French 
English 
‘You’ll be finished at 40’. ‘
What?’
‘They won’t need you after that’….
Career guidance. My first week as a junior consultant.
Why did I make this terrible ‘career’ choice’?
Like most of us, I arrived here by default. A humanities graduate, struggling in temp jobs. Whilst the science and technology graduates were starting training schemes at the likes of Glaxo SmithKline and Schlumberger, I was stacking chairs at conference events or working in a windowless data management office. On a desperate Monday morning in April 2004, I called into Hays to register for work. The rest is history….
I’ve worked with school leavers, graduates, bankers, lawyers, helicopter pilots and even actors. Everyone has their own back-story. For many, recruitment was a stopgap, a springboard to something grander. For some it offered hope of a better future and for some an escape from a fate far worse.
It’s a high-risk industry with little financial guarantees and lots of disappointment. Mental strength is essential, and employee turnover is high (33% leave within their first 12 months of employment). It is an industry with brazen competition, little training and low margin for error.
It is also an industry which can offer a lot of hope and opportunity. An industry in which you can create your own path. Mine has taken me from London to Singapore and now Paris. It is still winding.
It all started in pre GFC London….
Sat on an ‘Account Management’ team, I was a shared resource on a busy temp operations desk. There was no business development. This was pure delivery. 09:03 am Job on! ‘Credit default swap settlements clerk – £12 per hour’. 10 calls and 2 hours later the shortlist was ready. Make sure you hit your KPIs! ‘Key Performance Indicators’. We were filling 5 of those roles a day and managing ‘daybooks’ of 20-100 temp workers each. It was a work hard and party hard culture. Long hours were celebrated, and internal competition was encouraged. Attendance and punctuality were mandatory (hangover regardless) with home working a distant fantasy.
The three qualities I learnt from my first year. Urgency, Energy and Fear. Qualities that have served me and many of my recruitment colleague well throughout our careers.
The fourth quality I learnt during my transition to a Business Development desk, Confidence. In-bound client approaches account for 20% of a recruitment agency’s jobs. The rest is down to Business Development (BD). That can range from a sales call to a social media post. When I started in the industry, Linkedin did not exist and recruiters could go door to door across the City of London with marketing brochures and business cards in an envelope. Today the majority will post videos as part of a social media marketing strategy, showcasing their jobs portfolio and agency credentials daily. That could be on any platform from LinkedIn to TikTok . If you are embarrassed to do any of this then you will not succeed.
A well prepared and confident business developer can ‘go on the tools’ (pick up the phone) and enter a ‘flow state’. Call after call, like an assembly line worker. For many it is uncomfortable, scary or humiliating. If you can make business development a natural feature of your daily work, then you will be more successful. Calls are still the most powerful way of getting someone’s attention.
The challenges now facing an agency recruiter are greater than ever before. There are more agencies (30,000 in the UK alone), more internal recruiters, more on-site talent professionals, more remote talent professionals as well as new artificial intelligence and machine learning providers all fighting for that essential ‘recruitment spend’. The industry is amplified by multiple publications, award ceremonies, bloggers, memes, job boards, job aggregators, podcasts and social media to create a wall of noise.
The Recruitment Industry today
In 2023 the Global recruitment industry had an estimated value of $756 billion and is predicted to grow to more than $2 trillion by 2031.
Within the current figure, a group of around 20 brands are true multinationals. These include Randstad, Netherlands (turnover €24,6 billion), Adecco , Switzerland (turnover €24 billion), Recruit Holdings Co, Japan ($23,6 billion), ManpowerGroup, USA (turnover $19,6 billion), Allegis Group , USA (turnover $13,4 billion), Hays , UK (£7,6 billion) and Robert Half USA ($7,4 billion). These companies all have multiple subsidiaries (hundreds in some cases) as well as diverse consulting and software solutions. This is in addition to their external and internal recruitment capabilities.
The USA is the largest market, contributing $190 billion to the headline figure. That country also has a 42% share of the Global RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) sector. Their North American neighbour, Canada has an industry value of $10,2 billion.
Within Europe, the 2 largest markets are the UK and Germany. The REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) states that the UK Recruitment industry contributed GBP 42.9 billion Gross Added Value to the UK economy. It is forecast to exceed GBP 51.3 billion in 2025. Germany comes in at $32,8 billion.
