Generally speaking, it’s not a requirement to have any previous qualifications to become a recruitment consultant, however, some companies with a wider remit may have certain specifications. But for someone with no experience in sales or recruitment, working out how to get into the industry can be incredibly daunting, especially if you don’t fully understand what the recruitment industry is all about. 

This blog will tell you everything you need to know about the recruitment industry and how to become a consultant without any previous experience and qualifications.

What is a recruitment agency?

In the context of business, recruitment agencies provide services to client organisations to help them find suitable candidates for the available positions they are hiring for. In return, the clients pay the recruitment agency a fee. 

What are the different types of recruitment businesses?

The recruitment industry in the UK is vast and businesses range from local independent agencies with a handful of staff to global agencies with many offices across a few locations. The list of the different types of recruitment businesses below is now exhaustive but will explain the typical kinds of recruitment agencies you may find.

Recruitment Agencies - Each team within an office will have a recruitment specialism, for example, finance recruitment, technology, procurement, etc. These teams will utilise company resources but focus on the development of their specific recruitment area and geographical region.

Managed Services - These are bespoke and tailored management solutions for a certain client, which is usually a large business, including the management of other suppliers and agencies.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) - The recruiter takes complete responsibility and ownership of a client’s recruitment strategy, and this also includes any candidate assessment and onboarding needs, if required.

Executive Search - This is also known as ‘headhunting’ and is low volume, high-end recruitment where dedicated consultants are tasked with finding senior C-suite candidates for clients. These roles usually include CEO, CFO, HR Director roles, etc.

Job Board Sites - Thee are online platforms where vacancies are advertised for job seekers and candidates to apply. Employers can pay a fee to the website for their positions to be advertised or they may be posted by recruitment agencies who have contracts with the said job site.

Recruitment Job Titles

Recruitment roles share very similar tasks and responsibilities, but they do vary slightly. 

Resourcers - Resourcers support consultants in their team by focussing on researching and resourcing candidates for the vacancies they have. Resourcers are sometimes referred to as 180-degree recruitment roles. 

Recruitment Consultants - Recruitment consultants are responsible for ‘360’ recruitment, which involves securing new clients to work with and maintaining relationships with them. They also work to source candidates for the available positions too. Recruitment consultants are divided into two roles; permanent and temporary. Permanent consultants fill clients’ permanent roles, and temporary consultants focus on clients’ temporary positions.

What are the daily tasks and responsibilities of a recruitment consultant?

As a recruitment consultant, you need to be confident at working with people and enjoy meeting deadlines and targets. Other than these skills, you need to be adaptable and willing to always learn new skills on the job as no two days are the same, however, the general daily tasks and responsibilities involved a lot of phone calls and in-person meetings to make quick decisions about the suitability of candidates for roles. 

Different types of consultants have different daily tasks; if you are a ‘360’ consultant you need to have strong people skills and communication skills to deal directly with clients and negotiate with senior management about deadlines, specifications, and prices. Almost all consultants, will need to be computer literate and competent in using IT software as you will be using online databases and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to manage clients’ vacancies. 

How to find a vacancy?

You can thousands of recruitment consultant vacancies online and on major job search engine sites, like Indeed.com, however, if you want to find a suitable recruitment role for you with potential for development and self-management opportunities, why not take a look at our website and explore our available vacancies. At Macildowie, our Employee Value Proposition is industry-leading and we care a lot about our staff and team. We harness our expertise in what we do to engage, motivate and achieve results in a way we can be proud of.