When looking for a new position, it
can be tricky to know where to begin and a couple of questions immediately
spring to mind; whether to use a recruitment agency and if so, which one to
pick?
So, exactly what are the benefits of
using a recruitment agency?
Overall, a good recruitment
consultant can often make the make the difference between a successful and
efficient job search and a lot of wasted effort.
1. Discussing your career plan and whether
a move is right for you
The first step in the process would
be for the recruitment consultant to find out what you enjoy doing and whether
a move is right for you. It is easy to
be affected by a particularly bad period of work and by exploring your reasons
for looking elsewhere and asking searching questions the consultant can assist
you in deciding whether you really want to move. Alternatively a chat with your manager or
peers may be more beneficial as a first step.
If you do decide the time is ripe for a move then they can again advise
more generally on areas / roles or companies that would be suitable taking into
account your preferences.
2. Research & knowledge of the
vacancies
By knowing the market and what
companies are actively recruiting and advertising vacancies at the current
time, the amount of research that you personally have to do is drastically
reduced. Also, many companies take on
staff for vacancies which are not advertised very widely and in this instance,
the recruitment consultant will know who is the best person to call to find out
about such positions and will carry out this search for you.
3. CV writing guidance
The CV is the first tool in
marketing yourself to a company and so it is crucial that is accurately brings
out your skills, particularly transferable skills and strengths and targets the
vacancies available. Having established
which vacancies are available and matched up those with your preferences, the
consultant can then provide detailed advice on putting together a CV.
4. Personal recommendations
Where a consultant has built up a
good reputation with employers or via their own contacts then their personal
recommendation will also help in gaining you an interview. This aspect can be enhanced where the consultant
themselves is an actuary and hence has a certain level of credibility, as well
as personally knowing a number of key decision makers. This is very important where a candidate is
looking to move into a different discipline or does not quite have the right experience
for the role in question.
5. Interview practice
Tips on interview technique and even
the opportunity to do practice interviews with the consultant can then
follow. These can be invaluable,
particularly if you have not had an interview for several years or have
previously been turned down after interview and are not sure of the reasons
why. As a trained interviewer the
consultant can give you constructive feedback on how you are coming across, how
to demonstrate your strengths effectively and even tips on what are good
questions to ask. The consultant’s
technical knowledge is also useful, as inevitably you will be asked technical
questions in the real interview so it is a good idea to practice answering this
type of question.
6. Post-interview review
Following the interview a good
consultant will then gather your feedback on the interview, and crucially will
ask about any questions you feel you could have answered better or concerns
that you have. If there is any negative
feedback from the company in these areas the consultant can then use the
opportunity to reiterate what you meant to say.
7. Salary negotiations
Many candidates find it hard to
negotiate successfully and again this is a process where the consultant can add
value and do the negotiating on your behalf as well as checking any concerns or
queries that you may have.
They will have a good feel for what
is an appropriate level of salary for the position and so can ensure that your
expectations & requests are realistic and make sure you receive an offer to
fully reflect your abilities.
8. Decision time
Hopefully by this stage you will
have several offers and now need to choose between them. Again the consultant can help with this
process both by their knowledge of the company cultures, their advice on how
each position may influence your long-term career, teasing out your main
motivators etc.
Overall there are many areas where
recruitment agencies can add value apart from the obvious one of knowing what
vacancies are available. However
standards of service can vary dramatically and it is important to find an
agency that you can trust and will offer the benefits outlined above.
There is generally little benefit in
going to more than one agency. In fact
it can be detrimental as your CV may go to a particular employer from several
sources which could give the impression that you are “desperate” for a
role. Also it makes it a lot more
difficult to manage the process and keep up to date with where your
applications are, which agency is dealing with which company, different people
calling you about different roles etc.
Far preferential is to find an
agency dealing with all of the actuarial employers and can therefore manage the
whole process in a more efficient way for you.
This also means that when you are deciding between jobs, the agency can
provide you with unbiased advice on the pros and cons of each employer.
The first thing to do is ask around
for personal recommendations. Clearly
you can’t openly ask your employer whom they would recommend but there may be
other actuarial friends or discrete colleagues who could give some feedback on
agencies they have used. Steer clear of
any if your friend had little idea of what happened to their CV, which
companies were contacted or received minimal feedback from the agency.
Some agencies employ actuaries as
recruitment consultants. This adds extra
value to the process in that the actuary has the technical background to fully
understand your skills, and particularly what your transferable skills are if
you are looking to go in a slightly different direction. An actuary can also give you a practice
technical interview thereby helping further with your preparation and can
suggest good sources for background material if required. They are likely to have a number of personal
contacts in the industry and therefore will have a good insight into the
different employers. In dealing with
professional people you can be confident of a discreet and confidential service.
Another option is to call a few
agencies up. You should quickly get a
good feel for how much knowledge the consultant has, their level of experience
and whether they have your best interests at heart.
A key
consideration is to not be swayed in your choice of agency by who is
advertising a particular role. Often an
agency only advertises a small selection of their positions and through their
regular employer contacts can quickly find out about a specific job that has
caught your eye. So if you like a job
advert from one agency but want to deal specifically with another one, it’s
worth giving the preferred one a call.
Finally all that’s left to say is
Good Luck with your job searching!
Paul Walsh FIA is Managing
Director of Acumen Resources, the specialist actuarial recruitment company