Recruitment, did you know?
Although there are a few big recruitment structures in the UK, each with multiple offices and relatively large numbers of staff. However, the vast majority of the UK recruitment industry is made up of small to medium sized agencies with 1-15 staff operating in industry specific job sectors. Most would agree that recruitment is best described as a form of sales, indeed one of the toughest as you’re selling a moving target, people. Consequently, recruitment consultants are usually selected with sales attributes in mind, dynamism, competitiveness, drive, resilience along with strong people skills. To genuinely find all of these can be very difficult with employers having to compromise on some. This perhaps explains high turn over rates in the recruitment industry as a whole. A recruitment agency will invoice from the starting date for a permanent placement. However, in most cases, there will be a clause detailing that some of the fee is paid back if the candidate doesn’t stay for more than a few weeks. This is a kind of quality control clause to encourage agencies to supply staff who they really think will last. The greater penalty for failing here is loosing the future business of the client. International recruitment between different nations is a rapidly growing industry accompanying globalisation. The European union has meant cheaper labour is available from eastern European countries opening up opportunities for agencies bring staff into the UK. More recently, these trends are reversing as other economies explode whilst the UK enters recession. Online recruitment advertising opportunities have radically reduced the costs of recruitment advertising in recent years making it much easier for smaller new companies to break into markets without huge advertising budgets. 6 years ago a small advert in the national press could cost £1000 for a few days exposure. £1000 could now by a presence on 4 jobs boards for a whole month. Most companies who regularly use recruitment agencies will limit the number of agencies they work with to try and control costs. This restricted list is referred to as a PSL (preferred supply list). It is highly competitive getting onto supply lists in some sectors as a new recruiters. This can be the major barrier to entry for new companies. Although the recruitment industry is not for everyone, it is a very lucrative and rewarding career for the right people. If you are considering the industry, research as much as you can first to determine if it really is for you.
About the Author: John Bult runs internet job sites for recruitment agencies in the UK
More articles by john@ukcareers.co.uk
Print Article | Download PDF | 23 views | May 27 2008
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