How your sales skills can help you land a job in recruitment

Do you work in sales?

As a salesperson you acquire skills that are essential to succeeding in your career, these skills are easily transferred to a recruitment role as many of the principals are similar.

So similar, that according to LinkedIn, Sales is the most common job to have before becoming a recruiter. In fact, a lot of recruitment is about selling – selling roles to candidates, candidates to clients, your company’s brand to perspective clients and candidates. But what are the skills that make up a sales role that can be transferred to your next job in recruitment. 

Communication

This is a key skill for a lot of jobs, but in recruitment this is the cornerstone of a successful career and one of QCS Staffing’s core values. Whether it’s communicating with a potential candidate, client or teammates; it’s a fundamental part of the recruitment process. And just like closing a deal in your sales job, there’s a number of departments that are essential to communicate with as well as keeping in contact with your client and/or candidate.

It’s not just about keeping in touch though; it’s about asking the relevant questions and not being afraid to do so.

People skills and building relationships

I’m sure most of us have been told that “People buy from people”. And whilst we live in a digital age where this may be hard to believe, in the world of sales and recruitment this still rings true.

There are multiple skills that contribute to building relationships:   

-        Active listening

-        Patience

-        Good body language

-        Good eye contact

-        Communication

-        Empathy

Working to build relationships with clients and candidates can really pay off. It might not mean quick wins, but it will help you create a network for future opportunities.

Organisation  

Whether you’re a list-maker or an outlook calendar obsessive, organisation is a skill that is transferable across many roles, but if you are working in a sales job you will know how important it is to plan for the day ahead whilst preparing for the unexpected too. And this is the same as a recruitment consultant or delivery executive.

A tidy and well organised workspace can help too, it’s amazing what neat desk can do for your productivity. 

Negotiation

This is one of the top skills that come to mind when you think of sales jobs. It can be a tricky one to master but at QCS Staffing we ensure that negotiation training is part of our award-winning Fast Track programme, so our new starters can sharpen their skills and make them recruitment centric.

If you think you have the right skills and are up for the challenge, we are looking for experienced Recruitment Consultants and Delivery Executives with sales or recruitment background to join our successful team.

If you would like to apply or learn more contact Joanna or apply here.