A recruiter is a specialist Human Resource professional who excellences in identifying and aligning suitable candidates for a particular job opening. These resources can be working for a single multi-national company dedicatedly or they can also be working with multiple companies at the same time on a contractual basis. A recruiter identifies suitable candidates in a number of different ways including searching through a portal, using their existing contacts or applicant screening from the list of applied candidates.
Working in the recruitment industry can be a promising career as it can pan out in multiple industries and need not be limited to a particular one. When thinking about a career in recruitment, it is necessary to understand the pros and cons of working here. This can help you decide if it will be a positive outcome for your career chart or not. Lets have a look at them:
PROS
Helping Others: Working in the recruitment industry can be a fulfilling job as it allows you to help others. You get to pair individuals who are searching for a job with suitable opportunities and can make someone’s career. This is an exciting prospect and you get to enjoy your job.
Commission benefit : Along with the fixed salary in the position, recruiters also get commission or bonus reward for each of the positions that they succeed in fulfilling. Who doesn’t love this kind of additional pay and benefit. This can be particularly beneficial if you are working for multiple companies as the commission can then exponentially increase.
Diverse Options : As I said before, this career option in not industry specific. As a recruiter, you can work for multiple industries at the same time or even you can choose what industry to work in and which is your area of interest. You can even choose to work independently as a freelancer and can be flexible in your work timings and schedule. This certainly is a lucrative option for many. You can also start IT consulting agency and service.
Skill Development : Working as a recruiter surely opens the gates for multiple skills development such as communication skills, negotiation skills, attention to details, time management and persistence. These skills are a must have in today’s world and working in the recruitment industry can help you in polishing them. Having these skills will help you in future as well, should you consider changing your career path.
Personal Progression: Working as a recruiter can be a blessing in disguise for your personal growth as it can give you a first hands experience at the latest trends and practices in recruiting and can thus help you when you yourself are willing for a job change. This can help you in understanding more about the industry you are currently working in and you can use this knowledge for your personal growth.
CONS
Challenging Work : A recruitment professional can be a very demanding job. It demands a lot of commitment and is time consuming. A recruiter mostly has to work on weekends as most of the recruitment is done on weekends and this hampers their work life balance.
Emotional Connection : When working as a recruiter, you have to connect with many people and sometimes you may develop an emotional connection with them, specially with individuals who you feel are well suited for the particular position or whom you like on a personal level. This can lead to tricky situations when that particular person doesn’t earn that position from the employer and you have to reject them.
Inconsistent Hours: As said before, a recruiter has to work as odd hours of the day and mostly on weekends also. They have to adjust their work schedule according to the interviewee and interviewer’s availability.
High competition: Since the recruitment job is a lucrative one, it goes without saying that competition is stiff in this job. This can be unappealing to those who don’t like to work in a competitive environment.
Variable compensation: Since a recruiter earns through commissions or bonus as discussed before, their salary can be widely inconsistent and variable. During the periods where recruitment is on the lower side, the salary in hand can be significantly less.
Make sure you weigh in the above pros and cons of working in the recruitment industry before deciding on a career in it.
