Being responsible for the internal hiring efforts for the Talent Zoo recruiting team, Amy and I ask ourselves, “What makes a recruiter great?” Having an agency background never hurts; as the recruiter knows the ins and outs of the agency world – knows the culture, knows the work and understands the objectives of agency hiring. However, agency professionals many times don’t have a sales-bone in their body. Recruiting is a sales industry. Selling a service, selling a job to an industry professional, selling a candidate to a client – sales is essential in recruiting.

Our challenge is this - finding someone that understands the industry, has experience or, at the very least, an acumen for sales, fits in with the Talent Zoo culture, and finally someone that is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. This is what we would tell our clients is, a “Unicorn.” But this is our quest – find the Talent Zoo Unicorn.

However, say we do find someone with all these characteristics – on paper they meet all the qualifying criteria, we like them as a person, they fit in, etc….This doesn’t necessarily mean that this hire will be the next Talent Zoo Rock Star Recruiter. What does make them the next rock star?

We finally identified the key element that unlocks the puzzle - the Killer Instinct. Great recruiters just have it – they own it. It cannot be taught. You just have it or you don’t. The instinct, the drive, the passion, the smarts, the personality, the initiative, the guts – this is the definition of the Killer Instinct. The rare individuals that possess this trait are more valuable than gold to our business. The success of our business depends on hiring individuals with the Killer Instinct – the success of Talent Zoo and the success of our clients, alike.

Every organization should identify the key element that unlocks the puzzle in their hiring efforts; look for the common thread that makes their rock stars what they are. What makes your best employees great? Determine this, and strive for it on every hire you make – never settle – your business will be better for it.