Despite receiving a wish list that may seem etched in stone, the best recruiters understand that most hiring managers have some flexibility in their “must haves” list.  Below are a few questions recruiters can ask to find out how flexible job requirements are:

1.     Does the job candidate need the additional years of experience? If the recruiter has a job opportunity which they know generally requires only 5 years of experience, then they might question why a hiring manager demands at least 8 years of experience for the same amount of work. Maybe the hiring manager will be willing to accept 5 – 8 years of experience instead of sticking to just 8 years.

2.     Does the job candidate really need the additional education?  While it may be preferable to have an employee with additional education, depending on the work required, it may not be a necessity. It is up to the recruiter to point this out to the hiring manager if they feel the additional education requirement is unnecessary and may alienate otherwise appropriate job candidates.

3.     Which skills are most important to the job?  Recruiters should try to get the hiring manager to list the five most critical skills a job candidate must have.  If they are having trouble narrowing down the laundry list of skills requirements, help them by discussing the daily activities of someone actually doing the job.  Try to determine which skills on their list are just most often and are most important.