2.5 years into our business and the most common industry we’ve placed athletes into is Recruitment to work as a Recruitment Consultant.

It’s a role that comes with a base salary (typically around $60-90k, depending on your experience and aptitude) and a commission structure on top of your base. With a commission structure, the average performers earns $110-150k and the top performers earn $180-250k p/year. The very best earn $300k+ and some can earn $500k+.

The role of a Recruitment Consultant is to help businesses hire talent. Very similar to being a sports agent, except it’s in the business world.

The role requires strong communication & negotiation skills, resilience, discipline, drive, a competitive nature, ability to work in a team and most importantly a strong ability to network and build relationships.

Just like sport, in recruitment you win and lose a lot. You go through ups and downs.

Some of the ups: Placing a candidate in a role, making lots of money, helping someone get a job and changing their life for the better, winning a new client/getting a job brief, making friends with your colleagues, working in a team, out of office team activities, hitting your targets, no day being the same.

Some of the downs: Candidates/clients ghosting you, candidates not taking your client’s offer, candidates/clients changing their minds, candidates pulling out of the recruitment process the day before or on the day of the interview, clients filling your jobs internally or through another agency, missing your targets, getting rejected.

To get through the downs, you have to be resilient. Overall, to make it in recruitment you have to stay level headed, don’t get too high on the highs. or too low on the lows. Stick with a process without emotional attachment to the results.

1) Business Development: recruiters build relationships with Clients (companies) who need help hiring talent.

2) Job Brief Clients give recruiters a job brief, that is what kind of employee they want to hire, eg.. a graphic designer with 4 years experience.

3) Sourcing The recruiter then commences sourcing (or resourcing), this is the act of trying to find Candidates to fill the role.

Finding this talent is one of the hardest parts of the job. Often you must headhunt someone from another company and offer them the opportunity. This involves writing to people on Linkedin, Calling from a database, or other sources. If you find someone who seems qualified and is interested… then you must speak to them and qualify them over the phone, video or in person.

4) Qualifying you must then speak to potential candidates at length and “qualify them”. Essentially you are interviewing them on behalf of the Client. You must see if they are a good candidate and if you believe they will be a good fit.

5) Liaising if they are a good fit for the role then you send them to the client, arrange interview times etc…

6) Feedback and closing after interviews, you gather feedback from both parties and arrange further interviews. If after a few interviews the job is offered to your candidate. You help finalize signing of contracts etc.

7) Payment your company then invoices the client, you make commission off each placement.

8) CRM all of the process from start to finish is recorded in the company CRM/database.

Junior Role – Resourcer

Young recruiters with minimal business experience. Usually the first 3-12 months you are focused on Sourcing. There are much lower commissions for sourcing roles.

Senior Role – 360 Recruiter

When you are able to manage all of the above roles, this is called 360 Recruitment. Here the potential earnings are very high, especially when you have been in the role for a year or two.

If you’re keen to pursue a role in Recruitment, get in touch with one of our friendly consultants – info@athlete2business.com.au