The 5 things I’ve learned in my first 5 weeks of Rec2Rec
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[gravityform id=”3″ title=”true” description=”true” ajax=”true” tabindex=”100″]I’ve been a part of the recruitment industry for just over a year now and having recently made the move into Rec2Rec, it has opened my eyes to how many differentiating factors there are to all the recruitment agencies out in the market.
Here are the top 5 things I’ve learned from our clients and how they changed my view on what I thought recruitment was about.
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FLEXIBLE WORKING
It’s a buzz word that gets thrown about more often than we care to admit. “Flexibility” and “flexible working” mean different things to different people. Sometimes personal circumstances mean that we might have to start early and finish early whilst still doing our 9 hours, other times we are able to get work-from-home days whenever our individual situation requires.
What I’ve learned is that there are agencies who don’t embrace these philosophies and some that do.
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MANAGEMENT STYLES
Whether you are fresh to the industry or a seasoned veteran, we all have different styles of management that get the best out of us. Over the last 5 weeks, I’ve met with the majority of our client list and there are a couple of obvious styles of management that are at play. Those styles, in my opinion, are “Laissez-faire” and “Authoritarian”.
Whether you respond better to a manager that keeps in constant contact with you throughout the week to make sure that you’re doing all the right activities, or you prefer a manager who sits back and is completely hands-off whilst you put dollar signs on the whiteboard – is up to what gets the best out of you.
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KPI’S vs CONSULTANTS
This one strikes a particular chord with me. I’ve always been quality over quantity in all of my roles and recruitment has been no different. I would much rather make 20 great phone calls than 100 mediocre ones. I’d rather send 3 brilliant candidates out to interview than 8-10 purely for the sake of hitting a KPI.
I’m aware that recruitment can sometimes be a numbers game and if you’re hitting the numbers, then the results will come. If I can target my approach and put all my effort into quality, the most important numbers will start to show; the ones that go next to our name and dollar sign up on the whiteboard that if you lift your head up, can see in your office right now.
I understand that this isn’t an approach that works for everyone, which leads me into my next point – the number of roles in recruitment that I had NO IDEA about.
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TYPE OF ROLE
Both inside and outside of our great industry, the perception is that if you can’t bring on 3 new clients a week, manage existing accounts, source candidates, float exceptional candidates into business that you’ve never worked with before AND take care of the entire candidate/client process that recruitment isn’t for you.
To be fair, I had this assumption and I was terribly, terribly wrong.
The number of varied roles that agencies have available now is extraordinary and plays to the strengths of every individual consultant making up a team.
Nowadays, if you love the chase of a new client and get satisfaction out of them signing on the dotted line at 18% but forget to lodge paperwork or are terrible at following up on candidates, then there’s a Business Development role that you can slot straight into where you won’t have to worry about the candidate side of things.
If you enjoy maintaining candidate/client relationships, are able to deliver on both sides and don’t want to be cold calling businesses during your company “hour of power”, then Account Management is your calling. You can manage a portfolio of accounts, whilst delivering great talent and playing to all of your strengths.
Or, if you don’t particularly like speaking to Sales Managers or HR Directors and prefer to focus all of your attention on finding the right candidate through your extensive network or outside of the box searches – you’d be a perfect Candidate Manager.
Every role has a part to play in the recruitment process and is able to take advantage of strengths in an individuals skill set in order to make a well oiled, cohesive team of recruiters.
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JOBS JOBS JOBS!
The whiteboard in front of me has an updated list of jobs that our clients are currently looking to fill. I feel like I’m looking at a SEEK job board in real life, the only difference is – you won’t find these jobs on SEEK, LinkedIn or any other job board.
We are in constant contact with our clients who are always on the lookout for exceptional talent that they can add to their team. This means that more often than not, we will be briefed on a job that will never be advertised on the internet and only available through word of mouth or when we approach suitable candidates.
So if your work schedule doesn’t suit your personal circumstances or if your boss give you the eye from over their computer screen because you took your full hour lunch break or you no longer want to be on a 360 desk and your mantra is quality over quantity, then it might be time to assess your options.
Over the last 5 weeks, I have been blown away by the diversity of roles and cultures within the recruitment industry. There are so many great options out there that I’m extremely confident that there is something for everyone.
