How to choose a recruitment agency to find a job

Do you want to progress your automotive industry career? Have you thought about engaging with a specialist automotive industry recruitment agency? In this article we consider the benefits and limitations for job seekers of using a recruitment agency. We then explain how Copeland Automotive Recruitment work and what we offer employees. This will help you decide if you should sign up with an agency and if we are the right one for you.

Why use a Recruitment Agency?

Working with a specialist recruitment agency has many benefits for employees – whether you are actively job seeking or just passively open to the right career opportunity. But using an agency is not right for everyone. Consider the following:

Benefits of Using a Specialist Automotive Recruitment Agency

  • Expert industry knowledge – able to advise you on suitable roles to apply for and the right career moves
  • Up-to-date market information
  • Advice on latest salaries and packages
  • Access to job vacancies that may not be advertised elsewhere
  • 1-2-1 Support with CV writing and applications – ensuring your job applications are optimised
  • Coaching and advice throughout the job interview process – giving you the edge over other candidates
  • Job offer negotiations – ensuring you achieve the best possible outcome
  • Counter-offer support – helping you make the right career choice
  • Usually a free of charge service to candidates – if an agency is asking you for money check very carefully why

Limitations of Using a Specialist Automotive Recruitment Agency

  • Their specialisms may not match yours – make sure you check if there is a good fit
  • Limited supply of jobs – they will not be able to place every candidate

Why choose Copeland?

Copeland Automotive Recruitment is a trusted, expert automotive industry recruitment agency, founded by Julia Pennington in 2009. We specialise in sales, marketing and operations jobs in the UK automotive sector. To see if your experience, skills and aspirations are inline with ours, see our detailed Areas of Specialisation

Why our candidates choose to work with us:

  • Automotive industry experts – allowing us to advise you on how to best develop your automotive career
  • Candidate support & guidance throughout the hiring process – giving our candidates the edge over other candidates
  • Unique job opportunities with leading automotive industry employers – giving you access to jobs you would not otherwise get
  • Personal service – we are a small, niche agency and you will be treated as an individual who we will get to know. This means we’ll give you personal help and advice in line with your personal goals
  • Completely free of charge service to all employees

Learn more about Why Employees Choose Copeland.

How we help you find your next job

As a first step we ideally ask you to either Register Your CV or Apply for a Job via the forms on our website. This will provide us with the initial information we need to help you find the right job. In order to do this we need to get to know you and will therefore, ask for the following:

  • Your name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Minimum required basic salary and minimum required ote
  • The type of job you are looking for
  • Type(s) of business you’d like to work for
  • A current copy of your CV
  • We also need to know approximately where you live

See our Privacy Policy for details on how we look after your personal data.

What happens next?

  • We review your CV and job requirements
  • Quickly get back to you to let you know if we believe we are the right agency to help you
  • If you’ve applied for a specific job vacancy, we’ll let you know if you’ve been selected for initial discussions
  • If required, we will then have an initial conversation with you to fully understand your goals, skills and experience.

When we have a potentially suitable job for you

  • We’ll get in touch with you to discuss the details
  • If it’s of interest to you we will fully brief you on the job and employer
  • Next we will interview you for the role
  • Then we ensure your CV is optimised for your application
  • We’ll do our due diligence and will need to see evidence of your right to work in the UK etc
  • We may ask you to complete some online tests (depending on the employer and role)
  • When we’re both happy and ready, we’ll submit your application to our client

When you are in a job application process with us

  • We’ll keep in close contact with you whilst we’re waiting for news on your application
  • If we secure you an interview will take time to brief you and prepare you for it
  • We’ll sort out all the interview arrangements so you can focus on preparing yourself
  • After your interview(s) we will get as detailed feedback as possible for you
  • If you’re successful and offered the job, we’ll guide you through the job offer negotiations – with the aim of achieving a successful outcome for both you and the employer
  • We’ll advise you on how how best to hand in your notice and how to manage any counter-offers
  • Whilst you’re in your notice period we’ll keep in close contact to ensure all on-boarding arrangements are in place.
  • After you’ve started your new job we’ll check in with you from time to time – to make sure all is going well.

If we don’t have the right job for you right now?

Many automotive industry employees we work with are not necessarily actively job hunting but want to hear about great job opportunities if they arise. They are happy for us to hold their details on file so that we can let them now when the right job comes up. This is how we find jobs for many of our candidates.

We would love to find the dream job for every employee we engage with. Unfortunately this will never be possible. Regardless of whether or not we are able to offer you suitable job opportunities, we try to do all we can to help you. Our free candidate resources offer valuable help and advice on wide ranging aspects of job hunting and career development.

What you can expect from us

Our company values are integrity, quality service and excellent communication. Learn more About Copeland. We want to help you find the right job for you. Our candidate service values are:

  • Honesty about whether we believe we are the right agency to help you
  • Advise on which roles to apply for – and which you would not be suitable for
  • Ensure you are fully briefed on any job vacancy you are applying for
  • Hold comprehensive interviews (usually via telephone or video) with you before submitting your CV to a client
  • Only submit your CV to a client if we believe you are a good fit for the role and are genuinely interested
  • We will never send your CV to an employer without your full knowledge and permission.
  • Give you constructive feedback on your CV and any other aspect of your job application to help maximise your chances of success
  • Communicate closely with you throughout any recruitment process
  • Build a long-term relationship with you and help you throughout your automotive industry career

Take a look at our Candidate Case Studies to see how Copeland have helped others achieve their automotive career dreams.

What do we want from you?

  • Keep us updated with any changes to your circumstances, job requirements or contact details
  • Regular communication during any job application or interview process
  • Transparency regarding your job search and other job offers
  • Integrity and confidentially regarding any sensitive information we provide

Next Steps

Ready to begin your job search? Register Here or Search Our Jobs

Need more information? Contact Us

Further Reading:

Career Checklist

Automotive Industry Salary Guide

Write a Great CV

Keep up to speed with automotive industry news. Automotive Management, Fleet News and SMMT are good places to start. Follow businesses you are interested in on LinkedIn.

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