Here is my two cents worth:
A good route to go is to apply to a large recruiting firm. If you do not know what you specifically like as your niche, joining a firm that has multiple types of placement (permanent, temp, contract, contingency, etc.) and multiple departments (IT, retail, Pharmacy, etc.) can be a way to expose yourself to a lot in one place. It is all about sourcing and networking.
If this is a second career for you and you have experience in a specific field use it to your advantage. For instance, if I was the hiring manager at the firm, and you worked in a Hotel as a Food and Beverage Manager, I would say, great customer service, clearly a people person understands Hospitality and Restaurant. You immediately would have a connection and comfort level with these areas.
Another suggestion is to make sure that the firm you choice has you bring in job orders (Deal with client companies to fill the recruitment needs) as well as deal with candidates. Get expose to both early on. Some firms have people that do one or the other. When I started working at my first recruitment firm, I did both. I thought I was going to be the queen of candidates; I came from internal recruitment and was a bit leery of dealing with companies. It turned out I was fantastic with building relationships with clients companies because I came from that side.
The other day I was listening to a speaker at an EMA workshop and one thing he said stuck with me. “No one decides when they are a little kid that they want to be a Recruiter; most of us stumble into the profession.” He didn’t mean for this statement to be received negatively. Nevertheless it did get me thinking.
I am sure the majority of recruiters reading this will give a little chuckle and a head nod thinking about when they first became a recruiter.
BUT, is he right? If you really think about it literally is it true?
What do little kids want to be when they grow up? Doctor, firefighter, police officer, athletes come to mind immediately for me. Of course often some combination of firefighting doctor that plays professional baseball on the weekends may fit.
Now, as a recruiter, what do you do? Help people? Work as a team or find people to be on a team? I think you get the point.
By the way, I worked as a HR Manager/Generalist for several years; no one can dispute the point that I AM a fire fighter!
Thinking back to the literal meaning of the “stumbling into the profession” statement I can thank a tyrant boss for starting off my recruitment career.
I was in my early 20’s and worked for an internet company. After a few months on the job, the majority of the programmers took a mass exodus from the company. I looked up at my boss and said “Well, now what do we do?” He yelled “Hire people!” and I did. I never stopped from that day forward!
Back to the point that “No one decides when they are a little kid that they want to be a Recruiter; most of us stumble into the profession.”
I guess the speaker was right as far as I am concerned. I did stumble in and I am sure glad I am a klutz!
