In this solo video, Hishem Azzouz demystifies the role of a recruitment consultant by confronting common myths—quick cash, endless networking, and passive candidate inflow—and detailing the intensive, behind‑the‑scenes work that actually drives placements. He explains that recruiters are paid by business owners to find the right talent, which requires proactive sourcing using databases, personal networks, LinkedIn, and job‑board CV pools. Daily activities include hours of searching, cold‑calling, voicemails, emails, and texts, often late into the night. A recruiter also manages expectations for both clients (budget, market realities) and candidates (career goals, interview preparation), coaches candidates on interview conduct, negotiates offers on behalf of both sides, and ensures mutual satisfaction before a placement is finalized. Azzouz emphasizes the demanding yet rewarding nature of the job, describing the fulfillment that comes from successfully matching a candidate with a role or a client with a hire, and encourages viewers to consider recruitment as a viable career path.
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I wanted to make a quick video about what is it I actually do. So I work within the recruitment industry, and I work as a recruitment consultant. Now, what the hell does a recruitment consultant actually do? Now let me tell you, it's loads, absolutely loads. There's a common misperception out there that recruiters will earn loads of cash quick, they'll always be taking out their clients for fancy dinners, they're always attending networking events drinking loads of alcohol. Now, we do do some of that, but there's so much that goes behind the scenes that recruiters don't always share or whatever, and I think that's why it's important that I wanted to share this on this video. So, look, the nuts and bolts of it is business owners will pay us, recruitment consultants, to find them the right people. That's how we earn our money, okay? Now, what goes into finding the right people is the toughest part. Now, a lot of people also, with the misperception, is that we probably simply, as recruiters, post a job advert on LinkedIn, a job advert on online job boards and let the candidates come to us. Now, this couldn't be further from the truth. I've been in recruitment now for going towards 2 and a half years, and I've never placed a candidate who's applied for my job directly. It just doesn't happen, in my opinion anyway. So we have to be proactive with the tools that we have at our fingertips. So it's our database, it's our own individual networks, It's using the online job boards in terms of the CVs that we can find using LinkedIn. And the best recruiters will maximize all of those tools the best. It really is how you use them. So the first thing is that that's what's going on behind the scenes. We spend hours each day trying to find the right people, leaving voicemails, sending emails, text messages, spending the late nights in the office, all to speak to the right people. Now, what do we also do? We manage people's expectations, that would be the business owners and what they're looking to pay, what they can get in the market, and also candidates, what can they achieve, what's realistic, what isn't. So with that as well is we help throughout the process, so it's not as simple as find the right people, get it over and it's all done and dusted. It's coaching the client throughout in terms of what are the motivations for the candidates that they're speaking to, making sure they get those things sort of across. The candidates, preparing them for the interview, going through that with them, what they shouldn't say, what they should say. And then also, a huge part of it, when it gets to the latter end of the stages, is basically making sure that both parties are happy, and that's the candidate and the client. The candidate's happy with what's on offer, and the client's happy with what they're offering to the candidate as well, if it's in their budget. So, you have to manage expectations throughout that process. And then also, you have to negotiate. You have to negotiate on the client's behalf, and you have to negotiate on the candidate's behalf, again, to make sure that both parties are happy. Now, there's so much that goes into being a recruitment consultant, and that's what makes it so addictive and so fulfilling. When you have a client or a candidate who calls you or sends you a message and goes, you know what, you've done amazing there, you've helped me get an amazing job, or you've helped me get the perfect person. That's what it's all about. So what recruitment consultants don't do is put their feet up and let the candidates come to us, drink loads of beer, earn loads of money in the first 6 months. No, there's so much hard work that goes into it, and that's why it's one of the best jobs out there. And I think a lot more people should be considering working in recruitment.
