Men are the best recruiters on the planet. Except for women.

Yes, that’s right. Generally, women in recruitment do a better job… and make more money.

I have been a recruiter for 35 years. Hired and trained thousands of them. Owned and run recruiting businesses in more than 20 countries. I should think I have worked with and against many of the best recruiters on the planet.

So I have a bit of a sample to judge from. (and it turns out, the research proves my intuition)

Not every woman. Not every man. Obviously. The best recruiter I ever knew was a guy. Some women are catastrophically hopeless at this job.

But, overall, generally, on average… women do it better.

Here is why;

  • I have found women are far better listeners than men. They are more empathetic. It helps, because they get deeper into the candidates true motivation, the client’s real needs… and they make a better match. Bluntly put, many woman recruiters simply care more about the human element. It might not sound ‘commercial’ but actually it means they end up with more satisfied customers, and over time, that pays.
  • You are not going to like this guys (and before you lynch me, remember, I am one of you) but women are more resilient than men. Sure, often they show frustration and emotion much more readily than the average guy, who tends to suck it up and try to tough things out. But actually I have found a steel backbone in so many women in this business. They cry a lot, but they bounce back! They keep going. Maybe it’s fear of failure. Maybe it’s just pure inner strength. I can’t count the guys who have lasted 6, maybe 12 months and dropped out, telling all and sundry as they leave to go back into banking or accounting, that “recruiting is not a real job after all”.
  • And then there is the money. Mostly, recruiters get paid on results. The more you bill, the more you earn. And in a world where women routinely earn less than men doing the same job, that’s very attractive indeed. Indeed, women have told me straight out. “In this job I can earn more than the person sitting next to me, man or woman, because it’s a level playing field. I bill, I earn. It’s transparent. And I love that!”

So there it is. Overall, woman make better recruiters than men, and indeed I imagine there are far more woman recruiters than men, although I have no statistics on that.

Recent Research on this Topic  <-

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  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On December 6, 2011
  • 73 Comments

