Or is it simply a salesperson who has chosen people as the vehicle to demonstrate his or her skills?

"Recruitment is often misinterpreted as existing in the HR space, " said Robert Mac Giolla Phadraig, associate director with Sigmar Recruitment. "But the reality is that recruitment is actually a mix between sales and consultancy."

What is certainly true is that, following a period of some turbulence following the dotcom meltdown at the turn of the century, recruitment has consolidated and returned to offer a very attractive career to those who have the right skills. Pinpointing what those skills are is, however, a more elusive prospect.

"There is no defined path to a career in recruitment, no magic solution whereby we can simply add water and create the perfect consultant, " said Mac Giolla Phadraig. "At Sigmar, we have a variety of people, from those with industry backgrounds to those with academic backgrounds. And there are others, maybe people who had neither the industry experience nor the third-level qualifications, but who proved to be very good at managing relationships."

So what would Sigmar, for example, be looking for in terms of their candidates?

"We would firstly be looking for the right attitude, " said Mac Giolla Phadraig.

"We are looking for candidates who are driven, who are ambitious, who are positive and entrepreneurial, and who can demonstrate sales and business acumen.

Third level qualifications are not a prerequisite for a career in recruitment, but having a degree does show a certain level of commitment and diligence."

What makes recruitment such an attractive career can be seen not simply through the remuneration packages (which tend to be generous), but also through the quality of the jobs themselves.

The industry has changed in recent times, with a greater preponderance of larger, blue chip consultancies in the market. Ten years ago, recruitment consultancy was still in its infancy in this country, and many individual consultants struck out on their own during the gold rush of the late 1990s/early 2000s. Many of these became unstuck in the choppy waters of post-dotbomb Ireland, while those that survived have tended to consolidate and grow, both organically and through acquisition. Because the consultancies are larger, more established entities, they are able to offer that bit more to their employees. And this has proved successful in reversing the trend towards high attrition rates . . . attrition rates which were an historical feature of the recruitment sector in the past.

"Businesses are now big business, and have bigger bottom lines, " said Mac Giolla Phadraig. "There also tends to be greater career progression opportunities with larger companies. This is reflected in Sigmar's approach to employment, which has, since the inception of the company, been based on a partnership approach with its consultants. Our consultants feel valued, and they get the rewards that come with an attractive career . . . this is generally more of a feature of with larger, corporate-type recruitment companies."

Despite not strictly being part of the HR sphere, recruitment companies in Ireland have tended to show great acumen in terms of staff retention . . . perhaps as a result of the years of watching their best and brightest depart for pastures new.

Indeed, the practice of valuing employees is reflected in the fact that two recruitment consultancies are represented in the Top 10 of Irish Independent Best Companies to work for in Ireland.

One of those companies is Sigmar Recruitment.

"We have a defined career path for the people working at Sigmar, " said Mac Giolla Phadraig. "We have consultant levels and management levels, and our processes for advancement are very fair and transparent."

Specifically, people can work from the levels of recruitment consultant, principal consultant and executive consultant up to team leader, which is the first level of management. Above team leader is management, the associate director and finally director level. But how does the company go about sourcing people for what seem to be excellent opportunities in an exciting sector?

"Obviously, referrals play a big part in our sourcing of candidates, " said Mac Giolla Phadraig. "But we also undertake some major recruitment drives . . . indeed, we are just launching one at the moment."