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Job description: Executive Search and Selection
At the heart of every business are employees, so getting the right people for the job is vital - especially at management or board level. Executive Search and Selection roles are all about getting the best, most experienced candidates to fill high ranking positions.
Forging excellent relationships with your clients, you'll be tasked with filtering applications, reviewing CVs, vetting candidates, interviewing and assessing their skills - all before you recommend them for the job.
Recruiting for Executive positions, the calibre of both your clients and candidates will be high. So you'll need to be highly knowledgeable about their industry and move away from standard 'recruitment by numbers' practices.
Instead, you should be motivated by an intellectually stimulating recruitment environment and challenge the 'norm.' You could even find yourself headhunting for particularly senior positions, where only a handful of candidates are suitable due to the high calibre nature of the role.
Typically, you'll produce shortlists of candidates using either executive search and/or advertising methods. Then conduct initial interviews, before whittling the shortlist down even further. You may draw in specialist services like Subject Matter Experts or Psychometric Testing to further interview candidates and determine in detail their technical and professional competence.
Producing a detailed report, you'll then give your recommendations on candidate suitability either by presenting to or discussing with the client and arrange final interviews.
Hours/Environment
Most Executive Search and Selection roles are based in job agencies. Your typical working week will be Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, but extra hours could be expected on some occasions.
For most of the time you'd be based in an office building, but expect to attend frequent meetings with clients.
Skills and interests
To suit an Executive Search and Selection role, you must:
- have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
- be tactful and articulate
- be analytical and methodical in your approach to problems
- be an excellent judge of character
- be motivated and results driven
- be able to act quickly and decisively
- have good IT skills
- have a good eye for detail
- have excellent organisational skills
Entry
Depending on the type of position you go for, academic qualifications aren't necessarily essential. However, increasingly, graduates are sought after for executive recruitment roles.
Experience is a great advantage, as with most jobs, but there are plenty of opportunities to start in a more junior role and work up.
Soft skills are important, particularly 'people skills' and judge of character. You'll need to demonstrate leadership skills, strong initiative and, in some cases, experience in a supervisory position.
Training
Joining a large agency, you're likely to find in-house training programmes to give you the skills you need to progress on your career path. These may include a combination of on-the-job training and courses run by the recruitment agency staff themselves. External courses are also popular and plentiful, and are generally run by the industry body Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
The REC offers two awards, available through distance learning:
- The Foundation Award in Recruitment Practice. Ideal for the first two years in the industry, or if you wish to refresh basic knowledge and skills. If you want to embark on a career in recruitment or set up your own agency, you could also take the Award.
- The Certificate in Recruitment Practice. With at least one years' experience, you can go for the Certificate; or if you have less experience, but have studied for A levels/H grades, a degree or equivalent.
The REC also offers a range of professional development short courses covering subjects such as sales, interview techniques, employment law, finance and management.
Also offered is a Diploma in Recruitment Practice, which would usually apply to you if you have a year or more experience in recruitment consultancy.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development offers the Certificate in Recruitment and Selection, available through distance learning, plus a range of professional development short courses in interviewing techniques, employment law and psychometric testing.
An NVQ/SVQ Level 3 is available in Recruitment Consultancy too.
Opportunities
There are thousands of recruitment agencies in the United Kingdom. And they all deal with different industries and specalisms in the job market. If you're interested in a particular field, or your expertise lies in a specific area, there are many opportunities to drill down to this level of detail with your work.
If you start your recruitment career in a general agency, without focusing on a specialist field, you can transfer your skills over if you decide to follow a more structured path.
With experience, and typically with larger companies, the potential to move up the career ladder can feel more structured. Promotion into a consultancy, business development or management role is a real possibility - especially if you're consistently delivering, or exceeding, targets and making a big impression on clients and candidates alike.
Or if you prefer the idea of going solo, then you could choose to set up your own agency.
Annual income
In Executive Search and Selection, your standard salary would start around £17,000 - £23,000. With more experience this can range between £25,000 and £30,000.
As much of the work is commission based, your earnings would increase depending on how well you reach your targets. With high levels of achievement, your On Target Earnings (OTE) can be between £35,000 and £60,000.
Salaries will depend on the type and size of consultancy and organisations in London are likely to pay higher. Some of the top OTEs can range up to £100,000.
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