Being a recruitment consultant means I am in contact with hundreds of people looking for work or looking for that exciting new career step every week. Most people seem to think all they need to do is send their CV to the agent and the job is done, well let me tell you it isn’t. Most Recruitment agencies don’t even recruit for 10 percent of the local vacancies, so the chances of you actually finding the right role through a recruitment agent are not as high as you would initially think. The modern day recruitment consultant actually goes out and seeks their ideal candidate, someone who fits the job description to a tee, someone who shines above any other candidate who may be in for the same role, don’t think you are unique either as most agents will send as many CVs forward as possible to increase the chances of them getting a placement and ultimately their fee, which is sad but true.

I always try to advice every one of my candidates that it’s always good to think outside the box. Although we are all engrossed in the new age which is ‘Social Media’, I always find myself reverting back to the good old local phone book. This is where you will find everything you need to discover the opportunity you are actively seeking, companies name, phone, web, email and office address. From here you can start building a portfolio of companies you have contacted and also log the feedback you receive. I can tell you that not every organisation is catching on to the new online era just yet and quite a few don’t even have a website, so there is no chance you are going to come across these on Google, but are more likely to find them in the local phonebook.

Now we come to social media as this is definitely one of the most successful and ever growing sources for recruitment, not just for recruitment companies but also in-house recruitment teams. A lot of companies are opting to build their own recruitment department rather than using agents as they feel it’s a cost saving exercise, although I feel it’s good to have an in-house recruiter I always feel you need a good agent to work with as they will undoubtedly have candidates you want or of course need. So in addition this can only give you an opportunity to find work that you would not have had 5 years ago. Most companies are building groups on Facebook, Linkedin ect and posting their roles on here and acquiring quite a lot of applicants from it. These are the areas you need to be actively hitting, join as many groups as you can that are local to your area. There are specialised groups already building on Facebook, like ‘Jobs Online’ for Gibraltar which has nearly 5000 members already. Linkedin is a fantastic tool as you are able to upload your CV which in return will showcase your skills and experience and allowing people to contact you should they require your skill set.

I am a true believer that recruitment companies can really build and progress your career and of course find you work when you feel very little is going your way. I will add however that I feel you as a job seeker really need to put the effort in and stop solely relying on the agent. The recruitment consultant is only one part of the cog in finding what you are looking for.

See this and many more blogs on my website www.rockconsultancy.gi/blog/recruitment-outside-the-box/