Recruiter Job Description: Duties, Template & Pay (2026)
A recruiter job description for a frontline employer describes a different job from the one most templates assume. Your recruiter is not sourcing software engineers on LinkedIn; they are filling CNA, driver, production and technician roles in volume, calling applicants back the same day, and running the ads that produce those applicants. This page has a copyable recruiter job description template, variants for talent acquisition specialists, managers, healthcare recruiters and driver recruiters, and what the role pays.
What a recruiter does
BLS does not publish recruiters as their own occupation. They are counted inside human resources specialists (SOC 13-1071), which O*NET defines as people who recruit, screen, interview or place individuals within an organization. “Recruiter” and “Corporate Recruiter” are both among O*NET’s sample job titles for the occupation, alongside HR generalists and coordinators.
The O*NET task list reads like an in-house recruiter’s week:
- Search for candidates through databases, networking, internet recruiting, advertising, job fairs, staffing firms and employee referrals
- Review applications and job orders to match applicants with requirements
- Interview applicants on work history, training, education and skills
- Tell applicants about duties, pay, benefits, schedules and working conditions
- Select qualified applicants or refer them to managers, with hiring recommendations
- Contact applicants about the status of their applications
- Schedule or administer skills and drug tests, and conduct reference or background checks
- Review applicant eligibility for required licenses
- Hire employees, process hiring paperwork and schedule orientation
What the list does not show is the pace. At a hospital system, carrier or plant, the job is mostly speed and follow-up: an hourly applicant who applied from a phone at lunch is gone if nobody calls until Thursday.
| Working conditions (HR specialists) | Share reporting it |
|---|---|
| 100% every day | |
| Telephone conversations | 100% every day |
| Face-to-face discussions | 95% every day |
| Accuracy extremely important | 64% |
| Conflict situations | 40% every day |
| A standard 40-hour week | 70% |
For a frontline recruiter, add text messages to that list: that is where hourly applicants answer.
Recruiter job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields, and delete what does not apply. It is written for an in-house recruiter at a frontline employer; the sections below adapt it for healthcare, trucking and manager roles.
Job title
Recruiter [/ Talent Acquisition Specialist / Healthcare Recruiter / Driver Recruiter], [Company name], [City, ST or Remote / Hybrid]
Summary
[Company name] is hiring a recruiter to fill [roles, e.g. CNA, LPN and dietary roles / CDL-A driver roles / production and maintenance roles] across [number] locations in [region]. You will own the process from job ad to first day: getting openings in front of the right people, calling applicants back fast, screening, scheduling interviews with hiring managers and making offers. You will be measured on [time to fill / hires per month / 90-day retention].
[Schedule and where the work happens]. [Pay range and any hiring bonus]. [One sentence on why this is a good place to recruit for.]
What you will do
• Manage [number] open requisitions at a time for [roles] with hiring managers at [sites]
• Write job ads and run recruiting campaigns across [job boards, social media ads, referral program, career fairs, schools]
• Contact new applicants by phone and text within [timeframe], screen them and schedule interviews
• Coach hiring managers on interviewing and keep them to agreed response times
• Extend offers and manage background checks, [drug screens / license verification / MVRs] and onboarding paperwork
• Keep every candidate record current in [ATS] and report weekly on pipeline, time to fill and source of hire
• Build a pool of past applicants and referrals for the roles that open every month
What you need
• [1+ years] recruiting, staffing, HR or high-volume customer-facing experience
• Comfortable on the phone all day and fast with text and email follow-up
• Organized enough to run many requisitions without losing a candidate
• Working knowledge of [ATS or HRIS] or willingness to learn it in [timeframe]
• [Valid driver’s license and travel between sites, if required]
Nice to have
• Experience recruiting [nurses and aides / CDL drivers / skilled trades / hourly production roles]
• Experience running paid job ads or social media recruiting campaigns
• [Bilingual in Spanish or another language your applicants speak]
What we offer
• [Pay range], [bonus structure, stated as numbers]
• [Hybrid or remote days]
• [Benefits and the eligibility date]
• [Budget and tools you will control]
• [Growth path, e.g. senior recruiter, recruiting manager]
How to apply
[One step. Recruiters judge you by your own process, so answer every applicant within [timeframe].]
