Why Recruiting is like Golf!

As I was sitting in my golf cart thinking about the ups and downs of the day, a thought popped into my head: recruiting and golf are very similar.  How is this, you ask? Let me explain.

Now, I have been recruiting for almost 15 years and I have been playing golf much longer, and it’s painful to say that I am much better at recruiting than I am at golf.  But the similarities between recruiting and golf are what keep me coming back to both.

For any recruiter that has been lucky enough to play the wonderfully frustrating game of golf you have also been able to see the wonderfully frustrating side of recruiting.  Recruiting, like golf, is all about following the process and paying attention to the details.  When you do this in either recruiting or golf, you tend to be successful and will have enjoyment and satisfaction in the end result.  While following the process you will have ups and downs with plenty of missed shots and candidates that don’t work out. These ups and downs happen for many different reasons that recruiters learn over time.  Like golf, we are continually learning in recruiting and we continually see things that either make us smile or shake our heads in confusion.   In golf, as we continue to improve we see the amazing shot or the incredibly unlucky shot which will also make you smile or just shake your head in confusion.  The one thing that makes golf and recruiting similar is the fact that no matter how bad you play a round of golf or how bad your week is in recruiting one great shot/hole and one start/placement brings you right back to how much you love the game of golf or being successful in placing a candidate.  It’s the rush you get when you do this that keeps you coming back.  Most recruiters like golfers are competitive and like to win.  We want to do our best, so we continue to learn and follow the process and pay attention to the details.

It seems by following this logic, I still have a chance of improving my golf game.

John Motley is the Director of Professional Services of NSS RPO, a consulting firm that provides on-site and virtual recruiting professionals. Contact NSS RPO to learn about how we can help your organization meet and exceed it’s hiring goals.