I graduated from a redbrick university in June 2010 with a 2:1 in Geography BSc, like many other graduates I found it difficult to obtain a role with my desired company despite getting to many assessment centres. So I uploaded my CV and details with a couple of the better reviewed recruitment online companies. Almost immediately I was contacted by countless recruitment consultants wanting to speak with me. At first although it was somewhat overwhelming I was satisfied as I believed this would lead to genuinely more opportunities.
In the end I took an opportunity with a friend’s business on a 6 month contract. Recently I interviewed for a recruitment consultancy position with one of the top recruitment firms in the world, and boy did it open my eyes to the industry.
One of the first things one realises is that the majority of the time the consultant calling you is not actually interested in helping you find work, or even actually has available vacancies, realistically they are ringing you to get “leads”. In simple terms they want to find out where you have been applying and where you have been interviewed, and for which companies you have previously worked for, in what role and whom was your manager. If they can acquire these details then they have effectively have a “lead” and can therefore phone companies for which you have applied and previously worked for to try and sell their own company for the recruitment process.
I would be nice to think with such elevated unemployment levels and an society which is more qualified than ever that there would be better support measures to get people into work, unfortunately this just isn’t the reality in such a competitive market where companies are desperate for the business via clients.
Upon my second interview one of the first questions I was asked was if you were to phone two candidates, the first gives you the lead i.e. companies and manager’s names of where they have applied and the other doesn’t to begin with, which is the better lead? I actually got this right – it is of course the person who doesn’t give you the lead to begin with, as it is unlikely that they have given this information to other recruitment companies with which they have spoken to, whereas the other will have more than likely provided this information to a host of other companies which therefore already have the all important “leads”.
It’s a real eye opener especially for graduates struggling for the type of work which they desire, and my honest advice would be don’t put your CV onto too many recruitment agencies and ignore most calls from recruitment consultants or deny them the information they want, so you have grounds for negotiation! Ultimately you’ll be more competitive and more sought after.
