So, you’re thinking about working as a recruitment consultant, but is it the right choice for you?
Keep reading because, in this article, I will explain some of the pros and cons of working as a recruitment consultant in a completely unbiased and honest way. I should probably mention that I’m a marketer, not a recruiter, which makes it easier for me to be less biased. I picked up the below pros and cons from conversations I’ve had with my recruiter colleagues since I joined the company in 2017.
No, the most fulfilling part of the job is not the money for our consultants, it’s the feeling of actually helping people. As a recruitment consultant, you are responsible for helping people find the right job, which could actually be a life-changing opportunity for them.
We all know the functional service that a recruitment consultant provides – find people a better job, a higher salary, a better location – but there’s an emotional service attached also. A job, business or industry (for better or for worse) has an enormous impact on people’s wellbeing and quality of life. If you don’t believe me, just check out some of our reviews on Trustpilot. So functionally and emotionally, it’s very satisfying when you get it right. And not only for you but for the person that you placed and the team you just strengthened with new talent.
Make money, fast. Recruitment is one of those jobs where you actually get significantly rewarded for just doing your job. Our recruitment consultants all get base salaries, but they also get a commission for filling any type of position in sales, marketing, finance, technology, and HR.
So, not only is the job really satisfying but also you have some sort of stability because even if you have a bad month with no placements and no commissions, you still have your basic salary. If you put commissions on top of that and the sky is the limit in terms of potential earnings.
Working as a recruitment consultant, every single day is different. Anyone that has worked in recruitment will completely agree with me on this. While there is a rhythm to what you’re doing every day and what your job entails, no one day is ever the same.
This is simply because you’re dealing with people and all of your interactions are with people every single day in recruitment. It’s the epitome of a people business. And people, by their very nature, are quite unpredictable and most of what everyone does is driven by their emotions. Therefore, their decisions change, their thoughts change, their feelings change, their expectations change. Factors and situations in people’s lives can also change, which can result in them making different decisions and that can be really interesting and exciting.
I often hear my colleagues saying that they love talking to people for the first time because you get to hear their backgrounds, their stories and their journeys. In recruitment, you tend to learn something new every day. It’s not boring, I can definitely tell you that much.
Before heading on to the cons, check out some articles written by some of my colleagues and find out what they have to say about working at RECRUITERS:
The number one con is accepting rejection as part of the job. Rejection can take many forms but the four main ones are:
Even if your candidate gets the job with your client, the candidate may still reject it. This could happen for a number of reasons that are completely outside of your control and there’s often nothing you can do about it. Good negotiation skills can help in these situations but it depends on the reason the candidate rejected the job in the first place. Likewise, you might put a candidate forward for a position that you think is perfect for the role, but the client might reject them.
This rejection can be a really frustrating part of the job because you’ve put in a lot of effort to get a candidate to this point. Quite often in recruitment, you effectively work for free. For some, this can be a tough pill to swallow.
A good recruiter can take rejection on the chin, brush it off and pick themselves up again quickly. It requires you to be self-motived, hungry, passionate and driven to succeed no matter what. You need to have the confidence and reassurance in yourself that you can bounce back from this and succeed again in the future is crucial, but not always easy.
Luckily, you’ll always have the full support from the whole team. The whole company will always be there and get behind you. We want you to be a success and the best you can be.
Not a significant issue for consultants at RECRUITERS but it’s worth mentioning that the really big billers typically tend to work long hours. Recruitment is a meritocracy – you take out what you put in. Sometimes that can be a bit draining, particularly if you’re into after-work activities, gym or socialising.
For instance, sometimes you’ll be working from 8:30 am in the morning to 6:30 pm. For most, this is no change in the way they've always worked. For others, it can be a difficult wake-up call. There are valid reasons for this in recruitment, however:
As the recruitment consultant, you are the person in the middle between the candidate and the prospective employer i.e. a client. If anything goes wrong between either party, for instance, if the client can’t make a scheduled time for example, or they decide to offer the role to another candidate or they pause hiring for the role halfway through the hiring process, you need to communicate this over to the candidate as soon as possible.
Likewise, perhaps something happened on the candidate’s side. For instance, if they accept another position, or miss an interview, etc. you need to communicate this to the employer quickly too.
Therefore, there are a lot of moving parts in recruitment and things can, and will, go wrong. Being the bridge between both parties can be time-consuming and comes with a high degree of professionalism and responsibility.
So in conclusion, here are three things you have to be in order to succeed as a good recruitment consultant:
If that’s you, then this is definitely the right kind of path for you to take in your career and we’d love to hear from you. Check out some of our open roles right here - we’re hiring a lot.
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By Andrew Sheehan
Andrew Sheehan is the marketing manager at RECRUITERS.
