Recruitment Consultant Apprenticeship

Recruitment Consultant Apprenticeship

Apprentice recruitment consultants seek candidates and match them with temporary or permanent positions with client companies.

You will attract applications as a recruitment consultant by developing advertising content for distribution in various channels and networking, headhunting, and suggesting candidates. In addition, you will screen candidates, interview them, do background checks, and finally connect them with clients.

You advise clients and candidates on pay levels, training requirements, and career opportunities.

Responsibilities

Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:

  • ‘cold call’ – make contacts and connections to generate new business
  • interview and test job seekers, to create a pool of people ready to fill vacancies
  • match candidates to suitable jobs
  • screen and shortlist candidates before employers interview them
  • meet targets for the number of vacancies taken or the number of people placed into jobs
  • keep records of clients, employers and vacancies
  • negotiate your agency’s fees
  • ‘headhunt’ – find and approach candidates for executive or specialist jobs.

Salary

Salaries vary across sectors and locations, but typically include a basic salary plus a performance-related bonus or commission.

  • Apprentice recruitment consultants start on a basic annual salary of £16,000 to £20,000.
  • Recruitment consultants’ average salaries are around £22,000 to £28,000, with senior consultants earning in the region of £28,000 to £35,000, excluding bonuses or commission.
  • Managers with 10 to 15 years’ experience can earn more than £40,000 (excluding bonuses or commission).
  • Once bonuses and commission are included, the total average salary can increase to £38,000 for consultants and £60,000+ for managers.

Working hours

Your working day will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; however, overtime is common and may involve early mornings and evenings.

Consultants with specialised expertise in a given field might pursue self-employment or freelance work. Career breaks are possible under certain situations, although they are uncommon due to the sector’s dynamic nature.

Qualifications

Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice recruitment consultant include:

Level 2 Recruitment Resourcer – Entry requirements for this level include some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship.

Level 3 Recruitment ConsultantEntry requirements for this level include 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship.

Skills

On a recruitment consultant apprenticeship, you’ll learn:

  • knowledge of human resources and employment law
  • administration skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • the ability to work on your own
  • business management skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to have a thorough understanding of computer systems and applications.

Employers

Recruitment consultancies employ approximately 150,000 people. The industry serves all business areas, including information technology, education, finance, engineering, and logistics.

Employers range from multinational corporations to tiny local enterprises and from sector-specific firms to those that hire across many sectors.

Large consultancies with global operations, such as Adecco, Randstad, and Michael Page, manage a wide range of sectors, including marketing, accounting, secretarial, and computer technology.

Medium-sized consultancies may have national offices, but small consultancies may have one office delivering a broad range of services to various local businesses.

Professional development

Trainee consultants get on-the-job training throughout their first months. Larger organisations hire new workers as trainee recruitment consultants with induction or skill training.

Commercial training providers provide short courses that concentrate on the skills required in the industry. In addition, personal development training is provided to members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

The CIPD and the REC provide professional certificates. Courses are taken in the recruitment industry rather than as a precondition for admission.

Career prospects

Recruitment consultants begin their careers as trainees in a small-staff division.

Because the role is goal-oriented, progress primarily depends on attaining and exceeding predefined objectives. In addition, the size and structure of the employing agency determine career growth, and if you work for a small organisation, you may need to change companies or places to advance. Therefore, it is vital to be able to sustain a high level of performance.

Consultants are often promoted to senior consultants or account managers. However, progression to team leader or managerial roles, such as branch manager, needs extra people and financial management abilities. For large organisations with several branches, area and regional management may be an alternative.

Updated on November 3, 2022

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