By Brian McFadden, Recruiters
I’ve been working in the recruitment industry for 20 years – and still love it. Curiously however, people often talk down the role of a Recruitment Consultant and the industry. This baffles me. The fact remains that the role of a Recruitment consultant is a super job providing a unique and valuable service. Especially so now. Having attended the National Recruitment Federation event yesterday in Dublin, some interesting facts came out of it. Recruiting 20 years and counting here’s my thoughts why its a super role
INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING – This is a fascinating and highly consultative sale. It’s not a commodity sale – we sell solutions (candidates) to fix problems in companies (Clients). This means you have to have the ability to understand both people and diverse business models quickly to add value. As a service it’s a Need to Have as opposed to Nice to Have. “CV administration” this ain’t…. it’s much more than this when you truly understand the role. Good recruiters are indispensable to managers out there struggling with the fact of life that “good people are hard to find”.
FUN – There are so many facets to Recruitment consulting, and with quick thinking and quick responses being key to success – the time flies by. We’ve all had boring jobs before where you watch the clock – not good. Plus – the never ending “Tales of the Unexpected” that come with dealing with people (people with an important decision to make) ensures you’ll never have a plain day again.
MONEY – It’s a lucrative industry, worth a whopping €415 Billion globally, €1.72 billion in Ireland and growing! Being part of a major growth industry (despite the hype, it is not going to be adsorbed by software – these just become tools) gives you access to your part of these billions! If you are good at it, six figure packages loom quickly. And despite there being over 280 trading agencies in Ireland, it’s not as competitive as you would think – not compared to Telecommunication sales, Retail, IT solution sales, advertising etc etc.
CAREER OPTIONS – There’s so much to develop into – Account management, Interviewing Selection & Assessment, CRM & database management, Advertising and online marketing, networking, business development, organisational consulting (when you are more senior) and much more. It’s so diverse – involving different companies, roles and candidates so that no two days are the same. You’ll develop some great competencies and skills around communication, relationship building and more which are valuable in all aspects of your life. Senior roles in the industry are diverse and include Senior Consultant, Team Manager, Client Services Management, Account Director, company director, Branch Manager, International recruitment and more.
GO-GO-GO – Recruitment is exciting, and it allows YOU control. Yes, there are ups and downs, but if you can’t handle it at its worst – then you don’t deserve it at its best 🙂 Having candidates you represent in competition to get a role results is a win / lose situation. The trick is having enough of these situations happening at the same time (pipeline) to make sure you have a happy result at the end of the month. This involves skills, hard work and a sprinkling of good luck (which really is attitude in our eyes i.e. think lucky, be lucky)
COLLEAGUES – It’s all about teamwork. It’s fun when a team co-ordinates and works well together to grow a market. Busy offices – Busy phones – Busy interview rooms – lots of socialising!!! If communication is your thing, recruitment is very likely to be the place for you. Your colleagues are likely to be outgoing, vivacious, somewhat opportunistic, street-smart and fun with their finger on the pulse. It’s an interesting crowd to mix with.
NOSEY – Arguably the best bit. You get to ask lots of people lots of questions. You look inside offices – poke around companies – gather information – run up high phone bills – keep secrets – managing discreet situations – help make big decisions. You learns loads. (But you can’t tell anyone anything – except your work colleagues)
GOOD AULD IRELAND – Ireland has been voted best country in the world according to results as part of the first ever Good Country Index, which ranks countries by combining 35 separate indicators from the United Nations, the World Bank and other international institutions. The World Bank “Doing Business 2015” report placed Ireland in 13th position in a survey of 189 economies for ease of doing business. We have great people in Ireland and in recruitment, we are in the people business. You get to mix with great people a lot.
What do you think?
