Since graduating in the year 2000, the only industry that I have worked in is recruitment. To date, I have had an extremely rewarding, varied and meaningful career and most recently, this has given me the confidence to start my own recruitment business.
Unfortunately, my journey and true regard for the recruitment industry is not the same as for many talented people, that start a career in recruitment. I strongly believe that many recruitment companies expect too much, too quickly from their new employees. Especially those without recruitment experience and they are given far too much responsibility, too soon.
In one small geographic area alone, just think about how many companies are out there, and within these companies just how many different jobs titles exist. All these companies have different expectations, cultures, salary bandings and structures.
So, given this, it surely takes longer than a couple of months to know your market and clients. More importantly, what your clients and candidate’s expectations and requirements are. However, too much pressure is put on consultants too soon to bill, when the initial focus should be on getting to know their client base, build relationships and learn about the companies and the candidates they are working with and representing. If this becomes the priority, I believe finding talent for your clients will happen time and time again, and the very high attrition rate within the recruitment industry may reduce.
I am a generalist recruiter with seventeen years’ experience in Kent and I must admit, I do often take for granted the knowledge I have of the Kent market place and recruitment in general. However, what I do not take for granted is every day in recruitment is still a school day and this is what make this industry great. You learn something new every day, you speak to wonderfully different candidates every hour, you can find out so much about business and commerce and you become an integral part in assisting businesses grow and expand. It is great to be involved in someone securing their dream job!
You cannot provide someone with a manual on how to become a great recruiter because every job you work on and every candidate you deal with is different. But what recruitment companies can provide are a culture of learning, openness (no question is a silly one) and reward relationship building. As a recruiting manager, remember when you started your first job in recruitment, how much did you know? I knew nothing!!!
