The role of Recruitment Consultant has now hit the list of one of the hardest jobs to fill. I found this very interesting but also could completely understand. Recruitment get a very bad rep as an industry and I can understand to some degree why as it is very unregulated industry however I am not here to defend that. Why I am here is to give some insight in the complexity of the role.
Recruitment is probably one of the most complex sales cycles that anyone can work in. In sales you generally have a product or service that has benefits and features, they are fixed and the product/service will be appealing to the customers’ needs or not. In recruitment that is not the case, a consultant is firstly tasked with understanding each company and their unique strategy, values, culture and role need, then one is tasked with finding a candidate that can technically do a role, whether that is sales, marketing, IT, Data Science ect, then with those candidates that are suitable, the recruitment consultant must then measure that candidates values, curiosity and drive to ensure that they match a particular organisation and what that organisation is trying to achieve.
At any given time a recruitment consultant is measuring a candidate against a technical stack of capability and a personality stack. This makes the role very complex. Coupled with that a consultant is managing the communication flow from one party to the other party. The consultant must ensure that they are representing the best version of the organisation to the candidate, similarly the candidate to the client and themselves to all parties to ensure that trust and transparency is build up and sustained through the whole process.
While all of this is going on, the consultant must be very versed on what is going on in their industry vertical, changes in ways of workings, staying on top of trends in the industry they are recruiting so they can empower both the client and candidate on what is current and what is changing regarding expectations of either parties.
Alongside all of that the consultant must then also build a pipeline of new customers and new candidates. And don’t forget the consultant is doing all this work without payment from either client or candidate, until they come to a successful conclusion. So a consultant must be intrinsically highly motivated and it may take some months for them to realise the reward of their hard work.
The role of a consultant is very high drive and a very demanding role. For me recruitment is not a job, it is a lifestyle. One has to embody themselves into their industry, always be learning and have natural curiosity to find out more and more information to ensure they stay on the crest of the wave of trends and information.
So why do it? For me if you look at the level of skill required to be successful in the role and the demand on you both intellectually and physically is high, however I think that it offer one a fabulous development trajectory. You get to develop skills that not only apply to your work life but also to your personal life.
Key skills that you develop and hone our sales capabilities, a worldwide skill that you can take anywhere and get gainful employment in. Active listening skills enabling you to delve down into any problem and get to a resolution point, influencing skills (these you are using every day), communication skills, research skills (knowing where to find the impossible), ability to perform under pressure, utilisation of emotional intelligence, resilience, marketing, critical thinking and creative solution skills.
All of the skills you develop are skills that are in high demand by any leadership team industry irrelevant. So for me working in recruitment has added huge value to my brand equity and my personal intellectual IP, that for me is worth a lifetime of jobs.
Do you think you have it in you to reel in the true talent that our clients are searching for? Apply hereand enter the exciting and rewarding world of recruitment.