How to get into recruitment?

These days getting into the recruitment industry for some can be so easy and for others near on impossible. So having run a recruitment company and interviewed a few hundred recruiters wanting to get into this industry, I thought it would make sense to pass on a few of my tips for budding recruitment consultants.

To start with when you send your cv to the recruitment company there is no guarantee that you will even get an interview, particularly if you do not have any experience, although there are plenty of graduate recruitment trainee roles. Saying that companies still want to see some kind of experience, but I will come back to this in a moment.

Tenacity

Firstly I thought I will tell you how to walk straight out of University into a recruitment role, which can be done of course. One advantage you will have is that there are plenty of companies looking for recruiters and many keen to train you from scratch; you just have to be head and shoulders above your competition. On this point it would make sense to read what actually makes a good recruitment consultant post, which I am sure will either help or frighten you off.

Just remember you will need to exhibit as many of these characteristics when you apply for a trainee role, whether it is to get the interview or while you are being interviewed.

What you will find therefore is when you apply for a job at a recruitment company, the recruiter will throw up various objections just to see how you handle them. They do not want someone that gives up at the first hurdle, but someone who try´s to overcome them; you need to show them you are determined and you can sell yourself.

Also you need to bear in mind that theoretically your cv will be the same as all the others graduates, empty!

It isn’t about sending your cv and thinking that having a 1^st is enough, it is about how you overcome something to get that first, or how you drove yourself to be the best athlete in the school etc. Therefore tenacity is fairly easy to mimic, just do not accept no as an answer, but always reply with a reason why you can when they say why you cannot, I think you get my drift.

Communication Skills

The second part is the communication skills, the ability to get across your argument in a professional manner, basically sell yourself and this is where most trainees fall down.

Too many people think that selling yourself is having the “gift of the gab” or put another way someone who talks too much and bores you witless! The key here is to remember you have “two ears and one mouth, use them in that order”

There is a lot one could say on sales and there are thousands of books and hundreds of blogs, telling you about the skill of sales, but I think it would make sense to refer you to one book that changed my life, but you do not need to take my word for it it, as it is the same book that inspired the richest man in the world, Warren Buffett, depending on which year you look at. The Book is called “How to win friends and influence people” and has influenced many since its publication in the 30′s and is still relevant today.

So now you have you mind focused on the mentality of the recruiter, you really need to show them you have gone that extra mile and when you realize this is a sales job, the most perfect experience is therefore sales experience, so I suggest while you are looking for your role as a recruiter, you also need to gain some sales experience. A tip on this is to get a commission only job, as you will get some superb sales training and best of all it is free. I know this may seem a bit of a come down for some of you, but most of my successful friends have gone this route, even me!  On that point a call centre role can certainly help you tone your telephone communication skills, and is probably the most important asset you will need to have.

This will certainly give you the edge over your competitors and hone your skills to winning the prize.

You have written your cv and it is ready to go but wait, first make sure someone apart from you has read the cv to ensure it makes sense.

 

Amazingly the standards of cvs I read are poor; there is no excuse with spell checker and grammar checker. Watch out here though as word will often not include heading or words written in capitals. I have had many a laugh at the spelling of curriculum vitae. It is often at the top big and bold but spelt incorrectly because it hasn’t been checked. Ask your self what does it say about you?

 

 

The next step is where to send your cv well this will really depend on what market sector you have chosen or where your skills best fit. I think these days there is a recruitment consultancy for nearly every single market. So the most logical direction would be a market that relates to your experience or degree, that way it will give you an edge.

 

 

Apart from industries there are the different fields of recruitment to consider

 

1) Permanent

2) Temporary/Contract

3) Head Hunting

4) In House

5) Or a Combination of above

 

 

The styles of the person vary greatly here The Temporary or Contract consultant can be very much a service type role where the role is very much about ensuring the candidates get to their job on time and the completion of time sheets.

 

 

The Permanent role is more sales orientated and is generally more new business driven, so here you need to have more of that sales drive.

 

Finally there is the headhunter, which although most people perceive that head hunting is generally recruitment; a true headhunter will command salaries in excess of £100,000. The role is much more involved in that you tend to work on assignments and on larger fees i.e. 30% of directors salaries, which can range between £50k to £100k.

 

 

To help you focus, if you are starting out then you will need to consider permanent or temporary and head hunting is for more senior and experienced individuals.

 

Next you need to consider the size of company to work for, whether to join a start up or a company like Manpower or a small agency. All have their advantages but starting you career with one of the big companies is the best way to go, as these companies will give you the training, which will set you up for life.

 

I would try to avoid the start-ups as this can be very stressful, but generally you will have the advantage of working with someone who is very experienced and has broken away from an established consultancy.

If you cannot get into the likes of manpower then the smaller companies will often give you the break and a couple of years later you will have the experience to join larger organisations.

I have probably interviewed hundreds candidates looking to get into recruitment, but in most cases it is for the wrong reasons. The reason is that you probably do not realise that to be a Recruitment Consultant you actually need to be a Sales Executive and not that likeable person on the other side of the desk who spends their day interviewing candidates.

The key to getting you first opportunity is to have an understanding of what a Recruitment Consultancy is looking for, so here is a list of some of their ideal attributes:

• Good communication skills (Clear diction)

• Hard working (Keen to put in overtime make calls from home if necessary)

• Sales ability (Should be able to close the sale i.e. ask for the job)

• Time Management (You will be pulled in all directions)

• Good written Skills (Writing adds, resumes etc. although I have got away with it for many years!)

• Smart Appearance

• Able to deal with rejection

• When it is tough have the strength to keep focused

• Good Rapport skills

• A personality

• Be able to think outside the box, there is always more than one way to skin a cat!

Generally if you have just come out of University or a non sales role you will not have had much experience which is what most consultancies look for so with my next instalment I will try help you get past this hurdle. In fact most of what I will be telling you will help you get any job that you apply for.