When looking for a job, often the fastest way to a new position is through a recruitment agency. Applicants who use an agency may not know how the system works, but knowing what recruiters are looking for and how they work will help any job search.
How The Recruitment Process Works:
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The Client Requires Additional Workers
The recruitment process always begins with a business needing more workers. They then reach out to a recruitment agency to deliver talent either for a one-time project or across an ongoing period.
Often the recruitment company will then meet with the company to understand their requirements, and which recruitment strategies might work best.
Once the contract is signed and the roles specified, the recruiters on the team will then learn everything they can about the role, what it will entail day-to-day, what the requirements will be, and the kind of person the company is looking to hire. This is a crucial stage in the recruitment process, as this gives the recruiters the information they need to make good placements.
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The Recruitment Consultant Begins Approaching Potential Candidates
After this, the recruiters will then begin creating job ads, and reaching out to candidates in their networks.
The majority of the work in the recruitment industry is finding qualified candidates. A recruitment consultant might get hundreds of applications for a single job posting. They have to sort through and find the very best candidates.
This process can take days or even weeks, finding candidates who have the desired experience, calling them, seeing if the fit the description of the ideal worker for the business, and then ensuring they’re available, fully qualified, and have the right to work in the country in question.
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The Recruitment Consultant Sends All Qualified Potential Candidates To The Client
All the qualified candidates are then sent on to the client, who can then pick the ones most suited to the role.
The Client knows the kind of people they need, but also the kind of people they’d like. Some candidates might not have certain skills or experience that are considered vital to the role, but they might have some that the client places more value on.
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Interviews
From here, successful applicants will go to interview with the hiring manager of the business. A good recruitment consultant will coach their candidates through the interview, teaching them how to answer difficult questions and focus on what they could bring to a team.
The recruitment consultant will know what the client is looking for, and will be able to prepare candidates to give better answers.
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Evaluation
After the interviews are over, the client will evaluate all the candidates, determining who gets hired and who doesn’t.
They will feed information back to the recruiters about who they liked, so the recruiters can send through more candidates that are aligned with what the client is looking for.
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Hiring and Post-Recruitment Support
Once a candidate has been given the position, the recruitment consultant will give them the good news, and begin supporting them through the transition into the new role. Any questions or problems the candidate might have can be dealt with through the recruitment agency, who can act like an extension of the business’ HR department.
Some candidates use the same recruiters for years, using their insider knowledge of the job market to develop their careers.
Learn how new technology is changing the recruitment process, or read our job interview guide to nail your next interview.
