How to choose the perfect Recruitment Consultant to secure your next job
With the legal market crying out for quality legal professionals at the moment, you may come across a large amount of recruiters advertising roles in your area. However, registering with too many is confusing, difficult to manage and frankly a waste of time for all concerned. Therefore, deciding who to trust your job search to is a big decision. How can you decide which are the best ones for you? Read on for my tips:
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Choose a specialist
If you work in a niche industry (like legal services) it is worth choosing a specialist agency that has consultants purely working in this industry. The benefits are huge – specialists have a much more relevant network to find you a position and they are in a much greater position to be able to offer career guidance as well as placing you in a role. It’s likely specialist consultants have placed numerous candidates in a similar position to yourself and they know the approach that works best.
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Word of Mouth
Ask your friends, former or current colleagues or seek advice from peers as to who they would recommend. Online social networking sites like LinkedIn are also useful here because its likely that recruitment consultants have many recommendations posted on their profiles, and so you can see what their clients and previous candidates say about them.
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Track Record
Have a look at the recruitment agencies website. Are they recruiting roles that look relevant to you? Do they detail which clients they deal with (often by way of logo, or recommendations)? And are these clients the ones you’d like to work for. Again, another good way of seeing whether the agency is operating in an area you’d be interested in.
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Pick up the phone!
Once you’ve found a few you like the look of, give them a call. Focus on how this call is treated. Is it professional and friendly, or hurried and dismissive? These are all signs that should help you. If you don’t receive a response to an application, without even a cursory acknowledgement or honest feedback if it’s a rejection, then they aren’t the one for you.
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Proactive approach
When talking to the recruitment consultant ask them about their process of finding a role for you. Do they operate for a small number of clients just waiting for roles to be sent to them, or will they actively take you to the market, speaking to their clients to try and create a role for you? I’d want the more proactive approach if it was my job search.
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Added Value
What other help will the recruitment consultant provide for you? Do they offer CV writing assistance, interview preparation and coaching before your interviews? What about industry insights? These can be incredibly beneficial, especially if you have been in your current role for some while, or if you haven’t interviewed for a while.
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Personal relationship
Ultimately how you get on with the recruitment agency is incredibly important. A good recruitment specialist will want to form a relationship with you and guide you towards fulfilling your potential. You may spend a large amount of time speaking to them, and ultimately trusting them with one of the most important aspects of our lives. You need a decent relationship with them.
Summary
One thing to remember is that it’s a two-way street. Simply hoping to let a recruitment agency do all the work for you is not a good way forward. You need to be responsive, available and if there are tasks that your recruitment consultant needs you to do, do them!!
It may take some time, but if the effort ultimately leads to the job you really want then it is time well spent. And don’t forget, once a recruitment agency has done a good job for you, you may also want them to help in the future when your career moves on. A long-term relationship will benefit both parties.
For more information on how a specialist legal recruiter can boost your job search please contact Amy Watson at Eventus Legal on 0113 418 2494.
About the Eventus Recruitment Group
Here at the Eventus Recruitment Group, we offer realistic, honest and straight forward advice to enhance your career. We can help you to find your next opportunity at no cost to you as a candidate. We recruit for all roles within the legal, HR, Finance and Accountancy sectors. To view our latest jobs, please click here.
We also support you in applying for jobs through finding suitable roles that fit your requirements and skills, CV writing and preparing you for interviews. Get in touch for a confidential discussion.
All our recruitment consultants are experienced and are experts in their fields. They will dedicate time to getting to know you and finding the perfect job for you.
If you would like help hiring for a vacancy, please click here to contact us.
By Amy Watson
Legal Recruitment Expert in North East and Yorkshire.
Email: amy.watson@eventuslegal.com
Telephone: 0113 418 2494
“I can’t speak highly enough of the service I was provided by Eventus, specifically Amy Watson. Amy kept me updated throughout the recruitment process, ensuring that I was well equipped and providing me with the confidence required to be successful in securing a new job. I wouldn’t hesitate to use Eventus again for in the future and would highly recommend them to both friends and family.” – Liz, placed legal candidate in the North East