Struggling For Motivation in Recruitment?

Recruitment is and always has been a very interesting industry. I cannot think of another career path that evolves as quickly as the recruitment market. Despite this, because of the many difficult challenges faced by your standard consultant; many people struggle for motivation in the workplace.

Whilst some people jump out of bed in the morning looking forward to the new challenges the day brings, other just drag themselves into work to pay the bills.

Most consultant motivations can be broken into several areas:

* Feeling challenged
* Enjoying the rewards on offer
* Feeling appreciated
* Feeling important to their companies success
* Enjoying the social interaction of both candidates/ clients but also other consultants

I know through personal experience that even the best of us sometimes struggle for motivation and this can be for many reasons, mine was just simply having come back from holiday and feeling a little blue. A wise man once said to me in a management meeting, when I was clearly struggling for enthusiasm, "it's only a job, break up your day". Once I thought about this it seemed so very simple.

When people are depressed they often blow things out of proportion, but when you think about it, it is only a job. I took this advice and thought about how I could start to implement it. Once my day had been segmented and I could devise some sort of plan, everything started to make sense again. For example, going through advert responses in the morning, and dedicating a set amount of time towards this, turning my e-mail off and just concentrating on the job in hand. I found that because I was now just focussing on one thing at a time that I could concentrate which made far more sense than reading a few applications and then responding to a clients e-mail, then speaking with a colleague all of which made me lose focus each time I switched task.

Time Management is probably the most key element in terms of not only being motivated but being a success. Most managers will have said to you to devise your day plan either early in the morning or the previous day. I appreciate to some or maybe most, this seems like a bit of a drag but in all honesty it is very important. If you can come into the office in the morning, sometimes not feeling your best, and have a check list or to-do list to look at, it's much easier to start your day, I promise.

It's also important for every consultant to think about what it is that actually motivates them, the list above details the main reasons. Now in regards to recruitment, the main motivator is money, as with any commission based role. But you must think beyond the money or more to the point how you are going to get the money. As previously mentioned you must break things down to understand them and digest how you are going to move forwards. To earn X amount of pounds I must first do one deal, in order to do one deal my stats state that I need to have 4 final interviews, in order to get 4 final interviews I need to send 10 CV's to a role etc.....

The most important thing to take from all of this is to voice your concerns, speak to your manager, and tell them your issues. Too many consultants fall into the 'Ostrich-approach' of sticking their heads in the sand and hoping everything will work out. You will be surprised how much better things will seem once you have spoken with people, especially your managers. If your managers do not have time for this then you really are with the wrong company.