My friends pulled puzzled faces when I told them I was a recruiter, wondering why anyone in their right mind would spend their life doing such a vile thing.
Nobody ends up in recruitment by choice. I entered this squalid game 8 years ago having squandered my time at university, ending up with a third class degree. Being thick and lazy, but not wanting a life on the dole, I ended up in the City as a recruiter.
Increasingly it is becoming the career of compulsion for more academic under-achievers. Consultancies lull in graduates with adverts on job boards telling them how they can pay off student debts in a year. The truth is, though you don’t need to be clever or qualified to work in recruitment, you need lots of one decreasing rarity: luck.
My advice is, if you are thick or lazy and considering a career in recruitment, only apply if you want to be doing the following for approximately 60 hours a week.
1) Earning just above the minimum wage: In today’s banking world there is no room for newcomers in recruitment. Only those with established relationships in the industry (like me) will be making any money. As a graduate today you’ll only earn your base salary; between 17k and 20k a year.
2) Attending depressing morning meetings: As above, only a few consultants are making serious money. As you won’t be one, you’ll get in to work at 8am every morning only to be bawled at by your manager for not doing the impossible; hitting targets in an increasingly dry market. You’ll end up hitting your manager rather than your ludicrous targets.
3) Listening to answering machines for 10 to 12 hours a day: Anybody working in investment banking (even the toilet cleaner at Goldman Sachs) who receives a call from a withheld number knows it’s a recruiter on the line. With the fear of a double dip recession perpetually looming, few candidates want to jump ship for fear of being the last one in and the first one out – especially if you are recruiting below Director level. Thus, candidates would rather listen to pigs vomit than your pointless sales pitch.
So if you are thinking of recruitment as a fast-track to riches, think again. You might get more job satisfaction as that toilet cleaner at Goldman Sachs. At least you’ll be adding more value.
Nobody ends up in recruitment by choice. I entered this squalid game 8 years ago having squandered my time at university, ending up with a third class degree. Being thick and lazy, but not wanting a life on the dole, I ended up in the City as a recruiter.
Increasingly it is becoming the career of compulsion for more academic under-achievers. Consultancies lull in graduates with adverts on job boards telling them how they can pay off student debts in a year. The truth is, though you don’t need to be clever or qualified to work in recruitment, you need lots of one decreasing rarity: luck.
My advice is, if you are thick or lazy and considering a career in recruitment, only apply if you want to be doing the following for approximately 60 hours a week.
1) Earning just above the minimum wage: In today’s banking world there is no room for newcomers in recruitment. Only those with established relationships in the industry (like me) will be making any money. As a graduate today you’ll only earn your base salary; between 17k and 20k a year.
2) Attending depressing morning meetings: As above, only a few consultants are making serious money. As you won’t be one, you’ll get in to work at 8am every morning only to be bawled at by your manager for not doing the impossible; hitting targets in an increasingly dry market. You’ll end up hitting your manager rather than your ludicrous targets.
3) Listening to answering machines for 10 to 12 hours a day: Anybody working in investment banking (even the toilet cleaner at Goldman Sachs) who receives a call from a withheld number knows it’s a recruiter on the line. With the fear of a double dip recession perpetually looming, few candidates want to jump ship for fear of being the last one in and the first one out – especially if you are recruiting below Director level. Thus, candidates would rather listen to pigs vomit than your pointless sales pitch.
So if you are thinking of recruitment as a fast-track to riches, think again. You might get more job satisfaction as that toilet cleaner at Goldman Sachs. At least you’ll be adding more value.
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