Using and working in recruitment agencies

Why use a recruitment agency?

People go to recruitment agencies when they are changing their jobs, as one of the ways to find work alongside networking, cold calling and looking for vacancies, because:

• they are free for the job seeker – the employer pays the agency
• they can match a company’s requirements in terms of qualifications, skills, experience and personality to the candidates on their database
• they know the employment market and can prepare candidates for interview
• they know realistic salary levels and may even negotiate on a candidate’s behalf
• they will guide individuals through the selection process because it is in their interests for the candidate to get the job
• being selected for interview with the potential employer by an agency means that the candidate has at least some of the qualities needed to meet the requirements of the job.

Recruitment is a growing sector, responsible for the 1.2 million temporary workers on assignment in any given week, and for placing over 700,000 people in permanent work each year. It impacts on every sector of the UK economy and virtually every aspect of life. It has an annual turnover of more than £26 billion: £23 billion for temporary/contract staff and £3 billion for permanent staff. The industry employs more than 100,000 people.

Recruitment consultants attract business from client companies by using sales, business development and marketing techniques. They build relationships with clients, getting to know them, what they do, how they operate, and the general workplace culture or atmosphere. They need confidence to contact prospective clients and win their business. Recruitment consultants are required to attract candidates by drafting advertising copy and using a wide range of media. The job also involves screening candidates, interviewing them and selecting suitable people to put forward to client companies. They are then involved in negotiating salary rates and finalising arrangements between client and candidate.

Agencies

There is no such thing as a typical recruitment agency. They vary from huge companies like Manpower and Brook Street to small, local companies that are found in any telephone directory. There are also general agencies that are usually well known, and others that specialise in a particular market sector. Online agencies are now prominent, while the Officers’ Association and the Regular Forces Employment Association should be familiar to Service leavers.

What they all have in common, though, is the fact that it is illegal for anyone looking for work to be charged any fees by an agency that helps them to find it. They can be asked to pay for any services, like interview training or CV writing, but not for job finding. The recruitment agency is paid by its client – the organisation recruiting the individual (the hirer) – and this is usually a proportion – typically 15–40% – of the first-year salary.

Recruitment agencies should not be confused with outplacement companies. The latter are paid by an individual, or more usually the company they are leaving, to help them to find other jobs – rather as the Career Transition Partnership does for Service leavers.

Search and selection

Operating at the very top end of the industry are search and selection agencies, or headhunters, that specialise in finding senior managers for their clients through a network of contacts or broadsheet advertising. Fees reflect the level at which they work and the discreet nature of the service they offer. However, in a knowledge-driven world, specialists in such fields as IT, telecommunications, corporate communications and finance may now find themselves being approached by people asking if they might enjoy a career change.

Search and selection consultants offer a bespoke service that could include every aspect of producing job and personnel specifications, finding a suitable shortlist, grooming candidates for interview (if they are not already known to the hirer), ensuring that packages are fully agreed, and maintaining absolute confidentiality.

High-street agencies

The next level of recruitment agency is the high-street company. Such organisations also find employees for their clients, although the fact that a particular company needs some more engineers may not be confidential, and wider publicity may help to recruit them. They maintain a database of people, and their qualifications and experience, and may also advertise in national and local media for candidates.

High-street agencies may be general or may specialise in a specific sector; if the former they will probably have specialists in key market areas. The job seeker approaching them can expect an interview, tests of their skills and aptitudes, and possibly some training and help with preparing a CV. The agency will contact employers seeking to fill positions, arrange interviews and possibly take up references if the interview is successful and a job offer is accepted. However, the employer is the hirer – the agency is simply a middleman.

Term employment

Positions may be permanent or term. In both, people are paid with Income Tax and National Insurance deducted at source, but differ in that a term contract is for a specific period of time. However, limited-term jobs often lead to permanent positions and can have advantages. For example:

• the employer and employee effectively have an extended interview
• the employer is not bound to the same extent by employment laws
• the new employee has the chance to see if they like the work
• some people like to work for different employers and enjoy change every so often.

Interim management is a form of term employment, usually contributing a particular area of personal expertise to an organisation following amalgamation or merger, restructuring, administration or some other major change.

Temporary employment

There are many temporary jobs on offer due to anything from a sudden surge of work, sickness, holiday or maternity cover, or simply because an organisation has chosen to reduce core employees and hire extra help when it is needed. Many people enjoy temping, taking a break from work when they want.

Temps are generally employees of the agency. The agency will contact them when a position is available, and they may be interviewed by the prospective employer, unless the work is very simple and only for a day or so. Because people can only do one job at a time, industry advice is to register with two or three agencies only so that they are not constantly refusing assignments.

The internet

Internet agencies are generally cheap for employers, offer them a wide range of national and international candidates, and can offer a very quick way to find suitable, usually computer-literate, candidates. But they are essentially only another way of attracting and displaying information.

However, many of the functions, such as interviewing, obtaining references, training in specific skills and tailoring of CVs for each individual vacancy – as necessary with a recruitment agency as in any other form of job seeking – still have to be performed in less hi-tech ways. So the net tends to be used widely for less skilled positions and where there is a need for many people rather than a select few.

Specialists

Many recruitment agencies are highly specialised in one or two market sectors. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) splits specialist agencies into 12 main areas, as follows:

1. executive search and selection

2. childcare

3. construction

4. drivers

5. education

6. engineering and technical

7. hospitality

8. interim management

9. IT and communications

10. marketing, media and communications

11. medical

12. nursing and social care.

Working in recruitment

A background knowledge or professional qualifications in a specific market sector can also be very helpful in a specialist recruitment consultancy. For example, an IT, secretarial or engineering qualification can be extremely valuable in a recruitment firm specialising in those sectors of the market.

A history of work in any of the following disciplines would be useful, although not essential, for starting a career in the recruitment industry:

• sales
• marketing
• customer service.

The REC lists the following qualities as essential:

• ambition and confidence
• being goal-orientated
• tenacity
• good interpersonal and communications skills
• being a good team player
• able to handle multiple priorities
• being a good listener
• ability to problem solve
• able to work to deadlines and targets
• enjoy responsibility and pressure.

The REC has developed a Certificate and a Diploma in Employment Practice. It is also possible to study for a BA/MA in Recruitment Practice. The REC also runs a broad range of one- and two-day training courses covering all aspects of recruitment practice, and aimed at all experience levels – from a basic introductory course to advanced interviewing and management development.

Salaries vary hugely, and recruiters can expect an element of salary together with performance-related pay or commission. Basic average salaries are around £24,000 for consultants and £31,000 for managers. These rise to £32,000 for consultants and £42,000 for managers when bonus or commission payments are included. Around this average, there is significant variation with the potential for high flyers to earn six-figure sums, and employers may also provide good benefits packages.

Further information

Recruitment & Employment Confederation, 15 Welbeck Street, LondonW1G 9XT Tel: 020 7009 2100 Website: www.rec.uk.com