Book Review: How to get a job in Recruitment Sales by Will Duffield

Do you want to work in the recruitment industry? Not really as an in-house recruiter but as a recruiter for a recruitment agency? Then this book called “How to get a job in Recruitment Sales” by Will Duffield will really help you in your job search. You will learn how to do it in a professional, effective and successful way. Find out what the 7 things are that I love about this particular book in which an expert will share his personal experiences and give great advice!

Book Review: “How to get a job in Recruitment Sales”

# 1 — The quotes. Throughout the book you can find several inspirational quotes which help to emphasise certain points even more.

# 2 — The questions. The author mastered this part (which I personally consider as one of the best sections of the book) particularly well. You can find lots of highly useful questions in several different chapters. For example:

• How to find out whether the recruitment job is really what you are looking for.
• What to focus on when dealing with recruitment to recruitment agencies (it can be used as a checklist to assess an agency).
• 20 sample interview questions which they might ask you in an interview. I found question 18, 19 and 20 highly interesting! These questions are crucial and no job candidate should go to an interview without having thought about all of them! What makes this section particularly valuable are the author’s suggestions as to how to answer them. He also gives you an idea about the intention for asking the question in the first place.
• Questions to find out how determined you are in earning a considerable amount of money.
• What questions you should ask before accepting an offer.
• What questions you should think of when being asked to do a Sales Role play (this will help you to demonstrate to a Recruiter that you have a consultative approach when finding out about a client’s needs).
• Questions you should consider when it comes to work samples

# 3 — The insights into the recruitment industry.

Certain terms and the specific jargon from the recruitment industry have been explained in more detail. For example by describing the difference between contingency and retained recruitment, a researcher role and a trainee Consultant role, contract/permanent and dual desk recruitment. It also explains with practical samples how different commission structures of recruitment agencies work (something that might be more difficult to find on the internet for free).

# 4 — Tips and advice.

Some very useful tips have been included with regard to different job interview situations in which candidates might find themselves in. For example: sales role plays, assessment days and presentations. All these chapters are covered in an effective way tailored to this particular industry. Furthermore, it also gives good advice in terms of getting and having the right attitude for this job. How to be motivated, how to set goals, how to succeed and how to be more determined.

# 5 — Videos. There are two video links which make reading the book a more multimedia experience for the reader. One video is motivational while the other one showed testimonials from the author’s recruitment agency HARVARD BROWN LTD. Employees give an insight into what it feels like to work in the recruitment industry.

# 6 — The writing style.

The author had a very pleasant writing style. It is an easy and quite quick read which allows you to get the relevant information within a short timeframe.

# 7 — The price.

The price of this book (which is only available as an ebook) is great. Less than one British Pound/two US Dollars! Who would not be tempted to order it, right NOW ????

How would I rate this book “How to get a job in recruitment sales”?

Even though I have some suggestions for improvement I would give it a 8.5 out of 10.

I would have given it a 10/10 if it would have also included the following:

• Some examples of CVs and cover letters of a junior as well as more senior candidate. However, good guidelines have been provided for samples of written CVs and cover letters.

• A list of contact details (email and postal address, website address, phone number, Twitter usernames, company’s target industries) of employment agencies and Recruitment to Recruitment agencies based in the UK (since the author is British). Every candidate would appreciate it if s/he could save some time in his/her job hunt. However, since the book author is running his own recruitment agency I would somehow understand why he would not promote other companies working in the same field.

• A role play in video format which would show the difference between a good interview candidate and a poor interview candidate when applying for a Recruitment Consultant job. Often videos are more effective in conveying certain messages. The sales role play that was mentioned (which was a good one!) could have been presented in video format by asking the author’s own employees to act for the role

• Personal episodes from the author who acquired a wealth of experience in this industry. The tips provided were very useful, however sharing personal stories with the reader would have made the book even more special. I can say that from my own personal experience when delivering speeches and writing books that stories make the whole content so much more memorable.

• Social Media has been mentioned briefly but a further, separate chapter could have been included. There are different strategies that one can apply in order to spark the interest of recruitment specialists on various social media platforms such as Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Google+ etc.

Would I recommend the book?

Definitely YES. There are many books out there as to how you can prepare yourself for an interview but when it comes to this particular job of a Recruitment Consultant, this is the only one that you will find so far. And it’s surely a good one !!!

Book Title: How to get a Job in Recruitment Sales

Book Author: Will Duffield

Format: Kindle Edition (238 KB)

Price: UK (£ 0.99), USA ($ 1.55) Buy from Amazon

Year of Publication: February 2013

Content of “How to get a job in recruitment sales”

• Introduction to Recruitment • Understanding the Recruitment Industry • Your CV • Your Cover Letter • Mindset for Success • The Job Application Process • Choosing a Recruitment to Recruitment Consultancy • Telephone and Face to Face Interviews • What to consider before accepting an offer • Sales Role Plays • Assessment Days • Presentations • Work Samples • A Final Note

If you know anyone who could benefit from the book “How to get a job in recruitment sales”, make sure you share it. You’ll be helping them out and me too! Thanks!