Totaljobs.com > Career Advice > Careers in... > Careers in HR > Recruitment Officer job description
Job description: Recruitment Officer
As a recruitment officer, you'll help employers to find suitable staff, and people to find suitable jobs. You could work for various kinds of employment agency, dealing with permanent or temporary work at all levels for many industry sectors.
Your job may involve:
- Getting vacancy details from employers
- 'Cold calling' companies to generate new business
- Interviewing and testing job seekers to build a pool of people ready to fill vacancies
- Matching candidates to suitable jobs
- Screening and shortlisting candidates before employers interview them
- Building good relationships with employers so that they keep using your agency
- Keeping in touch with job seekers on your agency's books
- Meeting targets for the number of vacancies taken or the number of people placed into jobs
- Keeping records of clients, employers and vacancies
- Negotiating your agency's fees
- 'Headhunting' - finding and approaching candidates for executive or specialist jobs.
Hours and Environment
You would usually work between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. You may need to work later in the evening or on Saturday mornings, depending on your agency's opening hours.
The work is mainly office-based, but you would also spend some of your time visiting employers.
Skills and Interests
To be a recruitment officer you'll need a range of qualities:
- Excellent communication and 'people' skills
- Good sales and negotiation skills
- A confident and positive attitude
- The ability to work under pressure and meet targets
- A professional manner
- Good organisational and administrative skills
- The ability to work well in a team.
Entry
You don't need any particular qualifications. You'll have to show a good standard of education, but your skills and attitude are really what's important.
Your telephone and sales skills are important, so you will find it useful to have experience in customer service, sales or marketing.
You may need relevant experience and qualifications to work in an agency that specialises in a particular industry such as IT, the creative industry or nursing. Agencies dealing with high level executive jobs may prefer you to be a graduate, although this is not always essential.
Training
You'll mainly develop your skills on the job. However, some larger agencies run their own structured in-house training programmes.
Your training may include working towards qualifications from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and/or the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Qualifications from the REC are as follows:
- Certificate in Recruitment Practice - aimed at people new to the recruitment industry
- Diploma in Recruitment Practice - usually for recruitment consultants with at least a year's experience
- Foundation Degree and BA (Hons) degree in Recruitment Practice.
You can study for all of these qualifications by distance learning. The Certificate is also available by short fast-track courses at study centres around the UK.
CIPD qualifications include:
- Level 3 Certificate in Recruitment and Selection
- NVQ Level 3 in Recruitment.
The Recruitment and Employment Federation and CIPD both also offer a range of short courses to help you with your professional development throughout your career. See their websites for more details.
Opportunities
Most towns and cities have employment agencies, from branches of large national chains of recruitment companies to small local agencies.
With experience, you could move into a business development role or be promoted to team leader or branch manager, if you work for a large recruitment company with a defined promotion structure. You could also choose to set up your own agency.
Annual Income
Figures are a guideline only.
- Most recruitment officers earn a basic salary plus commission.
- Starting salaries are usually between £15,000 and £18,000 a year, plus commission.
- With experience this can rise to between £20,000 and £40,000, plus commission.
Jobs in HR
Other Careers in HR
