A sales recruiter searches for sale talent to be placed within larger hiring companies. This type of position may work as a freelance operative, or may be part of a larger recruiting firm. The individuals who are being recruited are experienced, well-trained sales people, and may work in a variety of fields. Training for this position requires a secondary educations as well as a four year university degree and relevant work experience.
This type of position is often employed by large recruiting firms. These agencies contract with other companies who are hiring sales staff to find only the best and most qualified candidates. The agency screens the applicant for the company, performs background checks, and verifies previous employment. The hiring companies typically pay the recruiting firm for every candidate successfully placed.
The required training for a sales recruiter generally includes completing a secondary education and receiving a Bachelor's degree from a traditional four year university. Individuals interested in this type of position may find it beneficial to take courses in sales, business management, and finance. Relevant work experience also tends to be viewed highly in this field, and sales recruiters frequently have between three and five years experience working as a sales representative for different types of companies.
Some recruiting firms choose to work with only one type of industry. For example, a sales recruiter working for an agency that specializes in the pharmaceutical industry will only interview professionals with training and experience selling pharmaceuticals. Other industries that commonly employ these types of agencies are the manufacturing, medical, and software industries.
A sales recruiter is frequently required to do some negotiating as a part of his regular duties. The majority of sales candidates approached by a recruiting firm are already employed with an existing company. The recruiter is often approved to approach the target individual with an entrance salary and benefits. The sales target then takes the offer to his current employer and asks for a counter offer. Once the counter offer has been received, the recruiter can then increase the initial offer in the hopes of encouraging the sales professional to change careers.
Additional responsibilities of a sales recruiter typically include cold calling, candidate profiling, and marketing for the employing agency. Recruiters may spend a majority of their day cold calling hiring companies to learn of vacancies and cold calling employed professionals in that field to discover whether they are interested in a career change. This type of position is often commission oriented in pay and does not receive a base salary. Recruiters receive a monetary bonus based on the number of new employees placed within a hiring company each month.