The inside track on recruitment companies
If you're thinking about looking for, or applying for a new job, then before you start to approach recruitment companies (remember this should only be one part of your job search strategy) it will be useful for you to first understand a little about their differences and how these companies operate. In doing so you'll be giving yourself the best opportunity to find a job through them.

There are two main types of recruitment companies, whose activities and ways of working I've outlined below, along with suggestions as to how you can make best use of them in your job search. Good luck!

Recruitment Agencies
In the trade, these are often called "contingent agencies" as they get paid only if and when someone they submit to a company is hired, i.e. their payment is contingent on a hire being made. These agencies work on behalf of the candidate, aiming to find a suitable vacancy for a candidate who they deem to be well qualified in a certain field. They tend to work on vacancies at middle management level and below and tend to be very market sector or role-specific focused.

Agencies run adverts in newspapers, trade publications, and on internet recruitment sites. They also place "blind" adverts aimed at attracting candidates to populate their database as well as often using telephone campaigns to identify appropriately skilled individuals.

Agencies won't typically spend much time interviewing or screening you for a particular vacancy, indeed they may only undertake a telephone interview to assess your generic skills and experience. If and when you are put forward for a vacancy, you are unlikely to be told a great deal about the specific job or company and so the best thing is for you to make sure you research as best you can the role and company prior to going for interview.

The reason why this is all so hurried is that agencies do not have exclusivity on vacancies and are therefore in a "race" with other agencies to introduce the best candidates to a company. Thus another key tip is to make sure you respond quickly at all times to the agency so that you give yourself the best chance of getting an interview for your perfect job.

Recruitment Consultancies
These are also sometimes called Headhunters or retained consultancies, as they get paid a part of their fee up front (i.e. they are retained by the client) for their skill and effort in finding a candidate on behalf of a specific company and role regardless of whether anyone they provide is hired. However, their reputation depends on the successful placement of individuals within a company.

Retained companies specialise in placing individuals at higher levels of management (and hence salaries). Most companies are generalists and do not specialise in specific industries. However, certain headhunters work in specific fields. A retained recruiter will provide you with a significant amount of information about the company, the position, the culture etc prior to you attending an interview. It is in their best interest that if you do go for an interview, you are as fully briefed and prepared as possible.

Finally, the timescales in which retained recruiters work is much longer than contingent agencies. Most retained recruiters will run assignments that are at least 60 days long, but in practice more usually nearer 90 days. So you will have quite long periods of not hearing any news about a possible job when dealing with these recruiters.

In order to submit appropriately skilled candidates to a client, recruitment consultancies work in two main ways:

Executive Search
Consultancies will research industries and companies of interest to the client where they believe the person with the right blend of skills and experiences will already be working. They will identify who are the best and most appropriately qualified people therein, and approach them.

The initial approach is typically undertaken by a researcher whose job it is to come up with a long list of interested individuals for the headhunter to then have more detailed conversations with - typically about persuading the candidate to consider the new position and to "sell" the specific client opportunity.

Advertised Selection
Consultancies will place an advert (on a client's behalf) in national/regional press and handle the response received. An advert may be 'blind' i.e. not include the client's name, or fully branded. With this method, the candidate's details will not be put forward to any other job opportunity unless the candidate's agreement is specifically given in advance. In this way you can be sure to keep your CV's circulation under control.

Do remember though that this is not the case with contingent agencies, and so you should be very clear with them at the outset to which companies (including your current employer - don't laugh I have seen it happen) your CV is sent to.

You will also find that with this method you are less likely to get an interview than with contingent agencies as in this instance the recruiter will be undertaking in-depth interviews and (often) other assessments to ensure the shortlist of candidates that is presented to the client exactly meets their initial requirements.

So, by all means research the headhunter companies to find the individuals that work in your sector and job role and get in touch with them. But don't expect any quick return, it's more a networking activity so that when a role comes up that they think you might be suitable for, they will get in touch.

Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)
Please do remember that however nice a recruitment consultant or headhunter may seem, their number one priority is to make placements and therefore earn themselves money. Most people who are in recruitment are in it for two reasons.

1. They are good at selling. Believe me, all recruitment is about selling - to both companies and to possible candidates.

2. They are in it for the money. Recruitment offers a quick and relatively easy way to make substantially more money than pretty much any other equivalent profession, and best of all you don't need any qualifications to be a recruiter.

That said, they do fill a need, so give them what they need from you - a clearly defined brief on what you're looking for in terms of role and industry sector, along with compelling evidence of why you're able to do the job you're looking for, and you should be in a new job in no time at all!

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