What Is Recruitment?
At a meeting with a potential job seeker, the question was posed... "what does a recruitment consultant actually do?"
If you were to tell the origins story of the recruitment industry, Henry Robinson an English merchant and writer would be the hero. In 1650, Henry proposed that the British Parliament create an “Office of Addresses and Encounters” that would connect workers with employers. When his idea was rejected by Parliament, Henry decided to launch the agency himself and do what he could to help people find work.
Alas, Henry Robinson’s initiative was short-lived, but we can still acknowledge that he deserves the title of World’s First Recruitment Consultant.
After several years of candidates being king, we’ve noticed the pendulum start to swing the other way with the dreaded “r’ word (restructure) increasing in its frequency and the local talent market shifting to reflect these changes.
You might think that as a recruitment consultancy, we’d be rubbing our hands together with glee knowing that finding talented people to fill roles is about to get infinitely easier, but that’s not how we roll at Alexander James. No matter what the employment market looks like, we’re a search-based consultancy which means we use proactive methods to match the right person to the right role instead of sitting back and letting an advert do the work for us.
One of our clients recently restructured their team and invited some of our Consultants to meet with some of those affected to give them some advice on 'where to from here'. It was at this meeting that we were asked, “what does a recruitment consultant actually do?” so for anyone else who may be pondering that same question, here’s our answer.
Side note: before I joined the recruitment industry, I had no clue about it either!
A quick Google search tells us that a recruitment consultant helps employers find suitable staff, and match people to permanent and temporary jobs.
That’s 100% true, but at Alexander James we do a bit more than that.
For clients, we position ourselves as an extension of their internal HR team, supporting them to fill vacancies when they haven’t got the time or resources to do it themselves. We take on the tricky or hard-to-fill roles and the roles that require a bit more energy to find that needle in a haystack.
For candidates, we act as agents on their behalf. We vet the role and the client to ensure that if they do decide to make the leap, their landing is a soft and successful one. We coach and encourage people to know their worth and their value, because it doesn’t always come naturally to champion yourself.
But if you’re still a bit unsure what a recruitment consultant can do for you as a job seeker, we’ll break it down for you even more:
Why bother with a recruitment consultant?
- Cut Through the Crap
Before you’ve even seen a job ad, a good recruitment consultant will have met with the client and received a thorough briefing about the role and the company its with. The time spent doing upfront research means that the first conversation between you and a recruitment consultant will cover off all the necessary basics, i.e. role requirements, expected experience level, work type, salary etc.
By having this initial “screening” conversation it means that you and the consultant are instantly on the same page and know whether or not the opportunity is one you want to investigate further. - Practice Makes Perfect
Your interview with a recruitment consultant can be great practice for the real deal interview with the client. A recruitment consultant understands how sometimes nerves can get the better of you and will try to calm and coax you into presenting your best self.
Most of the time, an interview with a recruitment consultant will be the ideal precursor to the next stage – client interviews. By establishing a good relationship with your recruitment consultant, you should receive constructive feedback which allows you to reflect and review how you present yourself and your answers. - Your Champion
If you do want to progress with the application process, the recruitment consultant will represent you and your skills to the client in a positive yet pragmatic light.
It’s in the consultant’s best interests to describe you and your skills in a way that balances hype and hyperbole. A recruitment consultant warms the client up to meeting you so all you need to do is be your wonderful self and show them why they want you to join their team.
The process needs to be transparent and fair (for both you and the client); everyone needs to be kept in-the-loop with how things are tracking and what the feedback is once they’ve met with you (or chosen not to!). - What About the Money?
If all goes according to plan, you’ll be chosen as The One and the job offer will be presented to you by the recruitment consultant. Again, a good recruitment consultant will have worked hard to ensure that the role (including salary etc) has been properly presented so there’s no surprises in this final stage.
Given that you’ve built a relationship with the recruitment consultant, you’ll hopefully feel comfortable telling them how you truly feel about the offer and the role. If you have any questions or concerns, just ask the consultant and they’ll either know the answer straight away or find out for you.
It's important for you to know that the recruitment consultant’s fee is paid by the client, not you! A fee will have been negotiated before the search had even begun so while finding and placing you is the happy ending; you need not worry about who’s paying the bill.
It's important to remember, the above points only work when the process is honest and transparent from both sides – a good relationship with your recruitment consultant needs you to be engaged and communicative throughout.
In recent times, an unprecedented number of job offers have fallen over at the final stage for various reasons and even though this can be a big disappointment for both the client and the recruitment consultant, as long you’ve been upfront about your doubts and motivations throughout the process then there should be no hard feelings. A truly reciprocal relationship can make it slightly easier for the recruitment consultant to go back to their client with your negative response and mitigate their disappointment too.
So, when done right, working with a recruitment consultant can make the job seeking process an enjoyable and encouraging one. While it’s true that we work on behalf of our clients and want to place the right person in the right role, you need to remember that we also represent you in the equation. There’s no point in us pushing you to do something that won’t work in the long run because it will damage our reputation and relationship with all involved.
If you’ve had a bad experience with a recruitment consultant, we’re sorry this happened to you. There are some cowboy’s out there, but if you are genuinely interested in figuring out what could be next for you, then all you need to do is reach out to us here and we’ll show you what great looks like.
Ngā mihi nui
Sally
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