Are you an experienced recruiter with good, solid experience looking to progress more quickly up the career ladder than your current employer will allow? Perhaps you are an ambitious junior recruiter looking for your next challenge and a chance to widen your skill set.
January is the traditional time of year to start looking for a new job and many people find that this cold, dark month crystallises any underlying sense of job dissatisfaction and encourages action! Of course, it is important to think carefully about what you're looking for before jumping ship and starting work with a new employer.
What's wrong with your current job?
If you know where the problems currently lie, this information will help you to avoid them in future. For example, you may have found that working for a smaller recruiter doesn't offer the breadth of opportunities that you are seeking. In this case, you'll likely be researching the options for larger firms. If you are more experienced in your field, you might be feeling stifled as an employee, leading you to consider contract, freelance or even self-employment opportunities in the recruitment sector. If your frustrations centre around being based in a local office every day, you might consider postings abroad and if your boss simply drives you crazy, well, it could be time to make a graceful exit and look for a better personality fit with your next manager.
What are you looking for?
So, identify what the problems are and write them down. Without clear definition of the problem, any feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction with your current role can spiral without focus, until you feel that everything is wrong. This exercise will help you to really pinpoint the concerns. From this point, you can also start to build your wish list; that is, what your ideal job or employer would look like. Think broadly. A good employee experience for one person will not look the same for another. This exercise needs to be tailored to your unique requirements and ambitions.
For example, your dream might be to head up an international recruiting desk in five years, or you might simply dream of working in a friendlier, more relaxed team. You might dream of working in a new and young company where you can help to shape the agenda and have an influential role, or you might be seeking to break into a specific or emerging sector and desire a role within a specialist recruitment team. Alongside these aims are the more prosaic drivers, such as working closer to where you live, earning more for the role you do and gaining better prospects or accredited training.
Look for the real benefits
It's vital not to get carried away by fringe benefits when considering your next move, particularly if you're planning a long and successful career. Particularly at the start of your career, some of the best development roles can look less attractive in terms of salary, working hours or benefits. However, these may be the roles that hold a strategic key to developing your career in the right direction. Equally, don't choose the wrong role because it pays more money; working in a recruitment field that you love will see the rewards flood in eventually, as you'll naturally be enthused and passionate about what you're doing.
Apply the skills you carry out in your day-to-day life to assess yourself as a candidate. Present yourself correctly, work your contacts, network and ensure that your CV is impeccably presented. Keep your options open and consider fresh information that comes your way; with planning and preparation, your next employer should be the right one.
