Recruitment consultant final interview - presentation plz help!!

lucouk

i have read a similar post on here and hopefully someone will be able to offer me a hand. In a nut shell i have worked the past 6 years as a quantity surveyor, because of the current market i seen an advertisement for a recruitment consultant on a construction desk (white collar) and went for it.... first interview went great!

Now they have come back saying i need to give a presentation next tuesday infront of the directors!

I am tasked to.....

1.Research the market place for new projects

2. How would you see the approach call for a new client, ie opening, closing etc ( for the purpose of this exercise you will be recruiting quantity surveyors)

3. As a QS, what do you feel this will ad to the role?

1... research the market.. no problem

2.. any help would be appreciated? and recruitment consultants out there know what they are looking for here?

3 - i should be fine with this i am going to elaborate on my meeting people face to face, meeting deadlines, being financially motivated and obviously negotiating skills.

I have been out of work for a month now since losing my father and it is a case of I NEED this job! i have no past recruitment experience nor have i ever given a presentation of this kind before.

Thank you in advance for anyone willing to offer any assistance.

Kind Regards

Michael

InsideInsurance

I know next to nothing about brick counting (QSs) so this may not apply but on 3 I would also expect you to be talking about you personal knowledge of the job to be able to match candidate to roles. I have recruited Business Analysts for a long time and the skills they have can range from those who are really techy (and sometimes specialists in certain technologies like Data Warehousing) through those that are great with process engineering and others who are best at the general business engagement/ requirements gathering.

I expect any recruitement consultants I deal with to be able to identify the skills I require from the role profile and discussion then be able to spot them in candidates from their career history and not just the sales pitch initial elements of their CVs.



On point 2, it is a little open ended as it doesnt say if this is a cold client (ie you've just got someone's details from LinkedIn or equiv) or a hot client (ie they've approached you with a vacancy). What you would say and do would vary massively between the two. It can also vary between industries so I can only talk about financial services.

If its hot then the opening is a small amount of sales pitch but fairly quickly into understanding the role they have, what hard and soft qualifications/ skills/ experience they want, any personality traits, company working styles, how long the roles been open (if a long time what have been the issues with who they've seen), how the role has come about etc. Closing should be a summary of the most key points and then a sales pitch along the lines of its certainly something you think you can help with, you have a few candidates in mind and you'll get the first few CVs over to them by X. Obviously also nothing wrong with throwing in a quick question about if there are any other vacancies coming up or already open you could help with.

If its cold then its harder, you need to build more a report up front but at the same time understand if they are the right person to speak to, its all about getting names and contact details of those likely to be hiring, find out if there is a PSL of recruitement agencies and if so how to get on it/ can it ever be "by passed". As if they are aware of any vacancies coming up, if they are then above, if not and they are the right person to speak to then ask for email so you can send your details to them and ask if its ok if you speak to them again in X months or if you think they are a key player and worth the investment then possibly arrange a coffee at their convenience to introduce yourself and your company better.

Not in recruitement myself but do deal with a lot of agencies so the above is just my opinion.

lucouk

thanks alot for that reply, and for taking your time to help me. I am absolutely bricking it now, i really need this job.

I think after what you have said i should be able to wrap point 2 up. Point 3 will come fom the heart

Now i just need to get point one spot on with the market research i am totally lost over thinking things

I am extremely greatful again!

InsideInsurance

Point 3 if fine to come from the heart but remember to talk about using your knowledge of the industry to understand roles & match candidates to roles in addition to the general skills you put in your original post.

Question 1 I cant help with as not my industry other than to say to remember to talk about multiple sources of data such as internet, contacts/ networks etc.

Wellery82

I worked as a recruitment consultant for a number of years so will give my thoughts. A key focus for me is you are a QS, they clearly feel you can take your technical ability into the sales role so i would play on this. You understand the market more so can win credibility and trust through clients, you can tap into the market more using your contacts so can identify candidates other agencies can't etc.

As a cold call you will need to try and differentiate yourself from other callers in your opening couple of lines. I'd suggest you want to grab their attention, and can do this by giving your unique selling point - "Hi xxxx, I am a Quantity Surveyor by trade", then why you can be of use, "I have just transferred into the Recruitment industry and am specialising in placing QS staff within the marketplace. Having researched your company i can see that you are in the market for highly skiled QS and i have a few specific individuals i think would be a great match for your company.

