RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS - GET CONSULTING!

Recruitment Consultants, most people have got a firm view of what they think of us and our industry.

So why do people use us?

You would of thought that the job title is a dead giveaway i.e. to use our services to hire someone or as a job seeker making the right introductions and providing career advice by CONSULTING with you. However, but this isn’t always true.

A “consultant” is defined as a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and is employed to give advice about it to other people. 

If I am not the first person that the candidate or client has engaged with on their quest I always ask the question; what have you been advised so far by my competitors? Yes, there is an argument to say that advice is subjective as it is based on opinion but the one thing that is evident is that there is too much advice that is not based on fact or current market factors being given out. As a time served consultant with 17 years in the industry, it is fair to say that I have earned my stripes and have remained “on the tools” the whole time, so have current coal face experience. We all had to start out somewhere though so I really question what support new graduates and entrants to the recruitment market are receiving these days?

·       What level of service are you offering to your candidates and client to justify your fees?

·       Are you registering candidates to hit a KPI target or are you supporting them to give them the best chance in an interview situation?

·       Are you setting yourself up for a fall when you advise a client that they are going to receive a short list of 10 newly qualified Big 4 ACA’s for £35k in 2017?

·       Do the job responsibilities match the salary range that the client has suggested or are you just nodding in agreement then realising that this person doesn’t exist when you have searched Linked-in, the database and advertised for 4 weeks? 

·       Did you register someone then never speak to them again until your boss put a 90 day “no contact” report on your desk to call through?

·       Your corporate brand may produce some fantastic support material on your company website for candidates on things like interview techniques but do you ever walk through this with candidate to bring it to life with them?

·       When did your Learning & Development (L&D) team or Managing Director that delivers the training to new consultants last do a “day in the life of a recruitment consultant”? Clearly, they were legends back in the day (as I am sure that they will tell you!) to have got to where they have but have they got current and relevant advice to impart to the new recruits? 1990’s style recruitment doesn’t mirror 2017 techniques.

·       Are you advising on how to tailor a CV effectively to attract the target audience or do you simply put it into your standard format?


·       Are you building relationships with people for the longer term or are you focused on simply making a one-off placement?



This month I have met several candidates who have been met by some of the major and more specialist agencies who I genuinely believe have been let down by our industry for the above-mentioned reasons. I have also met clients that have been tearing their hair out wondering why they haven’t filled their vacancy and when you tell them the answer they question why they hadn’t been told this before.


The best consultant could be, but isn’t always the one that places you in a new role but instead consulted with you to get you from A to B. The best consultant could be the one that suggested an alternative recruitment strategy that changed your stance on what you needed in your team and got you the desired result.

The consultant that supported you, gave you constructive advice and guided you is the one that you are more likely to give work to in the future as a result. Trust me, I have been on the receiving end of this many times over the years.

Recruitment Consultants – Get Consulting!
Written by Allison Hodgkinson – Director & Co-Founder of Resourcery Group.

Accounting & Finance and Change & Transformation Specialists
 Merseyside | Greater Manchester | Lancashire | Cumbria | Cheshire | North Wales
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