Four Reasons Why Graduates Might Want To Consider a Career In Recruitment
The time you have at university is one of the best you’ll have in life.
The opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds, the socialising and the time and effort put into getting your degree is all worth it.
But as you near the end of your time at university, your mind will start to turn towards what sort of a job you want to do.
Graduate jobs are plentiful, but how do you know what direction you want to go in?
Competition can be strong in your chosen field of study or simply there may not be a great range of jobs open to you. You could have a degree in something which doesn’t have a clearly defined postgraduate structure.
This can start to feel like a lot of pressure as you contemplate what sort of career you want when you finish university.
So, as a graduate, what opportunities can you consider and what advantages do they offer?
One route that is open to you regardless of the degree you have is to become a recruitment consultant.
There are real opportunities for a career as a trainee recruitment consultant which we will go through. The main things to consider are:
- Salary and benefits
- Relationship building
- Career path
- Learning development
Salary and benefits
There are generally two components that make up a recruitment consultant’s salary.
Since nearly all recruitment consultants are measured against a target they will see a small proportion of their earnings made up of a basic salary and the remainder being when a candidate is placed into a job successfully.
The percentage of commission paid may also vary depending on the seniority of the position and the package offered.
This commission will be released once all the necessary background checks and references have been completed on the successful candidate and they start in their new position.
Trainee recruitment consultants can also strive for performance-related benefits which can range from meals at top restaurants to holidays to some of the most exotic destinations in the world – all fully paid for along the way.
To have the chance to win initiatives like those mentioned within months of leaving university as a graduate and starting in recruitment is rarely seen in other industries.
Performance counts in recruitment so your final salary and benefits are only dictated by how you perform against your target.
The bottom line is that there is a very good chance of earning an above-average salary with great benefits not long after graduating from university.
Bearing this incentive in mind it could help you achieve:
- Put a deposit down on a property
- Pay off any outstanding student debt
Relationship building
This is a great skill to learn very early on.
The first area to look at is the relationships built up with the companies and organisations that are existing clients of the recruitment firm.
Managing existing relationships is critical to ongoing business. Being able to understand and anticipate what the future requirements are for clients will demonstrate that you can synergise with them and be able to offer trusted solutions that will help them.
There will also be an opportunity to look to bring additional clients onto the books expanding the recruitment firm’s portfolio.
This will require the ability to demonstrate a track record that highlights integrity and trust which hopefully sets your business apart from the competition.
Finally, the relationships you build up with candidates. This is the opportunity to empathise and build trust as you seek to understand what each candidate is looking for:
- Could this be a new role with a different company because they don’t like their existing role
- Taking the next step in the career ladder offering more money and opportunities
- Going for their first job after they have qualified from higher education
Career Path
Trainee recruitment consultant jobs offer the opportunity to get a foothold on a career path.
Throughout this process as a trainee, there is the opportunity to learn from those around you, and receive additional training and mentorship to help you progress.
The incentive for doing well as a trainee is the ability to move into more senior positions within the firm you work for.
As you progress, the base salary will increase and you will be looking to place more high-valued candidates into senior positions within organisations. This will also present the opportunity to earn higher levels of commission as well.
As mentioned, performance is key to progressing as a recruitment consultant but the benefits of performing well are high and can be obtained quickly – there are generally no timescales associated with how quickly you can progress in recruitment.
Learning development
We’ve already touched upon some of the skills required to handle relationships but there is a real art form to becoming a highly trusted, in-demand recruitment consultant.
When you’re at university, dependent on the degree you are doing you can be sheltered from the real business world.
This all changes if you step into the world of recruitment.
For starters, the likelihood is that you will be dealing with companies and industries you haven’t even considered dealing with.
Is this a problem?
Far from it.
As a recruiter, you will be sitting down with either senior HR representatives or the CEO of a company. You could be working with a company that employs fifty people or five thousand people.
These companies will all have different requirements for:
- Number of people they want to bring in
- Ideal experience levels of the right candidate
- Timescales for bringing new recruits into the business
- Differing budget requirements
You are going to need to make sure that you fully understand all these requirements as it will be your task to start to provide solutions in the form of prospective candidates to the table.
Learning doesn’t stop when your face to face with people.
The art of negotiation will be another key component.
Examples of this will come in the form of contract detail from additional benefits provided through holiday allowances to managing the remuneration expectations of candidates against any offer made.
As far as graduate jobs go, going into a trainee recruitment consultant role offers many opportunities.
The opportunity to earn good money and forge a career that can lead to positions of seniority can be obtained quickly.
The skill set that you develop is wide and varied. From relationship management probing clients on what their recruitment requirements are to understanding what and where a candidate is in their career path is key.
Your ability to start to understand the differing requirements for organisations of different sizes and complexity will help to establish trust and empathy as you provide solutions to needs.
Few careers can offer you so much from the minute you finish your university life.
We’re ready when you are.
Feel free to reach out and drop us a line at Edmund & Evans if you have any questions about
becoming a Trainee Recruitment Consultant, the industry, or your future career path. We
want to speak with you, explore your options based on your qualifications, desire, and
ambition, and get you placed as soon as you’re ready to enter this rewarding career path.
