How To Secure An Entry Level Recruitment Role

Are you interested in starting a career in recruitment with VIQU IT or another recruitment agency? If your answer is yes, this article is a great place to start!

We regularly hire for entry level recruitment roles to support our growing team and have extensive experience in supporting trainees learn the ropes of recruitment and to exceed in their careers.

As VIQU IT’s Head of Talent, I talk to individuals every day who want to start their recruitment career and have no direct recruitment experience. I give the following tips to individuals who are interested in entry level recruitment roles, to help prepare them and increase their chances of success.

Tips for securing an entry level recruitment role

Whether you are looking to secure a role at VIQU IT or with another recruitment agency, these tips should help you get started with understanding if recruitment is a good option for you and whether you have the right skills and drive needed for the role.

Although each company and every role will have different requirements, there are similarities across the industry which should mean these tips are useful, even if you do not apply to work with us.

Learn about the different responsibilities of a recruiter

For entry level recruitment professionals without / limited previous experience, we normally place them in delivery consultant positions within our contract, permanent and key accounts teams. Other companies may call this role a ‘Resourcer’, or offer other entry level recruitment roles which have different responsibilities that you should seek to understand before applying.

There are many myths and misunderstandings as to what a recruiter does day-to-day, so being able to comprehend the sorts of tasks you would actually be doing may help you decide whether you’d suit the role or not.

A delivery consultant’s responsibilities on an average day might include:

• Writing, reviewing and posting job adverts
• Scouring through CVs and job applications sent through to us to find suitable candidates
• Contacting relevant candidates by phone
• Speaking with candidates to vet their skills and experience and to find out what they want in their next challenge
• Selling job opportunities to candidates
• Presenting the shortlisted candidates to the recruitment consultant who is managing the recruitment of the role
• Handling key parts of the recruitment process, from diarising interviews and communicating feedback, to supporting negotiations at the job offer stage
• Speaking with recently onboarded candidates to ensure they are settling into their roles and to gather relevant feedback

Whilst training and support will be given if you secure an entry level recruitment role, it is important to understand what a recruiter’s responsibilities are so you can consider if it is a good fit for you. For instance, if you’re not comfortable picking up the phone very regularly to have conversations with people you don’t know, recruitment might not be the right path for you!

Build relevant skills

There are many different hard and soft skills that successful recruiters possess. While you will learn and improve on the job, if you can show evidence that you have already built up some of these skills, it could help your application and prepare you for your entry level recruitment role.

Important skills in recruitment:

• Communication
• Active listening
• Sales ability
• Resilience
• Time management
• Reliability
• Relationship building
• Problem-solving

Although these skills are key to all recruitment roles, you don’t need previous experience in recruitment to gain these skills. In fact, many of our recruiters who started out in entry level recruitment roles, found that they had already practiced some of the important recruiter skills by working in roles outside of the recruitment sector, such as within hospitality, retail, customer service and call centres.

Understand the culture and values

When applying to work at any recruitment agency, understanding their culture and values can give you an accurate insight into whether you would be a good fit for that organisation and whether they are aligned with your values.

You can often find this information via their company website and on their social media profiles. Many recruitment agencies will use these platforms as opportunities to promote their internal culture and showcase the best of what they offer their employees.

For example, on our Instagram and LinkedIn business profiles, we regularly post about celebrating our colleagues and their achievements through our monthly spin the wheel prizes and lunch clubs, as well as our incentive trips abroad. Rewarding team members who exceed in their role is a major part of our company’s values, as we prioritise recognising individual and team success within our internal company culture.

If the company you are applying to work with has an active website and social media, use it to your advantage when you are researching them before applying or going to interview.

Gain knowledge about the industry from recruiters

A great way of getting an insight into what a career in recruitment is like and how to secure an entry level recruitment role is by speaking to people within the industry. Whether that includes talking to past colleagues or friends who have entered the recruitment industry or connecting and reaching out to recruiters on LinkedIn, gaining someone’s personal perspective on recruitment can help you have a deeper understanding of what the job is actually like.

Additionally, you can look at the agency’s website to see their hiring pages or blogs they’ve published on what it’s like to work with them. For example, at VIQU IT, we have a number of Q&A interview blogs with our team members, where they discuss their everyday tasks, how they secured their first job in the industry, as well as their successes and tips for new recruiters. We have Q&A blogs that include individuals at every stage of their career in order to show the opportunities available in the sector.

Be aware of the challenges in recruitment

Recruitment can offer fantastic compensation and rewards for hard work, with many individuals attracted to the career in order to have opportunities to progress in their role quickly whilst increasing their earning potential. However, it can also be quite a stressful role that requires a certain amount of resilience. Any individual considering an entry level recruitment role should be aware of that.

Recruiters often experience a lot of rejection, placements falling through, long hours and difficult conversations with candidates, which can make the role challenging and stressful. There are meaningful ways to manage stress in the role and improve your work-life balance. So I always recommend to those who are new to recruitment to check out collateral from recruitment agencies to understand and gain further insights into what a career in recruitment is like and how to manage it effectively.

Applying for a position

Most recruitment agencies advertise their positions on job boards, LinkedIn and on their website. There are often large volumes of people applying to these job adverts, so my advice would be to reach out directly to the recruiter involved, either by emailing them a copy of your CV, connecting on LinkedIn with a note saying you have applied, or by making a quick phone call. Use it as an  opportunity to show your confidence – what a good way to start your career by phoning in and selling your skills to a recruiter! I must say, those that proactively reach out to me, always stand out!

“At VIQU IT, when we are hiring for entry level recruitment roles, we seek individuals who have a purpose and a clear motivation that drives them to give their best every day, whether it’s saving for their first car or property, a desire to travel the world, or to be the best they can be. To thrive at VIQU IT in entry level recruitment roles, we look for people with high levels of drive and ambition, often demonstrated through their participation in sport, their personal interests, entrepreneurialism, or academic achievements.”

Matt Collingwood, Managing Director and Founder of VIQU IT Recruitment

If you are considering applying for one of our entry level recruitment roles, please visit our Join Us page for more information on our benefits and the roles currently available or contact me directly for a confidential conversation. You can either email me via Melinda.queck@viqu.co.uk or call me on 0121 227 8207.