Career change- mid 30s- in-house to agency (recruitment)

cow1201

Hi all, would be grateful for your advice.

My situation:
I've been working as an in-house HR in the UK also overseas for a long time. My last role was a support, in-house HR role but due to a lack of headcount, I was doing so much more than my peer, and I really enjoyed the challenge and responsibilities given.

However I decided to quit the role due to instability (they changed the team lead 3 times within a year and all the team members were new when I quit) and health reason; plus I wanted to pursue a personal project.

I recently moved back to the UK , and have been actively applying for junior, support role. While I am happy to settle for a support role, I know I can offer so much more and really want to do more, learn more, earn more, challenge myself so am thinking of switching to the agency side.

Having worked closely with recruitment agencies before, as a client also as a candidate and i do agree that the majority are ...not great unless you are the client. However I am confident that I will be one of the more professional, better ones given my personal experience. And I am willing to work extra hard, and do whatever I can to succeed as a recruitment consultant in order to reach my greater, personal goal.

Quick question:
- how can I demonstrate my "competitiveness" and "perseverance" on my CV? I have not worked in a sales / commission-based role before. Plus my CV is quite jumpy (I did alot of temping and contract roles).

- Quite a number of agencies I've dealt with before come across as being very aggressive... and I am not an aggressive person by nature. Will that be an issue?

- I don't have a lot of connections nor many recommendations on my LinkedIn profile, will that be a problem?

- To prepare myself, should I start researching the industries I want to be specialised in, also which desk (temp / contract / perm) I would prefer pleaser?

- Should I mention that I am determined to complete my personal project which requires alot of money- hence the switch to the agency side?

Thank you! Any advice will be hugely appreciated!

System

Can you lie through your back teeth whilst maintaining a straight face? Are you happy to shaft people knowing that it is most likely to leave someone with little to no money that week?

If the answers are yes then you'll make a great recruitment consultant. If the answer is no then no you won't. Takes a particular kind of lying, backstabbing person to be a recruitment consultant.

cow1201

Thanks for your reply and advice! Just out of curiosity, are you working as a recruitment consultant now? Or used to be one?

lufcgirl

Aha the bias towards recruitment consultants and the hatred is so funny sometimes.

You need to find a 'boutique' agency. By that I mean an independent, someone willing to train you - being a recruiter isn't just putting people in jobs. It's getting your personality across and why should a company use you rather than anyone else. You're your own personal brand so believing in yourself is a must.

I say a smaller independent because they don't have the heavy silly KPI's that the national agencies do, so it gives you time to be trained and find your niche. Very rarely is a recruiter amazing at temporary and permanent recruitment, and if you're good you won't have time to do both - at a national you will be told to do one thing and not given a chance in another. Smaller agencies will work with you, not their stupid university type systems and training courses to work out what best suits your style.

Being a consultant is hard, theres a lot of negatives in this industry and I've worked myself up to be a Senior Consultant and have some major contracts. But it's hard work, for the first six months all you'll be doing is learning and selling, but once it pays off it's a super rewarding career.

The best piece of advice I can give is to always stick to your word and be honest with people. You don't think you can get ten temps for 8am tomorrow? Tell them. You feel the pay rate they are offering is too low? Tell them. A candidate fails their interview? Call them and be constructive with your feedback. At the end of the day you're dealing with peoples lives and futures, so if you're honest then you'll get along great. And stay away from the likes of Hays, Reed, Adecco, Cordant, you'll be a number programmed to operate in a certain way rather than being yourself.

Good luck!