As a Talent Consultant, finding talented people for fantastic job vacancies is probably one of the most rewarding aspects of working for a recruitment agency. 

You get to be responsible for matching candidates to vacancies, winning gratitude from candidates who have secured the job they wanted and appreciation from clients who need the right people to help their business grow.

Filling jobs sounds simple - but there’s actually a lot more to it than most people realise.

Top Talent Consultants are part sleuth, part matchmaker, part analyst and part salesperson - with a healthy dose of friendly advisor thrown into the mix, as one of our Talent Team, Liam Deabill (pictured) will confirm!

Leaving No Stone Unturned to Find Talent

Right now, there is a global candidate shortage, which has made the role of Talent Consultants and Talent Finders more important than ever to local businesses in Basingstoke and the surrounding areas, and to the UK economy as a whole.

According to Matthew Fell, Chief UK Policy Director of the CBI, “People and skills shortage is one of the biggest issues facing the C-suite in all sectors and is putting the brakes on growth. It’s not a short-term issue that’ll resolve itself. Businesses must leave no stone unturned to attract and retain talent.” 

That is where skilled Talent Consultants come in. 

Here are 7 facts about being a Talent Consultant that you might find surprising:

1.   You Don’t Need Recruitment Experience

Personal Trainer, Healthcare Assistant, Customer Relations Officer, these are just some of the past roles of people who have gone on to become highly successful recruitment Talent Consultants!

Although there is a lot to learn when you first start working at a recruitment agency, having the right people-focused attitude and plenty of common sense are far more important attributes than already knowing about the industry. 

In fact, people who have knowledge of our clients’ key sectors of manufacturing, precision engineering and distribution are likely to have better insight than someone who’s already worked in recruitment. 

2.   You Can Earn Uncapped Commission!

Some people seem to think that only Recruitment Consultants earn commission as they are the ones who sell services to clients. Filling the roles that our clients ask for help with is a key part of the puzzle, so Talent Consultants also earn commission. 

On a starting salary of £21,000 - £23,000, you could expect to earn up to £30,000 including commission.

3.   You Work With Candidates and Clients

As a Talent Consultant, your main focus is always going to be on finding candidates and assessing if they are as good a fit in real life as they are on paper. But that doesn’t mean you don’t speak to clients too.

When we’re putting together long lists or shortlists for clients, they need to be kept up to date and given all the information they need about applicants. And once an interview has been booked it could be up to you to keep the key contacts at the client informed about interviewees.   

4.   You Need to Be a Good Researcher

A key part of being a Talent Consultant is knowing where to look for the best people. You need to have a systematic mind and be able to work through large amounts of information in an organised way. So while being logical is hugely important, you need to use your intuition too. 

It’s the job of the Talent Consultant to ensure that the right people are approached with details of each vacancy we’re asked to fill. Sometimes we already know candidates who would be a good fit, but often it’s a case of using tried and tested resources to find the people who would fit in well. 

The more experienced you become, the more you can trust your instincts when it comes to matching candidates to vacancies, but nothing replaces thorough research in the first instance.

5.   There’s No ‘I’ in Team

Our industrial and office & commercial Talent Consultants work alongside our sector-specific Recruitment Consultants as part of the same team.

Although the roles of the Recruitment Consultant and Talent Consultant are different, success only comes by both working together. 

6.   You Need to be Confident on Camera

Lights, Camera, Action! One of the key ways we attract the best candidates is by talking about the great roles we have on offer. And the quickest way to tell lots of people about something is via videos posted online.

We use a specialist recruitment video platform called Odro to help bring jobs to life.

7.   The Sky’s the Limit!

Working as a Talent Consultant opens the doors to other roles if you want to progress your career. If the sales aspect of the job is your forté, then you could become a Recruitment Consultant with additional training. 

To find out more about the opportunities that being a Talent Consultant offer, get in touch with one of our friendly team at office@priorityappointments.co.uk or have a look at our current vacancies by entering the word ‘talent’ into the search bar on our Job Search page.