I’m a Construction Recruitment Consultant | What Do I Do All Day?

I have added value to my employer clients and their business activities for over 20 years but just recently I remembered that quite a few years ago now, a meme went around about what recruitment consultants “do” and I managed to re-find it:

Perhaps embarrassingly, it still makes me chuckle today because to an extent the perceptions illustrated in the first 4 pictures still exist today - and my experience is that the final 2 pictures are still wholly accurate at times too!

However, after 28 years in recruitment and 21 of those spent as joint Owner Director at Maxim Recruitment specialising in Quantity Surveying and construction dispute recruitment, surely that indicates I must have gained a reasonable command of a horse and lasso amongst other things.  What my Mum thinks of my job would need a whole separate blog devoted to it, so that one is for another day.

The recruitment industry, and specifically the UK and international construction recruitment industry is a strange business.  For a start, you have two customers rather than one – both a jobseeker and an employer and of course you need both to be satisfied and happy in order to complete your work successfully.

The rise of the internet, LinkedIn and the employer’s internal ‘Talent Acquisition Team’ have each over recent years claimed to have created the conditions for the extinction of the external recruitment consultant and the related business model – but in my experience this has not happened!

Perhaps the rise of AI is the next challenge recruitment consultants face?  Maybe, but it can be noted that successful recruitment businesses have proved to be agile and to be early adopters of new technology (recruitment software, websites, job boards, executive search techniques,  market intelligence sources etc). So maybe through embracing new innovations in AI, recruitment consultancies can remain relevant, useful and continue to offer great value to their clients? 

Of course, to be a live and repeat employer customer with Maxim means you already appreciate the value we can add to your business.   But how about we tease out some of the elements of this value in order to further add to it where possible but also to persuade other potential construction industry employers in the UK and internationally to submit a vacancy  in order to engage with Maxim in order to benefit in the same or similar ways.

So what great things do we do?

At Maxim we provide comprehensive and tailored services to our clients in the following ways:

• Understanding Client Needs: We take the time to thoroughly understand your culture, goals, and the specifics of the role(s) to ensure we have a clear understanding of what you are looking for in a candidate. We offer a number of ways in which we can service your requirements.

• Talent Sourcing: After understanding the brief we utilise channels such as job boards, professional networks, social media platforms and our own database to source potential candidates. We proactively reach out to passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new role but possess the skills and experience you need.
  
  
• Screening and Assessment: We then conduct thorough screening, interviewing and assessment of potential candidates to evaluate their skills, qualifications, experience, cultural fit, and career aspirations. This may involve initial phone interviews, competency-based assessments, technical evaluations, and reference checks.
  
  
• Candidate Presentation:  We present a shortlist of the most suitable candidates to you, providing detailed profiles that highlight the candidate's strengths, relevant experience, and why they are a good fit for the role and your organization.

• Facilitating the Interview Process: We co-ordinate and schedule interviews between the you and the candidates, providing guidance and support to both parties throughout the process.

• Negotiation and Offer Management: We assist in negotiating salary and benefits packages, helping to ensure that both the client and the candidate are satisfied with the terms of employment. We also manage the offer process, including presenting offers to candidates, handling counteroffers, and facilitating the acceptance of the offer. 

• Onboarding Support: We provide support during the onboarding process to help ensure a smooth transition for the candidate into their new role and organization. This may involve keeping in touch between offer acceptance and start date, providing information about company policies and facilitating introductions to key team members.

In summary, we act as a strategic partner to employer clients, offering expertise, guidance, and support throughout the entire recruitment process to help them attract and retain top talent.

All very good you may say, but we as a construction employer can do this ourselves – maybe with an advert or a trawl through LinkedIn or by getting our own HR/Recruitment/Talent guys to get on the case. Sometimes this can work – but:

• Does your internal recruitment team have the capacity and time right now to do nothing else than fill your urgent new vacancies?
• How quickly can they turn the candidate “tap” on and is this quick enough?
• Are they experienced and specialist in each and every one of the roles you need to fill?
• Do they know the market, competitors and salary levels in every job location?
• Can they propose candidates you want to interview and that want the job almost every time?

The Bain & Company “Elements of Value”

The Bain & Company concept of the 40 Business to Business ‘Elements of Value’ is a way of conceptualising the value that a business brings to their business customers. Not all of the 40 possible elements are relevant in a recruitment context, but in my opinion 11 are really relevant. Not only that, but when Maxim Recruitment actually delivers on the 7 service elements outlined above we create the following 11 ‘Elements of Value’ for our construction recruitment customers:

• Component/Product (candidate) quality
• Improved top line (money earned from premium staff in post working)
• Acceptable price (you get value for money)
• Time savings (you get on with your day job not recruit)
• Reduced effort (we do the running around and shortlisting)
• Reduced anxiety (leave it with us and we sort it)
• Network expansion (we share our network with you)
• Regulatory compliance (GDPR covered off and professional methods used)
• Cultural fit (we present the right people for the job)
• Ethical standards (we know what not to do)
• Reputational assurance (we support your brand and help it grow it)

So, I’m a Construction Recruitment Consultant: What Do I Do All Day?

I am actually (intake of breath) proud of what I do all day – I do two things; I provide a solution for those looking to improve and progress their careers.  I also provide solutions for employers who want to grow their businesses and not spend their whole time either unsuccessfully recruiting or doing the day jobs of people they haven’t yet managed to recruit into the team. So Mum, I do herd cats at times, but my job assisting people who appreciate the value I add is actually pretty satisfying! 

If you like what you read, please get in touch to discuss how myself or one of the other members of the Maxim Recruitment team can add value to your construction business.

Steve Thomas
Construction Recruitment Director, UK & Canada
Maxim Recruitment
LinkedIn

Steve is responsible for Maxim Recruitment in the UK and Canada. He is based in the Maxim head office in Leicester, UK and the Toronto office in Canada. He regularly travels to meet employers and job seekers and attend construction industry networking events in the UK, Canada and worldwide. Steve has over 25 years of experience in construction and property recruitment and enjoys working with many repeat clients. He manages dedicated search and headhunting assignments for a range of premium UK, Canadian and international clients.