Agency recruitment can be rollercoaster, and this pandemic has probably caused you more ups and downs than ever.
But because recruiting for an agency is a career that keeps you on your toes, absolutely nothing beats the highs of it.
If you’ve been recruiting through job shortages, spent time on furlough or were even made redundant from your recruitment job due to the pandemic – here’s a solid reminder of why you do the job you do!
1. You can quickly scrap your way to the top
When I got into agency recruitment, it was perfect for me because I was really ambitious and didn’t want to spend years in training before I could be good at the job. I knew I had the right skills to be a great recruiter and just needed a chance to prove it.
So the great thing is, you don’t need to study it at uni or earn certificates to climb your way up recruitment ladder. Becoming a top biller at your recruitment agency is purely based on your performance, not how long you’ve been around. And in that sense, there’s really no limitations on your progress.
From the day you set up your recruitment desk, you’re also thrown into building relationships with senior managers every day (your hiring managers) which isn’t an opportunity you’d get in other professions.
2. You’re in control of how much money you make
In most professions, you’ll work yourself to the bone only to make the same salary every month, but recruitment is different.
As an agency recruiter, your commission is your reward for being good at your job or for putting in the additional effort to make those extra placements.
This is something I always loved about the job – if I had a holiday or something in particular that I was saving towards, this would motivate me to put in the extra graft knowing the outcome would be more money in my pocket.
This sort of control of your wage packet isn’t something you get in other careers, unless you own your own business. Which, funnily enough, takes me to my next point…
3. It’s like running your own business
Running your recruitment desk is like running your own business: You have your own product (your candidates), your own specific target market (your clients) and your own customers to manage (both your candidates and clients).
You’re also accountable for your own targets and everything else that crosses your desk, which requires a level of trust and autonomy that’s similar to running your own gig, as you’re always thinking about your results and your personal brand.
Managing your desk is therefore a brilliant way of learning how businesses work and why a good reputation (and therefore good practice in general) is so important.
4. You learn so many transferable skills
When you think carefully about it, it’s crazy how many skills you learn and develop daily as a recruiter.
Here’s a just a few of them:
- Sales skills (business development)
- People management (candidate management)
- Stats and numeracy (managing your recruitment KPIs)
- Administrative skills (you’re essentially your own PA)
- Marketing (you write and market your own job ads)
- Problem solving (you are solving hiring challenges for your clients every day).
When you dive far enough into a recruitment niche, you’ll also find that you begin to learn the roles better than those who work them!
Having all these transferrable skills means that your career has the potential to progress in so many different directions, and there’s nothing more exciting than that.
5. It’s easy to start your own agency
In any other industry, the idea of taking your skill set and starting a recruitment business of your own is not going to be realistic.
But in recruitment, people do it every day. All you need to run a successful agency is your strong recruitment skill set, a good network of candidates and clients who trust you, a laptop, a phone and a good CRM.
Download the eBook below to find out everything you need to set up your own recruitment agency from scratch:
