Considering graduate recruitment consultant jobs?

Moving into recruitment is a common step for university leavers. It offers a door into the corporate world straight after graduation and affords individuals the opportunity to build their skill set and professional resume as soon as they get started.

What is it like working as a graduate recruitment consultant?

The tasks that a recruitment consultant typically perform, vary widely. In essence, the job is about meeting with clients and candidates, and placing the right professional into the right job; how a recruitment consultant goes about this can vary. We refer to job seekers as ‘candidates’ and the companies we work with as ‘clients’. A large part of the job focuses on both winning new business and ensuring long-term working relationships with existing clients and candidates. 

Often a recruitment consultant will specialise in a particular industry or business type, recruiting professionals into roles and organisations within that space. For example, you may specialise in the finance sector and work mostly with financial organisations, placing candidates into roles such as accountancy or financial analysis. Alternatively, you may be an expert in marketing and work primarily with digital marketing agencies, recruiting roles such as CRM manager and SEO copywriter.

Any job that relies on relationship building will differ between organisations, and even from person to person. It is a job in which you are able to hone your craft and approach your day-to-day tasks in the manner you find most effective. Here are some tasks that a recruitment consultant will typically undertake in their day-to-day work:

• Identifying and developing client/business relationships
• Advising on and selling the most appropriate solution for attracting candidates and maintaining a candidate database
• Assessing and responding to the needs of each particular client or assignment
• Sourcing suitable candidates and briefing them on the opportunities offered by the client
• Managing the process through the interview to offer stage and beyond
• Negotiating pay and salary rates and finalising arrangements between client and candidate
• Offering CV, interview and general career advice
• Networking to build business information that can be converted into commercial opportunities

How much can you earn as a graduate recruitment consultant?

Getting into recruitment straight from university can be a financially rewarding career path. There are many ways to forge a career in the industry and different organisations will have different pay and incentive structures, so what should you expect from a career in recruitment? There are relatively few jobs where you can earn quite as much straight out of university, and within a couple of years, you can be earning some serious money. 

Salaries for graduates can start at £17,000 p.a. and reach up to £20,000 at large firms or in high volume locations like the city of London. When you reach the level of Associate Consultant, after you complete training, you can reasonably expect to earn somewhere between £19,000 - £23,000 p.a. This is the entry-level salary and the pay band where most newcomers to the industry will find themselves.

On top of your basic salary, a graduate recruitment consultant position will most often also come with a range of incentive programmes, such as performance-based bonus and commission schemes. Add to this a wide range of perks for your professional and personal life and you are looking at an extremely attractive prospect.

Recruitment offers the opportunity to make rapid carer progress and most firms have a well-established career ladder which is open to all employees. Those who succeed and hit targets can expect to earn promotions and there is rarely a limit on how high you can climb. At PageGroup, our global CEO, Steve Ingham, began his career with the company as a recruitment consultant and has worked his way up to the very top of the ladder.

Where can I find jobs?

If you think you’d like to work as a graduate recruitment consultant and start to build your skill set and professional resume, then we would love to hear from you. PageGroup is always looking for ambitious university leavers and there are always job opportunities for the right candidates.

If you would like to learn more about the work of a recruitment consultant, visit our Work for Us page where you can find out all you need to know about the industry. And if you like what you see, we would love to hear from you - we are always on the lookout for talented new consultants to join our team.