ever since I can remember I always wanted to be a recruiter
A. Goodfella
A lot of people think us recruiters just spend all day tapping up the phones, cold calling unaware hiring managers trying to push candidates on them to fill jobs they may or may not be quite fit for or wasting aways hours scraping CVs from LinkedIn and job boards alike, employing a kind of spray and pray methodology¦.in some ways this might be true for some recruitment companies looking for that quantity over quality model.
But for many of us recruiters (especially the smaller niche market specialists), who trade on a genuine competitive advantage, it's so much more than just a job that focuses on volume of output. Recruitment is about relationships, long standing partnerships and a lifestyle built around the ideology that we are an integral part of any business looking to build long lasting, productive and of course effective teams, that deliver outstanding products and services.
For us, recruiting is not just a 9-5 job, it's a 24/7 lifestyle, a commitment to building the future and proudly adding value to the businesses in the niche that we have chosen as our speciality.
It's a relationship game
If anyone tells you otherwise then you can bet your bottom dollar they just don't care about your company, its vision or culture, and only the money at the end of the sales tunnel.
Yes, we might appear on face value to be on the phone or email, 75% of the time “ with the other 10% being out meeting clients, 5% ringing the bell, 8% making coffee or if we are on a health stint some god-awful tasting smoothie of our own concoction that we swear by at the time, and the remaining 2% watching the dog watching us. But in reality, we are always 100% committed to building relationships, because filling vacancies is boring, but building teams is exciting¦. ok maybe 98% because the dog is pretty entertaining.
It's not your average 9-5
If you are looking for a 9-5, then recruitment is definitely not your bag, baby!
A fundamental part of being in a long-term relationship, is being there when your other half is ready to throw in the towel. Recruitment is no different, businesses, especially the owners of smaller ones trying to challenge and innovate their spaces, often have a roller coaster journey each and every year, and they experience incredible highs and demoralising lows.
It's your job to be that critical shoulder to cry on, (or sometimes that drinking buddy to celebrate) and help find those hiring solutions that will make their life easier.
This means you need to be available at all hours and be that first number they call, although just don't accept any facetime requests past midnight, trust me nobody looks good.
If after all this, you still think you are ready for a career in recruitment, then just remember this, small agencies like ours, are first and foremost families, culture is at the essence of everything we do, and just like Liverpool fans sing week in week out, you will never walk alone!
If you are passionate, committed and ready to drive change, then recruitment will be a great career choice, if you are just looking for an easy 9-5, that pays ok, go work in Topshop¦. oh, wait you can't