I would then focus on the fact you may have objection - "we don't use agencies", "we have a preferred list of agencies we use", "we are going through an advert first" etc, i think it is good for you to show an appreciation of the challenges ahead, and how you would deal with them when they arise. Staying friendly and controlling the situation is key, listening and understanding them, asking open ended questions so you can get further knowledge. If you can establish for example how they willl recruit if these fail, or how their success rate has been with their methods to date it gives you a chance to capatilise on that. For example if they have had some poor recruits you can focus on your technical understanding of the market place, if it takes ages to recruit you can focus on your contacts in the industry that helps you attract candidates other agencies can't. Ultimately there is no cost incurred to them in seeing your candidates, if you can build the trust up with them then it enables you to forward candidates in conuinction with other companies.

Anyway assuming there are no objections, or you have overcome them the next stage is finding out on the role. They key for you is listening and challenging. Open ended questions to understand not what they want but why they want it. Often there may be pre determined ideas you can challenge and broaden the requirements. It might be said you need a QS from a specific industry with 5 years experience and a degree, when you find out why there isn't really any reasoning behind the length of experience, the industry requirement, the degree etc, and you can broaden the search. I would suggest you focus on trying to get infront of them as well, to further cement that relationship and really build your understanding of their business so you can further sell this company to prospective job seekers

For the close there are a few options. Ideal scenario is the client trusts you, is happy with your fee structure, and agreees to "blind interview slots" - ie he sets time aside for you to put the best candidates into these slots, and is workinge exclusively with you. I'd personally again focus on your knowledge of the market to gain committment from the client when they will be available to see the guys on your books, if they are what they are looking for. You may ask how they are recruiting and change your fee structure for exclusivity, you may agree to meet the client in person to find out more on the company and bring down more CVs in person, you may just make a committment to having CVs at a certain point.

They are my thoughts anyway, hope they help. Good luck

lucouk

If anyone is reading this please help, interview is tommorow and i am throwing a serious wobbler about point 1!!

What does the recruitment consultant mean by research the market for new projects?

philbostavros

Hi

My take would be that it is about researching what is happening in the industry e.g. new building/development projects, company expansion plans, disaster recovery projects etc.

As a QS, you will no doubt know where best to source information on what is going on - trade journals, internet blogs, networking (chamber of commerce, business development agencies etc?).

I would guess that it is therefore about presenting your ideas (in a few bullet points) on where you would look and what you would do to get a foot in the door.

Also, regarding the presentation, keep it simple and keep the number of slides (assuming you're using something like PowerPoint) or flip charts to a minimum. Clear concise headings, bullet points and talk around these with confidence. Make good eye contact with your audience and oh, take any loose change out of your pockets. PRACTISE beforehand.

Good luck.

Sambucus_Nigra

lucouk wrote: »

If anyone is reading this please help, interview is tommorow and i am throwing a serious wobbler about point 1!!

What does the recruitment consultant mean by research the market for new projects?

New projects....those in the tendering stage - keeping an eye on who has won which job - and approaching the recruitment/HR/recruiting managers to work with them on their staffing requirements.

If you pick up a copy of ConstructionNews, at the back it will tell you who has won what job, and you will hopefully see who is recruiting - that's just a very basic piece of research...these days however it's all online:

For example - http://www.cnplus.co.uk/

First story - Willmott Dixon have just won a £45million housing repairs job.

Reading down, lots of news there on jobs that have been won by different companies...those are your targets.

Any move in the industry can be followed by staffing changes; from winning jobs, moving and even where there has been breaches of H&S you could sell in a H&S expert [if you have one on the books] to help them rewrite and implement basic H&S

lucouk

I never came back to anyone for all there help but I am extremely greatful. I managed to secure the job and I am now happily a recruitment consultant. I have been here for 3 months now, and I am loving every second.

Thank you again!

bevanuk

# 5
Jimavfc82's points are very good.



For point one, you need to research the area, be inquisitive and find a currently untapped market, even take a different angle on it.



What I would say is they aren't marking you hugely on your recruitment knowlege, but on your presentation skills and QS knowledge (using the information you already have to your advantage.



Keep Calm, Good Luck

Slinky

lucouk wrote: »

I never came back to anyone for all there help but I am extremely greatful. I managed to secure the job and I am now happily a recruitment consultant. I have been here for 3 months now, and I am loving every second.

Thank you again!

Well done.