My Life as a Recruitment Consultant: Charlie King

Welcome to the next instalment of our series "My Life as a Recruitment Consultant", where we give you the chance to meet our team, and also find out more about the day to day life of Recruitment Consultants.

Charlie King is a Senior Consultant with Skye Recruitment covering white collar technical recruitment for the mining industry in Western Australia. He has six years recruitment experience and is also an accredited member of the RCSA (APRCSA status). In his spare time he is a Boxer who has had over 120 fights at amateur level and represented his country at international level several times. Professionally he has had 21 fights with 18 wins and is the current Scottish lightweight Champion. Other past times include travelling, bush walking and dining out.



How did you get into recruitment?

I actually wanted to try it out, unlike most who "fall" into this profession. I did my research, heard there was good money and rewards involved, and I am a target driven individual so it held interest to me.

How easy or difficult did you find it to pick up the basics of the recruitment role?

You just pick up the phone and ask some questions - that's all there is to it!

What sort of things do you do on a day to day basis?

I plan my day each night before. I have a list of outstanding work that needs to be actioned, people to speak to, adverts to write, references to take, and client and candidate follow ups. In between this I will try to speak to new people and build new relationships with the aim of placing staff in the organisations spoken to.

What are the best parts of the job?

The job is financially rewarding and will give you a good work life balance, I live ten minutes from my house and close to my gym etc, I have all weekend to myself, all public holidays off and annual leave is granted 99% of the time.

Now compare this with other high paying professions where you have to sacrifice long periods of time working away from home, work long hours and weekends etc.

We have it pretty good.

And which are the worst parts?

It is a roller coaster working in recruitment, you will have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, you will have days where everything falls into place and days when everything will fall apart. You have to look by this though and stay focused on what you need to do to get to where you want to be.

What was the biggest mistake you made as a novice recruiter, and how did you deal with it?

Probably "selling" the wrong person into the wrong job, it was only a week temporary position but the candidate in question did not have the desired skill set by the client and I knew this.. After three hours in the job I got the call from a very unhappy client and lost them for six months.
A sore but valued lesson at the start of my recruitment career.

How do you think the recruitment industry is perceived by our clients and candidates?

Pretty poor to be honest, there are a lot of recruiters out there who are tarnishing the industry by their 'quick fill' approach and forgetting that this job is all about relationship building. If you put the hard yards in for the first year or two and stay in the same sector you will reap the rewards.

How do you differ from your competitors in the same field?

I am transparent as a recruiter - I will never try to fit a square peg in a round hole, as it will come back on you. I tell my clients and candidates 'If there is any doubt, then there is no doubt.'

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in recruitment?

You will not make money overnight in this role, so be prepared to work hard, be in it for the long term, be truthful and be ready for the ups and downs with clients and candidates - it's all part of the job. Stick with it and you will get to where you want to be.