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Talent Acquisition

Market Mismatch: Are You Recruiting for the Wrong Agency?

It’s amazing how much agency recruiters know about what it takes to succeed in the industry they specialise in. Day in, day out, recruiters partner with the powers that be at organisations in their specific sector, getting under the skin of their hiring needs. They are the ones who know where the best candidates are working, what the most prestigious projects are and the best way to carve out a successful career in the field.

The great agency recruiters are always abreast of big industry news and are often the first to hear of recruitment plans and labour demand as a result of such. They spend each day interviewing and coaching candidates, who are experts in their field. They read through role description after role description, and will sponge up endless amounts of knowledge about the types of roles they recruit for.

Given how much time is spent investing into said particular sector (on top of mastering their own art of recruiting), agency consultants MUST choose their specialism wisely! Couldn’t care less about yours? Perhaps it’s time to switch it up.

Resentment: recruitment or the roles?

If quite often you find yourself resenting parts of the job you’ve always loved, it might be time to take a step back and work out what the real issue is. Instead of getting frustrated with your clients and candidates and coming to the conclusion that a career as an agency recruitment consultant is no longer for you, ask yourself this:

Am I interested in anything my clients or candidates have to say about the industry they work in?

Do the roles I recruit for sound boring to me?

If the answer to either of these questions is yes, perhaps it’s worth moving into a new market. Your annoyance with your job could be due to the fact you’re bored with the types of roles you’re recruiting for!

Relate not alienate

Moving to a new market (that actually interests you) is likely to reignite your drive as a recruiter. You’re likely to find you relate better with clients and candidates who you have some common ground with and share interests with. If you are in a market where you don’t fully understand what you’re talking about, what your candidates are talking about and what your clients really want, you’re likely to feel constantly alienated. Recruiters aren’t supposed to be able to personally carry out the roles being recruited, but you are supposed to be a specialist who ‘gets’ your chosen market!

Knowledge is power

Being interested in something means you’ll have a natural inclination to understand the subject matter. Your non-forced curiosity will lead you to ask more questions of your hiring managers and candidates, and their answers are more likely to  make sense to you. Knowledge is power – the more you know and understand, the more comfortably and genuinely you’ll be able to sell positions to candidates and your specialisms to clients.

From ‘daily chore’ to ‘wanting more’

Further to my last point, if you are interested in retail, hospitality and customer service, keeping up to date on this type of industry news as a recruiter in that market won’t be a bore, but something you naturally want to learn more about. However, if you loathe this industry, recruiting inside it will feel like a chore and you won’t have any interest in keeping up to date with relevant news, nor talking to candidates about their day to day tasks and longer term career goals.

Passionate pursuits

Specialising in an industry that interests you will make you more passionate about your work. Your energy levels will be noted i every conversation you have; clients will start to respect you for your thorough, consultative approach to recruitment, blowing other generalists out of the water when it comes to commitment and depth of grasp on the sector. Your business will feel the positive effects of referrals and recommendations, through word of mouth.