73 Comments

Manda Milling
This isn't the Savage Truth Greg, just the Truth.
Navid
Some good points Greg. I could be wrong but in my years of headhunting I have found that "generally" men are better at opening an account in the first place. They tend to come out a little more aggressive or ambitious and kick the door open. Women on the other hand are excellent at managing the account and building longer-term relationships and men tend to not be so good in this area. They can get impatient. Again it all depends on the person as well.
Steve Ludlow - Director @ Harlow Group
Agreed Greg (on average of course). Multi-tasking and organisational skills makes a huge difference in recruitment. Women a often better than men at this and that often makes a big difference to billings as they can carry a larger pipeline as they juggle conflicting priorities.
Craig
Greg, You must have been hard up for a topic this week - generally your posts are insightful, not today. This is utter tosh! I'm pretty sure if you went to any specialist in the Engineering or IT field their top billers would paint a different picture, just as if you focused on Office Support it would skew the other way. Be very careful with your 'facts' and I'd be very interested to know what the gender split in your business is overall???
Matt
Blogger recruiters... ahh bless! I think your reasoning is flawed. While I have certainly worked with some excellent women recruiters in my time, there is no evidence to support that either sex is generally better. If I had to make a list of the 10 best recruiters I have ever worked with, I'm actually pretty sure at least 7 of those spots would be taken by men. It's unrealistic to base your findings on the yearly results of consultants at Firebrand.. simply because the best recruiters will not work for a large brand. They work for boutique agencies, where they are not recruiting at PSA rates, and earn 40%+ of their billings. So any forumala to determine the best recruiters, that doesn't include the actual BEST recruiters, is well.. incorrect.
    Greg Savage
    Fair points Matt. This is not scientific in any way whatsoever. I would mention though that my, totally un-empirical, conclusions are not based on my current company really. I have run business as small as 9 people and across many areas including accounting, banking, science and technology, IT, sales etc. And Firebrand is not a big brand really. We employ less than 100 people and have virtually no PSA work. It's all won by hand to hand combat in the trenches! But of course, this article is partially tongue in cheek. There is no foundation of hard evidence. Just years of observation. Thanks for your comments. And your blessing
Neil Bolton
Hi Greg There is one more reason: They flirt better with their (generally) male clients, who respond rather positively! (Guilty as charged, your honour.) There is nothing wrong with using all the tools at your disposal..
Anonymous
Craig, I work in a specialist IT team within a global company. Our top 2 billers within the IT team are female, and these two wonderful ladies are also the top billers nationally. In general, females recruiting in the IT space are VERY successful. I would know. I'm one of them. I'd say Greg is spot on.
George
Manda Milling being one of them! And she's used more words than she normally does :-)
    Anonymous
    I'm not Manda Milling, Greg, hence the extra words. You might know the name if I showed myself, though. :) And yes, 3.5 years later, I'm still a female in IT Recruitment, in the same company and the top billers in our team are still female. Just remember: they can confirm it now, but we all heard it here first 2.5 years ago
Veronica Phillips
Well Greg, I have been 22 years in recruitment 20 of them in the Engineering and Construction space and newly in IT. Yes I can be called biased but even in the technical and male dominated industries such as Engineering and Construction, the care and the relationship elements you speak about are what wins the day with hard hat blokes, professional or blue collar!
Adrian
There are a lot more female recruiters than men, so would assume that on average, there are more successful recruiters of that gender. Likewise, there would be a lot more failures. Better? No. Are men better? No. Each have strengths, and always a strong team is one female and one male whom each brings a different diversity to the game in terms of client visits/ongoing relationships (i.e. where you make your impression that leads to a job). A great female recruiter in Office Support would be a crap Executive Recruiter unless they understand that market, and vice versa (and not implying at all that a female could not recruit Execs). It all boils down to knowing your "patch". A spurious argument, even before you start talking about hunter/farmer, PSA's etc. Am assuming that this article was supposed to poke a stick at a hornets nest rather than being serious.
Brian Kevin Johnston
Yes, Your Right About This... With The Evolving Global Economy, Women Are Going To "Crush It" is ALL business's.... because the WWW has evened the playing field....
Santa
Congrats Greg, you got your 5 minutes ...
Leigh
I am more interested in the FACT that all of the vehement objectors are all MEN :-)
Ben
Ah, 70% of recruiters are women so even if you ignored the fact that a sample size of 10 is pretty damn small, all the firebrand data shows is that men are proportionally represented. That is, neirther men or women are better at recuitment. The rest is obviously one (fair biased) bloggers opinion.
Sandy Rolfe
Not sure if this is a thought provoking blog this time Greg, but sex sells - those who have it can flaunt it and will win over any toughened CEO client who wont give time nor day to any young male recruitment bucks. I don't think it's a fair assessment across the whole recruitment industry though - just certain sectors.
Ron McDonald
