I disliked Recruitment Consultants so much that I became one!

‘Dislike’ is harsh, that’s not entirely true however I became more and more disillusioned with the sector, over the 10 years or so as a client. 

Having started my career in agency recruitment many years ago, I was quickly taught the tricks of the trade; getting past the gate keeper (cringe), handling objections, and closing the deal – all valuable ‘tricks’ in the cut throat world of recruitment, but where was the focus on service? The focus on daily and weekly activity targets and the pressure of heavy sales, including daily cold calling soon led to me heading in the same direction as a lot of recruiters – into the world of in-house recruitment. 

As the tables turned, it became time for me to be the ‘target’ which I was actually looking forward to. I took some initial pleasure in rebutting the advances of persistent recruiters on a daily basis, many of which refused to take no for an answer. The power shift felt great for a while but then it just became a drain.

Fast forward 10 years, having had some great, and some downright frustrating experiences as a client, I now reflect on the reasons that led to my feelings of distrust of recruitment consultants (as a generalisation).

1.      Speaking to the decision maker. There is a misconception out there that by getting through to the most senior person in the organisation, means that you are closer to the decision maker. As an HR Adviser for one of my employers, I led on the recruitment remit and therefore decided if, when and who would be best placed to support us. When one cocksure gentleman from XXXX called through he flatly refused to deal with me, and only want to deal the HR Director. That went nowhere. Yes, of course there will be times when Directors have their preferred relationships, particularly at the Executive Search end but don’t pee the people off at ground level!

2.      Lying to the ‘gate keeper' to get to the ‘decision maker’. Just don’t, people talk.

3.      Persistent approaches despite the polite ‘thanks, but no thanks’. Heavy sales targets create desperation, which in turn gets in the way of long term relationship building. People buy from people they trust and not off the back of a sales call.

4.      ‘Recruitment is a sales job’ – whenever I hear this it sends me into a frenzy. As a client, I don’t want someone whose main skill is selling, who has the gift of the gab. I want someone who understands people, and who can identify talent for me and take away my pain! Yes, sales ability comes in handy when selling the employer into the candidate but that comes with getting to know the client’s culture and qualities.

5.      Concentrating on the fee, and not on the quality of service. The latter will, in turn, bring in the fee and of course repeat business. This really comes with the ‘no win, no fee’ structure of contingent recruiting. It’s a risky business and quite often recruiters will work their asses off for nothing so may well cut corners. But it’s the nature of the business and quite frankly why recruitment fees can be high, so suck it up and provide a service as if you’ve been paid already. However, if a client wants to guarantee a gold star service they really should be looking at retaining an agent. 

This isn’t ground breaking stuff, just the ramblings of someone who has gone against the grain and gone back over to the dark side, and is in a reflective mood!

Don’t get me wrong in the highly competitive, over populated world of recruitment you will get levels of service at extreme ends, and I had some amazing relationships with my ‘go to’ recruiters.

I feel blessed to have worked on both sides of the desk, and both sympathise with and respect the frustrations of both. But when a partnership works, it can be wonderful. Trust, openness, communication (bliss), and success for all concerned!

If you'd like to talk with a Search Consultant who 'gets it' please get in touch. Always open to a coffee and chat.

Nic Morris

nmorris@maplesearchpartners.com