Requirements: what to ask for, and what to drop
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree | Drop it or make it preferred. BLS lists a bachelor’s as typical for HR specialists, but O*NET reports only 47 percent of respondents said one is required. |
| Years of experience | One year is plenty for a recruiter role; ask for more only for senior or manager titles. High-volume phone work in any customer-facing job transfers. |
| Industry experience | A plus, not a requirement. Knowing what a CNA certification or a clean MVR means can be learned in weeks. |
| Certifications (SHRM, HRCI) | Leave them out for recruiter roles. They signal HR generalist knowledge, not recruiting speed. |
| Response time | Put it in the job. A stated expectation such as calling applicants back the same business day is the most useful line in the template. |
| Metrics | Name how you measure the role. Candidates who have recruited before will ask, and the answer tells them whether the job is realistic. |
Customizing it by setting
Healthcare recruiter job description
A healthcare recruiter fills nursing, aide, therapy and support roles, and most of the compliance work is credential checking. Add license and certification verification before start, including CNA registry verification and OIG exclusion checks, and knowledge of compact nursing states if you hire across state lines. See nurse recruitment for the RN and LPN side.
Driver recruiter job description
A driver recruiter at a motor carrier sells the job and builds the file. FMCSA rules shape the work: 49 CFR 391.51 requires a driver qualification file for each driver; 391.23 requires an inquiry for the driver’s motor vehicle record within 30 days of hire and an investigation of safety performance history with DOT-regulated employers over the preceding three years; and 382.701 requires a pre-employment Clearinghouse query before a driver performs safety-sensitive functions. Add these to the duties, name the freight, home time and pay model the recruiter will be selling, and link the role to your driver qualification file checklist. If you also hire a driver manager, keep the handoff between the two roles explicit.
Manufacturing and production
Add shift coverage, onsite interview days, staffing agency coordination and conversion of temporary workers to direct hire, since O*NET lists coordination with outside staffing agencies as a task.
Talent acquisition specialist job description
At most frontline employers, talent acquisition specialist and recruiter are the same job with different titles. Where they differ, the talent acquisition specialist job description adds work beyond filling today’s requisitions: workforce planning with operations, employer branding, running the referral program, managing job advertising budgets and reporting on source of hire and cost per hire. Use the template above and add those duties explicitly, with the budget the specialist will control.
Talent acquisition manager job description
A talent acquisition manager owns the recruiting function rather than a set of requisitions. BLS counts these roles with human resources managers (SOC 11-3121), and O*NET lists “Recruitment Director” among that occupation’s sample job titles. The duties to put in a talent acquisition manager job description:
- Set hiring plans and staffing forecasts with operations leaders
- Hire, coach and manage recruiters and coordinators, and set their targets
- Own the recruiting budget, advertising spend and agency relationships
- Choose and run the ATS and recruiting tools
- Report time to fill, cost per hire, source of hire and early turnover to leadership
- Keep hiring practices compliant with EEO, background check and industry rules
Ask for prior recruiting experience plus some supervision or project leadership; BLS lists five years or more of related work experience as typical for HR managers. For how the function fits together, see recruiting team structure and our talent acquisition strategy plan.
Recruiting manager job description
A recruiting manager job description usually sits one level closer to the work: managing a team of recruiters for one region, business line or role family while still carrying some requisitions. Keep the manager duties above, cut what a TA leader owns, and state how many requisitions the manager still carries. That number is what experienced candidates will ask first.
What recruiters earn
Human resources specialists, the BLS occupation that includes recruiters, had a median wage of $75,940 a year, or $36.51 an hour, in May 2025. The group also includes HR generalists and coordinators, so treat it as a reference point rather than a recruiter-only rate. Human resources managers, where talent acquisition and recruiting managers are counted, had a median of $149,280, or $71.77 an hour; that group includes HR directors and vice presidents, so it is not the going rate for a site-level recruiting manager.
BLS counted 939,700 HR specialists in 2025 and projects 6.4 percent growth to 999,700 by 2035, with about 73,700 openings a year. HR managers numbered 224,900, with 5.5 percent projected growth and about 16,800 openings a year.
