The “art of recruitment” is a learned skill – the subtle client sell, your vigorous and trusted candidate management, your companies legal responsibilities and consultants’ in depth market knowledge – and not something you can apply to every client or candidate in the same way.

Each desk at One Step has its pressures – and being the commercial manager at One Step gives me the time and oversight to hone and perfect each consultant’s recruitment technique in specific markets and provide a learned eye to every facet of my department.

However, last week I had to return to the fray while our Temporary Consultants were on a training day and cover our Temporary Industrial and Hospitality desk for a day – and very quickly reminded myself above everything else the real core of recruitment is much more simple than expected – it’s all about communication and honesty.

Summer Season in the South West is an intense few months of recruitment – after all it is festival and wedding season – and the surge of holiday makers puts pressure on our long serving temporary desk to deliver huge numbers of customer service and F&B staff county wide.

On this particular day, our bookings were coming in thick and fast: 30 serving staff for a local sporting venue, 8 staff for a wedding, 10 bar staff for one day music festival, as well as checking in 2 rounds of waiting staff at a local venue on the day.

Time management has always been key for clients – whether or not you can deliver staff within a set time frame – but underpinning this is an honest appraisal of your candidate base and communicating realistically. Clients above all want candour, and especially in the fast paced environment of temp management, every minute counts and every call matters. But your worth is judged on your honesty.

For candidates, the roles have to be expertly communicated and fully informative. As the roles are customer facing, our registration process (reference checking, interviewing and checking legality to work and works history) has to be definitive: the staff are representing not only the client, but my agency. Again, underpinning this entire process – and why a candidate will return to work with you throughout the summer season – is honesty and communication.

Booking filling is only as quick as the consultant working it – and working the phones is a core component of your day to day. But if you’re picking the phone up without preparing for the call, without knowing client and candidate need and, above all else, being honest, you won’t last in this industry.

One Step are always on the hunt for our next killer consultant – so if you enjoy a fast paced working environment and want to work in a buzzing, competitive field, call us!