After 5 years in management consulting i feel like a change and had been looking at recruitment.There's a lot of them out there and it's difficult to differentiate between the solid reputable outfits to work for and those which are not. I do know some of the reputable ones myself from being contacted as a consultant though. Can anyone recommend good recruitment consultancy / headhunting firms to work for and if you can offer any insight as to expected pay / bonuses and lifestlye as well that would be appreciated.

Make sure you take a copy of your firm's phone directory before you leave. LOL. ;-)

For MC’s that move into recruitment the most important aspect to realise is that while your insiders knowledge of consultancy will be useful in interviewing (and smelling out the bull$hit) success in recruitment is largely driven by sales achieved (i.e. placements) and most sales managers have very short memories. To succeed you need a) to win the mandate for good jobs, b) to find and place good candidates. Its easy to win bad mandates that cannot be filled.You will spend a lot of your time on the phone, cold calling potential employers, many of whom will explain that they are not hiring or have PSL’s for recruitment. You’ll spend a lot of time sucking up to very average MC’s who are too scared to move cos they might get found out.Culture differs from firm to firm but generally reflects the fact that these firms are sales organisations first and foremost. Lots of measurement by numbers, prizes for success, money talks, etc. Usually quite a youthful industry, there is a fair amount of working late and partying with colleagues.Staff turnover is high.

For fans of Glengarry Glen Ross, the number one rule is ABC - Always Be Closing.EC

If you'd care to give me a call (0207 667 6880) I'd be happy to provide advice and make some suggestions of firms to follow up with.The sector has got very busy in the last few months and lots of hiring of recruiters taking place, so if you decide it's a move you'd like to make there's definitely the scope for this.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

If you have a good MCS profile and a good CV then bluntly, ignore anyone who advertises on Top Cons (sorry Tony): they are mainly contingency, database recruiters and operate as recruitment agents (myself included). The model is often lower salaries, high commission, must make 50 calls a day, must send out 20 CVs a day etc etc. The leading search firms (Russell Reynolds, Heidrick and Struggles, Korn/Ferry, Egon Zehnder, Odgers Berndtson, Norman Broadbent, Spencer Stuart) will offer more intellectual challenge and CxO level impact and often recruit management consultants so approach them directly. I recruited for one of these firms myself recently!

Thanks for the useful advice recruiter too, thats a great starting point for meWhat would the typical range of remuneration be in these companies? Appreciate it's likely to still be commission / bonus focused.

Recruiter too makes a valid distinction. There are significant differences between recruitment firms who operate largely on an advertising response and CV database calling basis... and those that are genuine search firms who research and identify the most appealing target hires and then initiate career discussions unprompted by the candidate.Both have their place in the market - and certainly the lion's share of all placements are made by the former rather than the latter; but the most business critical senior hires are much more likely to be made via the latter than the former.It's a different skillset required to succeed in each and your day to day work routine would be quite different too. Certainly a distinction worth keeping in mind when weighing up options.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

Base salaries comparable with Big 4 MCS firms: bonus levels much higher.