A recruitment consultant is responsible for liaising between firms (clients) and individuals looking for a position (candidates) and can either work for an agency or within a human resources department of a larger firm. The role typically consists of a great deal of communication such as interviewing and screening candidates, determining the needs of clients or negotiating between the parties to reach an agreeable contractual arrangement. Recruitment consultants often perform a consultative sales role, where it is essential to be well-presented with strong client facing and interpersonal skills along with excellent communication skills. Whilst some specialist recruitment consultants will benefit from technical knowledge in relation to the field that they are recruiting for, most graduates do not need any prior experience to enter the field and instead benefit from an ongoing learning experience. Let’s hear more from graduates working directly in the field…

1. Day-to-day tasks

‘Identifying critical requirements with hiring managers, sourcing relevant candidates from various sources, arranging interviews, negotiating offers of employment’ Principal Recruitment Consultant, at Darwin Recruitment
 
‘It is difficult to describe a typical day. My day to day role would include liaising with functional managers to assess where we are vs. needs, responding to candidate queries, providing assistance to our campus teams, providing internal and external updates to the business, talking with external companies. However, a lot of my work is also project-based, whether that be looking at starting salaries, onboarding toolkits, our internship programme, use of social media etc etc. For a lot of these projects, I work virtually with local, regional and global teams.’ Talent Supply Manager, at Procter & Gamble
 
Search CVs, arrange interviews’ Account Support, at Leap29

2. Best and worst things about your job

‘Good commission, learn valuable skills. Can be quite stressful at times.’ Principal Recruitment Consultant, at Darwin Recruitment
 
‘The people & company. The challenging work. Career progression, training & development opportunities. The benefits, work-life balance and travel opportunities.’ HR Graduate, at Wood Group
 
‘The autonomy, trust & responsibility I am given. It is quite a specialist role, so people come to me with specific questions/advice. Talking to loads of people all the time internally & across different nationalities, AND talking to loads of people externally (companies, students, other employers etc). Sometimes it can take a while to get things done/decisions made, as lots of people will be involved/have a say. Giving candidates bad news. For me, the distance to the office (but I will be moving in a couple of months).’ Talent Supply Manager, at Procter & Gamble

3. Average working hours

8am – 6pm

‘Standard hours at 8.30am until 6pm but with the job being commission focused, if you have work to do, you generally stay.’

4. Average graduate salary

£21,000 – £23,000

5. Interview tips

Application Advice: To relax, be yourself and be clear about what you are looking for.
Interview Advice: Do your research, understand the difference between Mortimer Spinks and Harvey Nash. Don’t just say what you think people want to hear. Have questions prepared before you walk into the interview.
Consultant, Contract Recruitment at Harvey Nash
 
Application Advice: Be positive, confident and research each company fully, there are a lot of recruitment companies, and some are great places to work and others really aren’t.
Interview Advice: Make sure you know the role, company and sector that we work in. Be able to draw upon your own experiences and link your answer to the question asked.
Recruitment Consultant
 
Application Advice: Make sure you understand the hard work that will be required of you if you’re successful in your application.
Interview Advice: Be yourself, if you are confident and loud, let that show throughout the interview process. Don’t be reserved. You won’t get a job.
Trainee Recruitment Consultant, Software Development
 
View the full range of job reviews by graduates working in recruitment to find out more about their careers and take a look at the video clip below for a good overview of the industry.
 

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Interview Tips That Will Help You Get the Job

Experts from the best companies in the UK share their experience and advice on how to boss the interview process

interview tips

Jazz Panesar is a Digital and Technology Apprentice at Severn Trent. Read Jazz’s story here.

1
Have your own questions prepared. It's your turn! As the interview comes to a close, one of the final questions you may be asked is "What can I answer for you?" Your interviewer will expect you to have...
2
Research the Company. Do your homework about the employer and the industry so you are ready for the interview question "What do you know about this company?"
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