Hello All,

I would like to build a successful career in recruiting, but I have no experience. Ideally, I would love to gain primary experience as a third party recruiter and then after 2-3 solid years to either start up a business or become a corporate recruiter. Both appeal to me. With that said, what would be the best route for me to gain experience:

A) Hold down a part-time job that pays the bills and seek to become a virtual independent recruiter (split-fee, just the recruiting part, no-client selling). Is it possible for someone with no experience to learn recruiting and bring in steady income through split-fee networks?

B) Get an actual job at a staffing agency and aim to work that way for a couple years. This might have me involved with cold-calling clients to gain job orders, which is something I wouldn't prefer to do right away. Do you all recommend any good agencies (I'm located in Oregon) or any ones to avoid?

C) Is it possible to do both? To work a part-time job at a staffing agency and then on the side work split-fees?

Thanks for any advice. Cheers!