Recruitment Agent
OFO No: 333301
Other names for a Recruitment Agent:
Casting Agent
Employment Advisor
Employment Agency Consultant
Employment Consultant
Employment Placement Officer
Labour Recruitment Recruiter
Occupational Guidance Officer
Recruitment Coordinator
Recruitment Officer
Recruitment Resourcer
What is a Recruitment Agent?
A Recruitment Agent works for a recruitment agency or they can be self-employed.
A recruitment agency offers a service to companies to advertise, search and interview candidates for jobs available at that company. They will then narrow the number of suitable candidates down to 2 or 3.
Recruitment Agents will then arrange interviews for the candidate with the company.
Some recruitment agencies specialise in a particular field of recruitment.
For example:
- retail and sales
- temp positions
- IT
- medical positions
- travel industry etc
Here are 5 reasons why a company would hire a recruitment agency:
- Saving the company time – especially if they don’t have the staff to do it
- The company is looking for a ‘new’ post that they have no expertise in
- Hiding employment opportunities and business activities from their competitors
- Being careful not to upset other departments in the company which may be retrenching
- Agencies that specialise, may give the company advice
What does a Recruitment Agent do?
- meets new and potential clients/companies
- creates a loyal and trustworthy relationship with clients/companies
- advertises jobs in newspapers and online
- meets job hunters to find out their skills and work experience
- sources suitable candidates through advertising, referrals and the agency’s databases
- interviews possible candidates and narrows the possibilities down to 2 or 3
- sends the company the cv’s of the possible candidates
- contacts candidate for interview with company
- facilitates all the negotiating and paperwork
- keeps database up to date
- constantly looks for new job seekers as well as new companies that may want the agency’s service
Are you … ?
- a peoples’ person?
- organised?
- computer literate?
- interested in business?
- a person with a broad knowledge of careers?
- a good negotiator?
- analytical?
- a good communicator?
How do I become a Recruitment Agent?
To begin with, you could start off in recruitment agency as a trainee Recruitment Agent. In this position, you will be trained on-the-job.
Another way to become a Recruitment Agent is to be a specialist (graduate) in your field together with years of experience in the work place.
For example: A Computer Programmer, Personal Assistant, Dentist etc.
This experience will help you understand what other jobs in your field are all about and what kind of people are needed to fill those jobs. Once you feel confident that you have enough experience, you could apply for a job at a specialist recruitment agency, or start your own agency.
Courses, certificates and diplomas in Business and Human Resources (HR) would be extremely advantageous.
TRAINING:
- CLICK HERE to check for a training institution near you to see what they offer.
- Make sure you understand their entry requirements for each course.
- To avoid scams, make sure your institution is registered with the Department of Higher Education. CLICK HERE to check accredited Private Higher Education Institutions.
OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Accommodations Service Manager or Customer Service Manager
Is becoming a Recruitment Agent the right career choice for me?