How to become independant recruiter

What being a independent recruiter means

The clearest description of this profession is probably “independent recruitment consultant”.
Each of the words in this job title helps define what the job of a freelancer recruiter entails.

• First, you are choosing to be become a consultant. That means giving advice about a given field - in this case, recruitment. This advice may concern any stage of the recruitment process, as well as the methodology to adopt. The ultimate aim is always the same: to find the ideal candidate for a given position.
• Specifically, you will be a consultant in the field of recruitment. Your goal will be twofold: understanding the needs of the company you are recruiting for and finding them the right hire. You will source candidates, headhunt, and conduct preliminary interviews to narrow down the candidate pool, prior to the recruitment interviews with your clients.
• Lastly, you will be a freelancer. This means you will have no boss. You work for yourself, and your recruitment agency must always be looking for new clients.

What does a independent recruiter do?

Many people think that being a freelance recruiter simply means assessing candidate profiles and advising client companies on the candidates they should choose.
In reality, their involvement in the recruitment process is much more wide-ranging:

• Ahead of the recruitment, the recruitment consultant may be asked to help the company analyse the needs of the position and draft the job ad.
• The next stage for the freelance recruiter is sourcing. This involves identifying and approaching potential candidates. It often starts with posting the job ad on the right jobboards. Headhunting, which involves making a direct approach to a candidate, is also one of a freelance recruiter’s specialities. To do this, they find suitable candidates on social media and CV repositories in order to present the job opportunity to them. 
• At the end of the sourcing process, the recruitment consultant sets about qualifying their candidates. The aim is to present their client with a selection of the candidates they deem most suitable: the shortlist. They then support their client in organising recruitment interviews and gathering feedback from the candidates right up until they join the company.
• A freelance recruitment consultant often follows up on their candidates after they start work. This enables the recruitment consultant to assess whether they have made the right decision and gives them the best possible chance of satisfying the client. This stage often also makes it possible to clear up any doubts on both sides after the candidate joins the company so as to limit activation of the replacement guarantee.

How do I go about becoming a independent recruiter?

A freelance recruiter cannot create their own recruitment agency without first getting some experience under their belt. Setting up their own recruitment agency is the pinnacle of a freelance recruitment consultant’s career. Long before creating their own recruitment agency, they must havetrained as a recruitment consultant, and notched up plenty of experience in human resources.

• A freelance recruitment consultant needs to have a university education. The minimum requirement is a Bachelor’s degree, and often a 2-year Master’s degree in the specific field of human resources, or a more general degree from a business or management school.
• A degree alone will not earn you a reputation as a good headhunter, however. Experience is worth just as much as, if not more than, training as a recruitment consultant. You need to have worked in the recruitment team in the Human Resources Department of a company, or as a researcher or junior recruitment consultant in a recruitment agency.
• Only with in-depth knowledge of the field, a portfolio of clients to get you started and a network of candidates you can draw on can you consider creating your own recruitment agency and becoming a senior freelance recruitment consultant.

What legal status does a independent recruiter have?

A freelance recruiter must have a legal status in order to practise. Here are three fairly common options in France:

• Micro-enterprise status, which involves setting up your own single-person business. This will make you a self-employed person with micro-entrepreneur status (previously known as auto-entrepreneur status). This is the simplest and quickest option in terms of formalities. You can register online in a matter of minutes, and the costs are much lower. Often, the first step towards becoming a freelance recruitment consultant, this status offers flexible management rules. It is open to anyone who wishes to become a freelance recruiter and whose annual turnover does not exceed €72,500
• Setting up a company: either a limited-liability company (société à responsabilité limitée - SARL) or a simplified joint-stock company (société par actions simplifiée - SAS) or their single-person equivalents (EURL or SASU). This is mandatory for anyone whose annual revenue exceeds €72,500 and/or who wants to join forces with colleagues to set up a recruitment agency. Opening a recruitment agency is also an appealing option for freelance recruiters who formerly had micro-entrepreneur status, as it will give them more options to bring in new partners to pool their operating costs and expenses.
• What is known as “le portage salariale” – working through an umbrella company – is also a solution for any freelance recruiter who wants to start their own business with limited administrative formalities. Under this model, the recruiter teams up with an umbrella company, which will issue invoices on their behalf in exchange for a commission. The umbrella company will then pay the freelance recruitment consultant a salary proportional to the sum of their invoices, having deducted social security contributions and its commission.

See also:

• How do I become a freelance headhunter?