Recruitment is a fantastically rewarding career… IF you are working with the right recruitment team.
As recruiters we are great at matching candidates with opportunities, but when it comes to our own career we often forget the advice which we dispense on a daily basis. The advice that the FIT is important, that the TEAM we spend time with every day is important and that CULTURE is important.
ENJOYMENT & SUCCESS
In New Zealand alone there are well over two hundred recruitment agencies, each with their own personality, management team, brand, support structure and client / candidate bases.
This means that just because one agency type might be ideal for your colleague, it isn’t necessarily right for you. The stage of your career, area of specialisation, 180 vs 360, personality, financial aspirations or family life could all influence which agency best suits your needs.
The challenge to you, as a recruiter, is to know which of this broad selection of agencies will help you to find the best mix of enjoyment and success.
RECRUITMENT AGENCY TYPES
Working with a broad range of recruiters and recruitment firms in our position as New Zealand’s most experienced Rec to Rec agency, gives us a great insight into the diversity of New Zealand’s recruitment agencies. We have used this insight to provide you with a summary of what we believe are the three most common agency types.
When reading these summaries please note that in 10 years of Rec 2 Rec, we have yet to see two agencies that are exactly the same. For example you may get a small agency that doesn’t offer any training or development and another that invests heavily in this area. Or, you may get one agency that views flexible working as allowing you to pick and choose your start and finish times for an 8 hour day, whereas another may offer you the opportunity to work from home for 40% of the week.
Agency 1. Brand & Support
- These agencies will be readily known to most candidates and clients
- Great in-house training will be offered, especially for those who are new to the recruitment industry
- There will be clearly defined career pathways
- You will have close support systems to ensure you meet performance expectations
- Chasing invoices, temp / contractor time-sheets and manually posting jobs will be taken care by well-oiled support functions
- Typically recruiters in this environment are paid a base salary, plus either individual or team commission (which is generally not reliant on clients first paying their invoices)
Some of these companies may be publicly listed, therefore it can be an interesting exercise to review their financial performance on the New Zealand Companies website.
Agency 2. Supported Autonomy
- Mid-high range earning potential and an established brand (of varying levels)
- Some agencies will offer third party training, whilst others will rely on peer-led on-the-job learning
- Securing a managerial role is more about availability than experience
- Due to the range in agency sizes, one company’s General Manager can be the same level as another’s Senior Consultant
- Expect to have a supporting financial function, a shared company database and access to a range of technology
- Flexible and / or part-time working will be supported
Agency 3. Entrepreneurial
- All of the benefits of being self-employed, whilst also being associated with an established brand
- Best suited to recruiters who have a reasonable degree of prior experience
- There will possibly be existing relationships in your sector, or you could be setting up the brand in a new sector
- As a minimum you can expect to have a finance function and bulk agreements with job boards
- Remuneration will be heavily geared towards personal performance, e.g. low base and high commission or full commission
SUMMARY
At Tui Recruit we are passionate about what we do and firmly believe that the New Zealand recruitment industry contains lots of great recruitment firms and excellent recruiters. With so many different agencies in New Zealand, there is no need to work in an environment that isn’t right for you. Please feel free to get in touch with us to discuss your own unique situation and to establish which agency is your perfect match.
Nina and the Tui Recruit team
EDITOR’S NOTE
The type of agency you work for is only one contributor towards your overall success and enjoyment as a recruiter, the industry in which you work, is also a major factor. Watch out next month for our blog that highlights the pros and cons of the different recruitment industries and how to facilitate change.
RECRUITMENT INSIGHTS
Recruitment Insights is the blog of Tui Recruit for Recruiters. For further details on our services or to contact us, please click here.
