Finding a job in Allied Health that’s right for you can be time-consuming and challenging. That’s why many people turn to Allied Health recruitment agencies.
A great recruitment agency will not only help you apply for jobs – they understand what kind of role would best suit you and make sure you have all the job-seeking tools and information so you’re well-equipped for success.
Knowing what to expect from an agency empowers you to go into the partnership with realistic expectations, and to select the agency who will work best for you.
(P.S. Recruitment agencies do not charge job-seekers a fee. They are paid by the employer to find a great fit for them.)
Here’s how it works when you apply for a job through a recruitment agency:
1. Confirmation email
Once you apply for a job via a job-board or on an agency website, you should receive an email from the agency acknowledging your application.
2. Phone or face-to-face conference
The agency should call you on the phone pretty quickly to talk about your application. They’ll also dig a bit deeper. Some questions we like to ask include:
- What you are looking for in a role?
- What’s your ballpark salary?
- What kind of hours do you want to work?
- Where do you want to work?
- What are your career aspirations? (Where do you see yourself in 5 years?)
- What you love about your job?
- What do you dislike about your job?
- What are your strongest skills (soft skills count too)
- What’s your education level
- Have you done any professional development?
- What are you looking for in an employer and team?
This information is used as a guide to help a recruiter choose roles that suit you.
If you’ve already applied for jobs, or are working/have worked with another agency, make sure you let the recruiter you’re talking to know as soon as possible – if an employer receives a candidate’s application from multiple sources it looks pretty bad for everyone.
3. Resume feedback
Since we see a lot of resumes, recruitment agencies are great at giving feedback on how you can make your CV look top notch. Often, if you send an agency your resume, they’ll format it into the agency template and also remove your contact and referee details so that your information stays confidential until you agree to release it.
4. Communication with potential employers
The first thing to know is that there is a code of conduct that all recruiters should follow. Make sure you ask any recruitment agency you work with if they abide by this code.
Read the RCSA Code for Professional Conduct here.
If you’re working with a professional agency (i.e. not a dodgy one!), you and the agency will decide together which employers they will approach on your behalf. Your agency should then only send your resume only to those employers. The RCSA Code for Professional Conduct stipulates privacy requirements so a resume should never be sent to an employer without a candidate’s permission.
If your CV is sent but you don’t get an interview, your recruitment consultant will give you feedback about why your application was unsuccessful, and you can work together to change up your job-seeking strategy.
Read this blog to find out why any recruitment agency you work with should be completely upfront about who they send your resume too, and so too should you.
5. Arranging interviews and providing interview feedback
Your recruitment consultant will arrange your interviews according to your ideal schedule.
The best consultants will also offer interview preparation sessions. During this time they might:
- Further brief you on the client
- Let you know how to best prepare for the interview
- Make sure you know how to get to the interview
- Send you their website link so you can browse that in your own time
- Let you know who you’ll be meeting
- Send you a job description if the client has provided them with one.
At Medijobs we also like to run you through some ‘behavioural interview techniques’ so that you have a slight upper hand!
6. Post-Interview feedback
After your interview, your recruitment consultant will ask you how the interview went. They’ll also give you feedback from the employer’s perspective as soon as they get it. If you don’t get the job or a second interview, your recruiter should be able to tell you why so you can use that feedback to improve for next time.
7. Referee checks
If your interview went well, your recruitment consultant will contact your referees. A good recruitment consultant will ensure that you have contacted the referees to let them know the agency or employer will be calling, and be appreciative and conscious of the referee’s time.
8. Package negotiation
Your recruitment consultant will negotiate your:
- salary package,
- start date and
- location of employment with the employer.
This is one of the biggest perks of using a recruitment agency – salary negotiations can be difficult and delicate; having someone else who is an industry expert have those conversations on your behalf can be a huge weight off our shoulders.
Make sure you’re honest with your recruiter about your salary expectations and ask questions of them around what is reasonable for the role and market.
9. Post-placement check in
Your recruitment consultant will often check in with you on your first day and a few weeks later to make sure that you and the employer are happy.
We follow this process for every single one of our candidates at Medijobs. Not only does it get great results, but it’s an evidence-based approach based on best-practice.
If you want to work with an agency that values you and your skills, and treats your application with the utmost care and confidentiality, get in touch.
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