What does a recruitment consultant do?

The role of a recruitment consultant is primarily placing the right professional into the right job, winning new business, and ensuring long-term working relationships with existing clients and candidates. The approach a recruitment consultant takes to do this, however, can vary significantly. 

It is quite common for a recruitment consultant to specialise in a particular industry or business type, recruiting professionals into roles and organisations within that space. For example, you may specialise in the finance sector and work mostly with financial organisations, placing candidates into roles such as accountancy or financial analysis. Alternatively, you may specialise in marketing and work primarily with digital marketing agencies, recruiting roles such as CRM manager and SEO copywriter.

Any job that relies on relationship building will differ between organisations and even from person to person, as it allows you the flexibility to hone your craft and approach your day-to-day tasks in the manner you find most effective. However, there are still many parts of the role which will be similar wherever you work. Here are some tasks that a recruitment consultant will typically undertake in their day-to-day role:

• Identifying and developing client/business relationships
• Advising on and selling the most appropriate solution for attracting candidates and maintaining a candidate database
• Assessing and responding to the needs of each particular client or assignment
• Sourcing suitable candidates and briefing them on the opportunities offered by the client
• Managing the process through the interview to offer stage and beyond
• Negotiating pay and salary rates and finalising arrangements between client and candidate
• Offering CV, interview and general career advice
• Networking to build business information that can be converted into commercial opportunities

How much does a recruitment consultant earn?

A trainee recruitment consultant can expect to earn £18,000 - £21,000 p.a. as a basic salary. With experience and specialisation, consultants can earn upwards of £30,000 and in senior to management positions, salaries can easily reach £60,000. On top of basic wages, many recruitment firms also pay commission and have incentive-based remuneration which means high performers can significantly increase their take-home pay.

On top of basic salary packages and incentive/bonus schemes, many firms have generous and wide-ranging added perks, from all-expenses-paid holidays and free gym memberships to technology vouchers and concert/sports tickets available to those who do well.

Key skills for a recruitment consultant

As discussed above, the role of a recruitment consultant centres primarily on the ability to build and manage strong relationships, to understand people and what motivates them, and to recognise where people will fit. The ability to be compelling and persuasive, develop relationships and work as part of a team, meet targets and compete for the best results is what will set you apart as a successful recruitment consultant.

If you would like to learn more about what it is like to work as a recruitment consultant, visit our Work for Us page where you can find out all you need to know about the industry. If you like what you see, we would love to hear from you. We are always on the lookout for talented new consultants to join our team.