Most people know that recruitment consultants provide a link between an employer’s need to fill a vacancy in their organisation and an employee’s simultaneous need to find a suitable position in the marketplace. But for an industry that has been around for some time now, many people don’t know what really goes on in a recruitment consultant’s world to make all this happen.

From an employer’s perspective, their experience will usually involve making an initial call to a recruitment consultancy to request a suitable candidate to fill a vacancy they have within their organisation. Over time they receive resumes from the consultant, arrange to interview candidates they consider appropriate and ultimately identify a candidate considered suitable to fill their need. Finally, they pay the recruitment consultancy a fee and that’s the end of that!

But what does a recruitment consultant actually need to do to get results? Below is a description of some of the daily responsibilities that a recruitment consultant is required to fulfil in order to provide an effective and quality service to employers and candidates.

• Generally, the first step for a consultant in any job search exercise is to discuss with the employer any detail regarding the particular job vacancy and receive pertinent information covering work responsibilities, required experience and skills, working conditions and salary, etc.

• Once the position description has been clarified and received, the consultant will initially search their candidate database to identify potential candidates. There may be many candidates who meet the requirements of the role; however, the consultant will need to make contact with all candidates on their “long list” to ascertain who is still in the market for work, whether this role is of interest and whether it meets their career objectives.

• The consultant will also be likely to attempt to source referrals from candidates who are not interested or unavailable as a means of increasing potential candidate numbers – a practice that is increasingly important as quality candidate numbers dwindle in the market.

• Often the consultant will also be required to advertise the position to attract other suitable candidates and will therefore need to draft an appropriate advertisement and then organise for this to be posted on relevant job seeker websites and/or printed publications.

• The consultant will have to review and vet all candidate response to advertising and determine who meets the employer’s requirements. All candidate applications need to be acknowledged and those candidates deemed suitable will be called in for interview with the consultant.

• The interview will cover the candidate’s work history, education and skills along with the candidate’s motivation for seeking a new role at this time and their career objectives moving forward. Their personality, communication and presentation skills will also be assessed and the consultant will provide candidates with information about the company and the position including responsibilities, salary, corporate culture, working conditions, etc, and ask for their opinion of the position on offer. This will all be used to determine who will be the best fit for the job vacancy.

• The consultant will then formulate a shortlist of suitable candidates for referral including reviewing and preparing candidate resumes and correspondence to be forwarded to the employer. After receiving feedback from the employer on those resumes sent, the consultant will organise interviews between the employer and those candidates selected, advise unsuccessful candidates and, most importantly, continue the search process for other suitable candidates who may arise in the future.

• The consultant is responsible for any ongoing negotiations between the employer and candidate, including salary and working conditions, etc. They are also required, when directed, to undertake verbal reference checks on those candidates considered suitable and provide these details to the employer. If a candidate’s application is successful, the consultant will liaise between both parties to organise the details of the appointment, including the letter of offer, start date, etc, and will also notify those interviewed candidates who have been unsuccessful.

• Once the candidate starts their new role, the consultant will follow up periodically to discuss progress with both parties and to ensure that expectations are being met on both sides.
Now multiply this process by 10, because at any one time a recruitment consultant will be dealing with multiple clients who all have urgent and simultaneous needs to fill a vacancy in their organisation! Add to that a similar process that consultants will undertake to fulfil an employer’s temporary recruitment needs. Then there are the general candidate enquiries that consultants regularly need to attend to, assisting candidates with their interview skills, personal presentation, written applications and resumes. There are also employer enquiries about consultancy services and the need to provide information on recruitment issues, market salaries and conditions, candidate availability and current job vacancies.

And that’s without mentioning a consultant’s responsibility for building and maintaining client relationships, including visiting employer premises, discussing consultancy services and assessing employers’ working conditions and culture.

So it is fair to say that a recruitment consultant’s work is never done and when we do scratch the surface there is certainly much more than first meets the eye!

Event Recruitment specialises in contract, permanent or temporary assignments for corporate clients, PCOs, event management companies, hotels, venues, associations and exhibition companies. Contact Event Recruitment on (02) 9279 2019 or email mail@eventrecruitment.com.au.

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