Recruitment Consultant Kaitohutohu Whiwhi Kaimahi

Recruitment consultants help match people with jobs. They work with candidates (people looking for work) and clients (employers looking for staff).

Recruitment consultants may do some or all of the following:

  • establish and build relationships with clients
  • help job candidates identify job vacancies that match their skills
  • advertise job vacancies on internet sites and social media channels
  • find potential candidates for jobs
  • interview, screen and test candidates
  • help candidates to update their CVs and prepare for interviews
  • negotiate salaries and contracts for candidates
  • advise clients and candidates on labour market trends and salaries.

Useful Experience

Useful experience for recruitment consultants includes

  • work in human resources
  • sales
  • marketing
  • retail work
  • customer service work.

Personal Qualities

Recruitment consultants need to be:

  • strong communicators
  • good listeners
  • skilled at networking and relationship management
  • skilled organisers
  • resilient and able to bounce back from setbacks
  • quick and efficient, with an eye for detail
  • results-focused and goal-oriented
  • able to work well under pressure and unsupervised
  • friendly, with a positive attitude.

Skills

Recruitment consultants need to have:

  • an understanding of the needs of a range of businesses, and how they work
  • sales and marketing skills
  • strong knowledge of business concepts such as business models, strategy, and planning
  • a good understanding of employment legislation
  • good writing skills for updating CVs and completing reports.

Conditions

Recruitment consultants:

  • usually work regular business hours, but may also work evenings and weekends to meet deadlines
  • work in offices
  • may travel locally to clients' workplaces, or nationally if part of a large agency.

Recruitment Consultants can earn around $47K-$90K per year.

Pay for recruitment consultants is a combination of a base salary and commission.

  • Recruitment consultants' base salaries are usually between $47,000 and $90,000 a year.
  • Recruitment managers' base salaries are usually between $80,000 and $130,000.

Base salaries for recruitment consultants and recruitment managers may be higher in some regions.

The amount of commission earned depends on the employer and individual performance. It is possible for consultants to earn as much as their base salary in commission.

Sources: Madison Recruitment, 2018; Niche Recruitment, 2018; and OneStaff, 2018.

Recruitment consultants may progress into management positions, or set up their own businesses. They may also go on to work in human resources, marketing, or sales roles.

Recruitment consultants may specialise in recruiting people for a particular industry such as:

  • construction
  • design
  • information technology.

Years Of Training

There are no specific entry requirements to become a recruitment consultant. However, a tertiary qualification in business, finance, or law, such as a Bachelor of Business Studies or Bachelor of Laws, may be useful.

Recruitment Consultant