Sales Job or Recruitment Career?

Have you made a clear decision about the kind of recruiter you want to

be?

Are you going to be a glorified tele-salesperson or a subject matter expert

that consults? Both can make money in the short term, even the medium

term.

In perm recruitment, only one ends up in a fruitful long-term career.

Is being corralled into price-based conversations in the business

development journey frustrating you to tears?

You have the power to change that right now.

You get to choose your customers in the same way that prospects can

choose their suppliers.

When a prospect says “we work at XX%” they are making a non-sensical

statement because they have been trained by the “yes men” of our sector

to drive the terms of business. We as an industry have enabled it because we fail

to consult, advise, educate and provide value. Often, we simply don’t tell it how it is

because we are afraid of breaking rapport.

I put forward that this isn’t the way to build a fulfilling career in

recruitment.

You can only ever be as good as the partnership that exists between you

and your client. That is the foundation for how the recruitment process will

play out. Candidate engagement will 100% be influenced by it. Eventually

your professional sanity relies on it.

If you know your client has your back, you don’t rush people to their door

that you aren’t convinced are right for them in the long run. You screen

thoroughly, and you line up only people who are fully engaged in what the

job opportunity is, and who you sense will bring value and long-term ROI

to that manager and team.

In the courting phase of a new business relationship, what you believe

about recruitment and what you believe about yourself and your value as

a consultant, will inevitably come to pass in the dynamics of the

partnership.

Do you find yourself feeling subservient to your clients sometimes, often

or always? Want to change it? Either change your beliefs or communicate

them better. Back yourself. A-grade consultants only engage with

customers who get that great recruitment is a two-way street. It

encompasses a set of responsibilities that both sides must carry out with a

sense of timing to ensure excellent outcomes.

What sets you apart is your ability to secure the right candidates

regularly. Ability to secure. Not ability to get their CV and email it out to

market. If you know that you have honestly cultivated the skillset to make

that happen, back that to be a high value asset.

You set your prices. You are the supplier. Not the prospect.

The sooner you realise this fact the sooner you can start dropping the

clients who don’t respect you or your value; and the sooner you can go

find ones who do.

Do not allow your manager to short circuit you in this process.

It takes patience, tenacity and backbone. The person you report to needs

to “get it”. If they don’t, you may need a divorce and a new mentor who

wants to be on the journey side by side with you.