Japan is the largest market in Asia Pacific with a value of $67,5 billion, Australia comes in second with $20,3 billion value, India comes in third with $18 billion and China in fourth with $3,3 billion*
*Data referenced was ‘online’ recruitment so that market could be considerably larger.
Challenges facing the Modern Agency Recruiter: RPO – The best of Frenemies
What is it?
Recruitment Process Outsourcing. An outsourcing of a company’s external recruitment process, usually to one of the multinational recruitment groups I referenced above. An RPO enables those recruitment groups to dominate a company’s recruitment spend. The RPO provider will place a team of talent professionals (usually ex agency recruiters) on-site to manage vacancies directly.
What is the impact on the agency recruiter?
RPO firms have shifted the balance of the recruitment economy. They are backed by expensive marketing campaigns and corporate spokespeople to marginalise agency recruitment. They will still partner with agencies on specialist hires, yet this will be through a Preferred Supplier List (PSL). Criteria for inclusion is usually based on pricing (lower fee percentages), size and reputation.
What are the selling points?
Cost. The RPO will promise to do it cheaper than an external agency. This is the principal reason that it exists. It may be based on 4 different pricing models – flat fee, cost per hire, percentage of salary or hybrid pricing.
Volume. It can work effectively for high volume hiring such as graduate schemes, operational and support functions.
Coordination. It helps keep track of vacancy progress, external spending, temporary worker flows and overall agency usage.
What are the flaws?
Accuracy: Although it works effectively for volume hires, it can fail for specialist ones. An inexperienced talent professional (or worse AI filter) will not pick up on many of the technical or cultural nuances behind a specialist hire. A talented agency recruiter can help reduce the time to hire by applying greater precision and saving the client money.
Candidate Experience: Humans want to work with humans. It is possible that a candidate can have almost no human interaction throughout their recruitment process via an RPO. The little human interaction they do have may be via email only and often with an outsourced talent professional, thousands of miles away from their future workplace.
Why use a recruitment agency
Human touch
We all want to talk to someone about our ambitions, financial commitments, fears and anxieties. A recruitment consultant provides candidates with that support. For clients, a good recruiter will provide you with details of a candidate’s communication style, team fit, leadership potential, non-work interests and transferable skills. The qualities which a CV does not tell you.
Perspectives
We spend 75% of our life at work so making an informed choice on our prospective employer or employee is essential.
Efficiency
A direct sourcing campaign via a corporate career page and mix of external advertisers can attract 1,000 applicants. 70% of these will require professional sponsorship. Of the remaining 30%, the majority will not meet the technical brief, be too inexperienced or overqualified. It is an inefficient process which often results in relevant candidates being lost. For clients, the added task of providing responses and maintaining brand reputation under such volume is exhausting. A recruitment agency helps provide that filter, identifying relevant talent in an impactful way, saving both parties significant time and energy.
Sales Skills
For the candidate, an agency will always shine a light on your experience, technical skills and personal strengths to position you well above a direct applicant. For the client, they will promote both the quality of your vacancy and the values of your company.
Types of recruitment agency
There are 3 main types of recruitment agency.
Staffing Agency
Multiple industry sectors, all levels, interim and permanent recruitment. The multinational firms all have their staffing division with a high street presence. Some staffing agencies can grow significantly at a local level, for example Proman in France, a 4,000-employee business with a €4 billion turnover.
Specialist Agency
2-3 industry sectors as well as permanent and/ or interim recruitment solutions. They will usually focus on more experienced professionals across a handful of technical disciplines, dependent on their size. A specialist agency would cover both ‘contingency recruitment’ – fee on success (candidate start date) or ‘retained recruitment’ – an advance or staggered fee schedule with an exclusive engagement.
Executive search
Retained only. Used for executive appointments up to board level which require maximum sensitivity. Candidate sourcing is via headhunt, often involving market maps and detailed commentary. These insights can be used for shareholder presentations and press briefings.
What does a career as an agency recruiter offer?
Meritocracy
If you work hard then you can be very successful. It is s one of the most rewarding aspects of the industry. I can cite many examples of outstanding achievement but perhaps the one which stands out is a 24-year-old who took home a £1,2 million paycheck after making £3 million in fees for his employers. That is more than a successful trader will earn.
Responsibility
Anyone familiar with David Graeber’s ‘Bullsh*t Jobs’ or the BBC’s ‘The Office’ can relate to the mental suffering we face when responsibility is denied to us, or we fail to fulfil our potential. Unsurprisingly it is the number one reason that candidates wish to change employer. As a recruiter, you can grow your desk to the size you wish. There is always a minimum expectation, but no one will stop you from calling more clients, meeting more candidates or being more successful.
