Then you need to assess a candidate through interviews, tests and background checks, before making recommendations to your client. So the job is demanding, with its fair share of cold calling - as well as the need to monitor candidates once they've been placed. One London recruiter spent two months working with a particular candidate, but once she found him a job he disgraced himself on day one by getting drunk. Clients may not be entirely honest about working conditions or salary packages, while candidates might embellish their CV and references.Yet it can be a rewarding, fast-paced job and the satisfaction comes from placing the right candidate with the right client. But if you don't achieve your targets you won't last long.Trainees generally start on £14,000 to £20,000, with good performance resulting in "on-target earnings". Commissions are based on the salary of the placed candidate, up to 35 per cent if it's an executive position. Senior consultants with several years' experience can earn more than £100,000.While training is often on the job, some companies have graduate programmes.

CBSbutler, a specialist engineering and technical recruiter, launched its programme last year because they weren't finding experienced consultants and wanted some homegrown talent. Back in the 1980s, recruitment consultancy, according to says managing director David Leyshon, "wasn't a career path, it was the Wild West. Now it's getting very sophisticated and clients expect far more."The company recruits for specialist markets, so it requires "a degree of intellect" from trainees. In theory, graduates should already know how to assimilate information, to , to plan and organise themselves and work to deadlines.Hannah Baker-Sadat, 22, who has a degree in business and drama, last year joined CBSbutler's graduate training scheme. She was attracted by a job that meant contact with people and was commission-based.Graduates study a 20-module programme over three months. They are assigned a mentor and begin to select candidates until, after 18 months, they become fully-fledged consultants.

Baker-Sadat's team works on defence recruitment, for example, companies with MoD contracts. Her starting salary is £17,500, but if she meets all her targets and earns commission regularly, it will be £25,000 to £30,000 by the end of the year. If money is important to you, you need to choose your area of work carefully: there is a vast difference in pay between, say, secretarial recruitment and banking.While recruitment is becoming more of a field for graduates, there are still plenty of employees without degrees. Richard Kingue Kouta became a recruitment consultant by replying to a newspaper advert, believing it was a good way to use his selling skills and managerial experience. He now has his own company, Authentique Recruitment, specialising in catering and hospitality.Kingue Kouta has a diploma in sales, but he believes sales experience and people skills are paramount. Check the jobs on www.recruit2recruit.co.uk, and you'll find it's rare that an advertisement even mentions a degree.