Have to agree with Sandy here. Nothing like a middle aged man enjoying the attention of a good looking lady to ease the wheels of business. It's akin to the world's oldest profession in my view and not pretty to watch but the best female recruiters are often the most manipulative. If a client feels he's about to get joggy with Mr. Biggie then his recruiter has him by the crown jewels.
Ron McDonald
That should read "jiggy with Mr. Biggie" and not "joggy." I don't think he's thinking about jogging....!
Adam
I really appreciate all of your views on the way we "Add Value" to our clients... Not by being an industry expert and being dialled into the active and passive candidate market. Not by litenting to our clients then solving the real issues for our clients. But by parading an attractive female recruitment consultant in front of hiring managers. Hey I solely market to women now and business is booming... If you can't beat them join them! I really enjoyed reading all your comments, please keep them coming! (Nice work Greg!)
Sandy Rolfe
LOL Ron - we know what you mean....... The best female recruiters I have seen will always go to an extra effort to get themselves ready for that special client or important candidate - 9 times out of 10 it works, but I have seen it backfire badly when Ms Alpha Female Recruiter meets Ms Alpha Female Client/Candidate. This is where I feel the male recruiters win hands down - the guys can get along, see the competition and work within the situation - the ladies seem to just get bitchy and will even walk away from a deal (god forbid Greg !!) if their ego gets in the way.
    Jenni Chelenyak
    This is also true! I see it all the time...it's like a lot women are threatened by other women subconsciously. Men see an ally in powerful people, women see an opponent.
Steve
I've worked in the Recruitment industry for nearly 10 years and seen some exceptional Recruiters of both genders and equally, some appalling examples of both. One persons opinion is that he thinks women are better and it allows for the headline "women are better recruiters than men". Would you have posted this if your opinion was the other way round? Do you also think that different races make better recruiters or is than unacceptable to post? It's nearly 2012 mate.
Georgina
In the last 2 companies I have worked for - 1 being one of the biggest Accountancy and Finance recruitment co.s in the world and the current one being a FTSE 100 company which turns over 2.2 billion - I have found that the majority of the biggest billers are nearly always women although the best recruiter I've ever met was a guy. At my current company the biggest billers are all female and are also the most effective managers according to our MD. I think Greg is right about the steel backbone - I believe many have a point to prove and enjoy the fact they can break through lots of the barriers that exist in other industries. It's a shame that people have commented about women flirting/selling their appearance, it's a cheap shot. I'd also say that the only consultant in my office who flirts with their clients is a guy. It's not about saying women are better than men, this is a CEO's opinion based on 30 years experience. It's great to read an article which celebrates how well they are doing in an industry - chaps this is a rare thing at the moment so let us have this 5 minutes.
helen
What allot of attention this post has got Greg..I think I have to agree with you Greg, many of the best recruiters I have worked with have been women, mainly with a point to prove, and in Engineering, and this is not because they flirt with the client as one commented, it is because they are knowledgable, interested, listen and have the best candidates, men I find are great Business Developers, women offer the full package. IN MY OPINION....
Steve Bulman
He he he - Greg - you just love to provoke a reaction don't you? To all the respondents who feel this is tosh, or unjust etc - remember, it is a blog - it is his opinion and if you don't like it, stop reading! :) I totally agree with the fact that better listeners who show more empathy will typically make better recruiters - they do not lead with assumptions which is the killer of all deals, they are not bullish in their approach which actually opens more doors; they will use information more readily and network more effectively. Am I describing a man or a woman? It does not matter - a good recruiter who can learn how to do the above will always out perform a "throw sh*t against a wall" approach recruiter. It is any surprise that young male recruiters adopt a more testosterone driven approach? Not really - I know I did, but as I have grown older, slower, fatter and wiser I have adopted all of the traits above to my benefit. But I have just hired a trainee, a young lady - none of the guys I interviewed gave me confidence they would listen to all I had to say and in her first 3 weeks she has gained a new client and has interviews on the board - by listening and working cleverly!
Steve
Boy, has this post uncovered some latent insecurities!!
Alicia
WOW commenter's...I'm glad to see we have come such a long way moving into 2010...That women are just sex symbols and that's the reason we close the deal...shall I remind you who rules the world? Men. - maybe you should read gregs other posts...stressed recruiter? In my company most of the recruiters are men - unsure who's at the top but I would believe its a man...except int he IT department that`s female. I understand what you are saying Greg - and it makes sense and like you said...it depends.
Steve Ward
Ha! Great provoked Mr Savage!! I think we all know, the best recruiters are the ones we pick well, support well, empower and allow to thrive and succeed. My dream recruitment team would have a 50/50 mix. I have encouraged cross-gender teams for every client meeting I can control for the last 15 years - because truth is - the person who makes the decision as to whether male or female is best, is the client. So give them the opportunity to choose from us, not sending 2 pretty girls for effect, and the client going elsewhere. Was just discussing the 2 best recruiters I have ever known earlier. 1 man. 1 woman.
