Whether you’re looking for your first job after finishing school or debating having a late career change, finding a job can be a daunting process at any age and at any stage in your career. There appear to be so many people out there who are offering to help you with this process but how do you know which ones to trust? After all, deciding on a job role is often one of the biggest decisions you will make throughout your life… and so it should be! On average, a person will spend 900,000 hours of their life at work and so choosing the right job can massively affect an individual’s quality of life.
When I began applying for a new role following University, I was overwhelmed by the vast number of recruitment agencies available, each claiming to specialise in different sectors and to help specific groups of people, in my case ‘graduates’. I was also in the difficult position of not being 100% certain of what job role I was searching for; a position I know is shared by many graduates. I knew I wanted to focus on ‘Communications’, but with there being so many different roles I could focus on within this industry, I was struggling to decide where to start when it came to actively applying for jobs.
Luckily, my job search was saved when I had my first meeting with Marmion. The opportunity to speak face-to-face with Janet, the Managing Director, and Matt, one of the Recruitment Consultants, gave me the vital education I needed to enable me to pinpoint exactly what I wanted to do. The informal chat consisted of discussing what I studied at University, what modules I liked and disliked, my past work experience and hopes for the future. It’s hard to believe that something so simple could make such a big difference! I came out of the meeting with a clear vision in my head of what I wanted to do and what my next steps should be. I knew from then on that I was in safe hands…
Having now secured a job working for Marmion (they must have made a good impression…), there are several things which I wish I had known when beginning my job search:
- Taking the time to find a recruitment agency which suits you is a vital step. Depending on the job you are looking for you may require a field specific recruitment agency or you may prefer a recruitment agency that deals with a wider range of sectors, similar to Marmion. Unfortunately, there are so many recruitment agencies today that place more value on their commission, than your job search and future job satisfaction therefore dedicating time to exploring different agencies is critical.
- Make sure the recruitment agency you choose take time to really get to know you and find out exactly what it is your looking for. I would recommend choosing an agency that asks to meet you before they put you forward as this is always a clear sign that they are interested in getting to know you and your hopes for your job search, in detail.
- Picking an agency that can provide education and advice on your job search is also a huge bonus. It shows they are willing to go the extra mile for you, in the hope of finding your ideal job and it may open the doors to career paths you may not have otherwise considered. Consultants who practise this are often also very intelligent, understanding and personable – key characteristics which good recruitment consultants should demonstrate.
When I met Matt, he not only made some great suggestions on potential roles I could look to pursue within the ‘Communications’ industry, but he was also very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process. He kept in constant contact so I was up-to-date on the progress I was making with various applications and he helped me prepare for any upcoming interviews I had. Small details such as sending a ‘good luck’ text before an interview is just one of the ways you could tell Matt and his colleagues at Marmion really cared.
I know it can be very hard to tell one recruitment company apart from another, based solely on viewing their websites. It’s also very easy for a company to sell themselves, sometimes falsely, on their websites so being able to identify whether a company genuinely possesses some of the criteria mentioned above is often quite a challenge. I would recommend spending some time reading a company’s testimonials. These should be listed on their website and can also be found on other sites, such as Facebook reviews and google reviews. This will give you a more accurate representation of how the company operates and how other candidates have rated their experience.
Looking back over the last 6 months, I would never have thought that I would end up working in ‘Communications’ in the Recruitment Industry, but I am now in a job I love, working for a company I love and that’s all due to finding the right recruitment company for me. My advice to anyone actively searching for a new role as a graduate or considering a career change, is to make sure you invest some time into finding an agency that will invest time in you… (you never know, you might end up working for that company!)
If you need any help with your job search or would like some career guidance, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on 0113 332 0678.
I will now be posting weekly blogs and articles; it will be starting with a 4 week ‘guide for graduates’, which will explore the points covered in this article in more detail, whilst looking into other areas relating to graduate recruitment and the job application process. There will be a graduate guidebook available to download following these articles which will incorporate and summarise all the information discussed.
