Everything You Need to Know About Recruiter Burnout

As a recruiter, you’re bound to get through periods where nothing seems to click and your candidates are just not in the pipeline. Everyone gets there at some point or another, and it doesn’t make you bad at your job, it just shows that you are alive and human. But what can you do when you’ve hit the wall? Today we discuss everything about recruiter burnout – in short, how to recognize it, what causes it, and most importantly, how to get out of recruiter burnout.

What is recruiter burnout?

Recruiter burnout is a term used to describe a time when recruiters are overwhelmed due to the amount of work they have at a given time. A recruiter is always trying to meet deadlines, and in most cases, they’re working on multiple job openings simultaneously.

The recruitment process can be long, and it takes a lot of work from start to finish. It isn’t like sales where you can close a deal within one or two quick phone calls and get paid for your efforts. Recruitment cycles take months, and when you’re working on several openings at once, it can be exhausting.

Recruiters are constantly making phone calls, sending emails, and scheduling interviews for candidates. They follow up with hiring managers and HR teams to identify problems with the recruitment process or skills gaps in candidates. Recruiters also work with candidates to help them prepare for interviews and find ways to improve their chances of success in the job market.

The primary reasons for recruiter burnout

Excessive work hours (6.4 days/week on average)

Feeling overworked by management (82% of respondents)

Having to fill too many positions (50% of respondents)

Lack of budget (49% of respondents)

A lack of hiring resources

Especially those dedicated to what is known as the “talent acquisition” function. Instead, recruiters often have a long list of other duties that distract them from recruitment, like taking on more human resources-related tasks or administrative work.

A lack of technology to help with the sourcing and vetting process. Applications pile up, resumes are lost and candidates are forgotten because no system is in place to manage the flow of information.

Irregular scheduling and last-minute interviews

Recruiters are not just interviewing candidates; they are also juggling employee schedules, which makes it difficult to find time for interviews — especially when a hiring manager calls at the last minute to schedule one.

An inability to collaborate with hiring managers

It’s tough for recruiters to do their jobs effectively when they don’t know what a candidate needs to succeed or how a position fits into the broader organization.

Broken recruitment practices

In today’s recruiting landscape, recruiters are constantly battling to find and hire the best people. The hiring process is broken and full of holes, which makes it difficult for recruiters to do their job efficiently. In such conditions, recruiters are bound to feel burned out. However, there are a few ways you can overcome recruiter burnout.

Recruiters are expected to wear too many hats

Many times, recruiters find themselves not only recruiting top talent, but also doing things like making travel arrangements for interviewees and managing their calendars. While these types of tasks can be useful in the short-term, they eventually build up and take away precious time that could be spent on the core recruiting tasks.

Recruiters are expected to perform miracles in impossible timelines

Often, senior leaders will set unrealistic deadlines for filling positions, expecting recruiters to work magic in order to meet them. If a recruiter is unable to attract and hire high-quality candidates within this time frame, they will likely feel burned out by their inability to meet expectations.

Hiring/recruiting is one of the most rewarding jobs in business. Whether you are speaking directly to a candidate, hiring manager, or peer, the best part of the job is helping people.

Even so, it is fairly easy to get sucked into a pattern that can lead to burnout. Being aware of the symptoms and signs can help you see the warning signs before you hit a breaking point.

Here are some of the common symptoms of recruiter burnout:

Physical Symptoms

- Headaches

- Stomach aches

- Sleep problems (too much or too little)

- Exhaustion or fatigue

- Weight gain or loss

Mental Symptoms

- Lack of focus/difficulty concentrating

- Forgetfulness

- Absentmindedness/daydreaming about work during personal time

- Negative self-talk ("I'm not good enough; my boss doesn't appreciate me")

Behavioral Symptoms

- Procrastination or inability to make decisions (for example, what's for lunch)

- Avoidance tactics (for example, avoiding calls from colleagues)

Stress Vs Burnout

If you’re stressed, it means you’re being challenged. If your challenge is too great, or if it lasts for too long, that stress can turn into burnout.

Burnout is when you feel like you’ve had enough. You feel tired, exhausted and unable to cope with the demands of your job. Stress and burnout are closely linked, but they’re different in a number of ways:

Stress can be good, in moderation. You need some stress to get things done and achieve what you want in life. But if there’s too much pressure and too little support, stress can affect your health and lead to burnout.

Types Of Burnout

1. Depersonalization Burnout

This type of burnout occurs when you feel so overworked that you lose your emotional connection with other people. You might feel like no one understands what you're going through or that no one cares about what happens to you.

2. Emotional Exhaustion Burnout

Emotional exhaustion is when you feel drained mentally, physically and emotionally by your job demands. You may also feel cynical and detached from others at work because of your negative feelings about your job.

3. Low Personal Accomplishment Burnout

This type of burnout occurs when you don't think you can meet your work goals or complete your tasks successfully, even if you exert a lot of effort. It is characterized by feelings of incompetence and failure, as well as an inability to accomplish goals that were once easy for you to achieve.

Overcoming recruiter burnout

Whatever your symptoms, if they go on too long without being addressed, they can eventually lead to bigger problems — like reduced productivity and poor performance reviews — or worse: You could lose your job or force yourself into taking an unplanned break from pursuing new opportunities.

If you find yourself feeling burned out from recruiting, don't panic: There are steps you can take to refocus your efforts and move forward.

Understand how to deal with rejection

The first step in overcoming recruiter burnout is to understand that rejection is not personal. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you or your company; you just haven’t found the right candidate yet. You’ll need to develop a thick skin and keep moving forward even when candidates say no and hiring managers don’t offer feedback.

Encourage work-life Balance

Work-life balance comes in many forms, including paid vacation time, sick days, and holidays; benefits like parental leave or reimbursement for childcare costs; or unpaid time off that allows employees to attend doctor’s appointments or family events. Employers can offer flexible hours or remote work opportunities to employees who need more flexibility in their schedules.

Use Local Hr to speed up the recruitment process

If you run out of ideas on how to attract more talent to join your company you can always use Localhr to post job postings and find skilled employees like hundreds of other companies did.