How to Make a Career Change With a Recruitment Franchise

From redundancies to reconsidered careers, the global pandemic has been a time of professional change for many people. If you’re an outgoing person with a knack for marketing, and you’re looking to make this kind of change, why not consider franchising in the recruitment sector?

If you’re looking to make a career change, research is your best friend. Use this article as a jumping-off point, and discover exactly how you can move smoothly from your current job into a role as a recruiter within a franchise network. 

Why start a recruitment franchise?

If you’re wondering why you should start a recruitment franchise, you need only look at the high levels of demand for recruitment experts in the UK. It’s a jobseeker’s market with 1.3 million active job vacancies [Office for National Statistics], and the companies that will become your clients are looking for help standing out. Candidates, too, are looking for rewarding employment that suits their lifestyle. As a recruiter, you can help on both fronts. 

Recruitment is a dynamic and profitable career path, and the steady level of demand is just one of many advantages to franchising in the recruitment sector, with other contenders including:

• The chance to make a difference to companies and candidates
• The opportunity to be your own boss but still enjoy plenty of franchisor support
• Flexible working hours
• Lots of progression opportunities
• The availability of competitive incentives like commission bonuses

How to make a career change with a recruitment franchise

Having determined that starting a recruitment franchise is, in fact, something that interests you, the next step is figuring out how to make that career transition as well as you possibly can, building a stable franchise business and reducing your time to profit with each move you make. Follow these four steps, and you’ll be well on your way to doing exactly that...

1. Find your fit in the world of recruitment

Every person has different strengths, and soft skills that are more developed than others. When you’re trying to change your career and step onto a new path, the first thing you need to do is evaluate your traits and abilities, and find a role that feels well-matched to these. To be a charismatic and successful recruiter, you should be:

• Communicative
• Confident
• Able to sell and negotiate
• Able to problem-solve
• Self-motivated
• Organised
• Good at managing your time
• Creative
• Competitive and driven

The industry's competitive atmosphere naturally demands individuals with resilient attitudes - with targets to hit, phone calls to be made and candidates receiving counter offers at the last minute, having a positive mindset and strong will to carry on is vital. 
– Prospects

2. Develop an understanding of what your working life will look like

Though this will differ from franchise to franchise, and will be something you narrow down as you narrow down your pool of ideal opportunities, it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting into and what you can expect to be doing each day once your career as a recruiter begins. A day in the life of a recruiter will often include tasks like:

• Taking meetings
• Conducting research
• Negotiating contracts
• Marketing job roles
• Marketing your business

3. Assess your pool of opportunities and narrow things down 

You can discover your place as a franchisee by assessing the range of available recruitment franchise opportunities based on factors like cost of investment and available territories. Cost should be a particular focus for you, as the last thing you’ll want to do is over-invest and find yourself unable to keep up with overheads and running costs (especially in the time before your business becomes profitable). Here are some examples of investment costs for recruitment franchises, to give you an idea of what you can expect:

• CNA International - To become a CNA International franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £30,000, with franchise fees of £6,000 and a total investment cost of £36,000.
• Wolf Education - To become a Wolf Education franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £19,950.
• Tezlom - To become a Tezlom franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £25,000, with a total investment cost of £60,000. 

4. Do your due diligence prior to entering into an agreement

A franchise investment is a huge commitment. When you think you’ve found the one for you - the franchise that meets all your professional needs - don’t rush into a contract that could bind you to an unsuitable franchisor for a number of years. Do your due diligence ahead of signing the franchise agreement, and be certain you know exactly what you’re getting into. Ask yourself:

• Have I reviewed the franchise’s FDD (Financial Disclosure Document)?
• Have I seen the franchise’s code of ethics?
• Have I analysed this franchise opportunity fully?
• Do I know when I can expect to recoup my initial investment amount?
• Have I checked in with existing franchisees (and asked about their experiences)?
• Has the franchisor been communicative and willing to answer all my questions?
• Does the franchisor have a track record of success?
• Has the franchise agreement been looked over for me by a legal professional?

5. Take development opportunities and run with them

At this stage, the career change is largely complete, but making it a successful change in the long term is only just beginning. Having built up strong foundations, step five is the first brick in the wall, and it’s this important piece of advice: As you get up and running and start to find your stride as a recruiter and a franchisee, don’t become complacent. Don’t stop seizing the training and development opportunities that your franchisor offers you. 

Even years down the line, you can keep learning and growing, and with endless room in the franchise business model for expansion, why not? Keep your standards high, and keep fully investing in the process, because an invested franchisee is a successful franchisee. 

Running your own business in the recruitment sector could be your next professional journey

If this article has left you ready to become a recruiter, don’t hesitate. Follow these steps, and start your journey towards success. Deepen your research on the world of franchising via Point Franchise, and discover four productivity hacks that every business owner should master, or five great ways to manage stress as a franchisee.