Advice for recruiters
I was interested to hear the views expressed at a recent Recruitment & Consulting Services Association breakfast. The event was packed with consultants anxious to hear industry leaders Nigel Heap of Hays, Robert Van Stokrom, of DFP Recruitment and veteran John Plumber Snr of Chandler Macleod. A key message to consultants was to lift their game on candidate care if they hoped to compete in a candidate short market. Mr Heap, in particular, told consultants to make more effort to get back to job seekers when they didn't get the job.
Hays surveys 10 per cent of its candidates about their experience with the firm as a matter of policy and even use "mystery shoppers" to assess staff performance. Also on the RCSA panel was Emma Brown, managing director of Staff It, who said her entire business was founded on putting candidates first. Ms Brown personally calls every candidate placed in a job to ask about their experience with consultants.
Some firms are even creating dedicated "candidate care" roles.
The reason I tell you this is because I've filled columns with complaints from candidates who've received the silent treatment from recruiters so it's only fair to report that the industry is trying to improve.
A recruitment firm's track record on candidate care can really be judged on how the unsuccessful candidate was treated and that is something the good companies seem to be working on. When dealing with a recruiter, don't be too shy to ask about the firm's policy on communicating with candidates and provide your feedback to management.
If candidates really are "king" (and queen) then flex a bit of royal muscle.
By Kate Southam, Editor of careerone.com.au
Visit CareerOne and read the Blog with posts from "Ask Kate" and other job seekers - www.careerone.com.au and click on Kate's Blog on the home page.
Silent treatment
Recently I wrote about the recruitment industry's pledge to improve candidate communication including with those who don't get the job.
I receive thousands of emails on a huge array of issues but the two top topics are age prejudice and not hearing back from a recruiter.
The silent treatment can be incredibly wounding but ironically it's not personal - it just feels that way. Toby Marshall, managing director of executive search firm Abacus, explains how the recruitment process works in his new book. Well, it's two books really. One half, Get a Better Job, is aimed at job seekers and provides tips about every which way you can find a job. On the flip side is Get Great People aimed at employers. It's a straightforward and illuminating read.
Toby agrees that the silent treatment can be "thoroughly demotivating and disheartening". He reckons most people keep it a secret because they feel
shamed by the experience.
"But you know, it happens to everyone, it's even happened to me," he told me when we met. He recalled addressing a ballroom full of recruiters and asking everyone who had experienced the silent treatment to raise their hand. Hands went up all over the room - so it even happens to recruiters.
Toby explains that recruitment has a strong sales focus and that sales people do not like delivering bad news so they are reluctant to call candidates who are unsuccessful. They are also chasing their next fee and so their focus is off the job that has been filled and onto the next job.
As I said before, the talk amongst recruitment CEOs is "candidate care". Good consultants already do this so ask friends for recommendations.
By Kate Southam, Editor of careerone.com.au
Getting the best out of a recruiter
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| Job applicant during an interivew. Picture by Michael Perini. |
Okay, this is the last column on recruitment for a while. After outlining the candidate side of things (see Ask Kate Archives online), here is some info from the other side of the desk.
Treat any initial meeting or phone call with a recruiter as a "first interview". If you don't dress the part and prepare properly, you'll never get to meet the employer. Update your consultant when you change contact details or are no longer available to work.
It's illegal for recruiters to advertise bogus jobs just to get you in. Reputable firms do not do this. Recruiters can be hard to get a hold of. Most spend their day on the phone or at client visits trying to get in the jobs that you hope to fill. It's a catch-22.
Also, recruiters are not career coaches, they have a job to fill and you must tell them why you are a suitable candidate. I received an email once from
an accountant who went to a finance recruiter and was miffed that he wouldn't help him "transition to something creative".
Not the consultant's job - contact the Australian Association of Career Counsellors.
Be upfront about any resume and referee gaps and ask for advice as how to handle these. Also ask your consultant lots of questions about jobs on offer to test your interest before wasting your time and theirs. Don't go to a job interview just to make a consultant happy.
Many candidates go onto to become clients and so consultants who don't provide good candidate service will pay the price down the road. However, by the same token, you mess with a recruiter and you just never know when your name might cross their desk again.
By Kate Southam, Editor of careerone.com.au
Visit CareerOne and read the Blog with posts from "Ask Kate" and other job seekers - www.careerone.com.au and click on Kate's Blog on the home page.