David Tortely
Greg, let's enure we all know the difference between fact and opinion. This article is a clever ploy designed simply to elicit lots of repsonses, and it's worked. But it's factually rubbish. It might be consistent with your experience but it sure as heck isn't with mine. I have known just two excellent female billers in 11 years of recruitment, one in IT and another in the semiconductor space. There may be niches in which a woman's natural gifts make her a better biller but they aren't the ones I have worked in. Of course, all of this is just my opinion...
Larry Jasinover
Great points...and while I can easily argue both sides I am loving the back and forth on this one. Guess I have a new topic for my next team meeting...
Sean Corbett
mmm- you certainly walk the talk then as I count only one of your Recruitment Directors/Country Managers is female ! What's stopping them making the transition to your management team ??
    Greg Savage
    Sean, my blog was about recruiters, not managers. The skills required to bill consistently and the skills required to manage a business are two totally different things, as I am sure you are aware. There is nothing stopping any person joining the management team at FB... apart from desire and ability
Amy Ala
Well... I just looked around the room. Including myself there are 4 female recruiters and 2 male. We're all good in our own ways, but my male counterparts are 1 Tech recruiter and 1 Campus recruiter. The rest of us do everything else. In over 10 years of recruiting I've seen plenty of good (and bad) recruiters - and I completely agree with Greg.
David Tortely
So.... I have to ring lots of people (activity), make sure they're the right people, and do all of it in the right market...... Then I have to toughen the **** up, have a good cry every now and again, hit the gym. If I do all of this and get a sex change operation as well will I get into the $1,000,000 per year billers' club?
    Greg Savage
    You don't have to do anything at all David, not even read these blogs... although its pretty clear you do....very closely...so thanks for that, cheers Greg
Bart
This was a great blog because it did what all good blogs should do and that is to encourage conversation and debate. In my opinion , it doesn't matter if you are a male or female recruiter. What matters is adherence to the points that were mentioned: being a good listener, resilience/backbone and desire to achieve results on a level playing field.
Molly
I've never responded to a blog post....EVER, but this one was most definitely thought provoking. For those that argue that recruiting is a female dominated world (hence the better success rate) - I ask you, do not the same number of men and women try this career path? Who lasts longer?? And therefore have greater numbers? In my humble opinion, the success rate is based upon who is able to stay in the game longer. I've always worked in male dominated fields (trading floor on the CBOE). I'll be the first to admit that it is not a female friendly place, and it takes a special woman to stay there - most move on to other jobs that are better suited for their personalities. Just as many men move on from recruiting. From my experiences, men like a quick high - it's not always about the long term relationship, but rather the conquest, and sealing the deal. My male counterparts have a much more aggressive approach in dealing with both candidates and clients. I'm not saying one is better than the other - but, as a woman I've found the softer approach has gotten me a lot further then then the men I work with. I have an MBA in marketing. I've fortunately learned the most relevant methods of reaching people, and engagning your target. Cold calling and aggressive tactics are not what people want. Man, Woman - whomever can adapt better to the changing environment and demands are going to be the ones who succeed in the end. Being a woman no doubt helps getting a foot in the door - but it is what you can do once in the door that really matters...and there is no gender bias there. May the best man.. or woman win in the game of recruitment!
Janette
The people responding to your blog in the negative won’t ever be as successful as a woman. The reason? If women are better at recruitment that men, in general, then people should be spending their time asking 'why are they better, and how can I do it !!?' not trying to explain in 10 different ways why you are wrong. This negative approach is why, eventually, they will fail. Example - Craig believes this particular blog is 'tosh'....and several others believe that 'sex sells' .....They are entitled to their opinions, but I beg to differ. I am a recruiter working in Engineering, Mining and Heavy Industry, and have been for many years. My clients work with me, and with the company I work for, because we are the best at what we do. Nothing more. I am a 'larger' lady :-) so the 'sex sells' argument is out the window! LOL and I am successful in Engineering and the like because I make sure I know everything there is to know about what I'm doing. It's about COMMITMENT, NOT INDUSTRY. You need to say what you mean and mean what you say (old but true!), never make a promises you can't, or don't intend to keep, treat everyone (clients and candidates alike!) with the respect YOU expect and WORK HARD ! This job is not for the faint hearted ! It really is that simple If the people responding to your blog would just have an attitude adjustment, eventually perhaps you may be writing a blog about how amazing it is that suddenly there is parody between male and female recruiters. Until then, it seems, women will always be on top.... so to speak. :-)
