My Journey: From Hiring Manager to Recruitment Consultant
Before joining Just, Gemma was a Hiring Manager at a leading national jewellery supplier. Gemma tells us what it's been like to sit at the other side of the desk...
After a decade of using recruitment agencies, I’d frequently asked myself “Why do we use them? Why not advertise direct, save the fee and recruit ourselves. Is it really that hard?” We had access to the same tools as they did, and the CV’s came through so quick from our agencies, that it really didn’t seem like hard work. I then left my job and was given the opportunity to utilise my experience and become a Commercial Trainee Recruitment Consultant, specialising in Sales and Customer Service roles at Just Recruitment. Over the past month I have learned exactly what goes on behind the scenes, and boy, was I wrong!
It was my first day as I settled down to a morning meeting with my new colleagues. The morning meetings at Just are a chance for the consultants to discuss what open jobs they have available that day. For my benefit they gave a brief background on each client as they went. I was dumbfounded! The Consultants were reeling off business names and locations faster than I could write them down. They didn’t just know the company name; they knew who was in charge, the size of the team, even the office culture - all at the drop of a hat.
Then the consultants moved on to their candidates. Each consultant had 30 to 40 people on their books looking for work, all of which had been individually screened by them, and they knew everything about them! Where they lived, if they drove, how far they would travel. They knew this because they’d met with every single candidate face to face. These were not sales people just looking to put bums on seats and chase commission; these were experienced, knowledgeable consultants, who were only willing to recommend candidates that they had personally met.
I was then shown how to view advert responses for roles posted that weekend. Easy! I thought, read them and ping them off to the client, surely that’s all the consultants do? Wrong again. A PA role had received over 150 responses. Each candidate needed to be called and pre-qualified for the role, their CV’s meticulously discussed with a fine-tooth comb.
Not all made the cut - if these candidates did not reach the expectations that the consultants set for their clients, they were not added to the database, let alone submitted for the position they applied for. These guys are highly skilled at weeding out those who will be an asset to their clients. Standards are high, and they take no prisoners.
The last 4 weeks have opened my eyes up to just how hard the recruitment consultant world is. It is fast paced and ever changing. As your business grows and changes, so does your recruitment consultant. They grow with you on your journey.
Their wealth and knowledge is outstanding; you’re not paying for assistance in your search for a new employee, you’re rewarding a team of knowledgeable recruitment professionals who know you and their candidates as well as their own phone number.
And that is why a recruitment consultant is most certainly worth every penny.
In fact, I think they’re priceless!
© Copyright Just Recruitment 2018
After this insight, you should read - How to succeed as a newbie recruitment consultant
Or see aspects of the recruitment process that are changing – The Just Recruitment Guide to Video Interviews