A typical day for a Recruitment Consultant

At SCI a Recruitment Consultant can manage their own time to get the job done. We are not pressured or targeted to make so many calls, or send out so many CVs. Rather we are empowered to organise and manage our own day in order to achieve our objective of successful placements, for which we are well rewarded. But training and advice is always on hand. Good training in the IT systems, telephone skills, presentation skills, interview techniques, etc is provided and we are encouraged to seek additional on-the-job training, help and advice from managers as we need it.

Most of us arrive between 8 and 9 in the morning. This can often be a good time to sort through the job application emails received overnight from Candidates, and to prioritise our work for the day. Good time management and organisational skills are very important, as the phone soon starts ringing and emails start arriving from both Clients and Candidates.

This is when good communication and inter-personal skills are required. It’s vital to develop a good rapport with Clients. This will help maintain an on-going business relationship, and help to understand the culture and style of their business. With candidates it’s important to understand the individuals motivation. Not just what job do they want, but why do they want it, and what are their personal and career objectives.

The job has a strong commercial focus. It isn’t hard sales, but it is about promoting the skills, experience and qualities of individual candidates to Clients, and about promoting the job, work environment, and career opportunities of the Company to the Candidates. A lot of this is done over the phone, but we are encouraged to go on Client visits as much as possible. This helps us understand the vacancy better, helps to develop the Client relationship further and provides extra interest in the job.

The working day just flies by. We can take our breaks when we want, but many of us keep these to a minimum so we don’t miss that vital call from the ideal candidate we have been trying to get in touch with. Many of us work until at least 6pm, as this is a good time to get in touch with Candidates that have been out working during the day.

The SCI team provide a lot of support. Though much of the paperwork is automated we have a great team of administrators and IT experts to help us out if we need it. Company brochures, folders, documentation and promotional material are always at hand. The working environment is also good. We are not a ‘high street’ agency. We work in modern open plan offices in a business park, and candidates come in for interview by appointment.

Recruitment for Scientists can be very challenging but it is certainly rewarding. It has allowed me to develop many key business skills such as interviewing techniques, presenting to clients, and understanding how a commercial organisation works. Yet at the same time I am still using my science background, and learning more about applications of chemical and biological sciences in industry.