    Greg Savage
    Wonderful response Janette...thanks for commenting on the blog...Greg
Richard
Janette - I'd love to have heard your response had Greg suggested that men are the better recruiters. People would be up in arms and Greg's reputation in tatters. My experience in recruitment has mostly been in male dominated environments. Some excellent recruiters many average and some awful. The few female consultants I've worked alongside have mostly been underperformers sadly, but I'm not so narrow minded to think that this small test group is reflective of an entire gender. I have some excellent female competitors in my niche for example. As for the comparisons to prostitution.... seriously??? Personally I think I'd much rather accept that women are better recruiters than to accept that the majority of male hiring managers select their recruitment suppliers based on looks! It's a no win situation for us by all accounts! We're DOOMED!!!! :)
wateva...
Humans are the best recruiters.
Tommy V
This is superb news because men will always be promoted first because of the fictitious "glass ceiling" that women have been using as an excuse for a while now. It's nice to know you can always hire a team of women who will work harder and better than you ever did to make you look good from your management seat of power.
Dan Gallagher
On one point I agree, on the other "in my experience" females tend to talk a LOT longer on filling a role than men, now my view is becuase Males understand the urgency for their clients. I would state females are better on filling vacancies if there is a lot of notice for the role.
PipGS
Great article Greg. In the many years I have been in Recruitment, (including hiring and firing many recruiters) I have found that women tend to make the better longer term recruiters BUT men have more success with HR depts. Why? Because, sex sells!!! I have no facts but in my experience the vast majority of HR managers are women. My husband is in recruitment also and we both find that it really does depend on the area of recruitment but when it comes down to it, the main factor is the understanding and delivery of the clients needs. We can all win work but it is really about delivery and that is where I think women step up and generally men tend to look for the next win.
Leigh J
Greg, I note that one of most sexist replies is written by the manager of a company that provides services to the recruitment industry. As one of his (female) clients I am extremely disappointed.
    Greg Savage
    Leigh, while I welcome vigorous debate on the blog, and of course this particular topic was bound to provoke all sorts of viewpoints, I have been a little shocked by the tone and content of some of the replies. I had thought we had moved way beyond that kind of thinking. I am not surprised that you are disappointed. Thanks for posting your thoughts. regards Greg
James
Women are possibly better in roles such as account management, or high street agency recruitment, but in niche recruitment such as technology, much fewer women than men have the determination, confidence and competitiveness to out bill their male counterparts. I could perhaps understand your point of view, had the arguments FOR women being better billers than men, been, well, better. 1) far better listeners than men - possibly, who knows, but in niche recruitment, listening only gets you so far, as consultants we don't just listen and do what we are told, we need to tell clients / candidates how it is, and inevitably get them to change their mind or view point. In my experience, I have met few women confident enough to be able to do this. 2) women are more resilient than men - again have to disagree, I've lost track of the amount of times I have worked with female staff whom have been brought to tears by the smallest thing, women are naturally more emotional than men, and in a job such as this which is an emotional rollercoaster everyday, I'm sorry, but there isn't room for over thinking, over analysing and being overly emotional when things aren't going well. 3) And then there is the money - this isn't grounds to strengthen your case, anyone (male or female) will be in this job because of the money earning aspect. In my experience, most females that try recruitment, (niche recruitment I am talking about) find it too hard, they end up as internal recruiters, HR officers, or fall in to high street agency recruitment Of course not all women fall under this category, but in my experience the majority do
Ainsley
Maybe it has something to with the fact that there are more male managers, perhaps they simply prefer to deal with female recruiters!? In my experience (20 years of contracting) there have been one or two excellent female recruiters and equally some excellent male recruiters, and sadly an awful lot more of both sexes that are not good recruiters at all!
Michael
What a totally and utterly pointless debate - why....oh why... Please explain why you would waste a perfectly happy blank internet page with this asinine nonsense. Good performers are good performers. 'Recruiters' the world over have vastly different jobs from each other. All this blog post achieves is make me depressed about the World economy due to the number of recruiters who have the time to comment on it!
    Greg Savage
    All opinions valid and welcome Michael! Does make me wonder however, why you wasted ANOTHER "happy blank internet page" , by adding to this "asinine nonsense" with your carefully thought through comment? Best Greg PS Just FYI..on this particular post...I wrote it just to see what kind of response I would get. To provoke the sleeping beast. Reckon it worked?
Michael
