and be done with it. Recruiters need to start building relationships with prospects digitally, making it easier to source positions later.

It’s essential that a recruiter have a strong LinkedIn profile, as this can make or break a first impression. Ideally, they also use LinkedIn as a way to share content, join groups, and participate in conversations — showing they understand the importance of a compelling personal brand.

The same goes for other social media platforms. While a recruiting candidate with little or no professional social media presence outside of LinkedIn shouldn’t necessarily be disqualified, it’s worth paying attention to those that get social media and use it to their full advantage.

6. How do you measure quality of hire when recruiting?

This is a classic “there’s no right answer” question because the top minds in the industry have no single right answer — yet. In fact, talent leaders agree that defining and accurately measuring quality of hire is one of their biggest challenges, with no one clear solution out there yet.

That said, there’s near universal agreement that quality of hire is the most important metric in recruiting (even though no one truly knows how to define it). So a promising recruiting candidate should have a perspective, or at least a theory, on how to measure it.

Their answer should provide insight into both their thought process and their commitment to taking on the industry’s biggest challenges. Who knows, maybe they’ll actually have the solution.

7. Tell me about a time when a top candidate rejected a job offer. What did you learn from the situation?

Every recruiter has a “one that got away” story. But rather than brooding over it, the best recruiters try to figure out why the candidate rejected the offer and what they can do differently the next time.

Maybe the candidate had doubts about the job that the recruiter didn’t pick up on until it was too late. Maybe they felt the culture wasn’t a perfect fit for them. Or maybe they simply got a better offer elsewhere. Armed with this knowledge, the recruiter can approach the offer stage more strategically moving forward.

8. What is your retention rate for new hires?

Recruiters are often asked to fill a lot of roles quickly, but speed doesn’t matter if the new hire quits within a month. You want to find a recruiter who never rushes to fill a req, even when time is of the essence, focusing instead on finding people who will stick around for the long haul.

While some industries tend to have a higher turnover than others, a low number here could indicate a poor job vetting candidates — or that the recruiter didn’t properly set the candidates expectations for the job.

9. Describe how you would position our company to candidates.

Top candidates are often chased by several similar companies at once, so you want to know if a recruiter can effectively differentiate your company to grab the attention of potential new hires. Not only does this question test their creativity and critical thinking, but it also tells you how much research they’ve done on your company.

You may also want to turn this question into a work assessment, asking the recruiter to write an example of an outreach message they’d send to a candidate. If they can pinpoint some of the factors that make you unique and spin them into a compelling story, you know you have a strong contender on your hands.

10. What role, if any, does social media play in your recruitment process?

Good recruiters are always looking for an edge when it comes to landing top talent. That can mean anything from keeping up on industry trends to adopting the latest recruitment tools. One easy way in which to get a leg up on the competition: social media. Candidates may have already given you insight into how they leverage social media when they answered your question about building their personal brand, but these newer tools can cut both ways.

Few tools are as effective for getting a snapshot of a candidate than their own public social media accounts. Some recruiters comb them to find skills and hidden qualifications, and to make personal connections with job seekers.  

But there’s a caveat. Social media screening can be tricky terrain to navigate, full of ethical pitfalls and legal ramifications. You’ll want to make sure candidates display a grasp of what’s appropriate and what isn’t.  

11. What media do you consume to stay atop the recruiting industry?

Recruiting is an ever-changing industry that requires constant adoption of new tools and techniques. Top recruiters can adapt to those changes quickly because they stay informed about the industry they work in.

It doesn’t matter so much what publications, blogs, or newsletters a recruiter reads or which podcasts they listen to as long as they’re consistently engaged with content that gets them thinking about how to become a better recruiter. A good follow-up interview question to ask here is what recent industry developments they find interesting. This not only tells you how plugged in they are to industry news but also allows you to hear their perspectives on innovative new recruiting concepts and trends.

12. What’s the most rewarding part of being a recruiter?

When a recruiter is truly passionate about what they do, candidates feel it — growing more excited about the job as a result. Listen for answers that get to the root of why the recruiter got into the business.

They might be a natural people person who enjoys talking to candidates and hearing their stories. Or perhaps they love the feeling of helping people find a job they’ll thrive in. While there are few wrong answers here, recruiters who are only in it for the paycheck or who don’t have a favorite part of the job may not bring much passion or enthusiasm to the role.

Final thoughts: Hire the right recruiter and you’ll attract the best candidates

It’s hard to complete any task without the right tools. To find a recruiter who ticks all the right boxes, explore our interview guide for recruiters, which compiles even more insightful questions to help you test candidates’ technical knowledge, soft skills, and more.

And most importantly, when hiring a recruiter look for someone who is passionate about your company and who genuinely seems to care about every candidate who walks through the door. If they have that, along with the skills, knowledge, and curiosity needed to do this job well, you’re in a strong position to succeed.

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