Who’d be a Recruiter?

According to a growth report the REC (The Recruitment & Employment Confederation) posted on their site in 2015, it is a good time to work in the recruitment industry. The industry went from £19.7 billion in 2009/10 to £28.7 billion in 2016/17 and is believed to be around £32.2 billion in the 2017/2018 year.
The revenue forecasts are even more positive, with growth projected at 18% over the next two years. In the last year, the number of people working in the industry has also grown and to cope with market opportunities, recruitment businesses are going to need to recruit themselves.

Not only is the industry growth there, but it’s a career that keeps you interested and makes getting up in the morning that little bit easier.

I’ve been in recruitment for just around four years now and I can safely say that it’s not often you find yourself ‘clock watching’. The moment you think you might have hit a grey patch in terms of performance, within minutes you’ll find yourself confirming a placement. The sheer pace of the job is often crazy!

Sure, it can be an intense environment at times but for me personally, I’d prefer that ahead of an environment where you’re sitting twiddling your thumbs all day waiting for 5 o’clock to come about so you can run out the door. Where’s the excitement in that?! Maybe I’m lucky as this particular agency doesn’t apply any major pressure to the team when it comes to performance and we’re not sitting under a management microscope, which is the typical agency environment.

The reward in recruitment can also be huge…

If you’re good at what you do and can find yourself an agency that looks after its staff financially rather than looking to profit from them in every way possible, then you can earn a very good living from recruitment. Although the ‘big boys’ of any industry will look to turn your head with a higher basic wage, you should always look at the bigger picture. You’re almost guaranteed to find a far more profitable commission scheme with the smaller agencies. Which in turn, will allow you to earn more throughout the year.

A question that seems to pop up every now and then in recruitment is whether or not agencies are actually needed…

I think that the constant rise in turnover and placements year on year, as well as the increase in the number of people pursuing recruitment careers, answers that question for you!