7 Tips To Start Working As A Recruiter With A Recruitment Firm In Nigeria


So You Want To Join The Recruitment Industry In Nigeria. Having worked in the recruitment industry for some couple of years, I find it interesting and rewarding to be one of the industry professionals. Even though the industry is yet to be heavily regulated and I will not dispute the fact that we do have too many cowboy recruiters and firms who constantly drop rates to any length just to stay in business. Unfortunately, many of these wannabes often find it difficult to fill tough positions even after winning the struggle to gain the market share from clients.

What Does A Recruiter Do?

1.       A Recruiter is someone who is into the profession of finding the right candidates for a client’s request. Contrary to what many think, it is not the job of a recruiter to find jobs for candidates. The primary focus of a recruiter is to find the right matches for his/her clients within a short time using all possible means.

How Do Recruiters Make Money?

.     Recruiters can only make money when they have successfully found the right fit for their client’s request. The recruiter may either choose to be paid up-front (retainership) or be paid after the search (contingency). Considering the fact that there will often be other recruiters working on the same position that a recruiter might be seeking to fill when working on contingency, this will often lead to a recruiter not able to give feedback to all applicants during the search. The race to fill a position in order to earn a living is often the reason why you never hear from recruiters again once your CV has not been shortlisted. Recruiters go after hot candidates with best CV and high probability of getting offer from client.
      

How Much Does A Recruiter Earn In Nigeria

3.       A new recruiter earns between N70, 000-N150, 000 per month. Many firms will also offer uncapped commission which might be between 5%-50% of  a recruiter’s  ‘placement value’.  This is the juicy part of the profession. Placement is a term used when a recruiter has successfully filled a position for a client. The amount to charge the client is called ‘placement value’ which might be between the rates of 5%-30% of the total annual salary of the candidate placed. In the case of a temporary or contract position, this will be calculated on the monthly salary.

Is There Any Probation On The Job?

4.       Yes! Many recruiters have between 3-6 months to make a placement. Failure to make a deal within this period may mean you will eventually be released. There is often a target to bill between N500, 000-N1, 000,000 monthly. This may not be difficult to achieve depending on the market you cover. Companies have different threshold they use for the targets while some may even be done quarterly or in some rare cases-yearly.


Do Recruiters Live Large?

5.       If you do your job right and make placements consistently, you will always smile to the bank. Bear it in mind that even top performers always have their downtime when market may not be looking too good.  You may never get to that stage where you have the whole 365days all good (except you have an excessively booming vertical market). I joined the recruitment industry in Nigeria after my youth service, made my first placement that same year and bought my first car the next year. In my second year, I started getting commissions in the range of N1million every 2months.  Of course there were several months I got lower than this. This was of course the end result of hard work and lots of working smart. I had to move from the mainland to the heart of island. If this means living large, then I am.

Best Companies To Start A Recruiting Career With?

6.       There seems to be a lot of staffing firms in Nigeria but few are really following the standard. Many of the staffing firms in Nigeria give cowboy operation. However, the best staffing firms with standard international operation are often found within the Oil and sector in Nigeria. Below are my top picks for Nigeria. These companies have been listed in no particular order.
     
     Nes Global
     Aldelia
     Petrolage
     WTS Energy
      Brunel(no longer in Nigeria)
     Jobberman

What Do I Need To Work As A Recruiter?

7.       You need a decent Degree or HND in any field plus lots of common sense. You will have to love getting on the phone because you will be doing a lot of cold calling. COMMON SENSE is what will keep you going in the business in order to succeed. You will also have to sharpen your sales skills as you will often need it more than you need your HR skills. You do not need HR qualifications to land a career in recruitment though it may be a plus if you do but it does not give you an edge when it comes to performance.


Benefits

8.       Many of these firms have other incentives for recruiters such as team building to visit top clubs in the city, top restaurants, rewards for placements and all expenses paid trips. These are some of the rewards you get for making placements. You get them apart from your salary and commissions. You are also entitled to leave and sometimes medicals if you have fulfilled the minimum required work duration as specified in your firm.

I am working with a team of recruiters across Nigeria on a monthly get-together tagged, ‘Recruiters’ Monthly Hangout’ which will commence in some couple of months in Lagos. If you are a recruiter and you love what you are doing, we would love to have a drink with you next month. Send a mail to this website using intrump.info@gmail.com and I will be in touch once I have been notified by the admin for this site.

Suggested Reading: How To Start A Recruiting Business

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