5 Niche, High Value Recruitment Sectors

If you go on any generic job board, "Recruitment Consultant" is likely to be one of the most common open positions you'll see. If you are experienced and a good salesperson, this can be a lucrative career. However get into the wrong sector and you could be scrabbling around fighting for peanuts. Here are 5 niche sectors that due to their rarity and/or high salaries will command higher fees.

1. Any executive level recruitment. At C Suite level you will most likely be headhunting, perhaps on a retained basis, rather than providing contingency recruitment. This will involve building up a network and moving in the right circles, so it can take time to build a name for yourself, but the fees are high.

2. High level technological or telecoms, eg building large networks or data centres for data heavy processes. Sought after technical skills to build high value operations will command high salaries, not just because of the business critical nature of the work but also because of the competitive nature of recruitment in this market.

3. High level finance jobs. In particular, banking executives (although salaries in this market are controversial!) and areas such as private wealth. Even experiences accountants moving between top firms will have salaries which are significantly higher than average, which will in turn provide high fees.

4. Highly skilled jobs which require specific training and qualification, such as or specific engineering skills. Additionally, any role for which there is a skills shortage. Candidate led markets push up salaries which automatically raises your fee, but you can also get away with charging a premium rate as finding these sought after individuals and convincing them to move to your client is a tougher job than finding unqualified staff.

5. Any job that is so unattractive that it commands a high salary - for example in a dangerous part of the world. Again, they need to be paid more, but you also need to charge a fee which reflects the specific and difficult task you're performing. Convincing people to move from Islington to Iran isn't easy and if you can do it you need to be rewarded.

The recruitment industry is tough - there are some negative perceptions both inside and outside the industry which you need to overcome. And the fight for candidates and potential for a candidate to drop out of the process and leave you in the lurch are frustrating. But choose a good niche and work hard and you can do well.

Star Actuarial Futures was founded to provide leading edge recruitment services to the actuarial market. They provide clients with the talent they need to realise their business strategy and candidates with the opportunities they need to achieve their career goals. They listen carefully to the requirements of both clients and candidates and apply their knowledge and experience of the actuarial market with energy, integrity and a long term perspective. Visit http://www.staractuarial.com/clients for more information.