Ask Manda: Tips for Calling a Recruitment Agency

June 16, 2021

What should I say when I ring a recruitment agency looking for work and I'm not applying to a specific job ad? 

Well, you have started on the right track! Ringing and speaking to someone will assist you in standing out from your competition. When you ring the general phone number of a recruitment agency, you need to be specific about what you want. By that, I mean what type of work you are looking for, whether you are seeking a permanent or a temporary position and your preferred work location., It's important that the person who has answered your call can direct you to speak with the recruitment consultant who can best assist you quickly.  

Therefore, you need to be able to provide some basic information: as I mentioned, type of role, nature of employment and location. You don't need to go into large amounts of detail, because you will only have to repeat yourself when speaking to the specialist consultant. As the general office number can receive a high call volume, ideally you want to be connected quickly and usually the person answering the phone isn't the person best placed to assist you. Recruitment consultants tend to specialize in either temporary or permanent recruitment, work and industry disciplines (e.g. accounting or administration roles) or geographical locations. Your time is valuable, so you need to be connected as fast as possible to the best person possible.

​ Have a question for Manda Milling, people2people Director? Let us know in the comments or tweet @p2pManda!

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In business since 2005 in Australia, NZ, and the United Kingdom, people2people is an award-winning recruitment agency with people at our heart. With over 12 offices, we specialise in accounting and finance, business support, education, executive, government, HR, legal, marketing and digital, property, sales, supply chain, and technology sectors. As the proud recipients of the 2025 RCSA and SEEK Outstanding Large Agency Awards, we are dedicated to helping businesses achieve success through a people-first approach.

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