Would you make a great recruitment consultant?

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• email

The recruitment industry is thriving despite the fact we’re living in uncertain economic times. And recruitment consultants are in high demand. If you have just graduated and don’t have a clear career path, becoming a recruitment consultant could be the answer. Equally, if your industry is floundering and you need to switch careers, this could be a great choice. Here’s why:

• You don’t need formal qualifications
• You may already have the skills needed
• You get exceptional training
• You have fantastic earning potential

Are you the right fit for becoming a recruitment consultant?

This type of work might suit you if you’re good with people and would enjoy working in a fast-paced, rewarding, and innovative sector with friendly and supportive colleagues.

In a nutshell, recruiters (or recruitment consultants) help employers find the right candidates they need to fill their positions, and help candidates find their next great job. That’s usually for a recruitment agency, like HR GO for example.

One minute you might be crafting a job advert and liaising with an employer to put the finishing touches to a job description for one of their roles. The next might see you screening candidates to check they meet the requirements for the role and inviting the ones that do to an interview.

Finding the best match between candidate and future employer, and vice versa, will also involve problem solving, negotiating, networking and building long-term relationships. Your goals are to help candidates and clients succeed – as well as growing your own career.

It’s a people-first role. You’ll be expected to help guide candidates into the industry and company they’re best suited for (our psychometric testing helps with this). At the same time, you’ll be paying attention to company culture for your business clients so you can recommend candidates who will thrive in their unique environment.

Take a look at a day in the life of one of HR GO’s recruitment consultants to get an idea of what it’s like to work as a trainee.

What ‘soft skills’ you’ll need

1. Self-starter / multitasker

Being able to stay organised is crucial. You’ll probably have multiple vacancies on the go at any one time, each with different deadlines and requirements.

Once you’ve completed your training, there’s a certain amount of autonomy in recruitment. That means to succeed you need to be a self-starter who’s happy to get stuck in and has the focus and drive to get things done.

2. Clear communication

Communication skills are crucial for lots of different jobs, and especially if you work in recruitment. You’ll be interacting with employers and candidates every day throughout the recruitment process.

Being friendly and attentive on the phone or in person is also important, as is being able to really listen to and understand what clients and candidates need. You’ll keep in touch with your candidates as they navigate through the recruitment process and check on them when they’re employed.

Not everyone who interviews for a role will get through. And so, you need to be able to give useful feedback to unsuccessful candidates sensitively and meaningfully.

3. Sales abilities

There are elements of sales involved in recruitment, so being able to persuade people can be an asset. That might be persuading a great candidate to apply for a particular role or selling a strong candidate to a client. We often find that people with sales experience tend to fit well into recruitment.

Progressing in your recruitment career

Recruitment is a great option for graduates without a degree leading into a particular career. And, you don’t need specific qualifications to work in recruitment, as long as you have good English, maths, communication and computer skills. For the hardworking and ambitious, the industry also offers clear career progression opportunities.

And if you’re considering a career change into recruitment, it’s good to know that lots of the skills recruitment calls for are transferrable from other sectors. Any sales, office or admin experience will come in handy. Work experience that’s seen you interacting with the public, like sales, hospitality, call centre or retail, is also a bonus.

Don’t worry if you haven’t worked in an office before. At HR GO, we offer on-the-job training to help get you up to speed, develop and progress your career.

Want to know more? We’ve set out some more compelling reasons to work in recruitment. And at HR GO we’re proud to have branches across the UK, as well as in Australia and Poland, all staffed by driven, enthusiastic colleagues who want to do the best job every day. If we've peaked your curiosity, check out our current available recruitment positions and learn more about working for us.