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INTERVIEWING WITH A RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY

If a Recruitment Consultant has contacted you to arrange an appointment for interview, they obviously recognise some potential in your application whether it was a speculative application or you applied to a specific vacancy advert.  

Understanding how Recruitment Consultants work will help you to tailor your interview technique.   We have produced some useful notes on Working with Recruitment Consultancies but in the meantime here are some things to remember when meeting a Recruitment Consultant:  

The reason a Recruitment Consultant has arranged an appointment to meet you is to assess the following areas:  

• Punctuality/time keeping
• Presentation
• Communication skills
• Interview skills
• Career assessment
• Skill-set assessment
• Personality assessment
• Suitability to Clients and vacancies  

Meeting a Recruitment Consultant is normally less formal than interviewing with an Employer.  

However, it is important to conduct yourself during the appointment in a manner that will inspire the Consultant with confidence in you and your ability.   This appointment will be an excellent indication to the Consultant how you will conduct yourself at interview with one of their Clients.  

Useful things to remember:  

Registration Form.   Don't take exception to completing a Registration Form.   These days it is an important part of a Recruitment Consultancies legal requirements to ensure every individual registers in this manner.  

Identification.   All recruiters these days will require recognised identification for their records.   Take along some form of ID such as a Passport or Drivers License etc.  

CV.   Ensure your CV is a TRUE & FAIR reflection of your academic and professional experience.   Take 2 copies of your CV to the appointment.   If the Consultant does not have a copy it is convenient if you have one ready and demonstrates that you are well prepared. 

Honesty.   Make sure you are completely honest with your Consultant about your academic experience & grades, career history and professional experience.   Most Consultancies will check these details and all too often individuals are caught out and face an embarrassing situation.  

Supporting Information.   If you have certificates for any academic or professional qualifications take them along so the Consultant can arrange for the necessary documentation to be copied and kept with your file.  

References.   Make sure you have all your reference information available.  This should include name, position, company, address, telephone and email where possible.  We suggest you let your references know that they may be receiving requests for a reference from various sources.  

Presentation.   Never under estimate the importance of meeting a Recruitment Consultant - building a good relationship with a Recruitment Consultant is often the pathway to a dream job.   Always dress smartly, conduct yourself professionally and aim to build a good rapport with whoever you meet.  

It is also useful to note that a Recruitment Consultant will conduct an interview that attempts to understand your academic background, professional history, skills and experience on a broader scale.  

The reason for this is because they may have a number of opportunities available for you to consider and rather than conduct a very specific competency based interview of your skill-set and relevant experience to one job, they will probably want to know a lot more about your range of skills.

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