Weighing an in-house hire against outside help? See what a recruiter costs.
What it costs to reach a recruiter, and what your recruiter will be buying
Recruiter roles fall in our management and professional role family: a median cost per applicant of $16.87 on Meta in our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, with the middle half of campaigns between $4.62 and $60.11, a blended figure of $5.45 and a 16 percent apply rate.
The more useful numbers are the ones your new recruiter will manage. Across our benchmark, median cost per applicant runs $7.72 for CNA and nursing assistant roles, $19.08 for registered nurses, $26.86 for CDL truck drivers and $9.83 for warehouse and production. Applicant conversion explains 70 percent of the variation in cost per applicant, which is why a recruiter who shortens the application and calls back fast is worth more than one who negotiates media rates.
Building out the team? See ChatGPT for recruiting for the drafting work a recruiter can hand off, time to fill for the metric most recruiters are judged on, and truck driver recruiting and healthcare recruiting for the channels.
The job description is not the job ad
The template is the document. The ad has to get an experienced recruiter to apply.
- Lead with what they will recruit for, the requisition load and the pay.
- Say what tools and budget they will have, and name the ATS.
- State how the role is measured.
For the ad itself, see job ad copywriting.
Frequently asked questions
What should a recruiter job description include?
The roles and locations the recruiter will fill, the requisition load, the channels they will run, the expected response time to applicants, how the job is measured, the pay range and the tools. For healthcare add license and exclusion checks; for trucking add driver qualification file and Clearinghouse duties.
What does a recruiter do?
A recruiter finds, screens and hires candidates for an employer. O*NET’s tasks for the occupation include searching for candidates, reviewing applications, interviewing, telling applicants about pay and schedules, checking references and backgrounds, processing hiring paperwork and developing recruiting strategies. At frontline employers the job is high-volume and phone-heavy.
What is the difference between a recruiter and a talent acquisition specialist?
At many employers there is none. Where the titles differ, a talent acquisition specialist adds longer-range work: workforce planning, employer branding, the referral program, advertising budgets and source-of-hire reporting. A recruiter focuses on filling open requisitions.
What does a talent acquisition manager do?
A talent acquisition manager runs the recruiting function: hiring plans with operations, managing recruiters, the recruiting budget and agencies, the ATS and tools, reporting on time to fill and cost per hire, and compliant hiring practices. BLS counts these roles with human resources managers.
How much does a recruiter make?
BLS counts recruiters with human resources specialists, who had a median wage of $75,940 a year, or $36.51 an hour, in May 2025. That group includes HR generalists, so publish your own range. Human resources managers, which include talent acquisition managers, had a median of $149,280.
Does a recruiter need a degree?
Not necessarily. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as typical for HR specialists, but O*NET reports 47 percent of respondents said one is required. For frontline recruiting, phone skills, speed and organization matter more; make the degree preferred rather than required.
What does a healthcare recruiter do differently?
A healthcare recruiter spends more of the job on credentials: verifying licenses and certifications, checking nurse aide registries, running OIG exclusion checks and matching candidates to shifts and units.
What does a driver recruiter do?
A driver recruiter sells the driving job and builds a compliant file. FMCSA rules require a driver qualification file, a motor vehicle record inquiry within 30 days of hire, a safety performance history investigation covering the preceding three years, and a pre-employment Clearinghouse query before safety-sensitive work.
How do you measure a recruiter?
Time to fill, hires per month, applicant response time, offer acceptance rate and early turnover of the people they hire. Pick three and put them in the job description.
Related pages
Hiring a recruiter?
Give them applicants worth calling. We run the Facebook and Instagram job ads, with a short on-platform application, so your recruiter spends the day talking to candidates instead of chasing them.
Wage, employment and projection data for human resources specialists (SOC 13-1071) and human resources managers (SOC 11-3121): U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025–35 (data.bls.gov/projections) and May 2025 OEWS; hourly medians, tasks, sample job titles, work context and education from O*NET OnLine 13-1071.00 and 11-3121.00; FMCSA requirements from 49 CFR 391.51, 391.23 and 382.701 via eCFR. Read at source 28 September 2026. Cost-per-applicant and apply-rate figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 891 managed campaigns and 1,334 campaign-months.