โLetโs not beat about the bush, recruitment as an industry has got a bit of a mixed reputation.
The truth, as with most professions, is that there are good aspects and not so enjoyable ones. And if youโre considering a career in recruitment, you probably want to know about the difficult bits upfront.
We asked consultants from across Phaidon Internationalโs global offices what they thought the hardest part of being a recruiter is. Hereโs what they said.
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Coping with Frequent Rejections
As a recruiter, you have to get used to hearing the word โnoโ a lot. As with any sales-type role, itโs just part and parcel of the job - not everything goes your way.
Tiffany Wan from our Selby Jennings office in Hong Kong says "rejections are the absolute worstโ but concedes theyโre โa necessary part of the tradeโ.
Sometimes it will be a big client that youโve put a lot of time and effort into trying to win their business. Other days youโll have to deal with your candidate getting turned down for their dream role. Over time you develop a thick skin and come to realise itโs not personal.
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Learning to be Patient
While the foundation of recruitment is hard graft and perseverance, it also takes a lot of composure. Youโre never going to be sitting around just waiting for things to happen. But itโs also a fact that some aspects are simply out of your hands.
โIn this job, a process could take two weeks to five months, and it's all about patienceโ sharesHanna Ito, from our LVI Associates brand in Boston.
โOne of the hardest things is learning that you can't control everythingโ she continues. But the trick is to get really good at taking control of everything that you can and making sure that the process never comes to a standstill through any fault of your own.
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Coming to Terms With Disappointment
Things can change quickly in recruitment. One day you might be celebrating landing a huge client. The next youโll be dealing with the news that a top candidate hasnโt landed a job you thought they were a shoo-in for.
โThe hardest part about this job is understanding that you will not succeed every timeโ concludes Carlos Martinez from our Glocomms brand in San Francisco.
Sometimes hard work can go unrewarded, but over time youโll start to find some consistency. These disappointments are all part of the job and something you learn to live with.
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Negotiating with Candidates
For Jason Newby in our Dallas DSJ Global office, the hardest part of the job is โtied to candidatesโ.
โCompanies depend on you to close candidates and make sure the offer process is smooth and very easyโ, he says, but โcandidates always want to negotiateโ.
Being open and upfront at the beginning of the process ensures there are no nasty little surprises come to the end. โBuilding that trust and rapport is paramountโ continues Jason, so โconversations about salary and their motivators are important on the first call.โ
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The Steep Learning Curve
Getting to grips with any new role is difficult at first. With recruitment, thereโs a lot to grasp so itโs important to realise that youโre unlikely to hit the ground running and real success takes time to build.
โThe first few months, before it โclickedโ were tough.โ says Miranda Jackson from our EPM Scientific Contracts brand in London. โYou work long hours, itโs repetitive and thereโs a lot of learning to do each day, without any instant rewardโ.
However, that hard work does pay off and youโll appreciate it once you start to reap the benefits. For Miranda โthe initial hard few months made any success that followed more satisfying โ from a personal, not just financial perspectiveโ.
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Winning Clients
A big part of recruitment is starting new relationships with businesses weโve never worked with before. However, particularly when itโs a large company, that can be easier said than done.
Guy Burch who works at our Glocomms brand in Berlin says โThe hardest part of the job has probably been winning new clients. They may be new to our business, what we offer, and why weโre different.โ
It can takes months of conversations, meetings, and presentations before you get the green light from some companies. โHowever it is extremely satisfying when youโre responsible for bringing on and growing a big account for the businessโ observes Guy.
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About Us
Phaidon International is the parent company of five leading specialist recruitment agencies. For more than 15 years, we have given clients and candidates the peace of mind that the recruitment process is in expert hands. Out continual investment in best-in-class technologies and consultant training enables us to recruit with speed, precision and accuracy. Today, we provide contingency, retained search and project-based contract recruitment globally. Contact us today to learn more about the company and the opportunities we offer.
