Working in recruitment (internal or agency roles)

[Secretriver]

Can anybody share their experiences of working in recruitment? My daughter is interested in moving into recruitment after a level 4 (equivalent to year 1 of degree I think) apprenticeship in recruitment/HR.

Either in-house which is the setting she has been in for apprenticeship or with an agency. We think the culture in some agencies can be brutal and very macho etc and wondering if that is all agencies or particular types. She’s hardworking, good at relationship building, task and achievement focussed but not hard nosed and likes to feel part of a team. Any thoughts, advice or musings really welcome as feeling quite overwhelmed at which way to jump.

Also do any recruitment agencies specifically focus on junior entry level roles if she decided to explore non recruitment roles.

Thank you

I started as a junior in a recruitment agency when I was 17. Very good career to get into but can be very stressful and alot of working random hours. It was one of the best jobs I ever had, I really enjoyed it and if it wasn’t for having kids I wouldn’t have left it

I have worked in recruitment for 25 years (agency). I would say that the market that you recruit into can have quite a big impact on the experience you have. I find that I as a person am quite reflective of the people in the market that I deal with (professional services). Both clients and candidates are professional, qualified and respectful. As for the recruitment companies themselves, whilst any recruitment company is sales driven, the environment and pressure / expectations can vary massively. The pros of working for an agency (in my opinion) is the ability to earn commission regularly which is obviously very useful. I have also largely worked with fun, interesting and competitive people and have made many friends over the years.
That said I do sometimes wish I had moved in house as with a large company there may be more opportunities to move to areas other than just recruitment after a period of time, whereas with a recruitment company you may become more senior within re recruitment but lateral moves are less common.

It can be a tough industry but if she is resilient, a great rapport builder, isn’t scared to pick up the phone and step out of her comfort zone and work hard then she’ll do well.

The other thing I would suggest is indeed thinking about HR rather than just recruitment. Recruitment can be a bit one dimensional (funnily enough this aspect helped when having DC and later becoming a single parent as I was low on brain capacity!) .. Whereas with HR recruitment is only one part of it, which you can choose to go on to specialise in if you enjoy that side. HR provides more variety and opportunities for further study Ie CIPD.

I’m not in HR but I do come across entry level jobs advertised such as HR junior or Administrator- so she could learn the basics and naturally become involved in much more if she demonstrates the right characteristics and is a good person to have on the team.