Thanks Greg, It definitely pressed my buttons, so if that was the intention it definitely worked! Was indeed a grumpy post - my apologies if I offended. The whole thing just seems so pointless... The fact that people are commenting with sweeping generalisations about members of the two sexes and then attempting to use them to justify which sex is better at something so diverse is a bit ludicrous... don't you think? As a made up example It's a bit like saying, 'In my opinion Chinese people make better mathematicians than the British...' and then not taking into account anything else i.e. educational, social, economic factors or the fact that 'maths' is a vast field of study or the fact that there are plenty of excellent British mathematicians... I'm not trying to defend men, just point out the futility of the debate!
    Greg Savage
    You are right of course Michael. While I believe what I wrote, this is a lighthearted piece with no science to support it, and totally full of holes when held up to scrutiny. And I have to agree with you, some of the comments were extreme, in poor taste, and even less based on fact than my original blog! But that is blogging I guess. Mostly my blogs are hardcore recruitment advice, or musings about our industry, its failings and how we can improve. Have a look at the scores of other articles I have written here - some of which hopefully do not waste valuable blank internet pages. But when you write a blog every week for three years, sometimes you stray into the frivolous. Which is good I think - and lots felt the same.... seeing as 35,000 people have read this 'wasted internet page'....and shared it on social media hundreds of times :) Its ok to chill a bit sometimes....
Barry Smith
Sorry this a daft conversation. Would any man dare to start such an argument the other way around? It's a bit like are men or women better drivers.
    Greg Savage
    Turns out woman are better drivers Barry http://tinyurl.com/7uhwm6q :)
Winsome Bernard
I know that it’s abit tongue in cheek, but I have also been in recruitment for a lot of years and have long held the beliefs that white man can’t dance and women make better recruiters. I do have to tell you that the new age sensitive guy has come into his own, in my business these days we have more male consultants than females and I’m beginning to question my long held opinions. But I am also asking myself, when looking at the top 10 recruitment businesses in Australia that there is only one female CEO. My my what does this say, perish the thought…
Nadia
Greg once more you made my day! Thanks for being brave and observant. Men getting their nose out of joint reading your blog should calm down, it is an opinion, not the gospel. Every day of the week we are told how men at better at this and that. I agree with you Greg and not because I am a woman but because it is dead set true. Of course we cannot generalise and Winsome is right, guys can be great too. Those who are not afraid to use their more feminine side. It is like nurses, they are far more women in that profession than men. It is no big deal, nothing to get upset about. It is a fact of life. Yes I agree that sometime women/men are better at some thing than others!. Parking men can have it, yes you are better at parking. Driving? it is debatable :) Relax everyone, what happen to freedom of expression? Thanks for your continuous blogs, I love them even if I don't always agree with everything I read. Happy Tuesday.
Riki
I disagree. Men are more driven and focussed on results!!
Adam
I read this, and must say I found it to be rather amusing. Having worked in this industry for many years now I don't know of anyone with a balanced view who would genuinely think this. In my time in recruitment mostly Financial Executive Search + IT , I personally know of around 30 Top Biliing Consultants. Of these 5 are amongst the top performers in Europe. Out of the 30 I would say 3-4 are women + they work mostly as account managers which is a far easier role That's not to say women can't be sucessful in recruitment, it just tends to be different sectors like office or high street recruitment. Which to be honest the male Consultants I know would be unlikely to do this as it wouldn't match their ambitions / salary expectations. Some people do choose a career in HR but the general opinion is that most are failed recruitment consultants. You'll also notice that possibly 90% of the people in these roles are female. I doubt that's just purely by chance. A good consultant I believe is driven has high levels of self confidence / gravitas. They also tend not to be so sensitve + are logical and rational thinkers. Now stand back for just one moment and answer who is the more likely to have these attributes? To anyone with half a brain the answer would seem obvious. In terms of quality of relationships the guy's I know also do better in this respect. It's taken a bit more seriously. Women arn't bad at managing accounts but it's very uncommon in my experience for you see them actually land one + On a big account it can be more admin based If you work at a high level in recruitment and take a look around the office of those billing over £350k by themselves without being given accounts that should give you a good picture. A politically correct acticle will always get much more expose than one that's not. But if you asked all the owners of top niche recruitment companies to give their opinion with no draw back I think there thoughts would be somewhat different from Greg's. That being said I can see women are improving and this is very encouraging so wish them well.
Glen Frost
Very "on message" Greg - but remind me, who owns the agency ? Oh yes, a guy.
    Greg Savage
    Glen, whose message is this "on", exactly? My post is about RECRUITING, not business management - two very different skills sets I am sure you will agree. Any way I would imagine that many, if not most, recruitment businesses in Australia are women owned (I don't have stats to support that, would be fascinating to know.)
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