Recruitment agencies are well-known for being committed to working closely with clients who share their business objectives and recruitment needs. They also help candidates interested in new job opportunities, providing them with relevant career options through a process of evaluation, taking the time to match their career aspirations with some of the best opportunities in Malta.
The recruitment process starts with identifying quality candidates and understanding their expectations to provide suitable career options. While this process appears to be rather straight-forward for consultants, they need to be extremely careful and not take for granted or eliminate important processes that hinder an otherwise-positive relationship with candidates.
While recruiters receive substantial training, including communication and negotiation skills, the role of a recruiter itself requires a tenacious attitude and hard-working ethic above all. As first-time recruitment consultants enter the industry, the need to succeed may become overwhelming, and this may result in focusing solely on fast-tracking the process, opting for quantity rather than quality.
This will obviously dilute the quality of the delivery. Recruitment consultants must be aware that professionalism stems from quality work, and that their role is to manage people’s expectations from a career’s perspective. To do this, they will need to ask a number of questions that might seem intrusive and impolite, thus they need to explain that to be able to help candidates with their next career move they obviously need to know what candidates have in their mind besides learning about their skills set and experience.
Relationships with candidates must be everlasting. The role of a recruiter is not an easy one
Furthermore, there are a variety of job seekers – some who are currently working and seeking new job opportunities as part of their career growth, as well as others who may have been made redundant and are doing their best to look for new opportunities. The role of a recruitment consultant is to assist individuals with their careers and salary expectations.
The best way to manage this is through an informal meeting or phone call to discuss how to help out with this objective. Each and every meeting or phone call with a candidate is unique and needs to be personalised to the person’s career aspiration. From a job seeker’s perspective, recruiters are expected to listen to what the candidates aspire to achieve and subsequently manage their expectations. Recruitment is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model.
Most importantly, relationships with candidates must be everlasting. The role of a recruiter is not an easy one but certainly not impossible. Showing support and providing assistance through their career-seeking journey will allow a candidate to remember the recruiter and the recruitment agency as a high-quality service provider.
While recruiters are, from time to time, faced with unfavourable comments on social media, we still have thousands of people who are turning to recruiters for their advice and help when they are seeking new opportunities. Furthermore, it is not the first time that some of these candidates were successful in their careers, eventually becoming hiring managers themselves and turning to the same recruiters who had helped them climb the ladder to assist them in finding the required resources.
John Dimech is general manager, Vacancy Centre.
Vacancy Centre, set up 30 years ago, is expanding its office space in Swatar, as well as opening a new office in Ta’ Xbiex. The recruitment agency has revamped its website and is looking for recruitment consultants with experience. The ideal person should hold an academic HR background combined with work experience in screening, interviewing and assessing candidates. However, hard-working individuals interested in starting a new career within recruiting will be provided training. Contact Vacancy Centre by calling 2123 2224/5 or send an e-mail with your CV to jobs@vacancycentre.com.