Up until recently, I have I’ve spent my career in top tier law firms, initially as a legal secretary and then in Human Resources (mainly in recruitment roles). I’ve learnt a myriad of skills that are proving to be rather handy in outsourced (Agency) recruitment. My Manager recently asked me if I had experienced any surprises, coming from internal recruitment to outsourced recruitment. Here are some that I would like to share: -

It’s even tougher than you think it is. Because agencies usually came to me with plenty of candidates that I could never find myself, I thought great candidates flocked to agencies and so did firms wanting to fill their vacant jobs. The reality is, you work really hard to find great candidates and work really hard to convince companies to meet your candidates. And that’s just one step of the process. -

The KPI’s are not ridiculous. I had heard horror stories of thousands of CVs needing to be sent to companies every week, but my recruitment firm takes a different approach to this – quality over quantity and the KPIs are as motivating as they are realistic. -

You see opportunity in everything. Seeing your phone ring, meeting a fantastic candidate – you keep your eyes peeled constantly and find everything exciting as you never know what it could lead to, even outside of work. - You use technology differently. I suddenly find texting or emailing time consuming and pick up the phone instead. However, I use social media more than I’ve ever used it before, to advertise our brand and attract the best talent. -

You learn valuable, life changing skills. To survive in recruitment, you absolutely have to master the art of negotiation, understanding your clients’ needs, influence, resilience and persistence. These are the skills which will be useful in every facet of life. These are only some of the differences, it’s been an exciting journey so far and I’m thrilled to be with a great company which has proved to me, just how rewarding life as a recruiter can be!