As you may know sometime back i wrote about recruitment firms. Before changing to my current job i had discussions with quite a lot of them and based solely on my own experience and those of friends, i have learned that there is quite a lot of bad recruitment firms out there. But even if you get past the recruitment firms, and you meet the “bosses” you may be in for a nasty surprise. It seems that quite a few people out there still have no idea as to what type of world we live in and so how they should act with people applying for a job.
Some do’s and don’ts:
Don’t:
- Don’t assume that you are in the strong seat because the candidate is applying for a job at your company – there is a lot of work out there and presentation has to be made both ways. I have to show that i want to work for your firm, but you’ll also have to make it clear to me why it would be in my best interest to work for you.
- Don’t assume that you can ask anything – Some questions / remarks are way out of line, and will definitely not get you any points. As i heard some time ago: “You want a better work life balance? Why? I see in your application that you are alone.” You can imagine that this type of comment will get out there, and that this will cost you potential employees in the future.
- Don’t assume we are stupid – a lot of recruitment companies keep on sending job proposals which have absolutely nothing to do with your own experience. Even if you would apply for one of these, someday soon you would find out that you were not qualified for the job, and find your self in a place you don’t want to be.
- Don’t assume that the loyalty of the job searcher is for the recruitment company – A story i heard: after having placed someone at a new company, the recruitment company got in touch right away for a new position somewhere else. The placed employee was enjoying his / her work and reported the firm to his/her boss. That recruitment company won’t be doing anymore business there.
- Don’t assume we do not talk – Every bad story gets out there, some faster than others. But always remember, that in the current connected world, people will hear about the blunders you make, and will therefore not wish to be associated with a firm anymore. This will cost you potential employees.
But it is not all bad.
There are companies out there who seem to work for the job searcher. Who are really interested in finding the right person for the right job. In the long run this business model will hopefully be the only successful model.
Do’s
- Pay attention to what people want, especially if you deal with professionals in line of work where there is lot of interest. They will compare you to the other firms, and if you don’t compare well enough, it’s time to move on.
- Do not waste our time with jobs that do not match our qualifications – Professionals do their work professional. We expect that from others as well. Why would i trust someone who does not work professionally.
- Do not lie – Once when i was interviewing with a recruitment company who had explained that they were doing a lot of business for people in my line of work, the question at the end was: “So what do you do on a daily basis”. If the company really had done a lot of work in my line of business, there would have been absolutely no reason to ask this question, the interviewer would already have known.
If you keep to these do’s and don’t, you’ll get more candidates. And every candidate that you place succesfully will bring you approximately 25% – 50% of their yearly salary in fees. That is a lot of money, but you’ll be expected to work for it. If you don’t follow the rules, people will start using their own networks, and that will mean you’ll be out of the loop. And remember, the people the recruitment firms are placing now, are the people who’ll be hiring in the future.. So if you screw up now, you might never get a second chance.
Please let me know in the comments if you have any experiences relating to these firms.
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