A Guide to Onboarding New Starters in the Recruitment Industry: Manager Responsibilities and Timelines
A Guide to Onboarding New Starters in the Recruitment Industry: Manager Responsibilities and Timelines

Angela Cripps | Recruiting Gym
Effective onboarding is key to setting up new starters for success in the competitive recruitment industry. As managers, it is crucial to provide comprehensive training and support to ensure that new recruits are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles. This blog post will focus on the responsibilities of managers in onboarding new starters and provide a timeline for covering essential topics such as sales, candidate sourcing, time management, planning tasks, and managing performance.
Manager Responsibilities for Onboarding New Starters:
- Establish Clear Expectations:
Managers should start the onboarding process by clearly outlining the expectations and objectives for the new starters. This includes providing an overview of the company’s goals, values, and culture, as well as the specific KPIs and minimum acceptable standards that the new starter will be expected to achieve.
- Provide Training and Resources:
Managers must ensure that new starters receive comprehensive training on various aspects of the recruitment process. This can include hands-on training on CRM systems, job boards, sourcing techniques, interview best practices, and negotiation skills. Providing access to relevant resources such as training materials, templates, and guides is also essential.
- Mentorship and Coaching:
Assigning new starters a mentor or coach within the team can greatly facilitate their learning and development. Mentors can provide guidance, support, and feedback, helping new recruits navigate the challenges of the recruitment industry and build their confidence and skills.
- Encourage Continuous Learning:
Managers should foster a culture of continuous learning and development within the team. Encouraging new starters to attend training sessions, webinars, and industry events can help them stay updated on the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in recruitment.
Timeline for covering essential topics:
- Week 1 – 2: Induction and Candidate Sourcing
Initially focus on providing new starters with the skills they will need to candidate source as well as making them feel welcomed into the business with an overview of the history and future plans of the business – as well as the individuals within it.
They will need an impressive LinkedIn profile for credibility, so take time to support them with this. Teach new starters how to use job boards, social media platforms, and other sourcing tools to identify and attract top talent. Guide them on writing compelling job descriptions, conducting effective candidate screening and qualifying, and optimising candidate engagement through in-depth interviews with new candidates and detailed ‘Candidate update Calls’ to re-qualify your database of candidates.
You can then get them to reference check these candidates by calling their previous companies and getting used to ringing companies to gain information.
- Weeks 3 – 4: Sales Training
Time to shift the focus to sales training to equip them with the skills needed to engage with clients and win business. Topics to cover can include understanding client needs, effective communication, probing questioning techniques, understanding different personality types, objection handling, and pitch presentations.
- Weeks 5-6: Time Management
Time management is critical in the fast-paced recruitment industry. In weeks five and six, dedicate time to training new starters on effective time management techniques. Help them prioritise tasks, set goals, delegate responsibilities, and manage their workload efficiently to achieve optimal productivity – looking back at what they’ve achieved already with your guidance.
- Weeks 7-8: Planning Tasks
In weeks seven and eight, remind new starters of the importance of planning and organisation in recruitment. Get them to create daily, weekly, and monthly plans, set SMART goals, and track progress towards targets for themselves. Discuss their strategies for managing multiple tasks simultaneously and adapting to changing priorities. It will only get busier!
- Weeks 9-13: Performance Management
Towards the end of the first 3 months of the onboarding period, focus on performance management so that the new starter can set their performance goals for months 4 – 6. They can monitor their progress, receive regular feedback, and identify areas for improvement. The aim is to support them to be able to conduct self-assessments, seek out development opportunities, and take ownership of their performance.
- Month 6: Probationary Appraisal & Graduation
Make sure that you plan in their appraisal and make a celebration out of them passing. Don’t skip this part and the expectations set in week 1 will have made them aware of whether they have passed or not… there should be no surprises here!
In conclusion, onboarding new starters requires managers to take a proactive approach in guiding and supporting as they navigate the many challenges. By establishing clear expectations, providing comprehensive training, and following a structured timeline for covering essential topics, managers can set new starters up for success and help them thrive in their roles.
Effective onboarding is not just about teaching new skills; it is about instilling a culture of learning, growth, and excellence that will benefit both the individuals and the team as a whole.
If you require support in creating your Onboarding New Starters program, please reach out to Angela who has been creating them for 20+ yrs for recruiters – angela@recruitinggym.com.
Angela Cripps
James is the CEO of Vacancysoft. Graduated from Manchester University, BA Economics, and has worked in the recruitment industry for over twenty years; hence is uniquely positioned to provide insight into the latest market trends.
Angela Cripps is a globally experienced trainer, management consultant, executive coach, board advisor, mentor and performance specialist who has been working within the recruitment industry for 35 years.
Her aim is to make companies more successful and profitable through the development of their people and processes. She has worked with over 250 SMEs in 20+ different countries and her LinkedIn recommendations are a testament to the impact she can have on a business.
Angela has recruited over 5,000 people herself during her recruitment career and trained and supported over 1,000 students to gain qualifications in recruitment.
Angela is the owner of the Recruiting Gym – a team of 12 industry experienced specialists who train, coach and consult across the globe with over 100 courses (online and classroom based) relevant to the recruitment industry.
Angela has written blog posts for other organisations such as UK Recruiter, Recruitment Juice, Boomerang Funding, bizcatalyst360 and Vincere and you’ll catch her on podcasts with Alison Humphries’ Recruitment Leadership, Firefish, Harnessing Happiness, ThinkInCircles, It’s the People, Stupid!, Leaderboard, and The TEAM Network whilst supporting the recruitment industry with hints, tips and techniques.
Her recent podcast through the Recruiting Gym is called Hiring Happenings… with a PESTLE twist. It brings experts in their field of politics, economics, sociology, technology, legislation and the environment to share current affairs and the impact it can have.
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