Is recruitment right for you? An honest look at what it takes.

It’s there in black and white on our vacancies: no experience needed, but drive is a must. That’s not a slogan. More than 150 people have learned the trade with us, and what makes one break through and another drop out is rarely on a CV. It’s in how you deal with a no, with pressure and with a scoreboard.

That’s why I’m giving you an honest rundown here of what the job asks of you. If you recognise yourself, the rest can be learned.

What you don’t need

You don’t need experience in recruitment, or a degree in HR or psychology. Nor do you have to bring a network: you get a market, a database to call and a coach beside you. People who come from sales or hospitality often bring more than they think. They can talk to people, and they want to win.

What you do need

What you do need to bring, we can’t teach you. There are five things.

• An appetite for selling. Recruitment is sales: you sell a next step to a candidate and a solution to a client (read What does a recruiter do?). If you love winning, that gives you energy.
• Daring to pick up the phone. Those who succeed spend two to four hours a day on the phone, often with people who aren’t expecting the call. You’d rather pick it up today than tomorrow.
• Being able to take a no. You hear no more often than yes. A no can sting, but it doesn’t decide your next call.
• Patience. A placement takes weeks, sometimes months. What you sow today, you reap later.
• A hunger to learn. You ask for feedback yourself, and you want to get better every week. Feedback makes you better, not smaller.

In those who make it to the top, we see even more: they put their career first, they’re consistent and they’re obsessed with the job. You can read about it in Recruitment training: how a top biller works.

The pressure, honestly

Let’s not be naive about it: recruitment is a job with pressure, and that pressure is always on.

You work with targets, and everyone can see who’s scoring. You have highs and lows: one week the deals fall into place on their own, the next everything you thought you had in the bag falls through. A candidate stays with their employer after all, a client picks someone else. And because your commission moves with your placements, you feel a bad quarter in your pay too. It cuts both ways.

If that gives you energy, you’re in the right place. If it keeps you up at night, you’ll struggle.

Does that mean you’ll end up in a shark tank? No. You win as a team. There’s no room for big egos, your colleagues pick you up when things aren’t going well, and every win gets celebrated. A quick chat during the day is part of it too.

Freedom when you’re on track

How we deal with that pressure is simple. If you’re on target, you get freedom: starting later, a workout at lunchtime or working from home now and then. If you fall behind, your manager keeps a closer eye on you. Together you look at your calls, your daily plan and what you still need to learn, and you agree clear next steps. That’s not a punishment, but attention at the moment you need it. Once you’re back on track, you get your freedom back.

The principle behind it: input plus skills equals output. If you do too little, you need to do more. If you do enough but bring in too little, you need to learn something. You’ll find how to spot where it’s leaking in Three months without a placement.

How to keep going

Pressure comes with the job, but you can handle it smartly. This helps:

• Look at what’s in your own hands. Whether a candidate signs isn’t up to you. How many calls you make and how well you plan your day is. If you focus on your input, you lose less sleep over the outcome.
• Plan your day. Your list in the morning, your call blocks at fixed times and wrapping up in the evening. A full day weighs less when you know what’s coming.
• Keep perspective. Romina runs our Antwerp office and went from trainee to principal in four years. Her tip for your first year: “Keep things in perspective. Sales is a tough world: see the fun in it, and you’ll last the longest.”
• Talk about it. Say so when things aren’t going your way. Your colleagues have been through the same, and your manager is there to help you move forward.
• Recharge your batteries. Exercise, get enough sleep and put your phone away in the evening. If you’re on target, you can work out at lunchtime: so do it.

If the stress lingers, even when things are going better again, talk to your manager or your GP about it. These are tips from experience, not medical advice.

The start is tough

Your first two months are a training programme in three parts: first candidates, then clients, then the process from interview to signature. Each time, you learn the theory, apply it on the floor and get feedback from your manager, with whom you plan your day every morning.

It’s a lot at once, and it’s repetitive, because you practise one thing until you can do it. That’s exactly why, after two months, you know around 80% of the job, just when results are expected of you. Those first months are make or break. If you push through, you have the foundation for the rest of your career.

Why you do it

Why would you put up with that pressure and that tough start? Because in the first years you’re not working for today’s salary, but for what comes after. First you learn the trade. Then you invest two to three years: calling, placing and repeating, until you can do it with your eyes closed, while your commission grows with you. And then you capitalise: as a partner with your own office or team, with a stake in what you build, or as an independent at Shortlist, where you keep up to 75% of what you bill.

Romina, whom you met above, is proof of that: she started with us as a trainee and today she’s a partner.

Checklist: do you recognise yourself?

• You get energy from talking to people.
• You’d rather pick up the phone today than tomorrow.
• A no motivates you more than it gets to you.
• You want to earn according to what you do, not your title.
• You can work for weeks for a reward that comes later.
• You ask for feedback yourself.
• You like a scoreboard, even when you’re behind for a while.

If you recognise yourself in most of these statements, chances are recruitment is right for you.

Who it’s not for

Recruitment isn’t for everyone, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It suits you less if:

• you’re after the security of a fixed salary: your fixed salary is a safety net, your commission makes the difference;
• you want a quiet nine-⁠to-⁠five job: the pressure is always on;
• you don’t like calling: it’s a phone business;
• you take every no personally.

If this sounds more like you, you’re better off looking for something else. We’d rather tell you now than after three months.

The best test: a day on the floor

Still in two minds? Then there’s one test that tells you more than this whole piece: a day on the floor. With us, it’s called the Experience Day. You spend a day alongside a senior consultant, do a few tasks yourself and see how a day really goes. That way you know whether you can see yourself doing the job, and we know whether it clicks.

Ernest, for whom the job was completely new when he started, has one tip for anyone in two minds: “Just do it. It’s the only way to find out whether it’s for you.”

Take a look at the opportunities or have a chat with us.

Frequently asked questions

Is recruitment stressful?

There’s pressure: targets, highs and lows, and commission that moves with your results. If you like scoring, it gives you energy. If you’re looking for security, you’re more likely to experience it as stress.

Do you have to be an extrovert to become a recruiter?

No. But you do have to enjoy talking to people and dare to pick up the phone. Listening well is at least as important as talking well: if you listen, you know what a candidate really wants.

What if you don’t hit your target?

Then your manager keeps a closer eye on you. Together you look at your calls, your daily plan and what you still need to learn, and you agree next steps. Once you’re back on track, you get your freedom back.

Can you work from home as a recruiter?

You mostly work from the office, among your colleagues. If you hit your targets, you can work from home now and then too.

You’ll find all the steps at a glance in our guide Becoming a recruiter in Belgium.