Learning and development process for Permanent recruitment agencies: a fortnight of practice before the first target
New recruiters learn to read a brief, call a candidate and handle objections. If they pick it up only from the person beside them, quality varies and clients notice.
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Share your requirementsWhy learning and development process matters in permanent recruitment agencies
Recruiting agencies hire in batches, often freshers or people from other sales roles. On day one they get a phone, a database login and a target. They learn to speak to candidates by listening to the person nearest, who may have habits the agency would not want repeated. The weak ones leave in a few months.
A short, structured start changes the first impression. Two weeks cover how to read a brief, how to search, how to run a screening call, how to handle objections and how to update a client. Role play and live calls with a senior listening follow. After that, targets begin gently. Learning continues weekly with a short session on one call or one placement that went wrong.
How to set it up
1. Build a two week start
Day by day, list what a trainee learns: brief reading, search, screening call, objections, submitting profiles and client updates.
2. Use role play with real briefs
Seniors play candidates and clients using anonymised past briefs. Trainees practice, then repeat with feedback the same day.
3. Listen to live calls
A senior sits with each trainee for several calls a week and notes two strengths and one change. Feedback is brief and private.
4. Start targets gently
Begin with activity goals, then add interviews, offers and joins in steps. A trainee should not carry full targets in the first month.
5. Run a weekly lesson from real work
Pick one placement or one lost joining and discuss it for twenty minutes. This builds shared habits. Add it to your learning and development plan.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask a recruiter hired this year what was taught before the first live call.
- Check whether a senior listened to a trainee's calls in the last month.
- Count weekly sessions held in the last quarter.
- See how many trainees from the last batch are still with the agency.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach learning and development process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Two weeks of focused practice is a sound start, followed by months of supervised work. Judge readiness by the quality of calls and submissions, not by calendar time.
A senior recruiter or desk lead who is good with people and willing to give honest feedback. Give them time for it, or training will always lose to targets.
A small agency can run a lighter version: one week of practice and a weekly session. The cost of untrained recruiters, such as poor submissions and early exits, usually exceeds the time.