After recruiting overseas for 13 years having worked in my own and other peoples businesses, I returned to the UK and set up my own recruitment company. It became very apparent to me in a short duration that recruitment consultancies did not command the same respect that I had come to appreciate overseas or indeed with my previous experience of recruiting in the UK in the 1990’s.
I asked my partner who’d always lived in the U.K. why Recruiters were treated badly and with suspicion and he quite definitively said to me, the problem is that in the time you’ve been away anyone has been able to set up in recruitment regardless of their qualifications! Sadly recruitment is seen by many as an opportunity to make a fast buck!
When I started my career with Reed Employment, you had to have a relevant degree, you were given extensive recruitment training where you were sent off to a remote location in the Cotswolds and learned everything about hiring good employees, and in addition they put you through your certificate in personnel development (CIPD), so you were as up to speed with human resource issues as your HR clients and were regarded as an essential additional resource to locate the right employees.
What I have noticed from other Recruiters through the years, and since I have been back in the country, are some pretty unprofessional behaviours arising in the recruitment industry. These are some of the following points I particularly consider to be bad practice;
1. Recruiters that send a CV to a client without having asked the candidates permission. This is especially bad practice as we are charged with our candidate’s confidentiality and if a candidate’s CV ends up on the desk of someone they know personally and their job search is a secret, the agency is in trouble. It’s also not right that agencies that work professionally and correctly and have discussed the job in full with the candidate may be sending the CV a little later due to following correct process than Spam Recruiter that’s just thinking about making a quick ‘sale’!
2. Recruiters that don’t even bother to telephone interview their candidates, let alone meet them face to face, thinking email correspondence is enough. These ‘Postman Pa’t Recruiters often still expect to charge their clients the same fee as a professional Recruiter that has thoroughly interviewed their candidate and ascertained exactly what the right client fit/job is for them, and the type of environment and company culture that works best.
3. Recruiters that when given a job specification proceed to send 10+ CVs. The job of a Recruiter is to do the initial screening process for their clients to save them time, hence saving them money. However if a Recruiter is sending too many CVs they are not doing their job properly as they aren’t narrowing their client’s search. This puts companies off using Recruiters as receiving a few good quality matched candidates is what they are paying for.
4. Recruiters that don’t stay in touch with their clients after placing candidates with them. A lot of placements are saved by staying in touch with your clients and candidates as often people leave jobs due to simple communication issues that seem to be easily resolved by third party contact/mediation.
5. Bad after service from Recruiters if placements don’t work out. If a Recruiter has done their job properly they will be placing candidates that have a good stable work history and their candidate’s CV should be showing a committed employee that will stay with their client. However, sometimes it goes wrong and the fit isn’t quite right and the candidate will leave within a short time period and a replacement or guarantee is due. Bad Recruiters will not handle this correctly, leaving clients recruitment shy. A good Recruiter will have made sure the guarantee process is clearly understood and will honour their commitment to their client, whether that be refunding fees or replacing with hopefully a more suitable candidate at no charge.
Sam Bambridge is Director of Artemis Recruitment Consultants and can be contacted on 01843 294444 or sam@artemisreruitment.co.uk