I’ve been working in the recruitment space for almost two years and I can already see some of the negative opinions of our work. For some reason, we have been lumped into the pile of sordid sales jobs that plenty have wrongly no respect for.
Our job is essentially to introduce candidates to a client in the hope they are the right fit for the role and company. We work and earn off that client's decision-making. What other jobs in the world are decided and completed by someone else’s decisions?
To some, we are deemed too expensive. Are we?
We work for weeks, sometimes months, for free. Feeding candidate after candidate to a company. All in the hope we have used the information provided, used our knowledge, and found the golden ticket. If we have, it is then, when we are paid for our service.
Finding people isn’t a straightforward task. Our success is driven by the information and transparency we get from the client.
Our aim at TLM is to create Long Term Relationships. When we speak with a client we need to know everything. Any information that isn’t declared is one piece missing on a perfect puzzle. Without it, how are we supposed to complete the puzzle?
We need to know the company culture, the roles available, the potential salary range, the bonus system, additional benefits, healthcare packages, pension plans, etc.
This information is critical, as we are the people that will be selling their company to candidates.
It is no surprise when speaking to individuals actively looking, all this information is less important, but the pool of “open to work” candidates is minuscule compared to those who aren’t actively looking. That’s when the information we have, is used to the letter.
I received a reply from a company only a few weeks ago who said they simply “prefer not to deal with” recruiters. I can understand that entirely if they are happy with the applications they receive and the internal recruitment is good enough. I was, however, told by someone within the company that they are in need of new talent. Maybe they don't want to pay fees? Maybe someone somewhere in the company had a poor experience with recruiters in the past, maybe received hundreds of irrelevant resumes every week, and was inundated with calls? This is not what any true recruitment business should be doing. Sometimes it takes a random approach to get a client interested but the long-term relationship should always be at the fore.
The clients we have supported have given us their valued time with detailed information. Then it is up to us to find suitable candidates. We don’t need anything other than the specifics.
It shouldn’t be a case of not wanting to deal with recruiters.
On the candidate side, I have had one experience where I received an email reply from someone telling me to “go to hell!” as my email to him incorrectly stated one of his previous companies, not his current. A simple mistake led to a barrage of angry emails calling me a “disgrace” and “recruiters are all the same”.
The crazy thing about this candidate was that I had attempted to find him a role when I first started, I spoke with him a number of years ago and had several messages and comments given and received on LinkedIn. We had a healthy relationship but his lack of memory of my name led him to dump me into the useless pile of salesmen.
Our relationships with candidates can be challenging as we try to reach out to as many people as possible to fill as many roles as possible. Most are happy where they are but some are interested in the opportunity to discuss a potential role. If you aren't interested in talking, tell us. We won't be offended.
Some are even interested in discussing their future plans with me so I can have a better understanding of what opportunities to bring them in the future.
This is always an interesting conversation and I would recommend it to anyone.
When it comes down to it, we are all looking to succeed in our work lives, whether that is in your current company or another.
We just hope to be able to provide a candidate with all the information that will enable us to provide a client with the best candidate.