I can safely say my life in Recruitment has been a roller coaster. The highs and lows you get in this wonderful industry are incredible. If you are thinking of becoming a Recruiter read on. We will explore why people become Recruitment Consultants. Most people I know in Recruitment use the line “I fell into Recruitment”. What does that mean? Well, they had a job in another industry that was easily adaptable, such as sales. They read or heard there is a good money to be mad as a Recruiter with little barriers to entry.

This blog will explore how to become a Recruitment Consultant and what is the best sector to work in. Before you read the 5 tips. Its important to understand what a Recruitment Consultant does.

A Recruiter will have many strings to their bow. You will interact with many job applicants and represents a company to hire the best talent for a job. As a recruitment consultant, you will write job advertisements. Then Market those jobs, using the likes of LinkedIn and Indeed. You will interview applicants, make decisions and assumptions on them. You perform background checks and finally hire them while providing career advice, salary information and advice on what training people should do.

Think of how a business hires its people. A good recruiter is so crucial because hiring talent is hard. It is also difficult to keep track of every individual who applies for example. As a Recruitment consultant you are in the perfect job to help companies ensure they have the best possible employees. HR take over to develop those employees. It’s important to understand the divide between the roles. A Recruiter is not a HR professional. But many HR professionals wear the Recruiter hat. Hiring the right talent that has the necessary skills and requirements and fits in the company culture is difficult. This means that to succeed in the role, you need to have the ability to look further than the accomplishments on a person’s CV. You must assess their character and personality is a positive and advice appropriately.

Now that we know what a Recruiter does. Now you can explore this topic in great detail. This video is a great start.

Here are my 5 tips on how to go about being a Recruitment Consultant.

  1. Arrange your CV to highlight your key personality traits. For example, as part of your previous job was building relationships. Add this in bold and explain your successes in this area. Other traits would include: Resilience, Research, ability to talk and explain well. Being attentive, professional, and knowing your surroundings very well. Recruitment is a results business, so highlighting results in general on your CV is important.
  2. Know the job sector you want to work in. Recruitment is all about building up networks. You must ask yourself, what areas do I have passion about. For example, do you like marketing, social media etc. Then find an appropriate sector for you to work in. You also must assess access to talent in the space and if there is a strong demand for that talent.
  3. Focus your search for a job. Do your research on LinkedIn. Find out the big players in your chosen Recruitment sector. You can do this buy typing in a skillset or job title into LinkedIn or indeed and get the name of the companies hiring them. Some of those companies will be a Recruitment agency. Then look them up online, see if they are hiring and connect with the companies management and directors.
  4. Smart applying. The saying, throw enough Sh*t at the wall, some is bound to stick, does work. However, being smart about how to apply for a job will benefit you hugely. When applying for the role. Tailor your CV to marry role. Like mentioned in point 1. Highlight you interest in the sector the Recruitment business specialise in. If it’s a generalist, it might be mentioned on the job spec what area you will work in. Show your interest and knowledge in the sector on your CV. Perhaps add a summary at the top of the CV document to highlight this. Once you submit the CV, follow up! Call, email and text (f you have a mobile). Of course, don’t pester or annoy. Do it in 2–3-day intervals. Remember a key trait to be a Recruitment Consultant is resilience, show you have those traits at this point of the process.
  5. Interview focus. Within the interview you might be asked “why recruitment?”. This is your time to shine. I have interviewed countless Recruiters. Its those who understand recruitment and have a good reason for getting into it. Win me over every time.

There is so much information these days that not being prepared and understanding the Recruitment job should be easy. So not being prepared is one way to not get hired.

Elwood Roberts is a Specialist Recruitment Business that focuses on the IT and Construction sectors. We do offer a training academy, to find out more information, please do click here for more details.