Recruit expert talent in the UK
Once you've decided to employ staff, there are many excellent recruitment resources available to you in the UK.
Jobcentre Plus
This is a government-funded employment agency, with offices across the UK. It offers recruitment services to help employers with:
- recruitment guidance and specialist support for businesses
- setting up work trials to give opportunities to try out potential recruits
- support from other employment schemes
View Jobcentre Plus help for recruiters on GOV.UK.
Apprenticeships
This is a government-supported, work-based training programme which employers can use for new or existing staff. Apprenticeships are a useful way for employees to learn new technical skills.
They are available at all skill and experience levels, including degree level.
Find out about employing apprentices on GOV.UK.
Recruitment consultants
There are several advantages to using recruitment consultants. Specialist consultants will have a good knowledge of your sector in the UK and a wide range of contacts.
They should know the available talent, where they are and how to reach them, salary rates, career expectations, available skill sets and any current hiring complexities. They'll have the latest market information and can advise you on advertising and branding for recruitment.
A list of recruitment companies is available on the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) website.
Career transition partnership (CTP)
This is an initiative to support Armed Forces leavers who are moving from military into civilian roles. They offer career transition guidance, skills workshops, vocational training and employment routes.
Find out more on the Career Transition Partnership website.
Print advertising
Newspaper and trade publication recruitment advertising is still a way to find experienced staff but will be less effective for reaching young people.
Local newspapers are useful to find local candidates, who may already know the area and have a place to live.
Trade publications are useful to find highly specific candidates for your sector. Many print publications have online versions that may have job listings.
Social media
UK employers increasingly use social media to recruit due to expanding digital footprints.
Social media sites such as LinkedIn are a good way to attract young people into development roles including graduates, interns, and apprentices.
You may also want to share vacancies on LinkedIn Groups for your job sector.
Job boards and websites
Creating an online job advert and posting it across job boards casts a wide net that reaches potential candidates locally, nationally, and internationally. Vacancies can appear on industry niche job boards, which can be helpful if you need to target specific or rare skills.
Online vacancy listings, some of which are dedicated to sectors and skills, are useful and can reach a global candidate pool of all ages. Many can be used for free to minimise costs and time-to-hire rates.
Useful websites for job listings include:
Recruitment legislation
Recruiters need to be aware of equal opportunities legislation and understand how discrimination can occur both directly and indirectly in the recruitment process.
To comply with legislation, you will need to ensure that you:
- advertise vacancies, and any new roles, without discriminating
- select candidates for interview and successful applicants without discriminating
All organisations have a responsibility to ensure that no unlawful discrimination occurs at any stage in the process on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, maternity, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Read more on preventing discrimination in recruitment on GOV.UK.
Next steps
You can search the UK Investment Support Directory to find recruitment specialists with experience in finding the right staff for your business in the UK.