Written by Ruth
3 of 15 in our We Love Recruitment Series
What is a career in recruitment like?
A career in recruitment is busy and has ups and downs like any career; but if you have conviction and are motivated to work hard consistently then it can give you great financial security short, medium and long term. A career in recruitment can also give you the prospects of significant business success as part of a team, by being a key member of a journey towards a business's eventual sale. It can give you the chance to own a business of your own. It can also give you the option of independence and a "lifestyle career".
Is recruitment a good career choice?
Recruitment is a fantastic career choice if you're able and prepared to put the work in to make the most of it; but if your personal circumstances might make it difficult to devote the time that's needed to it, then it's much less likely to take off. Not only that. If your personal circumstances suggest you might not be able to devote the time, then the recruitment agencies you apply to work for are less likely to take the chance of investing the time, money and energy in you that's needed, to get you up to the standard of an established consultant.
Is it stressful to be a recruiter?
It definitely can be stressful to be a recruiter, yes.
Imagine this... It's Tuesday at 4:30 pm and you have 15 live vacancies that 10 different client companies are asking you to fill for them, 5 of them urgent, all of them at different stages of their processes. You also have 30 candidates you've spoken with in the last 2 weeks who are "placeable" but only a few of them are definitely suitable and keen on your existing vacancies.
Imagine also that one of your vacancies has 3 of your candidates being interviewed tomorrow, who need to have an interview preparation call from you before their interviews (to give them the best chance of succeeding and making you look good to your clients); but you've also just received applications for a couple of candidates who can have interviews this week. However, in order for that to be the case you have to process their applications and write up the details of their skills and experience before you finish because (due to their commitments and your client's commitments) if you can't process the applications today then it will be 2 weeks time before they can be seen. If they aren't seen in this time, the client may have hired someone else or the candidates may have accepted another job.
These results could be the difference between hitting your targets (and making good money next month) or not and the negative consequences of not hitting targets! Maybe last month was also a bad month.
Sound stressful? What would you do in this situation?
Now that you know a bit about life as a recruiter….you are probably thinking about the pay? CLICK HERE to read our next article to know more