Getting Into the Recruitment Agencies

Careers in recruitment agencies Singapore, regardless of sector or if working in temporary or permanent recruitment will require very hard work, perseverance and the skills of a first class person to deal with various candidates and clients. Agency recruitment is a workforce sale job, even if consultants are not actively developing new businesses, they are still needed to sell jobs to candidates and candidates to clients.

Some people think working in recruitment is about helping people to get a job, it can sometimes be useful to see someone who has been unemployed get a job or put a candidate in their dream job and when they are grateful for it, business recruitment agents are not charitable.

It is often necessary to consult with new candidates for high school, vocational, and undergraduate graduates, but recruiting institutions from various backgrounds are the attitudes and personalities of individuals who would normally be more important. Agents will often look for sales experience for the role of a recruitment consultant (business development, managing accounts, interviews, placing candidates etc.)

People who have good experience and record of working in a target driven environment, get a basic salary with a desire to earn commissions, those who have experience dealing with corporate customers at various levels and deal with community members and those who have experience in providing highly customer service good and building long-term relationships with customers are often suitable for a recruitment career. Sometimes people who have worked for an agency as a temp will gain an understanding of what jobs and positions are offered in the agency.

Many people can be attracted by the fast pace and variety of work, it is very rare that every two days are the same and wealth can often change very quickly. Results should not be expected immediately, therefore hard work and commitment are important and consultants must take the good time with the bad. Thick skin is very important! Problems can arise every day including temporary workers not turning to work, permanent candidates will not interview, this can test and require excellent customer service skills to prevent loss of clients, not to mention endurance. Money is often a very big attraction, many recruitment agencies Singapore will offer basic salaries starting low but with bonuses and commissions that have not been utilized and the opportunity for their staff to get very good money. Other incentives and benefits are often given for services such as company cars, holidays, and other prizes for high rollers and sometimes career development can be fast.

There are various roles in the recruitment industry but the two main positions are temporary and permanent recruitment consultants. Many institutions will take on experienced trainees in both roles. Temporary consultants will be responsible for managing the workforce of hourly paid staff provided to clients either for a fixed period of time, to cover illness or busy periods or on a temporary basis for permanence.

These workers may be unskilled laborers or contract skilled or professional staff including IT. IT or engineering worker. While recruitment is often a very fast role with vacancies that need to be filled immediately, often workers are supplied at low margins and high staff numbers must be provided every day to ensure targets are met. Consultants are responsible for developing new business opportunities, advertising and interviewing potential temporary workers and ensuring they have workers who are suitable enough to meet the demands of their clients. A high level of customer service is needed, competition is fierce and clients will take sales calls every day from other agencies.

Permanent recruitment is often a much slower moving process with consultants identifying suitable candidates for their clients' permanent job openings. Sometimes they compete with other agencies and advertising clients themselves, must make sure they identify and put the best candidates forward for clients. Placement fees are often anywhere between 10% -25% of an annual vacancy salary with consultants usually receiving a percentage of commission fees.

In both roles the ability to develop trust and good relationships with clients and candidates is very important, often consultants will be asked for advice and support on interviews, salaries, legal requirements etc. and they are asked to be able to handle many vacancies at one time. Financial acumen and negotiation skills are very important, consultants will usually negotiate costs and sometimes pay rates and salaries and must ensure they can make enough profit while remaining competitive.

Although many institutions will make redundancy over the past few years and with some closure altogether, there are still opportunities available for trainees who are able to prove themselves. Remember, if you are going to sell candidates to employers you need to sell yourself first. recruitment is a demanding career, many institutions have a high turnover of staff, especially new consultants, because it is not suitable for everyone. But the rewards are there and there are very few limits to what good recruiters can achieve.