Adelphine Williams offers advice to FMs looking for a new job on picking the best FM recruitment agencies for you and working successfully with them
Looking for a new job can be a daunting and challenging experience. It can leave your feeling out of control, overwhelmed and doubting whether what you want from your next role can be realised. Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start or what FM recruitment agencies to approach.
Often roles advertised by agents are teasers, designed and posted to attract good calibre candidates. Therefore your relationship and connection with the advertiser can be crucial in getting you in front of the most promising employers with the most interesting opportunities to interview.
It’s a given that using a respected recruitment consultant specialising in your chosen field of FM is fundamental to a positive search, but it is also important to work with an agent that makes the effort understand your goals, strengths, ambitions and personality. Many candidates possess the right experience and the relevant qualifications. However the fit is essential for longevity, commitment and sense of fulfilment in the role. And a person’s aspirations, passions and personality play a part in how well they connect with the organisation. The more the recruitment consultant knows about you the more likely it is that they will be able and willing to deliver you and the employers a more intuitive and insightful solution and opportunity to right placement.
Try to find and be accepted onto the books of an agent that has a strong reputation for professionalism and achievement in the FM industry and the client industries within which they operate. Look for consultants that can demonstrate an acute knowledge of the current challenges and issues affecting the corporate real estate services sector across a range of occupier types. Work with the recruitment consultancies that attract client organisations that share similar values and principles to your own.
Finding an agent that is willing to engage and consult with you can be hard, but its worth taking the time to get the right the match. Failed interviews are sometimes the cause of a hasty candidate selection process, which can be damaging to the candidate, client and agent alike.
Familiarity with the organisation
In an ideal situation the agent you are working with will have a long relationship and history with the organisation they are recruiting for. You will gain a better insight into an organisation and of course this knowledge will really help you to prepare for interviews. A consultant familiar with the organisation is also likely to be able to probe deeper into the reason why the role has become available, what the critical success factors are, and be able to provide you with tips for what the recruiter and line managers need from the successful candidate in terms of attitude, experience and availability, for example.
Remember that some recruitment consultants have a number of roles and so can talk to you about a number of options, but some agents specialise in roles from specific sectors or cater for roles at particular levels more successfully. Research this before marketing yourself to recruitment consultancies and make sure that you are approaching the right people dependent on what you’re looking for considering your profile, current position and desired environment.
Talk to people in the FM network about their search. Understand the challenges they faced and prepare for them.
There’s lots to consider. One of the most important things is to keep in touch with your agent (without being a pain). Use what they know to help better prepare yourself and always put your best self forward when meeting or speaking to the recruitment consultant. They have to believe in you before feeling able to put you forward to their client.
Consider that your interview process starts with your first meeting with the recruitment agency, and you have to get through that gateway before you get to the interview.
Success is all about preparation, a can-do attitude, networking, and of course a little smidgen of luck.