Professional development
If you wish to undergo any professional training that will help you become a more effective recruiter, then your employers will back you. I have seen technology recruiters take Java Development training, HR recruiters take the advanced CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) qualification and financial markets recruiters take the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exams. All made them more credible with both candidates and clients.
Social Engagement
A good recruiter will spend around 2 hours per day on the phone, meeting clients or meeting candidates. Even with a work from home culture, the video call creates social interaction and gets the oxytocin moving.
Recruitment agencies and Identity
Unlike professional services firms such as lawyers, management consultancies or auditors, recruitment agencies do not tend to boast about their positive social impact or their exceptionalism. They keep it simple. Pay us to help you with your recruitment process.
Recruiters are also comfortable with the stigma which the industry can attract. Most will work hard and prove the doubters wrong.
Recruiters however will do what they can to get noticed. Unashamedly and sometimes very successfully.
Just watch Enzo recruitment group’s viral ‘We’re Recruiters’ clip. 2.1 million views on TikTok and an article in the UK’s Daily Mail…Love it. Hate it. Most of us would pay handsomely for that level of publicity!
Choosing a Recruitment Agency
The choice can be overwhelming.
If you want to work with a specialist, then my advice would be to do the following:
Get referrals from your network. If a friend or ex colleague has had an excellent experience with a helpful recruiter, who understood their requirements then work with them.
Look for patterns in job postings. Do this via the major job advertising platforms (Linkedin, indeed, Glassdoor). For instance, if Joe Smith from Techie Recruitment has 5 different vacancies for ‘Java Developer’ on each of them, then you can identify Joe as a specialist in his field with a healthy client network. Call the agency and ask to speak to Joe. And only Joe.
Read recruiter blog posts. Type in the relevant industry, technical specialism and ‘blog’ via a search engine to see which recruitment firms are regularly posting content about their expertise and vacancies. If they take the time to provide detailed industry or technical insights or interview industry experts then they are more likely to be a reliable recruitment partner.
Shop around! You can even do this as a mystery shopper. Once you have selected a handful of agencies that interest you then call in to introduce yourself. You can quickly identify the professionalism and expertise underneath the sparkly branding.
About Me
I started my career as a Recruitment Consultant in London in 2004 and have worked exclusively across the financial services industry.
This has included managing and training mid-large recruitment teams as well as working independently as a sole contributor. I have always been a billing consultant with a passion for business development.
My career has seen me help build businesses in London, Singapore and Paris.
Today I run an independent recruitment firm with offices in Paris and London. We offer contingency and retained recruitment services in English and French. We can also help international clients with French Human Resources queries and French employment law. I live with my family near Tours in the Loire Valley and enjoy running through the vineyards.
Sources d'information
- Collier Katrina – ‘The Robot Proof Recruiter’ 2019
- Csikszentmihalyi Mihaly – ‘Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience’ 2008
- Diment Dmitry ‘Employment & Recruiting Agencies in Canada – Market Research Report 2014 – 2029, IBIS World April 2024
- Forbes Advisor – Recruitment Process Outsourcing : The Ultimate Guide –Cassie Bortoff (Editor) and Belle Wong, JD (Contributor) – May 26th 2023
- Graeber David – ‘Bullsh*t Jobs’ 2018
- Grand View Research – Recruitment Process Outsourcing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (On-demand, Enterprise), By Service (On-site, Off-site), By Enterprise Size, By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 – 2030. Report ID: GVR-4-68038-971-5
- Headworth Andy – Social Media Recruitment – 2015
- Insight Partners ‘India Staffing and Recruitment Market Dynamics and Growth Opportunities’ September 11 2024
- Lai Lin Thomala ‘Market Size of Online Recruitment Industry in China’ – Statista, Jun 13 2024
- REC – ‘Recruitment industry contributes £43 billion to UK economy’ REC 30th November 2022
- Reilly Matilda ‘Employment Placement and Recruitment Services in Australia Market Research Report 2014 – 2029, IBIS World May 2024
- Shaw Becky – Office for National Statistics – UK Business Activity, Size and Location – 27th September 2023
- Staffing Industry Analysis – ‘Germany – Staffing revenue reaches EUR 32,8 billion – December 9th 2022.
- Statista – Recruitment Industry in the US – Statistics and Facts – Statista Research Department – July 4th 2024